Ten unveils remainder of 2019 programming slate: Pilot Week, Roxy Jacenko, Catfish, Masked Singer and sport
Ten has revealed its programming lineup for the second half of 2019 including Pilot Week, which will see Australian remakes of high-profile TV formats and a reality show about PR personality Roxy Jacenko, sport and a new reality talent show format.
I Am Roxy will join Sydney’s Crazy Rich Asians, Catfish Australia, My 80 Year Old Flatmate and Part Time Privates on the slate for the Pilot Week TV event which informs which shows will be greenlit for 2020.
Pilot Week in 2019 will also feature an Australian version of the MTV phenomenon Catfish, fronted by Australian Idol and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here alumni, Casey Donovan. The show goes after people who are misleading their online lovers and uncovers people’s real identities.
Pilot Week 2018 saw Trial by Kyle, Taboo, Kinne Tonight and Rove McManus’ Bring Back Saturday Night named the winners, although not all the shows have started their 2019 run yet.
Masked Singer has been a hit in the US market
The announcement revealing the programming slate for the second half of 2019 also included an Australian remake of the popular US reality show Masked Singer. The program, adapted from the South Korean King of Mask Singer, sees celebrities sing onstage with their identities hidden by elaborate costumes.
The celebrities sing in their real voices and compete against other celebrities to take home the winning title at the end of the season. The show has had one season in the US with another to air later this year and a third on order from Fox. The show will be produced by Warner Bros Australia for Ten.
Speaking to Mumbrella, Ten chief content officer Beverley McGarvey said the show was a truly unique addition to the network’s slate, and fitted a very important niche.
McGarvey: You have to be innovative
“We do have a lot of those more mature legacy brands as well. We have the cooking, we have the dating, and that’s important, but I think moving forward we have got to be innovative and creative as well. The most exciting thing for us at the moment is obviously something like Masked Singer because it is properly original and it’s also a bit bonkers,” said McGarvey.
“The show has made such an impact because it was original and interesting to the market. There’s so much content out there, you have to be a bit different in order to cut through now. It’s a big event, it’s short, it’s snappy, and I think our schedule really needed something that felt like it had a bit of energy.”
McGarvey went on to admit that the first half of the year had been tough for Ten, with Nine regularly dominating the conversation and Ten struggling to land some of its programming. But McGarvey is confident the second half will see a change in fortunes.
“Once we got past I’m A Celebrity, we got some things right, we got some things wrong, we have time to fix that for next year. But as we move into this Masterchef period, this tends to be when our audience stabilises and we start to see some growth.”
McGarvey flagged the upcoming sporting calendar as a win for Ten, feeding into another programming announcement the network made this week. The second half of 2019 holds the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the Gold Coast, Bathurst, Sandown and Newcastle Supercars Championship rounds, the Australian MotoGP, and the Lexus Melbourne Cup for Ten, which McGarvey hopes will help stabilise the audience further. She said she was happy the network could launch its 2019 programming off the strength of I’m A Celebrity, but concedes the network’s summer was harder without sport.
Looking to add to the sporting lineup is the way Ten is planning to handle the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Ten Sport has secured international expert Francesca Cumani, will be using state-of-the-art technology and spreading racing content across Ten Play, Ten Daily and a new podcast on Ten Speaks, the network said. The racing will also integrate with Ten programming, including a Bachelor racing-themed group date.
Network Ten’s head of sport Matt White will be leading the on-air team, along with Cumani, with more announcements made on the hosting line-up in the coming months.
White is gearing up for the Melbourne Cup
“We’re gearing up to transform the multi-platform coverage of the Melbourne Cup Carnival which will, for the first time, include a multi-layered digital hub,” said White.
“At Ten, we do things differently and we’re welcoming back the Melbourne Cup Carnival to Ten with a bang. Our editorial philosophy is ‘Access all Areas’ and this is exactly how we’re approaching our coverage and what we’ll be offering to audiences, advertisers and partners,” he said.
Chief sales officer Rod Prosser said the latest programming announcements feed into Ten’s push for content which generates conversation. Speaking to Mumbrella, Prosser said engagement is what he’s expecting from the new shows.
“That’s really our proposition, that we want to create this virtual water-cooler where people are talking about it the following day but also many platforms when it’s on. That sits really nicely with our under 50, young and young-at-heart audience. For us from a commercial lens we love shows like Masked Singer. Notwithstanding, the chances to integrate with it are really good,” said Prosser.
Prosser: Chances for integration are good
“As attention becomes more of a currency, a meaningful sponsorship or partnership that doesn’t just have 30-second spots attached to it, but equally has strong integration within the shows is becoming more and more critical.”
Pilot Week 2019 includes:
I Am…Roxy!
No publicity is bad publicity. Delve head first into the daily madness of PR guru, publicist, talent manager, reality star, author and mum-of-two, Roxy Jacenko. This entertaining and comedic access-all-areas pilot pries into Roxy’s everyday life behind her world of high glamour and outrageous excess.
Produced by Matchbox Pictures and Two Scoops Media. Matchbox Pictures Executive Producer Debbie Byrne. Two Scoops Media Executive Producer Michael Wipfli. Network 10 Executive Producer Ciaran Flannery.
Sydney’s Crazy Rich Asians
Money, shopping, cars, events and glamour. Sydney’s Crazy Rich Asians follows the opulent lives of six very ‘extra’ characters and their local fixer who waits on their every want and need…no matter the cost.
Produced by Screentime, a Banijay Group company. Screentime Executive Producer Johnny Lowry. Network 10 Executive Producer Paul Leadon.
Catfish Australia
Beloved pop idol Casey Donovan joins Walkley-nominated documentarian Patrick Abboud on the quest to uncover the truth about online relationships. Coming to the aid of every day Aussies who have suspicions about their internet beau, Casey and Patrick will join forces to uncover the real identities behind the hot online profiles.
Produced by Eureka Productions. Eureka Productions Executive Producer Tom Richardson. Network 10 Executive Producer Ciaran Flannery.
Part Time Privates
Two mothers at a local primary school decide to start a home-based private investigation business so they can enjoy flexible working hours. As their business unexpectedly thrives, they find themselves thrown deep into the world of working ‘undercover’; moving between school pick-ups, dance group and lunch orders, to threesomes, insurance fraud and failed relationships. Starring Heidi Arena and Nicola Parry.
Produced by CJZ. CJZ Executive Producers Toni Malone and Nick Murray. Network 10 Executive Producer Paul Leadon.
My 80 Year Old Flatmate
It’s reality TV with heart, as older Aussies offer cheap rent to hard-up millennials in exchange for company and help around the house. Creating surprising friendships and mutually-beneficial relationships, it’s a look into what can happen when you take the leap across the generation gap.
Produced by Screentime, a Banijay Group company. Screentime Executive Producer Johnny Lowry. Network 10 Executive Producer Paul Leadon
topics
Beverley McGarvey
Masked Singer
Matt White
Pilot Week
Rod Prosser
Roxy Jacenko
television
Ten
TV
Who on earth is going to want to watch a tv show on Roxy Jacenko..? Australia doesn’t care. Surely they’ll have to bleep out half of the show because she has a mouth as foul as a tradie…
Good one Channel 10. H2 is going to prove dismal ratings for your network jut like H1.
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Channel 10 really must be desperate. RJ’s business is proper going downhill.
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You are obviously someone who works for a rival network? it’s not like every show on Nine or Seven are hits. Mafs left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and Seven are wheeling out shows like The Proposal (sounds like a familiar format) Wife Swap and Seven year switch…how many relationship show can viewers handle? At least it looks like Ten is trying something different with Pilot week which is more than the other networks are doing.
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What a waste of a good pilot opportunity!
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I actually don’t work in TV. I’m not saying any other FTA network is hitting the mark across their calendar but this line up is truly scrapping the barrel..
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Part time private’s and my 89 year old flat mate sound good but forget the rest!
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My Life Is Murder will be good to watch!
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NOOOOOO…say it is so. The Roxy Jacenko reality TV show. I’d rather stick pins in my eyes or a submit to a chilli enema.
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Say it ISN’T so ISSSSN’T.
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Would rather watch paint dry than that fame hungry Jacenko woman her husband [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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Why anybody would be interested in potty mouth Jacenko is beyond me her hubby [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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