Hey Hey Reunion beats Celebrity Masterchef and crushes Denton
Nine’s brave decision to programme the first part of its Hey Hey It’s Saturday reunion against Celebrity Masterchef dramatically paid off on Wednesday with it rating a massive TV audience of nearly 2.2m.
The entertainment show was well ahead of Celebrity Masterchef which drew in just under 1.4m, although Masterchef did hit a peak of 1.9m, according to preliminary ratings from OzTam. It was among Nine’s biggest non-sport audience of the year.
And despite scheduling so late that it didn’t make the programme guides, Nine’s repeat of the debut episode of The Apprentice won its later timeslot with an audience of just under 1m. However, this is partly attributable to Hey Hey over-running beyond its advertised slot and may be revised later.
Meanwhile, Seven’s World’s Strictest Parents, which is usually a Wednesday winner, was relegated to 12th in the ratings with less than a million viewers.
The competitive night also spelled bad news for the debut of Andrew Denton’s new ABC project, Hungry Beast, which rated 551,000, the 25th most watched show of the night.
Earlier in the evening, Nine’s Hot Seat (606,000) again ran Seven’s Deal Or No Deal (615,000) extremely close.
Top 15 shows:
- Hey Hey Reunion Nine 2.2
- Celebrity Masterchef Ten 1.4
- Seven News Seven 1.3
- Today Tonight Seven 1.3
- Two and a Half Men Nine 1.1
- Home and Away Seven 1.1
- Nine News Nine 1.1
- ABC News ABC 1m
- A Current Affair Nine 1m
- The Apprentice Nine 0.953
- NCIS: Los Angeles Ten 0.943
- World’s Strictest Parents Seven 0.912
- Spicks and Specks ABC 0.842
- City Homicide Seven 0.796
- Ten News Ten 0.766
The night was easily won by Nine with a massive 38.7% share. Ten was narrowly beaten into third place by Seven:
- Nine: 38.7
- Seven: 21.7
- Ten: 20.1
- ABC1: 12.5
- SBS1 3.3
- ABC2: 1.3
- GO!: 1.2
- ONE: 0.7
- SBS2: 0.4
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Now Nine find themselves between a rock and a hard place – do they sign off on a new series of a very expensive show that will probably settle back in the ratings to around the 1-1.2m mark on an ongoing basis, or do they cement the fact they don’t care what the public think and put it back on the shelf?
Not much of a win either way…
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Pretty certain that The Apprentice wasn’t even shown, and Hey Hey went straight to the news.
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It will be interesting to see whether the novelty factor wears off a little and whether the second reunion episode rates as highly. I have to admit I never really liked it when it was on ten years ago and only saw a little of it last night. Molly’s dog going nuts at dickie knee was quite amusing but nothing else of what I saw really appealed to me.
Having said that I can see why it has an audience, its light entertainment and totally inoffensive. I can see why people enjoyed it and think there’s a strong chance it will be added to Nine’s schedule next year.
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What a shame that the apprentice wasn’t show!!!! I’m truly devastated!
I thought Hey hey looked like a very very cheap version of Noel’s House Party and that is definitely not worth bringing back. The face it has rated so well really doesn’t give me faith in the taste of the Australian people!
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Actually DD, Noel’s House Party was originally a (very expensive) UK version of Hey Hey… Nine even tried showing here one summer but it didn’t do too well as the Hey Hey comparisons turned viewers off.
For the record, The Apprentice did screen after the news, in Sydney at least, around 10.45ish
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@Sam – “totally inoffensive” surely that is the worst compliment you can ever give. Totally inoffensive – i.e bland! Enough said.
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Adam is think 10.45 on a Wednesday night is a perfect slot for the Apprentice.
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It’s such a shame that the brilliant, hilarious and completely original Hungry Beast isn’t on the list. Aunty’s investing in the future of media with this groundbreaker, yet Nine’s winning ratings with a reheated and limp offering that was out-of-date a decade ago.
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Well, the only funny thing i saw last night was Molly’s dog going off at Dickie Knee. I thought the rest of it was disappointing…. its just jokes recycled ten years later. It was funny back then, but its OLD now. Or maybe Im just getting old. LOL.
Sorry Daryl.
NINE needs to dig Kerry up, at least he knew how to run a TV station.
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I agree with Renee… The new ABC show Hungry Beast if definately worth a look. I just have no interest whatsoever in Hey Hey… what a recycled load of trash.
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No surprise that Celeb MasterCrap rated less – I watched a few minutes of it…nothing exciting.
The Hey Hey reunion had some great laughs…hopefully the 2nd show will be better.
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I didn’t see the Apprentice on either of it’s outings, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that a local version of a stale format that was never that popular here to begin with was a terrible idea!
From the few moments of Hungry Beast I saw during Hey Hey’s commercials (and boy – weren’t there a LOT of commercials last night???) I thought were a bit try-hard and stilted. Yes it was the first show, and the presenters will improve, but I didn’t see anything that Triple J TV, early The Chaser, et al haven’t offered before. I’ll watch it properly tonight on ABC2.
I must admit though that I’m over the use of expletives in media to “prove” how edgy and hip with the kiddies you are. Saying “Fuck Pandas!” repeatedly isn’t exactly cutting edge any more…
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Professionally, the ratings success of Hey Hey last night is interesting (although one good night doesn’t ensure revival of an entire network!).
Personally….blerg!
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Yes, thats’s right what we really need is more serious, confronting TV like friggen ‘last chance surgery’ or ‘world greatest deaths’ or perhaps some stilted serious aust drama, or very acquired taste ABC humor.
WORK IT OUT, we live in depressing times. economies crashing, people out of work, BIG SHOCK that lightweight, easy TV rates. Doesn’t take a rocket scientest to work out.
Oh, btw there is no quality australian drama: rafters/rush/rescue ops blah blah blah..z grade crap. O
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I saw a Seven promo for a prime-time show yesterday that was literally just things exploding. That’s the show – clips of things blowing up!
Jesus… that’s the end game right there.
It’s been 50 interesting years, Aussie commercial television, but your time is up…
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I enjoyed much of Hey Hey last night, if only for nostalgia, although did they have to bring back dead singers so much? I was truly hoping that Jonny Farnham and Jimmy Barnes had finally had some dignity and retired, enough already.
The dog/Dicky knee bit was funny cause it seemed unscripted. The rest was better than expected, however I remember it being totally bland just before it was canned 10 years ago.
Will be interested to see the Ozzie Ostrich thing next week…. have to agree with Jamesp, trivial light entertainment does divert one…
In regards to australian drama and “chaser-like” shows, enjoyable at first, but become very same same, theres a reason I got foxtel, one the 16 zillion stations you can possibly find ONE good program, or record ones for the crap hours..
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2.1 watching Hey Hey and 1.3 watching Masterchef. Simultaneous demonstration of the fact FTA is both dead and alive.
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Foxtel is pretty boring at present….and wayyyy too many ads
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yes, I’m looking forward to Ozzie next week too – Ernie Carroll is the unsung hero of Australian Television. He spent many years performing with Graham Kennedy as Ozzie and his wit was just as quick as The King’s.
But I also want to see it for a technical reason – how are they going to do Daryl and Ozzie in Widescreen?
(Ernie used to sit out in the open next to Ozzie so effectively there were the three of them at the desk, though the camera NEVER panned right… There was only ever one rule of the original Hey Hey – “Don’t shoot the duck”)
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Surely some of it was morbid curiousity?
I saw the dog clip this morning and felt sorry for the poor pup. Hopefully with context it didn’t look so upset…
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Most interesting aspect of the night was the struggle that was Celebrity Masterchef. Really felt like hard work all episode and it had nothing to give. Bit of work do if this one is to repeat the first.
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Indira and Kirk were very vanilla/boring and Josh was slighly amusing…and the judges were their usual poncy selves…yawn
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and i am amazed kirk won it… josh was a more credible choice…
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Hey, Hey, It’s Yesterday … again.
The show was, and is, a 2+ hour Daryl Somers monologue interrupted by otherwise successful people.
It’s truly pathetic watching a bloke trying so desperately to prove to himself that he has a use in this world, and doing so via endless re-showings of how it used to be.
Memo to Somers: If you insist on hanging around the TV industry like a bad smell, suppress your unlimited ego and harness some dignity — retire to the background role of producer. Let somebody relevant to the 21st century have the front running for a welcome change.
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Like it or hate it, something in that show attracted well over 2m people to watch it. That ain’t a bad result in anyone’s language given how infrequently viewing exceeds that figure. It doesn’t matter if all of us reading this would rather stick rusty forks in our eyes than watch it – a huge number of people marketers want to reach tuned in to it.
The challenge is in understanding what elements drove this figure. It was quite rightly pointed out that one night doesn’t make (or break) a network. If it is the novelty factor then of course it will quickly wear out. But how will that be known and future decisions be made? Gut feel? Asking a few mates? Doing a focus group or two? All of those approaches are fraught with risk.
Much more needs to be done in understanding what drives audience.
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“Much more needs to be done in understanding what drives audience.”
I’m thinking people are finally realising that crap reality TV, junk shows, clip shows..etc are not worthy entertainment and they are looking for something different or to go back to the past
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they started the show by saying that Hey Hey was the great proponent of showcasing new Aussie talent and then went straight to Barnesy… and then had 12 year old footage of the dead comedian … (bless his soul – he was funny back then).
the old TV saying is Familiarity breeds contentment – people watched because it was familiar – they remember the fun familiar things. my bet is that it wont be long before the audience get as tired of the old troupe as they did 10 years ago.
Well done on the one (or two) off eps… please let it go… and leave me with my fond memories…
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I think it’s likely Hey Hey will experience a big drop off in numbers next week. Didn’t see the reunion myself, but one thing I will say for Hey Hey’s original run was that it never resorted to the sort of nastiness we see regularly on TV today, on shows like Idol, the Footy Show or reality TV.
Just watched Hungry Beast on ABC iView and it started well, but then (agree with above) became a bit try-hard. Why they though plonking a serious interview with the widow of a solider killed in Afghanistan in between zany sketches was a good idea is beyond me. Either been funny or be serious, you can’t be both.
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I thought Hey Hey was awesome. It was great to see it back on t.v ,and Daryl’s enthusiasm was contagious. Onya Daza keep up the good work!
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Whether you agree or disagree with the revival of the show, there is no denying the absolute frenzy it has stirred up on both Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook group now has over 250,000 members (they pointed out at the beginning of the show that there was just 200,000) and during the show and continuing on to the next morning, it was the number 1 rated topic on Twitter.
This clearly demonstrates that the program is STILL relevant to present society, as it obviously inspired thousands of net-savvy watchers to get on their soapboxes and have their say about the show. And I think we can all agree that this is a far more positive show for our younger generations to be “tweeting” about, rather than other “low-brow” entertainment such as The Hills or any of the other shows in MTV’s repertoire.
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Apart from nostalgia (which was the reason I turned on and enjoyed the Hey Hey reunion show) what struck me was that I could sit on the couch with my kids, watching a show without having to ‘edit’ for the benefit of the children, and everyone had a laugh. yes, it’s lightweight. yes, in the reunion format there was way too much self-congratulation and ego stroking – something that would obviously have to go if it were to continue – but it was good, light entertainment. Compare it with zoned out idiots discussing their pubic hair or some other intelligent topic on a Big Brother style show, ‘comedy’ which relies on swearing constantly to get a laugh (not funny now, not funny ever), or a ‘talent’ show which creates ‘entertainment’ by holding up life’s unfortunates for us all to have a go at, or offerings like Rove which are simply advertorial dressed up as entertainment, it was a welcome change. Yes, bring on new talent, yes, showcase real ‘new Aussie talent’, but have a think about a format which is sadly lacking on TV now.
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Can’t comment on the other shows, but ABC/Denton’s much hyped ‘Hungry Beast’ should be renamed ‘Much ado about nothing’. Definitely one to doze through and rest the eyes before ‘US of Tara’ and ‘The Movie Show’.
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ABC’s project, Hungry Beast was sticky, wet and rude. Like an armpit after someone has ejaculated into it. I had to fight my instincts and remain seated in my couch rather than running up to the screen with member in hand shouting “it doesn’t suck itself!”
I’m sorry, but having to listen to a bunch of wannabe’s tell me how to manipulate journalism or some other media trick when it’s obvious from their respective CV’s that they’ve recently graduated from masturbation school left a rather foul taste. Sorry Denton – it is definitely Project/Generation “NEXT!”
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Hey Hey you anti-Hey Hey folk, let the Australian families gather around the TV set for some light-hearted, fun-packed, inoffensive television. Surely there is space for a one 2+hour per week programme which does not have explosions, forensic testing, viewer votes, expletives offend, special investigations etc etc. Just let it happen, and laugh…….it won’t hurt!
Some say Hey Hey is old hat. Laughing is old….even the cave man laughed. So, don’t get all snobby…… let the people laugh.
I watched Hey Hey, and also the Hungry Beast (Thursday on ABC2). For the record, I enjoyed both!
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