With the summer of sport coming to an end, our free-to-air networks are preparing to launch three of their biggest guns in the latest battle of the reality TV wars to kickstart 2023.

On Monday evening, after more than 10 years off air, Seven’s Australian Idol will go head to head with Nine ratings juggernaut Married at First Sight and Ten’s gritty, ego-driven Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains.

The networks have much at stake. All have invested heavily with big budgets, exotic locations, new talent and storylines and challenges to rival previous series.

Seven’s live TV broadcasting gamble in reviving Idol to a national audience after 14 years has appeal, with guest judge Marcia Hines returning and a new panel of judges with US singers Harry Connick Jr and Meghan Trainor, radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands and Australian singer-songwriter, Amy Shark.

Over at Nine, celebrating its 10th season, relationship experts John Aiken and Mel Schilling, and clinical sexologist Alessandra Rampolla, will help 10 brides and 10 grooms try and fall in love.

Four couples are still together after the show launched in 2015, and we’re sure to witness the heartbreak, scandal and intrigue all over again.

Same storylines. New faces.

If you’re not excited by the prospect of a revamped singing show or watching the weekly MAFS dinner party train wrecks and mindless drama, switch over to Ten for some island survivor magic with Jonathan LaPaglia.

What’s at stake?

Marquee reality TV offerings are where the networks stake their claim to maintain solid ratings as they heap the pressure on contestants to win huge cash prizes.

Ratings charts are scrutinised by the network to gauge audience engagement while producers hope the shows are renewed for another season.

Let’s break it down.

Australian Idol

Australian Idol ran for seven seasons on the Ten network from 2003 to 2009 but with poor ratings, the network announced the show would be “rested” in 2010.

Just 1.4 million viewers watched Stan Walker’s triumph in the 2009 finale, almost two million fewer than the 3.34 million who cheered Guy Sebastian in the 2003 premiere, reported the Daily Telegraph at the time.

So, needless to say, Idol needed a new network, a makeover and some new inspiration in the form of Grammy-winning singer-songwriters and musicians of Connick and Trainor’s standing.

“I think it’s the simple, old-school nature of the show … it’s a classic competition format that brings the audience on an insightful journey with the singers in the competition,” Connick Jr says.

A host for four seasons, Sandilands, whose FM radio breakfast show with Jacki 0 was No.1 in Sydney last year in terms of audience share, says he’s focused on the bigger picture.

“Can this performer become a superstar who’ll have commercial success? Are they good enough to sell out shows and have radio and streaming platforms begging them for new music?” he said.

“I know there’s a beauty to examining the artistry of music, but you can’t buy a house and a Lambo with artistry.”

Shark agrees, saying a successful artist needs more than just a good voice: “We’re looking for the package. Unfortunately, gone are the days of just being able to sing.

“You have to be a likeable, talented and hard-working character to really make it in this business.”

Veteran Hines will bring the love and the balance, and says she hopes the aspiring artists will listen and taken advice.

The singing competition, for 15- to 28-year-olds, will see judges host auditions in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Gold Coast and regional Australia, with those lucky enough to score a Golden Ticket going straight into the top 50.

The judges then narrow the field to just 12 artists to feature in the live performance round of the competition.

The winner receives a recording contract with industry giant Sony Music and $100,000 in prize money.

“No other show does it better,” Connick Jr said.

We will have to wait and see.

Australian Idol premieres on Monday, January 30 at 7.30pm on Channel 7 and 7plus

Married at First Sight

Nine tells us Australia’s “most-talked-about social experiment is back” and we’re in for some shock moments.

MAFS claimed the No.1 series on TV in 2022, and gave the network its strongest-ever start to a calendar year, according to a Mediaweek report.

Episode six, for example, had a total audience of 2.02 million people and the final show in late March, when the couples delivered their final vows, had a total audience of 1.96 million viewers

Director of 9Now and programming Hamish Turner said at the time: “Married At First Sight is again the undisputed leader in Australian entertainment” which targets the key demographics of the 25 to 54 and 16 to 39-year-olds.

The season promises to start “with the biggest shock ever to rock a wedding, followed by honeymoons ranging from the deeply romantic to the extra spicy and drama-filled, interstate and overseas”.

“Alessandra will encourage a sense of adventure in our couples as they step out of their comfort zones with unprecedented Intimacy Week tasks to set pulses racing,” teases the network.

Oh, and there’s a twist, which we won’t know until we watch.

And a quick fact check – after marrying off dozens of couples only four are still together:

Kerry Knight and Johnny Balbuziente (S8), Melissa Rawson and Bryce Ruthven (S8), Martha Kalifatidis and Michael Brunelli (S6) and Jules Robinson and Cam Merchant (S6).

Married at First Sight premieres on Monday, January 30 at 7.30pm on Nine and 9Now

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Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains

Survivors ready? Viewers ready?

Jonathan LaPaglia is hosting the show in Samoa, back to where it all started eight seasons ago.

Of last year’s Australian Survivor: Blood v Water, senior vice president of content and programming at Paramount ANZ, Daniel Monaghan, revealed the show was No.2 in its time slot across its season and the No.2 entertainment option for under-50s, 25 to 54 and 16 to 39.

“It was also the richest show in co-viewing – 60 per cent of its audience were co-viewers … [it] achieved its biggest BVOD audience ever, growing five per cent year on year,” he said.

Among this year’s heroes and villains – all vying for a $500,000 prize, include the daughter of two-time US Survivor winner Sandra Diaz-Twine, Nina.

There’s some new castaways on Samoa who are up for the challenge.

So let the network games begin.

Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains premieres on Monday, January 30 at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play on Demand