The Block’s ratings are plummeting as viewers abandon the once record-breaking reality show
Channel Nine’s flagship home renovation program The Block is losing the ratings war as frustrated viewers switch to rival reality shows.
The reality show, hosted by Scott Cam, has lost 20 per cent of its viewers in its current 19th season, losing the top spot to Seven’s My Kitchen Rules.
Meanwhile, the Manu Feildel-hosted cooking show reached 622,000 metro viewers on Wednesday, easily surpassing The Block’s comparatively small 526,000.
An industry insider told The Daily Telegraph these figures were a bad omen for Cam’s show.
Channel Nine’s flagship home renovation program The Block is losing the ratings war as frustrated viewers switch to rival reality shows. Pictured: Host Scott Cam
“The collapse of The Block is seriously bad news for Nine as it was one of their biggest shows and the bookend of the year for them,” they said.
They added that dating show Married At First Sight was one of the few successful reality shows Nine had left after a string of underperforming shows.
However, it should be noted that The Block is known to experience a mid-season ratings dip before rising toward the finale. So critics shouldn’t write off the series yet.
The reality show, hosted by Scott Cam, has lost 20 per cent of its viewers in its current 19th season, losing the top spot to Seven’s My Kitchen Rules. Pictured: Queensland candidate Leah
It comes amid reports that viewers have branded this season of The Block “toxic” and “disturbing” due to the constant bickering and bullying among the Blockheads.
And contestants are now upset about the way they were portrayed on the show, new reports say.
Speaking to Yahoo! Lifestyle, an insider, said several stars were “devastated” by their on-screen cut, adding: “The tension that continues to build over the course of the series has shocked the contestants too.”
Seven’s My Kitchen Rules reached 622,000 metro viewers on Wednesday, comfortably beating The Block’s comparatively small 526,000
“What happened during filming doesn’t match most participants’ ideas about who would be popular with viewers.” “I would say it’s almost the other way around,” they added.
The source warned that an “all-out war” is brewing between the contestants, many of whom appear to have been cast specifically to create drama.
Meanwhile, dedicated viewers have complained that the block has become a “downer” by focusing too much on “drama” and not enough on home renovations.
Viewers took to Reddit to voice their grievances and cast shade on the new episodes, calling it a “soap opera” and comparing it to MAFS.
The low ratings are just over half of the more than one million viewers The Block attracted in 2018
An industry insider told The Daily Telegraph these figures were a bad omen for the renovation show: Pictured: Block judges Neale Whitaker, Darren Palmer, Shaynna Blaze and Marty Fox