Did the ABC blow it with Wallace & Gromit?
The ABC has played one if its strong programming cards of 2008 badly, if analysis of figures from the UK by Mumbrella are any indicator.
The Australian broadcaster showed the latest instalment of the animated British show Wallace & Gromit back at the end of November. This was well ahead of the BBC, which showed A Matter of Loaf and Death on Christmas Day.
And while the ABC achieved an audience of just under a million (996,000) for the show when it went out, this was only fifth in its slot on what was a quiet Wednesday night’s television.
By contrast, the BBC’s scheduling saw it score the biggest audience of the day, and one of its biggest of the year, with a peak audience of 14.4m. Even allowing for differing populations, it meant that roughly 24% of the British population watched the show, while less than 5% of Australians did so.
Despiter the fact that the show was British-made and therefore more culturally resonant in the UK, its stellar showing suggests that the ABC missed a trick and under-promoted what should have been a far hotter property.
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