The Chaser: Hamster Wheel bows out on season low
The Chaser: Hamster Wheel slumped to its lowest rating for the season in its final episode last night.
The news and political satire show rated 606,000 and was 17th in total viewers across the five city metro market, according to preliminary overnight ratings from OzTAM.
The finale is substantially down on last year’s finale, which rated 950,000. However last season’s final would have benefited from a strong lead in, the final episode ever of Spicks n Specks, which rated with 1.6m.
Across this season’s eight weeks, the show rated an average 750,000 preliminary ratings viewers, with a notable drop when the show’s lead-in program Gruen Planet finished in late October.
What a damnation that the best and most accessible Aussie comedy in yonks, A Moody Christmas, has about half the viewership of lazy, reality dross such as The Force – Behind The Line or Highway Patrol.
I always watch The Hamster Wheel on iView anyway…love the show though!
I’ve heard good things about Moody Christmas but I’ve just stopped watching ABC on Wednesday night. We just watch downloads now on a little media box now most nights of the week. The networks really need top quality lineups of new programming to make me sit through commercials or suffer the inconvenience of broadcast television.
Totally agree Matt A Moody Christmas would have to be the best Australian Comedy in years.
Never really liked the Hamster Wheel as much as the Chasers War…not enough humour and fun, more like Media Watch with a few odd jokes thrown in
I loved it therefore am surprised it wasn’t massively popular as my taste should be representative of everyone
@Shamma: Upvote
I forgot it was on.
That’s what I hate about ‘live’ TV. I rarely watch anything I can’t IQ anymore.
The Chaser ‘boys’ are getting a mite predictable, that’s the problem.
Robbo, agree entirely with your comments. People playing pranks on others is supposed to be clever and funny?
Billy C-We just watch downloads now on a little media box now most nights of the week. (how do you do that?)
Chaser last night was good quality again (although the incredible hulk did go on a little toooo long) and i think has been a good series. I think that the ABC seem to have dropped its promotion back further which will have affected the numbers i imagine.
Moody Xmas has been a fantastic surprise, well written and performed. the ABC need to re-run and promote the hell out of it.
A Moody Christmas is top quality. I wish ABC was able to promote it properly as it really should be hitting the 1 mill mark. I love it. Best comedy in years.
The Chaser have been boring for several series, and the way they make fun of innocent people is just cheap comedy. OK, maybe they don’t now as it’s childish humour made me turn off. Compare that to The Revolution Will Be Televised on the BBC, funny, making fun of those in power and blurring faces of people on the street… it’s more adult humour. Anyway, whenever the Chaser are on it’s a great opportunity to catch up on BBC programmes or just switch the TV off.
I suspect a big part of the problem is reflected in these comments: The Hamster Wheel was more a media satire than the ambush pranks of War on Everything, and yet they’re still a bit typecast. I don’t think it helped that the first season was fairly mediocre; for what it’s worth I think the second season had a better strike rate.