News, Top Stories Archive:
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: Fringe
Nine has just pulled the plug on one of it’s big new dramas, Fringe.
The big budget “thrilling new drama” the network recently promoted as with a big marketing push has been pulled from it schedule effective immediately.
Nine will instead move The Mentalist into its place from next Wednesday at 8:30pm, followed by CSI: NY.
This week the series rated a disappointing 671,000 viewers -thrashed by Criminal Minds’ 1.47m, beaten by Spicks and Specks 1.23m, and pipped by House’s 885,000 viewers.
The complex, futuristic drama starring Australian actors Anna Torv and John Noble has …
US dramas struggling for Heroes
As the global financial market continue to slide, so too are ratings for American television programmes in Australia.
Despite the recent cast member promo visit, last night’s premiere of Heroes’ supposedly revamped series managed a rather paltry 878,000. A second episode took 785,000. At 10:30pm the new season of Prison Break tanked at a lousy 387,000. Thanks to its early evening shows, Seven will be pleased it still won the night in 16-39, 18-49 and 25-54 demographics.
These are shows that two and three years ago were hailed as shining beacons for Channel …
Returning: CSI: NY. Gone: Gordon Ramsay
If it isn’t already known for it, Nine is now the Two and Half Men and CSI network.
CSI: NY is returning to screen to replace plans for Hell’s Kitchen, which in turn was replacing Kitchen Nightmares USA. Last night the Chef only managed 593,000 viewers -fourth in its timeslot.
“Personal Foul” the 19th episode of the fourth season returns at 9:30pm Wednesday October 15.
Yesterday Nine announced new CSI: Crime Scene Investigation from Monday October 13.
Even this website is beginning to lose track of what Nine episodes are going where these days.
An empty House at TEN
After starting the week so well, TEN’s healthy figures dropped through the floor last night, coming fourth behind the ABC for the evening.
An 18.4% share is disappointing on any night, but doubly worse when you look at what appears to be a competitive line-up. TEN programmers must be scratching their heads today and who can blame them?
A season premiere of House, fasttracked by little more than a week attracted a lacklustre 914,000 viewers. TEN should have been looking past 1.25m for this, minimum. Instead that went to Criminal Minds (1.32m), with most …
Returning: Hell’s Kitchen. Gone: Kitchen Nightmares USA
When Gordon Ramsay is no longer working, we’re in serious programming trouble. But 712,000 viewers was all he attracted last night at 9:30pm, well down on his highs of 1.3 - 1.4m. Nine now gets that for repeats of Two and a Half Men.
Nine started the latest series of Kitchen Nightmares USA just days after its US screening. Airing on a Monday the first episode was virtually a recap, with Gordo going back to restaurants he had spruced up before. Last week the first “new restaurant” didn’t air til 10pm, following …
Seven wins as TEN is taken out
It was the week that Ernie Dingo and Kyle Sandilands had a spat on radio, the ABC renewed its push for a kids’ channel, Access 31 was put on the market, TEN picked up women’s netball from FOX Sports, GTV9 won a Heritage listing, Nine axed its Euro correspondent, Underbelly won the right to start screening in Victoria (sort of), TEN and Seven fought over AFL sponsors and a 17yo reality contestant took a stand on her show’s conduct.
And it was another big win for Seven with 29.9% in Week 37 …
Ramsay seals FOX deal
Gordon Ramsay will host at least two more seasons of Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares (y’know the one Nine bumped prematurely two days ago) for the Fox Network in the US.
FOX executive Mike Darnell said, “He’s been unbelievably good to this network. He’s as much a staple for us now as Simon Cowell or Hugh Laurie.” All three of the stars are British.
The deal seals Hell’s Kitchen to series seven.
“They let me be me — that’s the key to our success,” Ramsay told Variety. “And we properly understand each other: …
Bumped: Kitchen Nightmares USA, CSI: NY.
Months ago he was the hottest thing on television, now he can’t get the figures and is replaced by a movie.
Nine was so unhappy with its 732,000 for the (fasttracked) series of Kitchen Nightmares USA on Monday that it is moving the reality series immediately. Next week (Wed Sept 17) it screens at 10pm, replacing a repeat of CSI: NY.
A new episode of CSI: NY planned for 9:30pm Monday is now out schedule too. Instead Nine will fill its Monday with a repeat of a 2003 Jack Nicholson movie, Something’s Got To Give. …
9021-uh-oh
First the good news: 90210 (at 8:30pm) was #1 in the 16-39 demographic last night, just ahead of Australian Idol.
Now the bad news: It only got 837,000 and 666,000 (is that an omen?) nationally, thrashed by City Homicide at 1.78m.
TEN of course is always chasing demographics rather than total audience, indeed so are all our networks, but it will take time to change the culture of total figures in the mind of the Australian public.
Nine had its own troubles on Monday, too. Kitchen Nightmares USA was also thumped with a disappointing …
Bumped: CSI: NY
CSI: New York’s return has been pushed back a week by the Nine Network, given it now has a two hour season premiere of Kitchen Nightmares USA next Monday.
As a result CSI: NY will return 9:30pm Monday September 15th with “Personal Foul”, the 19th ep of the fourth series.
Nine’s scheduling of the Ramsay series follows some movement by the FOX Network, which had originally scheduled it for September 4 (US), but then pushed it out to Sept 11. Instead it moved in a 2 hour special in which Ramsay returns to …
Returning: Kitchen Nightmares USA, CSI: NY
Nine will screen the second season of Kitchen Nightmares USA next month, just days after the US.
The show returns in a new timeslot of 8:30pm Monday from September 8 -in the US it premieres Sept 4. But Ramsay will have to compete with City Homicide and 90210.
It will be followed by CSI: NY. “Personal Foul” is the 19th episode of the fourth series which aired in the US in may. A fifth series starts in the …