Programming Archive:
Empty Nesters return to SBS
You gotta give SBS points for trying.
It will re-screen the factual series The Nest, which it aired only mid-year, where young adults live under the roof with their parents.
Sound familiar?
So who else can blame them for slating it at 7:30pm on a Tuesday night, directly before a fictional premise built around the same theme on another network? At least SBS can say it got its to air first.
Of course Kath and Kim was a similar premise too. In the US it’s pitched with the slogan, “Apparently can go home again.”
The six …
Packered by the Rafters
It was the week the Packer family parted ways with Nine causing David Gyngell to vow to prove James Packer wrong, TEN announced a new channel, Pay TV launched another three, Minister Stephen Conroy signalled support for increased ABC & SBS funding, commercial networks (briefly) found a conscience but upset David Leckie, WIN sat down at the gambling table, Kath & Kim (US) got a greenlight for a full season, Andrew Denton announced the end of Enough Rope, David Tennant set his exit from his iconic role, Rove visited …
Kath & Kim wins full US season
NBC has given Kath & Kim a huge vote of confidence announcing a full-season pickup of the American version.
The network announced an additional nine episodes of the sitcom with Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. With a current order of 13, that’s a full 22 eps.
NBC has aired four episodes so far, averaging a 2.6 rating and 6 share among adults 18-49, averaging 6 million viewers. While it has slipped following its strong premiere, it has retained all of its My Name is Earl lead-in in those measurements and has built …
The dumping ground of television
It’s become one of the stories of the 2008 television year: dumping shows ad infinitum. This month we’ve lost Fringe, Cold Case, Wipeout, Battlefronts, Kitchen Nightmares USA, Kath & Kim (US), 90210, Bondi Rescue: Bali and even a repeat series of Friends. Dropping shows isn’t new, but its rapidity is increasing, confusing audiences and disintegrating trust between viewers and networks.
Nine’s Head of Acquisitions, Daytime and HD programming Les Sampson spoke to TV Tonight about the challenges and ramifications of scheduling.
As we all know, delivering demographics to advertisers is an artform. Programming …
Gone: Kath & Kim (US)
The curiosity factor is over and Aussies have voted with their eyeballs.
Channel Seven has moved quickly on lousy numbers for Kath and Kim: The American Series which fell to 729,000 viewers last night. It was down from 1.23m in its first outing.
It was beaten by 20 to 1 and an early edition of Australian Idol.
Seven will replace it with the original duo, Jane Turner and Gina Riley with the episode “Obsession” from this Sunday night. It guest stars Vince Colosimo. That means we may never get to see episodes that were …
Current affairs surge at Seven
It was the week that current affairs and finance dominated. Ray Martin lamented the state of commercial news and current affairs at the same time as a former sports presenter won his first week behind a public affairs desk, a CEO lashed out at his rival networks but shot off about the starting date of his new current affairs project, while the network signed a former Sunday journo, TEN reported a 25% slump in earnings, a Telstra boss said Foxtel subscriptions were slowing, another Murdoch stitched up a production deal with …
Not quite as foxy
Kath & Kim dropped in its second week with American viewers down from 7.5m viewers to 6m, a loss of about 20% in total viewers. It was again third behind Survivor’s 12.9m and Ugly Betty’s 8.2m viewers.
Entertainment Weekly, described it as a “rough evening” for NBC. “Only 6 million wanted to gawk at Molly Shannon’s tacky outfits this time around,” it said.
Variety noted: “Kim was down from its solid premiere the previous week.”
NBC comedies either side of Kath & Kim, My Name is Earl and The Office both had 7m …
Gone: Battlefronts
Channel Nine is dropping Battlefronts from its Sunday line-up effective immediately.
It will be replaced by new episodes of 20 to 1.
On Sunday the show rated 857,000 trailing Seven’s Financial Crisis special at 1.44m / Kath & Kim 1.23m viewers and a repeat of Thank God You’re Here on 962,000.
When it last screened two weeks ago, Nine’s show had 963,000 behind The Outdoor Room’s 1.04m and Outback Wildlife Rescue’s 961,000. Thank God You’re Here had 1.04m in the same week -a comparable performance by Nine, really.
Nine’s Domestic Blitz fared much better gaining …
NRL wins it but Seven takes glory
It was the week that TEN was in breach of subliminal ads (a ruling first leaked by TV Tonight), ACMA instructed Nine to sell part of its Darwin operation, two former premiers will now defend Pay TV v Free to Air battles, while two television gardeners faced off over the environment, a Footy Show comedian defended a school principal under fire, a musical about the media in Beaconsfield was branded as tasteless, a former Idol died in tragic circumstances, Perth’s Telethon broke its own record, SBS lost a top Drama …
Kath & Kim pulls good US audience
Despite the disappointing press reviews, the US premiere of Kath and Kim took good numbers in the US.
It managed 7.5m viewers, which, while landing third in its timeslot behind Survivor and Ugly Betty enjoyed strong growth for the NBC timeslot.
In the US total numbers are not the same litmus test of ‘hit or miss’ as in Australia. NBC will look to compare how Kath and Kim fared in overall share and demographics. Kath & Kim came second in its slot with a 3.2 rating in 18-49. Survivor was first with a …
A new beautiful Sunday?
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 …
FOX to remake Ab Fab
Not content with re-making Kath and Kim, America is about to tackle Absolutely Fabulous -again.
Arrested Development’s Mitch Hurwitz (who is also behind the animated and retitled version of Sit Down Shut Up), is one of three executive producers for Sony Pictures. Jennifer Saunders is also in on the deal, as one of three other executive producers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she will be hands on each episode.
The script will be put together by Saturday Night Live writer Christine Zander.
The new US version to air on FOX will be located in …