Channel 10’s The Project loses ratings game on Friday night

Channel 10’s flagship program The Project has been beaten in the ratings on Friday nights by repeats of game shows over the past month, which insiders have called “shocking”.

It’s a case of Friday night flunk for Channel 10’s flagship news and entertainment program, The Project.

For the past month, the 6.30pm live program has been beaten in the ratings by repeats of the UK version of game show The Tipping Point and ABC’s Hard Quiz, something TV insiders have described as “shocking”.

While The Project holds a steady presence in the ratings from Monday to Thursday, on Friday nights the ratings appear to fall off a cliff.

For Friday night, the show’s regular panel members – which include Waleed Aly and Sarah Harris – are replaced by Rove McManus, Sharyn Ghidella and Susie Youssef.

Rove McManus and Sharyn Ghidella on The Project on Friday, April 11.

On Friday, April 11, the show was the 25th most watched program, according to TV ratings measurement site VOZ. It pulled in just 209,000 viewers, including people who watch it on catch up. That’s well below Channel 7 and 9’s prime-time news bulletins, which pull in 1,142,000 and 1,027,000 viewers respectively.

It also means it trails behind re-runs of the The Tipping Point UK, which is screened in the afternoon and pulls in 306,000 viewers and ABC game show Hard Quiz, which it replays at 6.30pm on Fridays and pulled in 353,000 viewers for April 11.

 Coincidentally, the Australian version of The Tipping Point, hosted by former tennis great Todd Woodbridge, is one of Channel 9’s most watched programs and was the fifth most watched program on Friday night, pulling in 645,000.

Repeats of ABC game show Hard Quiz has beaten The Project for ratings on Friday nights.

On April 11, Todd Woodbridge hosted Channel 9 game show Tipping Point Australia. It was the fifth most watched show. The Project was 25th. Picture: Supplied

For the calendar year the data shows The Project’s Friday audience is down 4.7 per cent overall compared to 2024.

A TV insider said the numbers would be “concerning” for Channel 10.

“They are really bad numbers,” they said.

Friday nights have been a tough timeslot for Channel 10, which is going up against the might of live NRL and AFL.

However insiders say the fact numbers have dropped year-on-year is concerning.

The Project host’s Waleed Aly and Sarah Harris were replaced on Friday Nights.

When asked about the numbers and if there were plans to reverse them, Channel 10 declined to comment.

However, it did point out April has been the biggest month for The Project for 2025.

It also added that, according to just BVOD figures, which refer to people who watch via streaming platforms, Friday’s bulletin is up 29 per cent year-on-year.

However, that is a relatively small number.

According to VOZ, The Project’s BVOD numbers for Friday nights sit at about 10,000.

Meanwhile, the only other program from Channel 10 that makes it into the top 30 most watched programs on Fridays is Ten News First.

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Originally published as Channel 10’s The Project loses ratings game on Friday night