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Katherine Heigl leaving Grey’s Anatomy?
This one has been on the cards for longer than any of us care to remember.
But E! Online is reporting that Katherine Heigl will finally exit Grey’s Anatomy.
According to insiders, Heigl has been asking to leave for close to three years now, and she finally got what she wanted last week when boss Shonda Rhimes and ABC execs agreed to let her out of her contract.
She was scheduled to return to the set two weeks ago, after taking maternity leave with her newly adopted daughter and also shooting a movie. However, …
Extra serve of MKR
Tonight’s 90 minute episode of My Kitchen Rules is now 100 minutes.
Instead of ending at 9pm, it will end at 9:10pm, pushing back the start times for Grey’s Anatomy (9:10pm), Brothers and Sisters (10:10pm), Super Skinny Me (11:10pm) and a repeat of Blue Heelers (12:10am).
Or maybe it’s just Seven scheduling falling into place with what’s been going on anyway. I don’t remember the last time an episode of MKR actually ended at 8:30pm? More like 8:37pm. Still, audiences are obviously liking the show.
The show has its finale next Monday.
Returning: Private Practice
Seven will return Private Practice to air soon, coming to Tuesday nights.
It’s back at 9:30pm Tuesday March 23rd with S3E11 “Another Second Chance,” part of a crossover episode with Grey’s Anatomy which airs at 8:30pm.
Meanwhile as My Kitchen Rules heads towards its finish line Seven also has longer eps coming, starting with a 90 minute episode next Tuesday, pushing Grey’s Anatomy to 9pm.
On Monday March 22nd there are TBAs with Brothers and Sisters locked in for 10pm instead of 9:30pm.
The return of Private Practice probably means Brothers and Sisters will resume …
Cooking pips cars on Tuesday
Nine might have to rethink its advertisements for Top Gear touting it as Australia’s new #1 show after last night it was pipped by My Kitchen Rules.
It was a line ball tussle but Seven’s cook-off pulled 1.4m viewers ahead of Nine’s first-run roadtest on 1.38m -well down on its season premiere. Both left Bondi Rescue / The Biggest Loser in their wake (934,000 / 774,000).
Nine’s second episode of Top Gear, which had already aired on SBS, slipped to 1.15m behind NCIS on 1.36m but bettered Grey’s Anatomy on 1.04m.
Other networks battles …
House tops Timeshifted
Top Gear’s premiere episode rose from 1.68m viewers to 1.77m viewers after Consolidated figures were released for Week 7. That meant 86,000 had Timeshifted the show within the next 7 days, boosting its status as the #1 show of the week.
But the biggest rises went to House (up 135,000) and The Good Wife (up 100,000) against One Day Cricket.
NCIS also gained 88,000 -enough to see it move from #5 for the week to #3.
Drama continues to be the big winner in Timeshifting, with extra gains for Grey’s Anatomy (Ep 1, 97,000 …
Top Gear drives up 1.68m viewers
Nine’s reputedly big fee in hijacking Top Gear from SBS appears to have paid off with a huge 1.68m viewers tuning in for the new episode last night.
The show was the #1 programme for Tuesday, driving right across My Kitchen Rules (1.21m) and The Biggest Loser / Bondi Rescue (722,000 / 966,000).
With all the advertisements Top Gear fans are questioning whether the episode had been trimmed. The BBC delivers a 52 minute international version to its clients. Nine maintains it didn’t edit the show, but it certainly dumped the credits …
Summer’s winners and losers
The summer ratings season of 2009 -2010 has ended.
And while Seven has come out on top, Nine also found reason to smile.
Seven won summer in Total People, but Nine and the ABC both increased their shares based on last summer. TEN took the biggest dive of all 5 Free to Air Networks.
Total People: 2009 – 2010 (2008 – 2009)
Seven: 29.4 (29.6)
Nine: 27.6 (26.9)
TEN: 18.5 (19.7)
ABC: 17.5 (16.6)
SBS: 6.9 (7.1)
But comparisons to last summer are tricky given not all networks had digital channels operating, and Timeshifting was also introduced on December 27th.
Both …
TEN’s tough Tuesday
Seven’s new cooking contest won its timeslot on night two as My Kitchen Rules increased to 1.18m viewers (up from 1.10m). With Nine committed to the Survivor finale (892,000 / 804,000) it gave Seven a window of opportunity.
The return of Grey’s Anatomy (1.21m) in the traditional Rafters slot was even better news. Together with its standard early night line-up, Seven took the night comfortably on 31.6% to Nine’s 27.1% and TEN’s 18.9%.
The best for TEN was So You Think You Can Dance Australia on 872,000 -down from Sunday’s premiere of 1.16m …
Seven Ratings week schedule (so far)
Yesterday this site ran the current schedule details of Nine’s first official week of ratings. TEN’s full schedule for the same week is here.
Today here’s a look at Seven’s. Similarly, it has many TBAs.
Seven hasn’t indicated whether Grey’s Anatomy will air at 8:30pm or 9:30pm on Tuesday (it’s a 2 hr special next week).
Still no times yet for Bones, Castle, new Scrubs or Cougar Town. They should be clarified by tomorrow arvo if not before. Also unknown is whether Sunday Night will return on Feb 7.
Sunday Feb 7
6:00pm Seven …
Pilot approvals: FOX, ABC, NBC, AMC, Warners.
There have been a number of Pilots recently approved in the US.
They are as follows:
FOX
-Traffic Light from The Wedding Crashers co-writer Bob Fisher (Married with Children, The Trouble with Normal) revolves around three male friends in different stages of relationships.
- Breakout Kings from writers/executive producers Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora (Prison Break), a closed-ended procedural about a team of marshals and ex-cons who work together to apprehend criminals who break out of prison.
- Strange Brew, from Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick is set at a family-owned brewery.
- …
My Kitchen Rules Mondays and Tuesdays
Seven has announced its new shows set to air in the run-up to official ratings.
In the week of January 31st it will launch My Kitchen Rules (both Monday and Tuesday night) and new factual ICU on Wednesday.
Returning are new seasons of Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, Grey’s Anatomy, 30 Rock, Gangs of Oz and Family Guy. Criminal Minds resumes new episodes after the season began late last year.
It also premieres US drama Royal Pains and has two double episodes of A Touch of Frost.
Thursday nights look ripe for new …
Seven launches online catch-up, PLUS7
Seven today launched its online catch-up portal, PLUS7.
The site offers legal streaming of Seven shows including Grey’s Anatomy, Home and Away, FlashForward, Private Practice, Heroes, Castle, Better Homes and Gardens, Parks and Recreation and more.
As with the ABC’s iView, the site does not require a show to finish downloading before being available to start play.
The site includes “mid-roll advertising” to show advertisements mid programme, much like commercial television.
A spokesperson previously told TV Tonight they expect around 3-4 ads per show. Titles will remain online for between 7 – 28 days …