‘I’m A Celebrity’ smashed by Aust Open final
Ten
The Ten Network’s ‘great white hope‘ for 2015, I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, got off to a reasonable start, scoring the fourth and fifth spots on the OzTAM ratings for Sunday night.
On the first official night of the ratings season, the Australian Open men’s final won the top two spots, with the post-match presentation drawing 2.088 million viewers to win the night and 1.881 million watching the decider between winner Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
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The other top 10 spots were made up by Seven and ABC news, the one-day cricket final between Australia and England, which failed to crack a million viewers in the first or second sessions, and the 1993 Bruce Willis movie Striking Distance.
For I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, the big test will come on Monday night when it’s pitted against its first serious competitors: the premiere of My Kitchen Rules on Seven and The Block: Triple Threat on Channel Nine.
Judging by the response to the show on social media, it’s unlikely to get out of the proverbial TV jungle alive.
Of course #AndrewDaddo is on #ImACelebrityAU. He’s on every show that fails right? #tv #fail
— Dom Hennequin (@DomHennequin) February 1, 2015
While the show had a good start ratings wise, it received the wrath of the media, with many slamming both the choice of “celebrities” and the slow format of the show.
Of the ten contestants, only four were national household names: Maureen McCormick, famous for playing Marcia Brady, Chrissie Swann, Merv Hughes and Andrew Daddo – somewhat a dated bunch.
Many critics also questioned whether the show could be sustained five nights a week for six weeks.
Only time (and the ratings) will tell.
Most watched shows on Sunday
1. Australian Open Tennis Men’s Final Presentation (Seven) – 2.088 million
2. Australian Open Tennis Men’s Final (Seven) – 1.881 million
3. Nine News (Nine) – 1.306 million
4. I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!: Opening night (Ten) – 1.199 million
5. I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!: Welcome To The Jungle (Ten) – 1.136 million
6. Seven News (Seven) – 1.072 million
7. Striking Distance (Seven) – 1.027 million
8. One Day Cricket Final: Session 2 (Nine) – 991,000
9. One Day Cricket Final: Session 1 (Nine) – 903,000
10. ABC News (ABC1) – 806,000