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TV smackdown week begins: FlashForward vs The Apprentice vs Masterchef vs Hey Hey vs Andrew Denton

Australia’s TV networks are gearing up for the biggest week since the 2009 ratings season began.  

Seven, Nine and Ten all raided their marketing piggy banks over the weekend, with large ads in the Sunday papers.

Seven was the biggest spender, mainly to promote tonight’s debut of Flash Forward, with Nine putting in similar effort to promote the debut of The Apprentice Australia.

Nine has also debuted a brand new “Welcome Home” positioning to coincide with the coming battle, which is heavily reliant on US content. Although Seven has already won the overall ratings fight for the year, key demographics are still in play.

How the week will unfold:

Monday

At 8.30pm Seven launches Flash Forward, a sci-fi drama in which everyone in the world briefly falls unconscious and sees visions of their future. Seven also announced today that FlashForward star Sonya Walgerwill be its main guest at the Melbourne Cup.

FlashForward is fast tracked from the US, where it made a strong debut last week.

At 9.30pm (so expect Seven to deliberately overrun the end of FlashForward), Nine debuts The Apprentice Australia, featuring Mark Bouris. Among the contestants is former Interbrand Melbourne staffer Lynton Pipkorn.

Meanwhile, Ten counters with swimming star Ian Thorpe and Dave Hughes on Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 7.30pm.

Tuesday

Zoo Stacked to the Brafters cover Brooke SheehanThe newly controversial Packed To The Rafters is set to dominate the night for Seven. Last week’s masturbation storyline did little to hurt ratings, with the show pulling in a 2.5m audience last week.

ACP’s Zoo magazine has also cashed in on the show’s talked about status, putting actress Brooke Sheehan on its cover this week under the headline “Stacked to the Brafters”.

Wednesday

Ten brings out its big guns, with the launch of Celebrity Masterchef at 7.30pm and new series of NCIS Los Angeles at 8.30pm.

But it will also be a big night for Nine, with the much talked about Hey Hey Reunion at 7.30pm. The network has also been holding back on revealing what it will show at 10pm.

Meanwhile, the ABC launches Hungry Beast at 9pm, which is the Andrew Denton-helmed introduction to new young media talent.

Thursday

CSI returns for Nine at 8.30pm, while Ten will be anxious to see how its third episode of Glee, also at 8.30pm, fares.

 

  • Mumbrella editor Tim Burrowes will be live blogging tonight’s TV battle from 7pm AEST
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