Ben Fordham is weighing on Nine’s federal election debate that aired last night and he wasn’t impressed.
The debate saw both ScoMo and Albo have it out and there was plenty of tension and disagreements. This is pretty typical as the election is only a few weeks away.
Fordham didn’t hold back on 2GB, where The Daily Telegraph has reported said: “It wasn’t great. It was a shambles. It was messy, disjointed, and awkward. All over the shop.
“Channel 9 was not the winner. When the TV ratings come out, I think it will show that. I think the ratings will show that Australians would have largely turned off the contest.
“People have got better things to do than waste their Sunday night listening to two people talking over each other. It’s like watching two blokes at the pub arguing over the colour of the carpet.”
Interestingly, Fordham’s ratings assumption wasn’t correct, the debate managed to pull over 600,000 viewers and was instrumental in handing Nine the night.
The debate was also highly discussed online – which is always a good indicator that it’s going to bring in the numbers.
For instance, Paul Bongiorno’s tweet on the event pulled in 1.3k likes and started a pretty lively discussion
Morrison writes his own rules in the great debate….Albanese not intimidated.
— Paul Bongiorno (@PaulBongiorno) May 8, 2022
Darren Wick, director of news & current affairs at Nine said in a statement: “The Great Debate achieved a phenomenal result on Channel 9 and 9Now easily winning its time slot and securing a Total TV number of 950,000.
“It was in the Top 5 programs of the night and was No.1 in Sydney with demographics the leaders are trying to engage with. I congratulate the team here at Nine who put together an outstanding panel allowing the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader to put their case as voting opens today.
“I want to thank my colleagues from across the business, in publishing and radio for their support in presenting the broadcast, and congratulate Sarah Abo on managing the leaders and the panellists to get the important questions answered.
“We will have figures for all platforms across Nine later today and I’m confident that will show Australians are engaged in the election and want to be informed before going to the polls.”
