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In a bittersweet moment for Network Ten, The Biggest Loser finale managed one of the channel's best ratings of the year on Sunday - on a night when the ratings don't officially count.
The announcement of the reality series winner, which had been hastily moved from its original timeslot last week to Sunday so it would not be steamrolled by The Block, managed an audience of 949,000 in the five capital cities, boosted to a huge 1.32 million when including regional viewers.
The finale of the ninth season of The Biggest Loser was officially broken up into three rateable programs: "winner announced", "final weigh-in" (1.2 million including regional) and "final night" (923,000).
The figures were down from last year and overall it was still only the seventh most-watched show of the night. But it had nearly triple its average viewership for the season and was one of the highest-rated programs for Ten this year.
Sadly for Ten, ratings for the two weeks over the Easter period (starting Sunday) do not count towards the 2014 year, so this will not help improve Ten's overall performance.
The Biggest Loser was won by Craig Booby, who walked away $75,000 richer after managing to shed 79.8kg - 43.5 per cent of his original weight of 183.4kg.
The future of the series however is still in doubt after a recent statement from Ten CEO Hamish McLennan that the format was "aging".
"The Biggest Loser is (a series) that is getting to the end of its life cycle," McLennan said last month.
A spokesperson for Ten said there was no immediate statement on the series' future. “An announcement regarding the next season of The Biggest Loser will be made later in the year.”
Sunday night ratings (five capital cities)
1. Seven News Sunday (1,372,000)
2. Nine News Sunday (1,231,000)
3. Sunday Night (7) 1,122,000
4. Downton Abbey (7) 1,068,000
5. 60 Minutes (9) 1,064,000
6. My France With Manu (7) 1,061,000
7. The Biggest Loser: Challenge Australia - The Winner Announced (10) 949,000
8. The Biggest Loser: Challenge Australia - Final Weigh-in 860,000
9. ABC News - Sunday (ABC1) 839,000
10. David Attenborough's Secrets of Wild India (9) 834,000
