BIG Brother is the king of bum-numbing television with exclusive Fusion Strategy research showing that Channel 9 screened a whopping 101.75 hours of its hit reality series in 2013.
Other Aussie TV couch-killers include MasterChef Australia (71.5 hours), The Block (62.2), My Kitchen Rules (61.75), The X Factor (57.5), and The Voice (42.4).
Those figures blow out even more when daytime and late night repeats are added in.
MasterChef chewed up an extra 67 hours of screen time in repeats with The Block and My Kitchen Rules rolling out a further 40-plus hours out of prime time.
Seven's new renovation show House Rules screened for 31.75 hours but you can bet that will grow in 2014.
"Today long form programming is the backbone of the three commercial networks ratings strategy," Fusion Strategy's Steve Allen says.
"Networks are developing local programs that go beyond weekly drama series into multi-night offerings."
These long-form shows are getting longer every year. The first series of My Kitchen Rules lasted 16 episodes. This year's stretched to a whopping 46.
In 2012, the Big Brother housemates spent 87 days cooped up on the Gold Coast. This year they endured 101.
The first three seasons of The Block aired once per week. These days Nine's renovation series can soak up six nights on the trot. To up the ante, there are now Block spin-offs such as All Stars and Fans v Favourites.
The only show that has gone backwards is MasterChef Australia. It hit a peak of 86 episodes in season three. This year's fifth season was reduced to 65. Mind you, it still rolled out spin-off MasterChef: The Professionals.
The amazing thing is that the long run times don't appear to be hurting the shows' ratings. In fact, they are probably helping.
The Voice and My Kitchen Rules both averaged around 2 million viewers per episode this year.
"The Voice and My Kitchen Rules are the two top programs for 2013 which is remarkable given the sheer number of hours they screened," Mr Allen says.
"Each of these programs has around four times the running time of an imported (British or US) hit drama which is an added bonus.
"Not only do they rate higher, but they often have very attractive demographics - winning in 16 to 39 and 25 to 54.
"The fact that they can even get good ratings in daytime repeats makes them even more valuable."
Breakfast and morning shows are also big bum numb-ers. Today and Sunrise have both notched up more than 1000 hours this year.
News and current affairs are also being stretched with networks introducing a range of extra morning and afternoon bulletins and chat-based panel shows.
Afternoons, in particular, have become clogged with shows including The Daily Edition, The Chase, News Now and 4pm news bulletins.
"Because America, in particular, is providing fewer and less reliable hit shows, there has been a drift to Australian programming," Mr Allen says.
at least
