Is total re-branding the only means left to end Network Ten’s torment?
While the Ten Network’s ratings woes well documented Luke Devenish asks if their best way to turn it around is a brand overhaul.
We all find it difficult to get out of bed of a morning, but spare a thought for the powers-that-be at Network Ten, who must surely be belting the snooze button on a daily basis. Their annus horribilis is now nudging half a decade thanks to a waking nightmare that is two pronged in its torment.
In recent weeks media junkies have looked on aghast at the John Stephens saga.
Earlier in March Ten announced a coup with its appointment of the veteran TV heavyweight and programming maestro to the Pyrmont posse.
Stephens was a good get for Ten but corks had barely popped before the words “court injunction” were heard and Ten was tied up in reef knots with Stephens’ long-time employer Seven. Stephens then released a surprise statement implying his Ten contract negotiations had been conducted while he was post-op on painkillers for a dodgy hip.
For those of us daring to squint between the lines, the great unsaid seemed to be that Ten had somehow taken advantage of Stephens while he cruised through the Valley of the Dolls, something CEO Hamish McLennan has denied.
This debacle remains ongoing and what’s more, is a recurring echo of earlier executive embarrassments. Two and a half years ago Ten’s announcement that James Warburton would be defecting from Seven to become Ten CEO was tarnished by legal shenanigans from Seven that saw Warburton sniffing roses for months on “gardening leave”.
When Warburton finally did get to sit in the swivel chair Ten gave him just fourteen months to reverse their ill fortunes, before presenting him with a pink slip.
Yet these backstage melodramas are nothing compared to Ten’s on-screen woes.
2014 has delivered a raft of new product along with returning warhorses, just like 2013 did, and 2012 before it.
And just like those preceding years there’s been lots of colour and hype in the offing, plenty of audience-friendly dazzle, and yes, some programs of genuine quality, too. Unfortunately, hardly anyone’s watching. Hapless Ten have become the tumbleweed network.
The real shame here is that if Ten’s performance was assessed on strength of programming alone it would not be found wanting. Ten is actually doing nothing its commercial rivals aren’t doing too.
It has the requisite reality juggernauts, some glittering on-air talent, some fine US imports and a slate of home-grown dramas, two of which, Puberty Blues and Secrets and Lies, both currently on air, are as good as, if not better than any other Aussie drama elsewhere. But no one knows or cares about this, it would seem, apart from the TV critics.
2012 was thought to be the nadir of Ten’s nosedive with its slew of fresh-and-funky shows that almost universally flopped, but 2014 is already proving that pronouncement premature.
Heads rolled in 2012 and we might well expect to see the guillotine greased again by Easter. But all the executive purges in the world won’t get to the very heart of the problem, which is, as I see it, to do with the Ten brand itself, not the shows.
Brand “Ten” is looking like junk and has been heading that way for some years.
It is my belief that this has come as the end result of what could be construed as contempt shown by Ten to their viewers.
Always first and foremost among Ten’s stated concerns are its shareholders, which is well and good for the Murdochs et al, but in reality not good for anyone, billionaires included. Ten’s shareholder interests too often seem to outweigh the interests of Ten’s audience, upon whom share profitability ultimately depends.
One of the factors that might be said to have led to dwindling viewing figures is that Ten becomes the panic station whenever a debuting show fails to gain the numbers hoped for. Just like it did with ex-CEO James Warburton, Ten too easily drops under-performers in the hope of bringing bigger audiences with something else next week.
Unfortunately, “something else” is mostly Modern Family repeats – and in the years before that sitcom existed it was Simpsons repeats. The audience that tuned in for the fresh new show turn up for the next instalment only to find it replaced by something made stale by over-exposure. Ten are by no means the only network guilty of this short-term bandaid-ing, but they are the worst offenders for it.
Another loyalty-busting factor is Ten’s on-air promotions. I must disclose here that in an earlier life I was employed by FremantleMedia to write for Ten’s long-running soap Neighbours. Almost nightly we in the Fremantle script office were dismayed by the angle Ten’s promotions department would take with the show’s promos. (This was before Neighbours’ current exile to Eleven.)
Back in the mid-2000s the promo default setting was “sexy”, whether the episode was sexy or not, and the breathy female announcer as good as promised on-air intercourse several times a week. Sometimes the promo producers would further imply upcoming sensational moments they’d plucked from their own imaginations rather than the scripts.
The core elements of the soap – the dags and the dearies, the kids and the kooks, the big-hearted silly-billies of flat-white suburbia – were simply not promoted at all. Dags aren’t sexy.
Ten’s promotional untruths extended to many other shows. Outlandish promises were made to the accompaniment of musical stings snatched from Tom Cruise thrillers. Revved-up viewers tuned in expecting big screen fireworks only to get small screen fizz. There are only so many times a viewer can fall for such tricks – even the least-savvy among us eventually grows cynical.
A decade on, Ten’s promotional repertoire remains as one-note as it ever was and viewers are near deaf to the message. It doesn’t matter how good a show like Secret and Lies is, Ten’s promos would seem to be incapable of convincing people of it. Could it be that the audience has learnt not to believe what it’s told?
When Ten’s current CEO and now chairman Hamish McLennan took over the swivel chair in Warburton’s wake he gave vague hope of an image change. So far he’s changed the logo colours.
While I have no doubt that incalculable time, tears and energy are being expended in bunker Pyrmont to redress Ten’s state of affairs, the truth is that Ten should consider nothing less than a total rebrand.
For what it’s worth, I say ditch the logo and the name – both are looking shopsoiled past salvaging. Why not re-christen Ten something else – a snappy one-word moniker, perhaps, in preference to a numeral seen as negative?
Then, publicly acknowledge the crimes of the past and make a vow to atone for them with behaviour that is exemplary from here on in.
When it comes to offering new shows, buy with courage and commission with conviction. And why not throw the whole schedule up in the air and see where it lands? Program laterally rather than reactively and then have the guts to stick with it.
We’ll be poorer as a nation if Ten slips into oblivion, or worse, if it proves the conspiracy theorists right by becoming a hollow clone of the US Fox network with nothing ‘Aussie’ about it at all.
Once upon time, not so very long ago, Ten was our most profitable commercial network and the go-to spot for easy laughs, harmless trashiness, and the occasional pot of gold.
Yes, the TV landscape has dramatically changed since then, but people still watch telly when inspired to and TEN could be that go-to network again.
I, for one, very much hope it will be.
Luke Devenish is a lecturer in film & television at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne
Disclosure: Luke Devenish is not now nor ever has been an employee of Network Ten. He has in the past been employed as a writer by FremantleMedia Australia on dramas purchased and broadcast by Network Ten, including Neighbours and Mrs & Mrs Murder. He is not a shareholder in Network Ten, nor is he a shareholder in any of its commercial rivals.
Surely the re-brand will be the FOX Network.
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I do agree that the brand itself is a problem……..I feel very uneasy having admen running the network.
From a consumer point of view I feel their focus is on gouging my eyes out for as much money as possible rather than perhaps some chap, or chick, who focuses on providing compelling and engaging content for viewers.
I feel like the cart is before the horse and I dont believe a word they say.
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One of the cheaper things they can do right now is divert a few cents from the millions they flush down the loo on breakfast and news and throw a bit of money at young comedians to develop some new ideas.
Stick their shows in a late Friday and Saturday night timeslot, leave the creators alone for 3-6 months to figure things out for themselves, and see what happens. You never know what might come out of it and there’s no harm if they don’t work.
If a show finds its feet, move it into a decent timeslot and then, and only then, start promoting it.
At least try that idea before some not-too-bright carpet walker gives Andrew Bolt a tonight show…
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Those breathy voice overs (both male and female) are so lame they should have been ditched years ago.
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Not wanting to sound like Captain Obvious but maybe a 22 million population taking on downloading and streaming media means that we can’t sustain four networks?
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Don’t think I would learn much from you, Luke.
Typical advertising approach… go the “rebrand”.
Don’t fix the product, just change the logo!
Do you think any real punter cares about a channel’s “brand”?
They just want the product to be good – so give them good shows and there you have a great “brand”, I mean channel, all of a sudden.
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It’s no use rebranding if it’s the same puppeteers behind the scenes pulling the strings. Their issue is scheduling and that’s where it has let the Australian public down. We don’t trust their scheduling. The Biggest Loser wouldn’t be losing so big if it wasn’t thrown around the schedule like it was during and after the Olympics. The Biggest Loser is essentially a nightly soap which viewers loved to tune into religiously. Now they are lucky to know if it’s on or not. This type of reckless scheduling has been going on for years and they still don’t get it.
Also, can we ban the Photoshop lens flare filter from all future promos?
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Utterly clueless.
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There’s a lot of sense in the rebranding argument. When ratings are low, there aren’t enough people to see promos. What requires Ten’s immediate attention is their woeful marketing.
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Maybe on ONE they could try shelving shows like Get Smart, MASH and a bunch of similar rubbish and rebrand by treating their audience with respect
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I agree whole heartedly. From my own experience as an ex employee, it’s the toxic culture in ten that needs to change first and build from there. Keep the programming consistant and reliable, don’t move things around and don’t drop shows when ratings aren’t above the magic million.
Make good promos with a story, spend more on content creation (in house production) than employing 20 plus promo producers and 7 promo designers and 3 art directors.
Bring back the fun trashy TV ten represented, the channel that didn’t take things seriously.
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FTA broadcasters have been training us to source entertainment online for years. This is what happens to ANY company if they ignore their customers, but the problem they face is their customers ain’t comin’ back – well not in the short term anyway.
Simon (post above) is right. FTA TV (in it’s current form) is not sustainable. Entertainment in the form of content and 2K and 4K streams are destined for the internet – a global market. The future for FTA in AU is news, sport and fast turn around reality TV, but even then, sport will head online too because sporting bodies (such as the AFL) can control it’s branded content better but more importantly generate new revenue streams which it doesn’t have to share. Telcos have everything to gain by teaming up with big sporting codes at the expense of old FTA broadcasters – don’t they Telstra Bigpond. Don’t believe me? Telstra has successfully conducted a wide-scale test of a new LTE technology which could bring TV to our phones sooner rather than later. http://goo.gl/amH6ea No rocket science here.
Re-branding network ten is akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Only new management that understands the challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s online space will stand any chance of missing those monumental icebergs if it’s not too late already.
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After the last AFTRS hosted TV Talks, I caught up with Neil Shoebridge, the director of corporate and public communications at TEN. I remember he had some interesting ideas on offering archived and value-added content (which as stated in the article, is of good quality by Australian standards), through digital channels to subscribers. I think finding creative ways to reach the demographics that would watch shows such as Puberty Blues is the answer. I don’t believe re-branding would help get the eyeballs back.
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What does a ‘total re-brand’ even mean? Promos always get blamed, but changing the logo does nothing without good shows. Nine were allegedly a dead channel walking 3 years ago, then The Voice brought the whole network back. All it needs is management predominantly interested and experienced in finding an audience rather than advertisers.
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As if a rebrand is even part of a solution. What utter nonsense. The expense would be phenomenol and the money better diverted into programming and focusing on promotional scheduling and advertising for the quality shows they do have. They’re not dead yet. Not even close.
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As with any corporation, it is never ‘The Brand’ that is the problem, it is always, ALWAYS the management and/or proprietor.
Changing a logo or jingle means bugger all, it is the first option of those who fail to understand that the problems lie at the management level and stem from the proprietor and direction received there from.
A far greater and perhaps more painful (to both egos and financial positions) change is required than the cop-out of a ‘rebrand’.
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A re brand will do nothing apart from make an ad agency a lot of money. People watch shows not networks so fix what programming is commissioned and that is a stat of a rebuild. When 10 lost the AFL rights there was statements that all those hundred’s of millions saved by not paying rights and production costs would be put back into production of quality programming in line with what their demographic were asking for.All that money gone and ratings down the plug hole to levels never seen before. It gets back to management and the board who have to put their combined hands up and say they got it wrong
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The truth is nobody knows what to do with 10. They should probably give up on breakfast or at least cut costs and bring it back into a normal studio. The Project doesn’t seem to bring the audience that stays around but why axe their best performing show? They could do quality scripted drama but that takes a long time. Panel shows? They’ve tried that? A comedy quiz? They’ve tried that to. Bring back Good News Week…. done that. Maybe they could bring back Thank God Your Hear. Slideshow rated but would it have rated on 10? I don’t envy them. It’s a tough task.
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Simon, have you considered the reason for so many people streaming shows is because the content shown by commercial networks in this country is complete crap?
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@Encyclic! Nailed it.
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@”Ten is actually doing nothing its commercial rivals aren’t doing too.”
Perhaps it should try something _different_. Lame, watered down versions of the mindless dreck on Nine isn’t going to attract Nine viewers.
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You have a mass marketing broadcast platform trying to appeal to a niche focused audience…TV just doesn’t seem to get that…bye bye TV
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As a dad with kids (3) i watch a bit more TV across a few more genres than ever before – and i struggle to watch much of what Ten has as their programming schedule.
I don’t know whether this is because Ad people are running the ship, whether the board is too busy micro-managing the ad people or their purchasing power is so low that the distributors don’t want their shows shown on the network OR that the audience is so low that they can’t scale promotions…reality is none of this matters to me or my kids, the shows do (stupid).
So all these comments make no sense to me – put on watchable shows, with consistent and reliable scheduling, with a batch of new shows promoted that live that genre and i may watch it…until that happen i’m sure many punters are like me – over it.
(ps – no matter how much people talk up Puberty Blies, Secret and Lies – that don’t beat the international shows…sad as it may be…so find something that does, as ad guys they must be across consumer research prior to launching a product…no?)
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Nice one, Luke! You got the knee-jerk reactions you were looking for, right?
Re-brand aside, you’re spot on with the breathy announcers. I have noticed there is definitely less of this than in previous years, which is a good thing!
I think it’ll be interesting to see how Masterchef rates, especially if this season’s ratings of Biggest Loser and SYTYCD are anything to go by.
Puberty Blues is wonderful, the Project is entertaining – there is a good base there from which to build. I think it’s the crappy imports which are hurting them (Good Wife, etc).
And bring back Neighbours!!
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Reading these lists, it seems that there are many who know what the problems are. The question is, why does this truth seem to have eluded network ten?
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Richard – it’s called denial and we with no TV experience will fix this mess. They have no idea and it is an absolute replica of Warburton’s tenure. What saddens me is the current CEO has been made exec chairman for putting the place in a mess and just pocked 5m – work that out
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the tired ten promos just turn me off. we all know how they go,
breathy female says something like ‘you won’t believe what’s going to happen in …’
breathy male says ‘it’s what we’ve been waiting for…’
breathy female comes in with some other stale line.
it’s all so predictable and boring and makes a fresh new show just look like it’s not worth turning on.
7, abc and 9 promo their new shows so well, with no lame voice overs, heaps of great music and graphics. I know a lot of this comes down to budget, but i’m sure that there can be a way of being creative and clever, isn’t that what the promos department is supposed to do??
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They should re-brand back to “Channel 0”
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“When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.”
However more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:
– Buying a stronger whip.
– Changing riders.
– Appointing a committee to study the horse. Better yet, bring in an army of consultants to over study the horse.
– Say things like, “This is the way we have always ridden this horse.”
– Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses.
– Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
– Ride the dead horse “outside the box.”
– Compare the state of dead horses in today’s environment.
– Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
– Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
– Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse’s performance.
– Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse’s performance.
– Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line than do some other horses.
– Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
– Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.
– Declare that “This horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.”
– Form a charity so that others can pay for the dead horse.
– Get the horse a Web site.
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Oh oops!
Did I say “horse”?
I meant to say TV Station”.
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Why not create a decent channel? 7 and 9 are tabloid fodder, perhaps 10 should go more down the credible path, or would they be labelled ‘lefty’ by the loony Abbott religious nutjob mob?
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You can learn a lot from these consultants for the
management of your business and the way of solving the operational
problems. This kind of home based service has actually made a great profit
for every industry. should also be considered as valuable learning resources for the online
marketer.
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