Ten introduced its newest bachelor Sam Wood and 19 eligible bachelorettes to a 846,000 strong metro audience last night, with The Bachelor's viewership up 22% on 2014's opener.
In what Network Ten is calling its biggest launch episode ever of The Bachelor, the show was the sixth most watched show of the night, according to the preliminary overnight OzTam figures.
It was also the most watched show in the major age demographics of 18-49 and 25-54.
The Bachelor was also a hit on social media with #TheBachelorAU and the show's host @oshergunsberg trending last night according to Trendsmap.
Hashtags also emerged from the show's content including #analglands and #heather trending. Mamamia writer Rosie Waterland, who writes recaps of The Bachelor for the website was also trending on twitter.
The show topped both Seven and Nine's new reality shows, Restaurant Revolution and The Hotplate. Restaurant revolution reached 515,000 viewers after a launch episode on Tuesday reached 676,000, while The Hotplate reached 782,000 viewers after a launch of 713,000.
However, the Nine Network still won the night with 33.4% audience share. Network Seven was next on 23.3% and Network Ten followed on 19.8%.
Nine News at 6.30 was the most watched show of the evening on 1.08 million viewers.
Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2015. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of OzTAM. Program performance and ranking information subject to change when not based on final program logs.
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