Australian Idol just concluded another season on Seven, and it’s just been announced that the season was a record-breaker.
The Grand Finale results show of Australian Idol, which aired on Tuesday (14 April), reached 1.9 million viewers across Seven and its streaming platform, 7plus, marking the biggest-ever episode for the latter.
In addition to those statistics, the episode, which crowned Kesha Oayda as this year’s winner and the first woman to win Idol since Natalie Gauci in 2007, was the #1 entertainment program across free-to-air TV and won in its 7:30 pm timeslot across all age groups.
The audience for this year’s final episodes increased by 1% on Seven compared to last year, while on 7plus it rose by a massive 125%. Tuesday night’s results show ended up being the biggest-ever episode of Australian Idol on Seven and the most-watched episode since 2009, while the series marked its biggest-ever season on Seven overall.
The statistics follow strong viewership across the season. This year’s Australian Idol reached 10.1 million people, with an average TV audience of 1.08 million. On 7plus, the season saw a 71% increase in viewership, reaching 281,000.
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Monday night’s Grand Finale episode, which contained performances by the final three contestants, Kesha Oayda, Harlan Goode, and Kalani Artis, reached 1.67 million viewers and recorded a national TV audience of 962,000.
The contestants also performed alongside Australian music royalty – Oayda with Vanessa Amorosi, Artis with Pete Murray, and Goode with Idol alum Anthony Callea – while Australian country star, Morgan Evans, had a solo performance. Amy Shark performed her cheeky new single, The Biggest Dick, during Tuesday night’s results show.
Following another successful season, Australian Idol returns to Seven and 7plus in 2027.
Seven’s Director of Content, Unscripted, Majella Hay, commented on the strength of the 2026 season and how that reflected in this year’s viewership.
“Now in its fourth year on Seven, Australian Idol continues to go from strength to strength, engaging millions of people every week on Seven and – increasingly – on 7plus and proving that big scale, live entertainment never goes out of fashion,” Hay said.
She continued, “This year’s season was fantastic, with some of the best performances we’ve ever seen. Congratulations to our very deserving winner, Kesha, and to her fellow grand finalists, Harlan and Kalani. And a big thank you to everyone at Seven and Eureka Productions, to our great judges Marcia Hines, Kyle Sandilands and Amy Shark, and to our co-hosts Ricki-Lee and Scott Tweedie.”
Seven National Television Sales Director, Katie Finney, added, “Once again, Australian Idol has proven why it’s one of the most popular shows on TV.
“This year’s season was the best-ever on Seven, providing great family viewing and drawing big, involved audiences week in, week out. Thank you to everyone who worked on Australian Idol this year and to our great sponsors and advertisers.”
