If we learnt anything over the course of the weekend, it’s that careful, considered diplomacy is out the window and brash, shouty, devil-may-care attitude to decorum and dignity is gaining alarming traction.
Against this backdrop, it seems only appropriate that the most popular program in the OzTAM overnight TV ratings was Nine’s odious Married At First Sight, when a campaign launched by What Were You Wearing, a not-for-profit organisation fighting to end sexual violence, gained nearly 7500 petition signatures to hold Nine and Endemol Shine Accountable.
“One of Australia’s most-watched reality TV programs, Married at First Sight (MAFS) has a responsibility to uphold the highest ethical standards regarding domestic, family, and sexual violence. Reality television can shape public perceptions of relationships, making it critical that production prioritises participant safety, ethical storytelling, and responsible media representation,” the petition on Change.org said.
It urged Nine and Endemol Shine to urgently implement 11 measures to protect the show’s participants and audience from sexual abuse.
However despite the concerns expressed, it didn’t stop the reality dating show from reaching a total TV national audience average of 2,024,000, which included a BVOD audience of 530,000, giving it a total reach of 3,265,000.
Nine had a good night overall with the top three programmes going to the nation’s largest media company, not surprisingly with the news and 60 Minutes book ending MAFS both doing well.
Sevens counter to MAFS, Australian Idol managed less than half of its rival’s audience with a total TV average audience of 1,006,000.
