Australian Ninja Warrior

TV.Cynic · June 7, 2021, 4:30am

Mt Midoriyama bites back

SUNDAY, JUNE 20, AT 7.00PM ON CHANNEL 9 & 9NOW

It’s been a year since Mt Midoriyama was conquered, and in 2021 the brutal monster is seeking revenge when Australian Ninja Warrior returns on Sunday, June 20, at 7.00pm on Channel 9.

A killer new course, including 26 obstacles never seen before, will delight and excite fans, and push the Ninjas into uncharted levels of punishing endurance on the show that has become a global phenomenon.

This year, on the toughest course ever designed, the Ninjas will be challenged in new and unexpected ways. For the first time ever, Ninjas will be able to choose their own path, taking them through to the gravity-defying Warped Wall, which is now ten centimetres higher. New obstacles include the lung-busting Underwater Escape and the forearm-destroying Dragon Back.

More than 200 aspiring, everyday athletes have been training day in and day out to prepare for their turn to tame the world’s most difficult obstacle course. Mums and dads, tradies and farmers, students and business owners from all over Australia will put their bodies on the line to see if they have what it takes to conquer Mt Midoriyama and win the title of Australian Ninja Warrior 2021.

Hosts Rebecca Maddern , Ben Fordham and Shane Crawford will be joined on the course by Nick Kyrgios , the man John McEnroe described as the most talented tennis player he has seen in ten years, as he makes his Australian Ninja Warrior debut. Forever unpredictable and always entertaining, Kyrgios will bring his own flair to the commentary.

This year the tortuous course moves to a new location of truly Olympic proportions: Sydney Olympic Park, where new competitors will be welcomed as well as seasoned returning veterans. We will watch as a fresh cohort of Ninjas – plus fan favourites like Ashlin Herbert , Sam Goodall , Olivia Vivian and Ben Polson – test their skills, scrambling through the course to become the furthest fastest.

The competitor who does go furthest on the Grand Final course in the fastest time will be the Season 5 winner and will take home $100,000. However, the competitor who conquers Mt Midoriyama in the fastest time will win an additional $100,000 and claim the title of Australia’s Ninja Warrior.

Nine’s Head of Content Production and Development, Adrian Swift , said: “Last year we witnessed history as Ben Polson defied the odds and became the first conqueror of Mount Midoriyama. So this year we had to take the series up a notch, and we have done just that with a gruelling new course, an electrifying new crop of Ninjas, and a new superstar commentator.

“And in an Olympic year, it only made sense to bring the course to the home of many of Australia’s greatest sporting moments, Sydney Olympic Park, as our Ninjas push the limits and strive for glory.”

SydneyCityTV · June 7, 2021, 4:52am

Is it really in Nine’s interest to be referencing in their press release an event which will be seen exclusively on the Seven Network?

killy06 · June 7, 2021, 5:41am

Are our networks really that ridiculous they can’t acknowledge a global sporting event even if they don’t have the rights?

You can bet that they’ll be reporting on said event during their news and current affairs throughout the day too.

Ignoring it like it’s not happening seems silly and as you said it’s a press release, not a promo or anything.

OnAir · June 7, 2021, 5:41am

It’s not like people are going to be alerted to the fact the Olympics are this year by the use of the word in a press release.

AustralianAerial · June 7, 2021, 8:26am

If anything it’ll be the “Olympics cancelled” headlines in a few weeks that alert people instead.

Tom_TV7 · June 7, 2021, 8:36am

That’s if the IOC has enough balls instead of bending over to the NBC and other stakeholders who seem to hold a significant amount of financial influence over this decision.

Back to the show, I really hope that they’re not going to push all of their returning ‘favourites’ excessively. But judging by that promo I have a feeling they’re going to milk them of all their worth before the season’s even over.

TV.Cynic · June 8, 2021, 1:23pm

Sopiea Kong, who featured on the Australian Ninja Warrior was charge as part of operation Ironside with offences including trafficking and possessing drugs.

TV.Cynic · June 15, 2021, 10:16pm

More Season 5 information

Australian Ninja Warrior is back in 2021 and the dark shadow of Mt Midoriyama looms over the hopes of Australia’s best Ninjas after being conquered for the first time in Australian history by Ben Polson last season.

And this year, daunting Mt Midoriyama wants revenge, returning bigger and more threatening than ever.

This year the tortuous course moves to a new location of Olympic proportions: Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, where a new wave of Ninjas will be welcomed, as well as returning fan favourites. We will watch as a fresh cohort of Ninjas and fan favourites who have been there for every season including, Ashlin Herbert, Ben Polson, Olivia Vivian and Sam Goodall, test their skills, scrambling through the course and taking on the legends to become the furthest fastest. Former competitor Jack Wilson also returns after a terrible accident prevented him from appearing last season.

Ninjas will be challenged in new and unexpected ways on the toughest course ever designed. And in another innovation, Ninjas must face the Underwater Escape, diving deep to open a series of weighted doors they must swim through in order to reach the buzzer at the end of the course.

With 26 obstacles never seen before on the show, the action begins with the Heats, where in an Australian first, Ninjas will have the opportunity to choose their own path. Once the first three obstacles have been successfully completed, they will choose either Path A or Path B to go through to the final obstacle of the Heats, the gravity-defying Warped Wall, which is now ten centimetres higher.

The surprises don’t stop there: the two furthest fastest Ninjas in each Heat will compete head to head on the new Power Tower, with the winner skipping the Semi-Finals and gaining a “fast pass” straight into the Grand Finals, a game-changing advantage.

In the Semi-Finals the stakes are even higher, with the two furthest fastest Ninjas on the night making their way up to brand new and even tougher Power Tower to try and hit the buzzer first. The first one to hit the buzzer gets a second chance at a Grand Final if they splash out on their first attempt.

The Grand Final course is also the most difficult yet, and it comes to a head at the mighty Mt Midoriyama. After being conquered by Ben Polson and two other Ninjas last year, the 22 metre-high monster is seeking revenge and has morphed into its most challenging form ever. Once they reach the base of Midoriyama, each Ninja must scale the seven-metre Chimney Climb, the seven-metre Salmon Ladder (20 rungs) and the seven-metre Rope Climb to reach the summit and be crowned Australian Ninja Warrior.

The competitor who goes furthest on the Grand Final course in the fastest time will be the Season 5 winner and will take home $100,000. However, the competitor who conquers Mt Midoriyama in the fastest time will win an additional $100,000 and take home the title of Australia’s Ninja Warrior.

Hundreds of everyday Aussie competitors with one shared goal: to be Australia’s Ninja Warrior.

Number of people who tried out for Season 5: Approximately 550

Number of Ninjas competing : 144

THE COURSE

THE HEATS: The Top 19 from each Heat go through to the Semi-finals – based on furthest fastest

The night’s two furthest fastest Ninja’s go head to head on THE POWER TOWER, with the winner getting a “fast pass” straight to the Grand Final.

TV.Cynic · June 18, 2021, 4:36am

Nine names six major sponsors for 2021 Australian Ninja Warrior

Nine has announced a record six major sponsors for the 2021 season of adrenaline-charged Australian Ninja Warrior, with leading health insurer AIA Australia joining Nutri-Grain, ALDI, Energizer, KFC and Bendigo Bank.

More details

Season five of Australian Ninja Warrior premieres this Sunday, June 20, and will feature innovative, bespoke in-show branding that compliments both the editorial of the series and the brands’ campaign messaging.

“Ninja Warrior’s return brings with it a stellar group of brand partners, all looking to capitalise on the exceptional communal viewing this family favourite delivers. We are thrilled to be working with each partner, using deep sponsorship effectiveness know-how to ensure we deliver strong ROI,” said Nine’s Director of Powered, Liana Dubois.

As part of AIA Australia’s sponsorship, Nine’s Powered Studios has produced eight integrated TV commercials utilising four Ninjas and Australian Ninja Warrior sideline commentator Shane Crawford that reflects the brand’s ‘Small steps to a healthier you’ campaign.

Featuring high profile Ninjas Zac Stolz, Chris White, Raphaela Wiget and new to Ninja, Dylan James, the TVCs will run throughout the series in line with their appearances during the series. The sponsorship package will also include branding on digital perimeter screens around the obstacle course and in the pool.

AIA Australia and New Zealand CEO and Managing Director, Damien Mu, said he was thrilled to be involved with Ninja Warrior, as it showed what can be achieved by people at the peak of their performance, who have a dream.
“We are focused on helping Australians live healthier, longer, better lives. Whether your dream is to be an elite athlete or simply to improve your health, it’s inspiring to see how far you can go with small steps every day,” he said.

Returning for its second year, Nutri-Grain will have branded commercial break ‘engagers’ re-capping the unstoppable in-show moments from Ninja runs. Nutri-Grain Ambassador Ky Hurst will also compete in this season as a Ninja.

Energizer, returning for its third year, will have its branding in-show on The Power Tower and bespoke branding on the on-screen timer shown during Ninja runs. ALDI, also in its second year of sponsorship, will have its branding displayed on the Leader-board and Hero-board. Returning for its fifth year, KFC will be back as a premium sponsor through billboard association. All sponsors will also have branding shown on digital perimeter screens around the course. Bendigo Bank will also leverage the power of Australian Ninja Warrior through billboard association.

This year, on the toughest course ever designed, Ninjas will be challenged in new and unexpected ways. For the first time ever, Ninjas will be able to choose their own path, taking them through to the gravity-defying Warped Wall, which is now ten centimetres higher. There will be 26 new obstacles including the lung-busting Underwater Escape and the forearm-destroying Dragon Back.

More than 200 aspiring, everyday athletes have been training day in and day out to prepare for their turn to tame the world’s most difficult obstacle course. Mums and dads, tradies and farmers, students and business owners from all over Australia will put their bodies on the line to see if they have what it takes to conquer Mt Midoriyama and win the title of Australian Ninja Warrior 2021

JacobA · June 20, 2021, 8:55am

Each episode will run for almost 2 hours (6 hours each week). Will people get bored?

JBar · June 20, 2021, 10:37am

They were bored with it three years ago.

Brekkie · June 20, 2021, 2:01pm

They’ve just started airing the Aussie version here in the UK (season 3 I think) and it’s amazing how even as a fan of the format, and even though Nine do a pretty good job with it, that the longer running time makes it much more of a chore than a show capped at an hour.

turdall · June 20, 2021, 7:25pm

You can probably see why it took covid for a UK broadcaster to pick it up. Like most Australian reality it drags on way too much. I would much rather an extra 5 episodes than 90 minute running time.

observa · June 23, 2021, 12:25pm

Weren’t the Japanese episodes that used to air on SBS2 as I think it was then half hour eps?

Tom_TV7 · June 23, 2021, 12:30pm

I reckon Nine probably would like that too so they can stretch the show out further.

inthewild · June 23, 2021, 4:19pm

Well… they clearly don’t want to otherwise they would. None of these networks seems to want to do the logical thing to tackle some reality fatigue.

Brekkie · June 25, 2021, 12:04pm

And I really think the current strategy of the post-7.30pm shows (generally now at 9pm) being seemingly an afterthought is basically the channels saying “Thanks for watching, now bugger off and watch Netflix”.

JohnsonTV · June 29, 2021, 12:04pm

The semi finals are on tonight and tomorrow.

The top eight from each Semi Final go through to the Grand Final next week – based on furthest fastest.

The night’s two furthest fastest Ninja’s go head to head on The Power Tower with the winner getting a chance for another Grand Final Run if they splash out.

JohnsonTV · July 5, 2021, 9:31am

The grand final is on tonight and tomorrow (July 5 and 6).

FORMAT
There are three stages to the Australian Ninja Warrior Grand Final.

Stage One
The Top 28 compete against the clock – in order to progress to Stage Two they must complete all obstacles on the course in 5min 35sec.

Stage Two

All the Ninjas who completed Grand Final Stage One within the time limit can attempt Stage Two, with the clock counting down from 3min 35sec.

They must complete the Stage Two course in the time limit to then progress to Stage Three.

If no one completes Stage Two, the Ninja who goes the furthest and fastest will be declared the winner and take home $100,000.

If a Ninja hits the buzzer within the 3 minutes and 35 seconds time limit, they are through to Stage Three of the Grand Final.

Stage Three

All Ninjas who complete Stage Two within the time limit may attempt Stage Three and be in the running to win $100,000. With Stage Three, there is no clock on the course or time limit.

They must complete all obstacles to progress to Mt Midoriyama.

The Ninja who makes it furthest on the course in the fastest time will be deemed the winner and will pocket the $100,000 prize.

If a Ninja completes Stage Three of the course, they have earned the right to scale the seven metre Chimney Climb, seven metre Salmon Ladder and the seven metre Rope Climb to the top of Mt Midoriyama. The Ninja who conquers Mt Midoriyama will win the series and claim the title of Australian Ninja Warrior and a $200,000 total prize.

JohnsonTV · July 7, 2021, 9:43am