Fed: Australian Idol enjoys second best ever series debut

AAP General News (Australia)
08-06-2007
Fed: Australian Idol enjoys second best ever series debut

By Michael Gadd, National Entertainment Writer

SYDNEY, Aug 6 AAP - Australian Idol producers are singing a happy tune after last night's
series return attracted an audience of 1.65 million viewers, making it Sunday's most-watched
show.

The first episode recapping Idol's biggest ever nationwide search for the next singing
sensation was the show's second highest rating series opener and 270,000 ahead of last
year.

While most attention has been on the judges in the lead-up to Network Ten's fifth Australian
Idol, most notably the return of Ian Dickson, the spotlight turned to the real talent
last night.

The larrikins were combined with the genuine contenders in the first of six audition
episodes which will lead up to the first live performances from finalists later this month.

It was another impressive Sunday for the Nine Network, the most watched channel overall
ahead of Ten in second and the usually high-flying Seven Network third.

But it was a close night. Just five points split the four networks as the ABC also
had an impressive night in the ratings by its standards, with Midsomer Murders fourth
with 1.4 million viewers and The Worst Jobs in History eighth with 1.25 million viewers.

Ten will be most encouraged by its young audience. Not only did it average 1.65 million
viewers overall, Idol attracted about 50 per cent of viewers in the lucrative 18 to 49
and 18 to 39 age brackets.

Idol has undergone a facelift this year, not in format but in clientele, with a far
more edgy contingent lining up for the leg-up into the music industry. This has been attributed
to Idol allowing performers to use guitars and the quality of last year's winner, Damien
Leith.

The combination has added musical credibility to a brand previously discounted by so
called "real artists" as a televised karaoke contest.

AAP mdg/maur/de

KEYWORD: IDOL

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