Monster House is just not cricket
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
On Tuesday there was quite a bit of talk about why Nine was not screening the tri-series match between India and Sri Lanka held in Adelaide.
Without Australia in the game, it normally would have been scheduled as a day match. But the South Australian Cricket Association has a prefers floodlit matches and the larger crowds they attract. Cricket Australia described the decision by Nine as a ‘quirk of scheduling’, and it subsequently aired instead on Foxtel.
Now we have Tuesday night figures, it has to be asked whether Nine would have got a better result with the game regardless. Nine’s share for the evening was 23.3%, well behind Seven’s 31.6% and only just ahead of TEN’s 23.1%. It’s best figures were for National Nine News and A Current Affair.
In its second outing, Monster House slipped behind the first week (793,000), attracting only 632,000. It was fourth in its timeslot behind the 7:30 Report. TEN enjoyed a swing to Bondi Rescue at an impressive 1.34m.
Nine was lucky that, despite the poor lead-in, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles held its debut audience at 1m viewers. And in Melbourne, where Kitchen Nightmares USA had a single-city screening as part of the network’s Underbelly rescheduling, Gordon Ramsay was Nine’s third highest show (337,000). It almost toppled All Saints (349,000) in Melbourne.
All is not perfect at Seven either. It Takes Two (1.292m) didn’t improve on the first week (1.293m) despite an “encore” screening and the 5pm teaser It Takes Two: Getting Ready. It’s down on season averages.
It remains to be seen whether Nine’s decision not to air the cricket will end up costing them the week. Meanwhile, what to do with the house of fun? It might be better paired with Funniest Home Videos.
Photo: whatsonthetube
3 Responses
I can’t say I’m great with words, but neonkitten pretty much said what I was thinking so I’ll leave it at that.
What’s astonishing is not the simple fact that Monster House made it to the production stage in the first place, but that Nine actually made it one of its lynchpin programs for 2008.
Are they pumping hallucinogens into the air conditioning at Nine, or are they really THAT out of touch with reality? Their panicked “back to the past” direction is going to bury them, with this steaming pile of dog output leading the charge. I guess next on the so-vintage-it-can’t-fail-but-ohhhh-yes-it-will list is a revival of “Hey Hey It’s Product Placement”?
What to do with the house of fun? With ratings like that, it should – going by Nine’s usual policy with better-rating QUALITY shows – be immediately taken off the air, locked in a cupboard, the key thrown under a Port Philip Bay dredger, and never, ever seen again.
Yes, it really is THAT bad.
Monster House is at the top of my personal leader board for worst TV of the decade. I’ve endured one and a half episodes and that’s all I can stomach. I’ve had more fun at the doctor’s.