Something old, something new, something borrowed in TV ratings battle
It may still be the TV ratings off season for the free-to-air networks, but bets are already being placed on which new shows will hit the jackpot with audiences.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Michael Idato has picked three Network Ten shows in his top five list, with Masterchef 2 – together with its spin off Junior MasterChef, US drama The Good Wife and a dark comedy called Modern Family.
It’ll be interesting to see just how strongly MasterChef will come back this year and if launching a spin off will lead to audience fatigue. Let’s not forget that we won’t only be seeing the brand on TV, but there’s also the magazine, cookbook, cookware line, DVD – and no doubt live branded events to come.
Seven for its part is hoping to woo audiences away from Ten to its MasterChef rival, My Kitchen Rules.
Over at Nine, it’ll be praying that bringing Hey Hey It’s Saturday back from the dead will pay off, despite the notable absence of much of the old crew including Molly Meldrum Red Symons and Ossie. It seems even Nine veteran Ray Martin questions whether Daryl Somers still has the magic touch.
There’s also much anticipation behind the Andrew Denton produced fly-on-the-wall cop show AFP. And with the genre of crime weighing heavily on the networks’ schedules – from Underbelly to Border Security – it will be a closely fought battle.
And in breakfast television the ratings race is set only to intensify further with 2009 setting the scene for the resurgence of Nine’s Today. It’s fast gaining on Seven’s Sunrise which has dominated for six consecutive years. Though even Today co-host Karl Stefanovic admits it has pretty much copied Sunrise’s chatty style of programming.
Still, Seven must be worried. Sunrise executive producer Adam Boland is gearing up to relaunch the show on January 25. Will it be enough or could 2010 finally be Today’s year?
Camille Alarcon
SMH – The Guide’s Five of the Best pics
- The Good Wife (Ten)
- MasterChef 2 and Junior MasterChef (Ten)
- Modern Family (Ten)
- Grand Designs Australia (Lifestyle)
- Top Gear (Nine)
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More reality show rubbish….can’t wait to turn the TV off this year I think! And the current summer viewing options are crap with a capital C
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I’m a Sci Fi fan,,OK?,,sorry but there it is. Totally pingedoff with TEN..advertise the Hell out of SG-U,,& cancel after 3 viewings!!! They did the same with Battlestar Galactica..ruined it!! Why not let Ch.7 just buy SF?? & TEN can stick to it’s unending re-runs of The Simpsons for the undead that watch that rubbish!!! Come on Ch. TEN it’s time to get those back-packers out of the Programming Dept.. & hire a professional.
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Should all be on the Sci-Fi channel on Foxtel…I’m worried about how Nine will probably butcher the new V series…currently Sci-Fi is airing the old miniseries/series
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I find it staggering that even in this day and age literally hundreds of millions of dollars of client’s advertising money is ploughed into programmes that are bought and scheduled on little more than someone’s gut feel as to how they will perform.
The techniques and technology are available to better predict how programmes will perform but as of yet are under-utilised. Hence such articles as this one still get column inches.
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Its expensive and I had my doubts… but when my housemates installed foxtel it opened up a whole new world of amazing television, there is a lot of crap, but at least there is enough choice to sift through and find something…. if only they didnt have so many friggin ad breaks.
Reality TV is cheap television in every sense of the word.
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