The Project under review, 10 News beefed up
The Project, Ten’s long-running current affairs panel show, is reportedly under review.
The program is being closely looked at by Paramount Australia in light of lacklustre ratings, according to a credible report in The Australian.
A Network 10 spokesperson told Mumbrella in a statement that “there are no changes to The Project”.
However, it is significant that in the statement, the spokesperson mentioned beefing up another news offering.
“Following the continued growth and success of our news brand, 10 News, we are investing in a 10 News investigative unit that will work on long-form investigative stories as part of our news offering across all our platforms,” the spokesperson said.
In terms of reach to all Australians, The Project has ranged between 550k to just over a million viewers over the first weeks of May, which puts it outside the top 10 shows every night (consolidated 7-day viewing).
That total reach number includes anyone who watched the 60-minute show at some point for more than 15 seconds. Average audiences through the 60 minutes of the show range between 250k-400k.
The Project does relatively better in the commercially vital 25-54 year old demographic, where it occasionally gets inside the top 10, but actual numbers are small.
For example, on a day where it reached over a million people (May 6), viewership of the 25-54 demographic was 422,000. Average audience through the show for this group was just 173,000. That episode was the best-performing so far this month.
Within those numbers, The Project’s BVOD audience is also relatively weak compared to its competitors, generally under 20,000 people.
The Project panellists Waleed Alu and Georgie Tunny
The show format was developed by former executive producer Craig Campbell, who with Rove McManus owns production house Roving Enterprises. It launched in 2009 as ‘The 7pm Project’, and expanded internationally in 2017 to New Zealand, where it was broadcast by TV3.
The Project NZ, which had been licensed by Roving Enterprises, was shut down in 2023 by Warner Bros Discovery.
Campbell stepped away from the show in 2021. The current EP is Chris Bendall.
Panellists on the show, past and present, include Carrie Bickmore, Waleed Aly, Sarah Harris, Charlie Pickering, Lisa Wilkinson, and Peter Helliar, among others.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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As they say, Go Woke – Go Broke!
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A terrible show! No chemistry at all. Not really even a news broadcast. I fall into that 15 second demographic only because I switch over to watch Master Chef. 15 seconds of cringe, sooo bad.
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I like Waleed Alys nuanced analysis where he takes a complex issue and makes it palatable for the masses ..irrespective of weather I agree with him or not .
Sad to see it go ..
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Tried watching the show but they are so busy pushing their own agenda and think they are funny because they just belittled someone it is of poor taste.
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