TV ratings: New look MasterChef fails to rise

One of the contestants who failed to make the cut. Photo / Masterchef NZ

A new home and fresh line up of judges were not enough to entice viewers into the MasterChef kitchen last night, delivering the lowest-rating premiere episode of TV3's local reality line-up.

181,000 viewers aged 5-plus tuned in to last night's episode, according to Nielsen, well behind fellow reality series Dancing With the Stars, X Factor NZ and The Bachelor.

It's a far cry from MasterChef's glory days, when a record-setting 1.1 million Kiwis tuned in to watch the season four premiere in 2013 on TV One.

Within the target demographic, last night's debut saw 107,000 viewers aged 25-54 tune in, representing a 5.7 share of the total television watching audience. By comparison, MasterChef used to draw an average 12.4 share on TV One.

TV3 picked up the series last year, after TVNZ announced it would not be bringing it back due to falling ratings.

Top chef Josh Emett stayed on as a judge, joined by Al Brown and Mark Wallbank, who replaced Simon Gault and Ray McVinnie.

But despite positive reviews, it seems the culinary cook-off may not be to viewers tastes, with audience numbers dropping by more than 253,000 from last week's Dancing With the Stars final, which screened in the same timeslot.

Meanwhile, TV One saw 626,000 viewers tune in to its current affairs programme Sunday.

Ratings reality check:

X Factor premiere (Feb 2015): 428,000

The Bachelor premiere (Mar 2015): 232,000

Dancing With the Stars S2 premiere (May 2015): 358,000

MasterChef S6 premiere (Jul 2015): 181,000