MasterChef Australia Sets Ratings Record as Final Bumps Leaders' Debate
July 26 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's William Pesek speaks from Tokyo with Bloomberg’s Haslinda Amin about next month's Australian election. Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott and Prime Minister Julia Gillard have placed management of the economy at the top of their election campaigns before a national vote next month largely being fought over how much taxes companies pay and who gets to come to Australia. (William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. Source: Bloomberg)
MasterChef Australia, the reality cooking show that forced the nation’s political leaders to move their election debate, set a television ratings record as about a quarter of the population tuned in to the season finale.
The show was the most watched non-sporting broadcast since the current television ratings system began in 2001, MasterChef broadcaster Ten Network Holdings Ltd. said in an e-mailed statement today, citing market research by Oztam Pty. A peak audience of 5.74 million people, about one-in-four Australians, yesterday watched 31-year-old lawyer Adam Liaw defeat 20-year- old student Callum Hann in the cookoff.
The debate between Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott, the only one before next month’s election, was moved forward an hour to avoid clashing with the cooking show. Twenty-four contestants were chosen in April from 8,000 applicants for the 14-week second season of MasterChef, an adaptation of the BBC reality show.
A U.S. version of the show, starring U.K. chef Gordon Ramsay, will go to air this week on the Fox network.
Liaw, who has spent the past six years working in Japan, won A$100,000 ($89,520) cash and a cookbook publishing contract.
Ten Network may have gained as much as A$80 million in advertising revenue from the program, which aired six nights a week during its run, the Age newspaper reported today. The broadcaster sold 30-second spots during the final for A$45,000, the newspaper said, citing media buyers.
The program included numerous product placements and partnerships, including the Coles supermarket unit of Wesfarmers Ltd., Telstra Corp., Qantas Airways Ltd. and American Express Co.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Sydney rfenner@bloomberg.net
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