The newest season of Love Island Australia officially launched on Monday, October 31st. However there was something new about this season – instead of airing it on linear TV, Channel Nine decided to run it first on 9Now.
With the Total TV numbers coming in for the first episode on Tuesday morning, the show has recorded a total audience of 326,000, lifting a whopping 594%. This number puts it at the 29th overall show for October 31st, rating just above ABC’s Planet America (which drew a total audience of 310,000 after a 12% rise).
This is the first time that a show has aired on BVOD first and cracked the top 30 Total TV list.
After first being floated back in 2018, OzTAM began using the new reporting standard in July of last year. The movement of BVOD programming into the list of top shows overall reflects the latest evolution and adaptation of an industry that has been dealing with the impact of streaming services on audiences’ attention.
Comparatively, last year’s Love Island Australia launch episode was watched by 311,000 on Channel Nine, before lifting 86% to bring in a total audience of 768,000.
2022 contestants
Speaking to Mediaweek, ITV executive producer, Alex Mavroidakis, said that the evolution in broadcasting Love Island Australia came after the team realised how much better the show performed on catch up TV. Ultimately, the decision came down to pursuing the audience where they were.
“What we have discovered in Australia is that it doesn’t matter where you put Love Island, it’s going to do okay number on linear television. Whether it’s on Channel Nine’s main channel, whether it’s on Go! – you could put it on the Christian channel on a Sunday morning, it’s still going to do the same number.
“But then after seven days, it goes gangbusters. After 28 days it dominates the top 20 most streamed shows in Australia – I think at one point we had 19 of the top 20 all Love Island Australia last year. So it really is a streaming phenomenon.”
See Also: Why Love Island Australia returned to its Spanish roots for a season of firsts