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A new beautiful Sunday?

Seven is said to be eyeing its own Sunday evening current affairs programme.

Seven unveiled some of its 2009 titles to advertisers this week, including Sunday Night, a new Sunday evening current affairs programme. The last time Seven went anywhere near this territory was arguably Witness / The Times.

Certainly for a network that boasts its dominance in News and Current Affairs it is lacking a tough, credible evening format. TEN is the only other free to air network without an equivalent.

Looking at the success of Nine’s perennial 60 Minutes it isn’t hard to see why the network is looking for a piece of the action. Sundays are still considered the most prestigious night of the week, generally with more eyeballs in front of the box, and significantly, an opportunity to promote the coming week.

Seven has had mixed fortunes with its Sunday nights of late. Ugly Betty worked last year but has now subsided. Kath & Kim and Grey’s Anatomy surged, but Gladiators, My Name is Earl, Dancing with the Stars and Brothers and Sisters have been less glorious. Lipstick Jungle and Private Practice flopped.

There are unconfirmed rumours that Mike Munro has been talking with Seven. He leaves Nine at the end of this month, supposedly for retirement. Meanwhile, Ray Martin, who criticised Nine’s dumping of Sunday is set to give the Andrew Olle Lecture later this month.

Is time up for 60 Minutes? Who would you like to see hosting a serious current affairs show on Seven?

Souce: Fin Review

Photo: stock image.

38 Responses

  1. ok i’ll give you the factuals, and that my opinion is not fact.

    but surely i am not alone in saying that PTTR, city homicide, rush are great shows (and not just because they are aussy). and no i do not completely determine quality as # of viewers (the reason i included Rush in the list)

    and pushing the blame to the people meters is very sore loserish. i will agree that it is not the best way to measure but it is all we have. I’m sure you would support it if they showed high viewers on a show that you enjoyed.

    also to all of those people that say that TT should be improved first:
    TT is beating ACA in the ratings and 60 mins does well, so to suggest that the 6:30 shows impact other current affair shows (which i don’t think does) would say that “sunday night” would be more successful.

  2. Oh, and Nathan that’s your opinion the following are ‘quality’ shows: “PTTR, city homicide, rush, the factuals”, sure they rate well with those who’ve actually got people meters, but that doesn’t mean they’re ‘quality’! – As far as I’m concerned those shows mentioned are nothing but sheer crap!

    – Spunkymonkeycaesar

  3. 1) Seven rip off of A Current Affair with Today Tonight
    2) Seven rip off Today with Sunrise
    3) Seven rip off Mornings with Kerri – Anne with The Morning Show
    4) Seven rip off Getaway with The Great Outdoors
    5) Seven rip off Sunday with Weekend Sunrise
    6) Seven jump on the Gordon Ramsay Bandwagon buying an 11 year old series

    NOW Seven rip off 60 Minutes with Sunday Night! No as someone’s previously mentioned Nine didn’t create the news / current affairs genre, but atleast they were the first at the genre out of any of the Australian television networks! I thoroughly agree they should focus on Today Tonight before tackling another a ‘hard hitting’ current affairs show up against such a well established show! – They’ve got no chance and I hope it fails for having no inititative whatsoever!

    If people wanted a better alternative to a current affairs show on a Sunday night they’ve got plenty of other channels to watch with plenty of other programs, they don’t want another current affairs show!

  4. If they can’t find anything worthwhile or serious to put in their nightly Today Tonight then how can they expect that adding another show will yield the quality journalism that is required to rival 60 Minutes. 60 Minutes has been around since the dinosaurs and it is not going down so easily. Seven should focus on trying to lift the standard of Today Tonight rather than biting off more than they can chew.

  5. to may,

    Firstly: ch7 has bought most of the best new shows from america over the last few years Desperate housewives, lost, greys, ugly betty, criminal minds, bones. Yes i know some of them have dropped off since but they were all american tv’s best at the time

    Secondly: all of the quality australian shows are on 7 and 10 ie. PTTR, city homicide, rush, the factuals, thank god. unless u call hole in the wall quality

    thirdly: ch7 in not in any form of pickle just check the top 100 from the past few weeks, and they have not come 2nd for a week since july.

    sorry, just needed to put credit where its due. I think a ch7 60 mins would do quite well ch7 already wins the daily current affair show, the wake up show, the morning show and the nightly news. i think this will act as a decent cometitor. even if it isn’t atleast, as jerome said, 60 mins would have to improve a bit, so it is a win/win situation

  6. Seven needs a strong team if they going to have any chance against 60 minutes and most important proper hard hitting stories not the fluff stories we get on TT during week.Chris Reason is a very unrated reporter,seven should use this guy more on air,he would be a great host and reporter for show.I remember few years back when chris use to do Sunrise and Sunday Sunrise,he was very good at it

  7. There was talk about a similar kind of show not long ago. Sunday is 60 mins, a new 7 program is not going to change that.
    Mike Munro’s time is over. If god forbid this show goes ahead 7 has enough presenters to handle the show. Jessica Rowe, Chris Reason even John Mangos
    …this could even be a good reason to finally kick Anne Sanders off the morning news.

    If 7 is looking for some inspiration for the show they should look at BBC’s NewsNight

    Someone earlier mentioned Mike Willisse..he is on Sky and should stay there, he does not have the omph needed for commercial news – he sends the Sky audience to sleep!

  8. Commercial tv current affairs hahaha
    don’t make me laugh as it’s always sensationalized trash
    which insults the viewers intelligence.
    It’s SBS and ABC for me, the others i don’t even bother tuning in for.

  9. I thought Mike Munro was staying at Nine to do another seaosn of M.P.U (Missing Persons Unit) and a few more This IS Your Life for Nine?????

    I also believe Ray is still connected to Nine and id find it very very hard to believe he would go and Host a show for 7!

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