Hammer blow: The Block finale topples My Kitchen Rules as most-watched non-sports event of 2016… as over 2 million people tune in to see Will and Karlie crowned champions.
The finale of The Block delivered a hammer blow to My Kitchen Rules, replacing the cooking show’s finale as the most-watched non-sports show of 2016.
A whopping 2.104 million viewers tuned in to see Will Bethune and Karlie Cicero crowned champions – over 100,000 more than MKR’s winner announcement pulled in.
The Block’s finale trumped the 1.969 million who were watching when Melbourne sisters Tasia and Gracia Seger won MKR in April.
It also marked a big leap from the previous year’s Block finale, which attracted 1.8 million watchers.
The ratings revelation is likely to see the home renovation show take the title of 2016’s most popular non-sports show, with no big reality TV finales left to air.
X Factor, First Dates and drama series The Wrong Girl all have finales still to come, but have shown no indication that they can draw viewers in to the extent of season 12 of The Block.
The news will come as a blow to Channel Seven and their ratings juggernaut, which declined in popularity after a stellar 2015.
MKR’s 2015 finale saw them take the title of most popular non-sports show with 2.082 million viewers.
Further bad news for the network came as X Factor failed to excite TV viewers, pulling in just 559,000 in its 8pm slot.
The miserable numbers were way down on the 700,000 who had tuned in to the previous episode.
On Sunday night, ABC’s Grand Designs attracted 101,000 more viewers than Guy Sebastian, Mel B and co on the talent show.
Channel Nine’s flagship offering The Block also helped provide them with a timely boost ahead of the final end-of-year ratings.
Sunday’s finale programme helped Nine claim 30.4% of the audience, well ahead of rivals Seven’s 16.8% and Ten’s lowly 14.1%.
The Block will return for a 13th series in 2017 after this year saw the Queensland couple Will and Karlie take home a massive $815,000 in profits and prize money.
Online Source: Daily Mail Australia.
