While I probably should be happy that Nine have finally cracked the dominance of Seven (at least in primetime), I really don’t think any of their major franchises deserved the #1 ratings that they got. Nine’s 2019 programming lineup really wasn’t that much better or even different compared to their 2018 lineup with Lego Masters the only truly new format of any significance. As I said earlier in this thread and indeed have said a few times during the year, Nine was probably just considered to be “the least worst option” compared to the string of tired formats, a bunch of revivals the general public didn’t really ask for and aside from perhaps The Masked Singer, not particularly interesting new programming on either Seven or Ten.
This viewer suspects that most of Nine’s “hits” would struggle in the ratings big time if Seven & Ten had half decent competition, but unfortunately it appears that 2020 will be more of the same for those two networks. I mean really…Seven reviving Nine off-cuts from a few years back such as Big Brother and The Farmer Wants A Wife?! That network would probably be in a world of pain if it wasn’t for their strengths in news, breakfast/mid-morning/daytime + the hugely overpriced AFL, Olympics and Cricket Australia broadcast deals!
While not strictly limited to Nine, overall I think 2019 in Australian Television is probably going to be most remembered in the future (in a similar way to how we can look back on how cooking “reality” was the big thing in 2009/10, with renovation “reality” trending for a while after that, etc.) as being the year that dating, relationship and wedding-themed programs saturated our screens. Pretty much every network had a crack at it, even the ABC & SBS if you really want to add Love On The Spectrum & Love Me As I Am into the mix although I’d personally find it insulting to put those two worthwhile projects in the same category as MAFS, The Bachelor/ette or Love Island.