New season of The Voice on song, but drowned out in ratings by news

Scott Morrison’s shock win saw TV viewers choose news first, but The Voice was still on song.

The Voice 2019 coaches, from left, Boy George, Delta Goodrem, Guy Sebastian and Kelly Rowland. Supplied by Channel 9.

The public flocked to post-election news and analysis on commercial free-to-air television networks Seven and Nine on Sunday following the Coalition’s shock win.

Wall-to-wall media coverage of Scott Morrison’s victory against Labor’s Bill Shorten, and speculation about the next Labor leader overshadowed the launch of singing competition The Voice on Nine, which has had a strong start to the ratings year.

Nine’s reality dating show, Married at First Sight, and Lego building competition program, Lego Masters, has proved very popular with the public, particularly the former’s racy romance storylines, which beat treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s live budget speech on April 2.

Australia’s number one TV program on Sunday was Seven’s evening news, with around 1.74 million national viewers, and 1.17m across the five metropolitan cities, which is the figure that comes under scrutiny most advertising executives.

In second spot was Nine’s evening news, with around 1.48m national viewers and 1.06m people across the major cities.

The launch of the eighth season of The Voice, featuring judges Boy George, Delta Goodrem, Kelly Rowland and Guy Sebastian, attracted around 1.39m national viewers and 1.01m across the cities, placing it in third.

In fourth and fifth spot was Seven’s long-running home renovation series, House Rules, and ABC evening news. House Rules was watched by 1.21m people around the country, and 790,000 across the five cities, while ABC news attracted 1.11m national viewers and 740,000 across the five cities, according to figures from OzTam.

A week earlier, Australia’s most popular TV show was Lego Masters, with around 1.54m national viewers and 1.13 million across the five cities. Seven and Nine’s evening news programs were the second and third most watched, with 1.52m and 1.38 million national viewers, on May 12. Rounding off the top five was House Rules and ABC news.

A record 2 million-plus viewers tuned in to watch two fathers, Henry and Cade, crowned winners of the inaugural three-week series of Lego Masters on May 14.