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Australian Survivor to return in 2017 as Ten hands show an immunity idol

Ten has given its pricey reboot of a local Survivor franchise an immunity idol, announcing the show will return for a second series in 2017.

survivor 2The network took a massive gamble with the successful American reality show hoping it would be third time lucky for a localised version.

Earlier attempts by both Nine and Seven to give an Australian flavour to the show both failed to last more than a single season.

Ten worked with Endemol Shine and backed the show early on with a big promotional budget and also sinking a hefty amount into production to try and match the quality of the US version.

Relative success came early and Ten quickly extended the planned Sunday/Monday schedule to Tuesdays to capitalise on the audience interest.

The show was also put on a collision course with The Block on Nine, and while the renovation show has been dominant against Survivor, Ten believes it has built a strong platform for next year.

Australian Survivor launched with a suite of major sponsors – Hungry Jacks, Medibank’s AHM Health Insurance and Holden – with Hungry Jacks making the show a core part of its in-store experience during the series and enjoying product placement within an episode.

According to Ten the first 23 episodes have lifted its timeslot audience by 28% in 25-to-54s and 24% in total people compared to the same nights in 2015, while the show has averaged an audience across the five metro markets of 757,000 viewers.

It has also been hailed a success on Ten’s catchup service Tenplay, with 10.83m segment views.

The decision to announce the second series is a clear signal of Ten’s intent to have a strong 7.30pm slot across the week next year as noted by CEO Paul Anderson during Ten’s result’s briefing last week.

“We are continuing to invest in differentiated content in a disciplined manner,” Anderson said during an analysts call.

“One of the key aims of that investment is to create year-round consistency in our multi-night franchises in the critical 7.30pm time slot – something Ten has never achieved.”

Survivor castTen’s chief content officer, Beverley McGarvey, said the show had managed to win over critics.

“We are pleased that audiences have embraced Australian Survivor and that the local format has impressed new viewers as well as winning over critics and super fans,” McGarvey said.

“Our contestants played the game with a genuinely Aussie twist and Jonathan LaPaglia has been a  wonderful host and really made his mark navigating the intense Tribal Councils.”

The show is entering its final week with five contestands remaining and a blockbuster final Tribal Council planned for Tuesday night.

The network has also opened auditions for 2017 after more than 15,000 people applied to take part in the first series.

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