In the first two episodes of SBS’s Alone Australia, over one million people have watched the participants build shelters, make meals out of eels, and battle the loneliness of the Tasmanian wilderness.
The show’s audience is driven largely by the show’s presence on SBS On Demand, alongside shows like the historical drama Rogue Heroes which has seen a 208% Total TV uplift for its first episode.
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Mediaweek spoke to SBS’s director of TV, Kathryn Fink, about the success of Alone Australia, and the importance of SBS On Demand.
Kathryn Fink
With the first episode of Alone Australia now over the 1.2 million viewer mark, and episode two following closely behind, Fink says that the team at SBS are “absolutely thrilled.”
“It’s been performing incredibly well on SBS On Demand, almost half of its viewership is coming from on-demand. It’s really hitting that key demo of 25-to-54 year-olds, it’s been the number one program in that slot for that demo which is absolutely brilliant for us.”
Commissioning the Australian series came with an expectation that the show would perform well on Total TV – before Alone Australia, the USA and Scandinavian versions of Alone made the format the biggest ever factual series in SBS On Demand history.
With the first episode lifting to over 1.2 million viewers from its original metro overnight audience of 203,000, Fink says that On Demand is a “critical” part of SBS’s strategy.
“SBS was really ahead of the pack in launching digital on-demand as a destination, as opposed to a catch-up service, and I think it’s managed to maintain that lead. It’s performing really well in the BVOD space. Digital is an absolutely critical part of our strategy, we really look at Total TV consumption.
“What we try to do is acquire and commission shows that are really distinctive, world-class, and stand out for our audiences. I think Alone Australia has proven to be exactly that.”
Alone Australia cast: Michael, Duane, Gina, Peter, Jimmy, Chris, Kate, Beck, Rob & Mike
As for what it is that is keeping audiences coming back for more, Fink points to the fact that it’s not the type of show that a viewer can only watch one episode of – and that it’s the sort of show that viewers create a conversation about.
“It’s such engaging viewing, you can’t just watch one or two eps, you have to watch to the end. This is one of the things we’ve seen with Alone Australia, it’s really holding the audience from episode to episode, and also building as the word gets out.
“There’s a lot of live viewing as well, so we’ve seen a lot of social interaction happening during the broadcast, which is absolutely brilliant. We’ll see where it ends up, it’s looking pretty good for the whole series.”
Alone Australia will almost certainly be back on screens next year, with a casting call having closed while SBS searches for a new batch of survivalist hopefuls. It’s early days though, and Fink is keeping any plans under wraps.
“It’s too soon to announce anything, but certainly, season two is up for consideration. There have been casting calls gone out, but we’re not ready to announce anything yet. We’re really just looking to see this season through to its end and hopefully continue to build on the momentum it’s creating. “