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No risk for 20-TEN

Programmer David Mott tells TV Tonight why TEN is very happy to be facing 2010 without the need to be taking its trademark risks.

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talkin bout On set Shaun 2A year ago when TEN unveiled its programming for 2009 it brazenly shocked the nation when it said Big Brother would be replaced by a cooking show. And it promised other local titles including Talkin’ ’Bout Your Generation, Guerilla Gardeners, Bondi Vet and even some that never eventuated: Australia’s Hidden Genius and Undercover Boss.

Unveiling its 2010 titles last night in Melbourne, TEN programmer David Mott played it both safe and sure, only promising one new local title, the Junior Masterchef spin-off. For a network that has prided itself on taking risks (including the Big Brother brand, dropping Sunday night movies, and commissioning MasterChef Australia and The 7PM Project), it is a stark contrast.

As Mott tells TV Tonight, he is buoyant about heading into the new year from a position of strength. The network has confirmed its returning shows will be led by Masterchef, The Biggest Loser, So You Think You Can Dance, Australian Idol, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, Rove, Recruits, Bondi Rescue and Rush.

“That’s the good thing about where we sit today. We haven’t had to take a big risk,” he says.

“Yes a lot of it’s what we’ve known but that’s the best position for any network to be in. Because at the end of the day we’re creating television that people want. They have clearly resonated with these shows.

“Media-buyers, advertisers, key clients, they want shows they know have some audience numbers there that says ‘this demographic watches that show.'”

Mott says 2009 was all about building domestic content.

“We knew we were saying farewell to Big Brother. We knew we had a big job convincing the market and coming up with new shows. It was hugely risky.

“If you think 12 months ago when we gave a sense of a lot of new programmes, how did the market react? MasterFlop I think was the term used,” he says.

“A number of those on your site referred to it as MasterFlop but I’ve got to say you are my site of choice in terms of updates on television and to get exactly what’s happening in the industry. You’re the first site I go to. And I have absolute respect for people on that site, because you need to get a sense of what they’re talking about.

“And when I read about MasterFlop I thought ‘God have we made the right decision? These are our viewers.’ But again, people probably didn’t see what people saw in that show.”

Other titles to return in 2010 include Merlin, House, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Dexter, Californication, Burn Notice, Bondi Vet, Good News Week, Neighbours, Numb3rs, The Simpsons, Jamie Oliver, Lie to Me, Law and Order: SVU, Criminal Intent, Medium, TEN News, AFL. They will be joined by new US series The Good Wife, The Cleveland Show and Modern Family along with the continuation of Glee.

“The benefit was while MasterChef was just launching we then went to the US for the LA screenings and suddenly we’re seeing some shows coming through and we’re thinking, ‘Now we’re starting to cook.’

“This is starting to become the network that we’ve been looking forward to for some time. We’ve never had the sum of all the parts,” he says.

Pivotal to this were the deals with CBS and the winning deal with FOX Studios.

Local drama Offspring, described as Brothers and Sisters meets The Secret Life of Us, is hoped to proceed to a series. The Hawke telemovie is also slated for 2010.

But not everything is settled. The 7PM Project has struggled to build an audience amid comment its format is still in need of change. Mott says he would be happy with 850,000 viewers.

“It’s not right, it’s not there yet,” he concedes. “But I gotta tell you, it is going to get there. The idealogy behind 7PM is absolutely right. And there’s nothing stronger in my mind that that show will be around in 5 years plus. Things may change within it, but the idea of that show absolutely belongs at 7pm. I completely stand by it.

“I’ve been very clear with that show from day one. We are completely changing the landscape of news gathering and news reporting each day. Now have we got it right? Not 100%. My view is we’re 65% – 70% there.

And as I’ve been saying to a lot of people, it’s content over comedy not comedy over content.”

TEN plans to continue the show through summer, into the new year and indeed, into the ratings year moving key shows such as The Biggest Loser and MasterChef to 7:30pm. Mott is adamant the shows will improve their pull at 7:30pm.

“Suddenly people are over with dinner and they can now sit down as a family and watch television. All the shows get a bump at 7:30,” he says.

“Whenever I would extend the episodes from 7:00 to 8:00 –and I did that often– with MasterChef and with Loser, you always got a bump at 7:30. There’s some switching going on at 7:30. So potentially those shows can perform even better from 7:30 – 8:30.”

One of the networks other weak points is Friday nights. Next year TEN will rollout extended episodes of Biggest Loser on Fridays with a ‘healthy living’ outlook. Based on the succes of its Friday Masterclass on MasterChef, It will include a dietician, doctor and cook.

“I think Better Homes and Gardens great show, but you know what? It doesn’t deserve the figures it’s getting. We’ve proven that with MasterChef up against it. We can knock it off.

“We are committed to doing something broader on a Friday night. It’s tough. You’ve got NRL and AFL. We’ve tried series. But I’m very open to ideas from our loyal fans about trying to find a solution there but they need to go back and study what’s gone there before. I think we’ve got the answer with extended Biggest Loser and extended MasterChef.”

As for Australian Idol, Mott defends its one million viewers and its demographics. The network is yet to begin discussions with FremantleMedia on how it would adjust the show for 2010.

“All the product we try and develop nowadays is the ‘stickiness’ factor of these shows.It’s not just a linear broadcast now. That’s not what television’s all about. It’s the stickiness: online, catch-up, mobile… Australian Idol still plays a function of bringing content to consumers in a number of different ways.”

With the Delhi Commonwealth Games set for October, TEN is also considering its option for the programming of Idol next year.

Another show yet to be clarified is 9AM with David and Kim. With David Reyne departing the show at the end of the year, TEN is still considering its options for the competitive morning slot, particularly when it enjoys no significant lean-in.

“It’s like having 3 casinos in 3 shopping centres all delivering the same thing. What you need is a real point of difference there. You’ve got male / female, female, blah blah blah… all well and good. But when you’re delivering the same message in principal and the same reason why they belong then we need to create something new,” he says.

“Where we lose out in the mornings, we gain in the afternoon, and we do. Look at the numbers.

“There is a great opportunity to come up with something new and different in that timeslot and that’s what we’re about at the moment.”

Finally, TEN confirmed its plans for a new digital channel to replace ONE SD, at a time of its choosing.

“We’re assessing where Nine are at, where Seven is at, so it gives us the ability to go ‘Ok where do we see our channel going forward?’ We are technically ready.”

Updated.

82 Responses

  2. Great interview David!

    Doh I was one of those people who called it Masterflop early! It just seemed to catch fire in a way like no other, certainly surpassed all expectations. Made a believer out of me.

    I agree that 7pm Project should remain on air, sure the figures aren’t great but its definately a show that needs time, and I think long term the strategy could pay off.

    Friday nights are a real problem, and will probably only get worse once the weather not sure what the solution is there, maybe extend out 7pm Project? or maybe a 2hour Sitcom block? Friends/Raymond/Simpsons/Seinfeld?

    Is it worth getting the rights to WWE? Seems to work in the 80s for 10. Or maybe aim at the teen audience? Perhaps something of a Young Talent Time type show?

  3. Swayslayer, Ten tried all new Law & Order with all new medium Medium this year on Friday night, but it appears any audience who would normally watch those shows prefer to watch the series on the ABC on Friday nights. Fox has the same problem in the U.S. It’s a tough one to fix.

  4. Well I was expecting to see something more from ten to be honest. My guess is Generation might take a sunday timeslot – with no rove could it be an 8:30 timeslot? It will be interesting to see how it pans out with The Biggest Loser at 7:30. Because Glee is sure to continue so that would mean atleast one night with no The Biggest Loser unless both Generation and Glee go to Sunday – which I believe is doubtful I couldn’t see Glee working at 6:30 Sunday especially in summer. Maybe it will look like this on Sunday:
    6:30 TBL
    7:30 Glee
    8:30 Generation
    9:30 Supernatural
    Obviously Generation will run overtime and probably go till about 10:00.

    10 if you are going to keep Idol going next year Please move it to a week day and bring back the elimination show – just condence it to a half hour. Also its time to remove the old judges and bring in some fresh faces – give us something to watch for how about Delta as a judge and a few other fresh names that might give us something to watch for!

  5. I love David Mott! What a professional. Smart guy. I love that he is sticking with 7pm in 2010. I agree with him, it has so much potential. They just need to get the content right. It can’t be too expensive. And I’m guessing it actually does better demo numbers than US sitcom repeats (the alternative). Fridays are tough for Ten as the 18-49s and even more so the 16-39s are not home. That’s why Seven kills it with Better Homes. When Ten tried to go older with Law & Order, that didn’t work either – as the oldies were parked over on seven or ABC1. So Mott is right. Extended MasterChef, Biggest Loser etc sounds perfect. It bridges the gap of younger skewing stuff, and if those hours can be made a little more “lifestyle-ish” it may steal some people from Better Homes.

    David, I’d love to see Ten introduce a 6pm local news in each market. Not a 90 minute news. But a brand new “Ten News At Six”. Some anchors as 5, but fresh reports, fresh content, continually pushed to in the 5pm hour (“Coming up new at 6, new at 6, new at 6”) You have the advantage in that more people are watching you between 5 and 6 than any network. keep the momentum into 6pm. Make the 6pm News a little younger, a little edgier (Fox style) and challange the old way Seven and Nine do news. I think you could easily win 18-49 and 16-39 with the right news at 6. And give Neighbours at 7pm a boost. Has to be cost effective too – you have the crews and talent in place at 5.59pm.

    HD. As the world moves to HD, and even cable turns HD (W HD, UKTV HD) it is pure craziness that a national broadcast network is not in HD! You have stunning shows. Let them shine in HD. In 3 years you’ll be outdone by W HD. How embarassing! Give HD back to Ten, One becomes SD only – and your third network SD too.

    9am. “There is a great opportunity to come up with something new and different in that timeslot and that’s what we’re about at the moment.” Have you seen “Live with Regis & Kelly” in the US. Brilliant! No infomercials, no interviews about skin cancer care, no cooking segments, no lame boring guests. 4 things make “Live” work. It’s Live. 2 The hosts. Two wise cracking nut jobs that are just a little crazy. The guests. And most of al – the studio audience! It makes such a difference. The show feels alive. KAK and Morning Show on Seven feel dead. Put in a studio audience going crazy – with two hosts people will Love. And model it on Regis & Kelly Live

  6. There really was nothing definite in the article about Idol coming back next year, just discussions. Let’s hope the discussion memo has the headline “Idol to be rested”.

  7. David Mott, you bloody legend. Now That’s how it’s done! Given his propensity for reading the viewer comments, I’m going to jump right in and say:

    1. Hire another female host for the morning show. David Reyne’s obvious distaste for the show he was hosting was an insult to the network, his co-host and the team behind the show. Who says TEN has to follow the morning formula of male/female hosts? Get a smart, sophisticated female to join Kim in the mornings. Do what TEN does best and throw caution to the wind.

    2. Friday nights. Oh boy. The night where shows go to die (sorry Magda). Save for Biggest Loser and Masterchef, everything else in that timeslot has failed to attract and audience. Serials, Movies and of course, Simpsons when all else fails. I am not an AFL fan, I abhor DIY shows and as such I would happily watch a Premiere movie (not Love Actually, Mean Girls or About a Boy for the 17th time) or a solid drama. Surely TEN has some Law & Order series in the programming vault? What about a helping of that on a Friday night? It’s admittedly not an easy fix, but it’s one that seems to have everything thrown at it to see what sticks.

    3. I thought that combining Idol into one Super Sunday event was actually a great idea, but the problems start to appear when the first singer takes to the stage 45 minutes after the show has begun, the new judge (while evidently filled with industry knowledge) is an arrogant, name-dropper who can barely get a sentence out without stuttering or speaking nonsense and the guest judges, while undoubtedly heavyweights in the world of music, are more relevant to the demographics watching the other channels. Idol has lost its way, but not its spark. This show is about Australians who love to sing and do it well. Show them the respect they deserve and stop dramatising their “stories” to the point soap opera status.

    5. Thank you for giving us Glee. Not only is it the best 60 minutes of my week, but TEN has treated it with the unique touch that it deserves. Go New Directions!

  9. Friday night used to do good with Big Brother Friday Night Live. And I think Friday Night Games did OK without the BB branding. So why not bring that, or another family/fun show to Fri nights?

  13. The titles were mostly from a showreel we were shown, so it was hard to notate them all. At this stage don’t read anything into titles that aren’t on this list. I have added a few more. Pretty sure GNW is included, I will check. I would say if Dexter is back, Supernatural will be back too.

    Yes David Mott was indeed complimentary about this site. I debated about whether to include it in the article, but I felt given he was respectful of readers it was worth communicating back to my readers. It means you are being heard too…

  18. Ten really needs to fix its Friday and Saturday night schedule (especially in Sydney and Brisbane). As I have said several times before, Ten should not have dropped its output deal with Sony Pictures two years ago, given the network’s movie library is the smallest of the three commercial networks. Ten will need to source programs and movies from independent producers and cable networks in the US, and even Canada, UK and New Zealand.

  20. “So potentially those shows can perform even better from 7:30 – 8:30” or worse. Love how he does not speak At me unlike some other big wigs (even if I prefer the content of 7).

  23. excellent interview david!! and how good was it david said he loves your site and again confirmed that he reads our comments in your forums! now thats a good programmer. Im happy with pretty much everything thats coming back except the 7pm project, ive said it a thousand times, too much news from 5-7.30! over 7 programs about news stories during that time and its too much! get kim watkins hosting the show and ditch charlie. 9am better return because it is different in the way that 9am has way more informed and educational stories than the morning show or kerri anne! and kim watkins is a babe and so good at what she does.
    So 10’s new channel will be 12 im guessing and hopefully have some good content on it which i think they have.

  25. “The site of choice” he is right there, yes stick with the 7pm project it is getting better, please David Mott fix friday night, be daring & innovative, your right about better homes and gardens, and please please dont take as long as ch seven, to announce and launch the second sd channel, before april please. Thank you

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