New MasterChef a bigger hit than MAFS for housebound Aussies
Twelve seasons on, the new face of the much-loved cooking show draws 1.23m viewers.
The long-awaited return of MasterChef, featuring new judges Jock Zonfrillo, Melissa Leong and Andy Allen, plus renowned chef Gordon Ramsay, has proved a big hit with Australians stuck at home during the coronavirus crisis.
The launch episode of the 12th season of the cooking competition show was watched by 1.23m people across the five metropolitan cities on Network Ten on Monday, making it the biggest launch episode since 2015.
MasterChef’s debut was more popular than the first episode of Nine Network's hit reality-dating show Married At First Sight, which boasted a metro audience of 1.15m on February 3.
Around the nation, MasterChef was watched by 1.56m people, peaking at 1.82m during the near two-hour episode, according to Ten.
Ten, which is owned by US entertainment giant ViacomCBS, will be hoping that MasterChef can continue to attract solid audience numbers as its program offering of Dancing With The Stars and Australian Survivor has been mixed so far this year.
ViacomCBS's newly promoted local content boss Beverley McGarvey says they are "so pleased and excited with how Australians have responded to the return of MasterChef".
"Twelve seasons in and MasterChef Australia is still loved by so many people. Food is a universal theme, particularly in times like these, and our show has always been about the food," Ms McGarvey said in a statement.
“The cooking, passion and energy in MasterChef Australia this year is amazing and it is going to be a really thrilling season.”
The new-look MasterChef comes after Ten cut ties with its judges George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan last July after falling out over money.
The long-running show struggled to attract viewers last year, with Nine racing ahead in the ratings battle with MAFS and Lego building competition show Lego Masters.
Overall, MasterChef was the third-most popular TV show on Monday behind Seven Network’s 6pm and 6.30pm news programs, which were watched by nearly 1.3m and 1.27m people, respectively, across the five metro markets.
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