‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition’ enjoys huge premiere

The lead broadcast aired on AXN and was followed by regional free-to-air TV channels and digital platforms across several key Asian markets, including Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan.1

Filmed in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic, “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” is a production marvel.

The show’s premiere episode smashed viewership records, beating other top-rated reality competition premieres including “America’s Got Talent” Season 20, “MasterChef Singapore” Season 2, “The Voice” Season 20, and “The Masked Singer” Season 5 to emerge as the most-watched 2021 season premiere of all English-language reality series on TV in Asia by broadcast reach.

Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “When we came up with the concept for ‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition,’ we knew immediately we had something special on our hands. I am extremely grateful for the support of all our passionate fans across Asia who tuned in, our production partner Refinery Media, our brand sponsors, and broadcast partners, as well as the entire team at ONE Championship for the hard work they put in. ‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition’ is not your grandfather’s ‘Apprentice,’ and I look forward to sharing this journey over the next 12 weeks.”

 

Broadcast Viewership Highlights:

 

Philippines

Episode 1 broadcast reach exceeded the timeslot average on AXN in the Philippines by 60%, beating the Season 32 premiere of long-running American reality TV series “The Amazing Race.” (Timeslot average based on FY2020, Thu 8:50 p.m. slot. Source: Nielsen)

 

Episode 1 rating on TV5 outperformed the timeslot average by 57%.

(Timeslot average based on FY2020, Sat 11 p.m. slot. Source: Nielsen)

 

Thailand

The premiere episode on Amarin TV smashed records and emerged as the #1 talent contest program by reach and rating.

(Among all talent contest programs aired on Amarin TV from Aug 2020-Feb 2021. Source: Nielsen)

 

Singapore

The premiere episode on AXN in Singapore lifted the timeslot average TVR by 38%, with the average time spent spanning 34 minutes.

(Timeslot average based on FY2020 Thu 8:50 p.m. slot. Source: Gfk)

 

Malaysia

· “The Apprentice” premiered on AXN as the #1-rated show for the day.

(All day on AXN Malaysia on 18 March 2021. Source: Nielsen)
 

About the Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition:

“The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” invites 16 candidates handpicked from around the world to compete in a high-stakes competition involving business and physical challenges. The winner will receive a US$250,000 job offer to work directly under ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong for a year as his protege in Singapore.

 

CEOs in special guest appearances on “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” include Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, Grab CEO Anthony Tan, Zilingo CEO Ankiti Bose, Catcha Group Co-Founder and Group CEO Patrick Grove, and Everise CEO Sudhir Agarwal, among others.

 

Athletes in special guest appearances include martial arts legends Georges St-Pierre and Renzo Gracie, former ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren, ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera, ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee, ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion Demetrious Johnson, Indian Wrestling Champion Ritu Phogat, Karate World Champion Sage Northcutt, and ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan.

 

“The Apprentice” is one of the biggest non-scripted reality television programs in history, judging the business skills of candidates who are competing for a job offer under a high-profile CEO. The first season of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” consists of 13 episodes.