The Sun-Herald

The Tribal Mind: Lets cut the crap about MasterChef

To find out how to become a republic and absorb New Zealand, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
The phrase "of all time" was thrown around a lot last week, in relation to the final episode of the TV series MasterChef. Some radio stations were calling it the most-watched non-sports program of all time. The Daily Telegraph described the final cook-off as "the third most watched program of all time, behind Channel 7's coverage of the men's Australian Open tennis final between Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin in 2005 (4.04 million) and the Australia versus England 2003 rugby World Cup final (4.02 million)."

This nonsense was repeated in The Sunday Telegraph, which described the final as "the third highest rating program ever". Channel Ten more modestly asserted in a press release that "MasterChef Australia: The Winner Announced is TEN's highest rating show since OzTAM ratings began".

Time for a reality check. Based on its sample of 3,000 households, OzTAM estimated that 3.74 million people in the mainland capitals (where the potential TV audience is 13 million) watched the last 40 minutes of MasterChef. This made it the third most watched program of the decade -- unless you think the decade began in 2000, when 6 million in the mainland capitals watched the opening and closing of the Olympics and a swim by Ian Thorpe and a run by Cathy Freeman. The MasterChef winner announcement would be the seventh most watched event in a decade that included 2000. But "of all time" is a different story.

OzTAM ratings began officially in 2001. Before that, the audience measurement company was ACNielsen. If we look at Nielsen's measurements since 1965 (when Channel Ten opened for business), we get another impression of MasterChef's place in the record books...

Australia's most watched non-sporting TV programs of all time
1 Funeral of Diana Spencer, 1997
2 Wedding of Charles and Diana, 1981
3 The World of the Seekers, 1968
4 The Sound of Music first TV showing, 1977
5 Roots miniseries, 1977
6 The landing on the moon, 1969
7 Royal Charity Concert, 1980
8 Holocaust miniseries, 1978
9 Raiders of the Lost Ark first TV showing, 1985
10 Great Moscow Circus, 1971
11 Homicide, 1971
12 Against The Wind miniseries, 1978
13 Bodyline miniseries, 1984
14 Star Wars first TV showing, 1982
15 MasterChef winner announced, 2009.

How did we make this educated guess? Before 1990, ratings were reported only for Sydney and Melbourne, and were expressed as a percentage of households that owned a TV set. So we had to turn the MasterChef ratings into a comparable figure. At 9.30 last Sunday night, 32 per cent of households in Sydney and 41 per cent in Melbourne watched Julie and Poh get hugged by their families.

Compare that with the day in 1981 when 75 per cent of homes in Sydney and 82 per cent in Melbourne watched the wedding of Charles Windsor and Diana Spencer (on four channels). Or 1997, when 79 per cent of sets in Sydney and 79 per cent in Melbourne were tuned to Diana's funeral (on four channels).

Or the first time The Sound of Music was shown on television (12 years after it was first in cinemas), when 57 per cent of homes in Melbourne and 52 per cent in Sydney made it the most watched film ever shown on television (before or since).

Or the period in 1971 when, week after week, 52 per cent in Melbourne and 43 per cent in Sydney followed the trilby-hatted detectives in Homicide. Or the day in 1969 when 47 per cent in Sydney and 57 per cent in Melbourne (plus uncounted thousands in schools, pubs, cafes, and hospitals) saw humans walk on the moon. (That same year, a boxing match between Lionel Rose and Alan Rudkin was watched by 67 per cent in Melbourne and 47 per cent in Sydney - the most watched single channel broadcast "of all time" until the Olympics in 2000).

What do we learn from this? That some media do not do their homework, and that in the 21st century, TV programs rarely unite the nation the way they used to. On Sunday, while 3.7 million were watching MasterChef, 3.5 million were watching other things on television, and 6 million people in the mainland capitals had found better entertainments elsewhere. Much as I enjoyed Poh's perfomance, I find that revelation about Australian culture encouraging.

Go to Comments to discuss how Australia has changed. Go to The TV shows Australia loved for more details on the other big shows of the 21st and 20th century. And please, if you were one of the millions who watched this show called Royal Charity Concert in 1980, tell us what was so great about it.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.