Channel Ten moves struggling So You Think You Can Dance to later timeslot
Channel Ten has moved its reality dance competition So You Think You Can Dance Australia to a later timeslot on Sunday nights following disappointing ratings for the show.
In the first three episodes overnight metro audiences have fallen from 466,000 for the first outing to 365,000 for the second and then 313,000 last week.
Media analyst Steve Allen of Fusion Strategy said it has been “very disappointing” for Ten, describing the ratings as “awful” following the disastrous ratings for its last reality dance show Everybody Dance Now.
“Everybody Dance Now was in our judgment a disaster at that time, so the result today, just as awful,” Allen said.
Moving the show from 6.30pm to 7.30pm would take the show out of direct competition with Seven and Nine’s blockbuster reality shows My Kitchen Rules and The Block, However the chances of viewers switching over to Ten in favour of Seven’s Sunday Night or Nine’s 60 Minutes are slim, Allen said.
“Sunday Night is coming up with blockbuster stories week after week, so the chance of intercepting that audience and dragging it over to Ten are very small. So it’s not a strategy, it’s not a solution,” he said.
Ten announced in July it would bring back So You Think You Can Dance after a four year break, with News Corp’s Shine Australia producing the show. Paula Abdul, who fronts the US version of the show, is a judge on the program and The Project’s Carrie Bickmore hosts the show.
Allen said the quality of the show was not to blame for the poor ratings. “It would be different if it was a bad show but it’s not,” he said. “Yet it’s rating as poorly as other poor shows Ten has had over the years, so it’s very disappointing.
“It seems the Australian public, or enough of them, really don’t care for reality dance competition at this time.”
The latest series of So You Think You Can Dance Australia has averaged 351,000 metro viewers for the first three episodes compared with a 401,000 average for the first three episodes of Everybody Dance Now in 2012, and 983,000 for season three of So You Think You Can Dance in 2010.
Allen said he had expected to see viewing numbers pick up through catchup viewing, however it not done so significantly.
Ten confirmed So You Think You Can Dance will move to 7.30pm on Sunday, replacing back to back repeats of Modern Family and bumping Elementary from the schedule this week.
Megan Reynolds
Take this one out back and put a bullet in it, Ten.
User ID not verified.
I wish my dad were Rupert, and i ran a tv network, then i could have the telegraph sponsor The Project with ‘little miss whatever’ and i could get my production company to make average programming for my network…alas, i am but an advertiser who cant sponsor The Project in that way and i avoid spending any money in the majority of Tens offerings
User ID not verified.
This season has been extremely poor – they removed the auditions where you get to see people either dance beautiful solos or make fools of themselves and we were straight into the elimination workshops from the word go with a lot of dancers we didn’t know anything about. I’m not surprised so many people lost interest so early on. It’s a shame because it’s a great vessel for encouraging kids to take up dancing.
User ID not verified.
Who was the bright spark programmer who decided to put it up against The Block and MKR? Both have been on for a number of years and have been incredibly strong performers. It’s pretty obvious you would have been pushing !#**! uphill to get anywhere near their numbers. It was doomed from the word go. Put it in a less competitive timeslot and it may have been a different story
User ID not verified.
Dancing with the Stars still rates OK on 7 so it’s not entirely true that Australians have lost interest in live dance reality shows.
User ID not verified.
I’ve been watching this show and it’s a much better format than the previous series – the production, the story telling, Carrie as host, etc… such a shame it’s not doing well in the ratings because, IMHO, it’s better viewing than yet another cooking show (MKR) and reno show (The Block).
User ID not verified.
Completely agree with Luce! Why would you put it against two of the strongest performers of the past few years? Come on Ten! Stop playing the fool…
User ID not verified.
I’m excited that SYTYCD is back! I loved the first 3 series & was bitterly disappointed it stopped. I can’t understand how Dancing with the Stars : ( has outlasted a show with REAL dancers who are SO talented. There is an abundance of singing shows which pale in comparison to the creative & technical artistry of dance. Australian dancers deserve this opportunity. Good on Ten – it is a quality show. (And the original format was probably shortened to try & improve ratings.)
User ID not verified.
I think Channels 7 and 9 have the capacity to dominate the marketplace, no matter how awful their programs are, much more than the other networks. If this show was on one of those networks, it would have longer legs…
Besides, isn’t Channel 9’s demographic old people and bogans? Channel 7’s conservative families?
No one under the age of 40 actually watches traditional TV anymore, and Channel 10 is geared towards younger audiences…
User ID not verified.
You mean: “It seems the Australian public, or enough of them, really don’t care for reality dance competition.”
User ID not verified.
@Brett “No one under the age of 40 actually watches traditional TV anymore” Now that’s not true is it.
User ID not verified.
I watched this show last night and it was fabulous. Glad it was at a later time slot. I loved it.
User ID not verified.
Actually Matt, why does Dancing with the Stars rate well?
Harry, i shouldn’t say ‘no one under 40’ doesn’t watch traditional TV but perhaps there is a growing trend to not watching it the old fashioned way. I have a friend that works for channel ten. Most younger people either download or steam stuff on apps. The only people still watching TV the traditional way are older people and i just saying that channel ten tends to have have younger viewers. A shame though, SYTYCD was really good last night.
User ID not verified.
Purely speculative, but isn’t Ten collapsing because it orientated itself towards young people, then watched its audience collapse because this demographic STOPPED WATCHING BROADCAST TELEVISION?
Retool the network to the babyboomers. They’re bored, technically challenged, cashed up and easy to fleece.
User ID not verified.
@Brett
94% of all video based viewing is still done live or via playback
http://www.oztam.com.au/docume.....ELEASE.pdf
This will skew older, but still you and your friends are special and certainly not the norm.
User ID not verified.
Removing the auditions was a big mistake. It’s a fun stage to watch and it builds up the top 20 dancers. Also, to me the judges are boring. When watching the first episode, they didn’t make it fun and exciting to watch, and so gave up after watching episode 1 after a few minutes. Perhaps again, this was a result of removing the auditions, as the auditions can also show a different side of the judges.
User ID not verified.
After having kids involved in dance lessons for over 10 years, I wouldn’t encourage anyones kids to take up dance lessons. Dance schools have a license to print their own money, and do. Never stop asking for fundraising and parental help with everything, from equipment to concerts instead of dipping into their huge profits.
Definitely have favourites and the rest get ignored and or treated like shit. Why go broke and have your kids confidence destroyed for a profession that is just full of bitchy mean people, that destroys alot of kids confidence. Sink show, sink.
User ID not verified.
I agree whole heartedly with Jeannie, she summed it up well. I am so pleased Carrie Bickmore was chosen to host and present the program, she is very appealing, intelligent, balanced, she sometimes has a teary moment, but that’s very sweet, it shows she is connected to the dancers in a very sincere way. I love getting to know the dancers right from the start, hearing their personal stories, it brings me closer to their experience. It’s hard work and tough for those who are voted off. I hope Australia continues to promote dance it is wholesome real life television viewing – whether it’s SYTYCD or Dancing with the Stars. I wish there was more wholesome TV viewing but it seems the masses prefer to follow violent TV programs and that is not healthy – just look at what is happening in our society
User ID not verified.