2015 Annual: TV flops and TV hits
It has been another a year of dizzying highs and crashing lows in TV land. Here we recap some of the biggest TV flops of 2015 and some of the big successes.
Flops
Gallipoli, Nine
When the boss of Nine Entertainment Co describes a show as his “biggest disappointment for the year” you know it was the flop of the year. Nine’s much-anticipated Gallipoli premiered in early February with a metro audience of 1.104m however the audience more than halved on the second outing, with only 580,000 metro viewers tuning in.
Audiences continued to slide, with Nine then moving to air double episodes, a programming move often referred to as ‘burning off’ a show.
The final double episodes of the drama series saw 450,000 metro viewers tune in for the second-last ep, with just 353,000 watching the final part.
Restaurant Revolution, Seven
Seven was off to a bad start in July this year when on launch it went head-to-head with Nine’s The Hotplate. The shows cannibalised each other’s audience on launch with both drawing audience numbers below 800,000.
As Restaurant Revolution continued to struggle, Seven shifted it to a one-night per week outing, however that did little to save the show with its audience collapsing to 313,000 metro viewers.
The show officially tanked when just 183,000 tuned in for the finale.
The Verdict, Nine
Karl Stefanovic’s new panel talk show The Verdict proved less than popular with just 522,000 metro viewers tuning in for its debut in early October. Its 
second outing saw its audience drop to 369,000. The show quickly became known for the ludicrious statements made by panellists, including this gem from former immigration minister Amanda Vanstone.
On the final episode of the show, host Karl Stefanovic congratulated Bindi Irwin on her US Dancing With The Stars win, saying: “I wanted to end on something light and fun and given what she’s been through, my feel good story is Bindi Irwin up there on the stage over there in America dancing up a storm, god love her.”
But Amanda Vanstone wasn’t quite on board with the Irwin celebration, saying: “Give me a break. She’s not the only kid whose father has died. My father died when I was young; it happens to lots of kids. It doesn’t make her special. How many years ago did her father die?”
The final episode of the talk show was watched by 548,000 metro viewers. Despite that Nine has given it a second season in 2016.
Celebrity Apprentice, Nine
The return of Celebrity Apprentice after a two-year break suggested audiences weren’t quite ready for it yet, with just 566,000 metro viewers tuning in, the show’s smallest audience ever.
The show was easily out-rated by rival The Bachelorette, however managed to grab 638,000 viewers for its finale.
Million Dollar Minute, Seven
Seven canned game-show Million Dollar Minute in September after the channel admitted the two-year-old format wasn’t performing well enough against Nine’s Hot Seat. In its last week Million Dollar Minute averaged 470,000 viewers to Nine’s 587,000.
The Biggest Loser, Ten
It may be time for Ten to give the reality show a rest after ten successful seasons. While ratings were up on last year they could not get anywhere near the heights it has previously achieved, and couldn’t touch The Block of X Factor. Indeed even trainer Shannan Ponton told Mumbrella the show needed a refresh with more of a focus on nutrition.
Hits
The Bachelorette, Ten
Ten playing on the public’s empathy for jilted bachelorette Sam Frost paid off, with a strong opening audience of 875,000 metro viewers tuning in to see Frost meet her potential love interests.
The audience grew throughout the season, with the finale, which saw Frost declare her love for Sasha Mielczarek watched by 1.52m metro viewers despite The Daily Mail Australia’s attempt to spoil the outcome of the show.
I’
m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Ten
It was a good year for Ten with its I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here another unexpected hit of 2015. The reality program which saw personalities, sports people and reality TV stars put into a hostile environment and made to complete a series of challenges to earn food, pulled in 1.199m metro viewers for tis opening show.
Media buyers did warn of an audience drop off, but the show remained a strong audience favourite, pulling in numbers above the 600,000 metro mark regularly throughout its run before culminating with a metro audience of 1.144m metro viewers tuning in to see former English-cricket player Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff crowned the winner.
Renewed for a second season, Ten is already releasing clues as to who the next crop of “celebrities” will be.
Struggle Street, SBS
SBS’s Struggle Street saw 935,000 metro viewers tune in for the first part of the controversial documentary about life in disadvantaged areas of Australia. Buoyed by the extensive media coverage around the show, audience numbers did drop off for part two but remained high with 828,000 metro viewers tuning in.
SBS has said it has plans to bring back the show for a second season.
Peter Allen – Not the Boy Next Door, Seven
Seven’s much-vaunted miniseries Peter Allen – Not the Boy Next Door was easily one of the hits of the year, with part one pulling in 1.33m metro viewers for the channel. The audience for part two remained above the 1m audience mark, grabbing 1.212m viewers.
The miniseries also picked up five AACTA Awards including Best Miniseries, Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Joel Jackson, Best Supporting Actor for Ky Baldwin and Best Supporting Actress for Sigrid Thornton.
Gogglebox Australia, Ten
While the show saw its ratings slide throughout season 1, it came back with avengeance in the second half of the year with the show proving popular amongst the key advertising demographics (16-29, 18-39 and 25-54).
800 Words, Seven
Australia has a new number one drama, as Seven reheated the proved pulling power of Erik Thomson in a family environment and plonked it in prime time. The show consistently pulled more than a million viewers (a big feat these days) and proved there is still life in Aussie drama.
Gruen, ABC
It’s fair to say Gruen is standing the test of time, with the ninth series of the marketing panel show actually boosting ratings despite being up against The Bachelorette, one of the runaway hits of the year. We even saw Russel Howcroft outrating his own network on a couple of occassions. Don’t be surprised to see another series on our screens next year, with the Olympics and an election in the offing.
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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The Verdict has potential but it is on the wrong night. I think Nine needs to move it to Monday nights to go head-to-head with Media Watch & QANDA. Also they need to keep Peter FitzSimons off the show – he talks over other panellists & hijacks each topic when he’s on.
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