Nine’s Married at First Sight swells to above 900,000 as ABC’s 7.30 out-rates Ten’s Australian Survivor

Nine’s Married at First Sight posted a metro audience of 919,000 on its third outing, up from last week’s 805,000, to be the most-watched non-news program of the evening.

The controversial dating show, which aired at 8:40pm, was also the most-watched show across the key advertising demographics (16-39, 18-49 and 25-54).

Meanwhile Seven’s local drama 800 Words, which aired at 8:45pm, pulled in 793,000, a modest increase on last week’s audience of 742,000.

Earlier in the evening, Nine’s The Block won the 7:30pm time slot with a metro audience of 846,000, well up on last week’s performance of 792,000.

Seven’s Zumbo’s Just Desserts grabbed shed 86,000 viewers, posting a metro audience of 794,000, down from last week’s 880,000.

Ten’s Australian Survivor also slipped with 717,000 tuning in, down from last week’s 728,000. It was out-rated by the ABC’s 7.30, which was watched by 732,000.

The Block was the second most-watched show amongst 18-49 and 25-54 year old viewers while Australian Survivor was the popular choice amongst 16-39 year old viewers.

Nine just managed to win the night with an audience share of 20.8%, with Seven just behind on a share of 20.5%. Ten claimed third place with a share of 12.8% while the ABC settled for a share of 11.9%.

In the news battleground, Seven News at 6:00pm grabbed 1.123m, slipping to 1.052 from 6:30pm while Nine News at 6:00pm was watched by 997,000, sliding to 983,000 from 6:30pm.