Television

Are television stations becoming irrelevant? When we thought of television just a few years ago, it was often in terms of the most successful network. For example, in the US it was NBC's Thursday-night lineup of great comedies; here in Australia Channel 9 was a powerhouse across the board. There was an audience out there that almost never changed channels. Now, the focus is very much on individual shows. MasterChef is the perfect example: with it, Channel Ten earned supreme ratings glory, without it, Ten was relegated to fourth place on some nights. The fact is that, despite the stations' sneaky attempts to keep us glued (usually by running popular shows beyond their scheduled finish time), we are more willing than ever to switch stations to follow the programs we like. We'll also record, time-shift and download the shows we want to see and often, horror upon horror, fast-forward through the ads). That's why the longterm future for successful TV networks won't be as simple broadcasters, but as producers and distributors of the content people want to see. In the short term, though, they are creating digital channels in the hope that their mix of reruns and cult-appeal first-run shows will attract the audience members who aren't tuning in to the main stations. Eventually, though, we'll all be able to download legally whatever we want whenever we want. The channels' biggest hope then will be to create more and more "event" television, like MasterChef, that relies on us all watching it at once, tweeting about it as we go, and chatting about it over the watercooler the next day.

In a week that has already seen Australian networks Seven and Ten announce new digital channels (7-mate and Channel Eleven), Britain's Channel 4 has unveiled its autumn season with at least one idea we'll undoubtedly be seeing in the antipodes soon. Channel 4, which is screening its final series of Big Brother, is to launch a "docu-soap" called Seven Days in Notting Hill. According to the Guardian, "viewers will see events that have only just taken place [and] will also be able to give online advice to the people in the show". I imagine Ten or one of the other Australian networks is already eyeing "Seven Days in Bondi Beach". Channel 4's schedule will also feature comedy series from Morgana Robinson (described as "Kenny Everett without the beard"), Frankie Boyle (a Scottish comedian who was the standout performer in the panel show Mock the Week, which hasn't screened here) and Robert Webb (solo, without his higher-profile partner David Mitchell). I'd like to think Australian audiences will be seeing all of that somewhere sooner rather than later.

A brief beef: I am sick of seeing and hearing news items where local governments are referred to simply as "council" without an article. Would we write or say something like: "Mr Bloggs said bank would put up interest rates"? No. Yet we often read or hear in the media the likes of: "Cr Nerk said council would approve the project." I know public servants and politiicans speak this way but that's no reason for media professionals to follow suit mindlessly.

This weekend's picture from my past features a funny old fellow. Or two, depending on how you look at it.

Like about 1.5million Australians, I sat down on Wednesday night and watched the winning ABC trifecta of Spicks and Specks, Gruen Nation and Yes We Canberra. The shows gave Aunty, which regulalry comes fourth in the ratings, the top three spots on the night's ratings chart, and helped push Channel 10 -- which had been riding high until very recently on the success of MasterChef -- to the overall No.4 position. (There's more on the numbers here.) What it all proves is that the days where viewers would stick to the same station hour after hour, night after night have long gone. Now, more than ever, we pick and choose the programs we like, wherever we can find them. With the internet offering a whole new range of ways to access programming, this presents a big challenge to the broadcasters -- unless, of course, they are also in the business of making the shows that people want to see.

With MasterChef having sailed off into the sunset for 2011 [correction: 2010], what will be the next big gastronomical reality show on television? Well, if I have my way, it will be Australia's Best Cook, a competition to find somebody among us who excels in making real Aussie tucker rather than 3-hat restaurant fare. Ideal contestants would include bachelors and bachelorettes who specialise in domestic meals for one and busy mums to cooks from country pubs and suburban clubs who keep the masses fed with tasty but simple fare like lamb chops and veg, steak sandwiches, works burgers, seafood baskets, pavlovas and lamingtons. Bringing the best qualities of both Matt Preston and George Calombaris (i.e. fat and bald), I'd be one of the judges. Sounds like fun? I really think so -- now I just need Shine Australia, Fremantle Media and/or one of the networks to get behind it. You can hear me speaking about the proposed format towards the end of today's spot with 612ABC's Spencer Howson, where I also talk about an online newspaper integrity index and reveal some Doctor Who gossip.
Update:The edited audio describing Australia's Best (Basic) Cook is here.
PS: If you're in the TV business and want to know more about the format -- and trust me, there is more -- contact me here.

In an ever changing world, some things stay the same. One of those things used to be the fact that Channel 9 broadcast the highest-rating commercial television news service in Brisbane and, indeed, in Australia. That success was built on solid news judgment, selective hirings from other networks (particularly the ABC) and a reputation for trustworthiness. Somewhere in the past few years, though, the banner has been passed to Channel 7. Sure Nine is still the home of Laurie Oakes, the journalists' journalist, and a few other heavy hitters, but people aren't buying it like they used to. In Brisbane, Seven is now the viewers' station of choice. Today, Seven claimed the ratings year for news and current affairs. In a media release, the network said its News, Today Tonight and Sunrise had an "unassailable lead in the 40 week ratings year in south east Queensland". The statement continued:

7 News and Sunrise have both won 22 from 22 weeks while Today Tonight has won 21 from 22 weeks in the 40 week ratings year. Max Walters, Managing Director of Seven Brisbane said,“ This is the fourth year running that our flagship news and public affairs programs have won the ratings year in south east Queensland, a wonderful achievement in such a competitive market . SEQ audiences continue to turn to 7 News, Today Tonight and Sunrise to keep them informed on local, national and international events.”

PS: In its media release, Nine claims overall SEQ victory last week (by a whisker), bringing its total this year to 17 out of 22 surveys.

We live in an age of celebrity. You can't pick up a newspaper or magazine, or switch on the TV, radio or internet, without seeing something about Brad and Ange, Tom and Katie, Lindsay or Britney. Like it or not, they've become the subject of many a watercooler conversation and, dare I say it, are genuine "household names". On the national front, there are the big names of TV (Bert, Kerri-Anne, Eddie and Ray among them), plus a smattering of musicians and, largely now-expat, movie makers (Hugh, Russell and Nicole). Recently, the finalists of MasterChef, Callum and Adam, have joined that hallowed society -- but for how long is anyone's guess. You'll note here that I've mentioned only first names but I reckon almost everybody reading this would know exactly who I'm referring to. Which brings me to the big question for Queensland readers only: Who are Brisbane's household names? Which homegrown talents, in whatever field, are instantly recognisable to a large portion of the population (not just the media junkies who read this blog) by their first name or nickname? I've got a few ideas of my own, but I won't be writing them down just yet. Suggestions by email or by Tweet, please. When I've assembled a list, I'd like to test the theory with members of the GP. Maybe we'll all get a surprise as to who's really on the A-list and who isn't.

I speculated in a tweet a few days ago that Hey Hey It's Saturday might not come back after its mid-season break, and I got some interesting responses. A lot of what is said about Hey Hey comes from sentiment, a deep affection for the original show that was part of so many Australians' childhood and youth. But the cold, hard fact is that, despite the success of last year's reunion specials, it just isn't cutting it in 2010. Spencer Howson points out that Hey Hey Red Faces judge Red Symons told him on 612ABC that the show will be back later this year, possibly on a Saturday. Hey Hey currently faces tough competition on a Wednesday night from the all-conquering MasterChef, but there's not much evidence to suggest it would do significantly better in another timeslot. And, when you factor-in the enormous costs of "live" television -- Daryl Somers' undoubtedly large salary, the band, the touring acts etc. -- Hey Hey is expensive television, and TV networks don't like to spend big money unless they get big returns. According to last week's figures, Hey Hey had an average national audience of 849,000 against MasterChef's 2.1 million and, in its second hour, Lie to Me's 950,000. Of course, MasterChef is a formidable opponent and, as I said in my tweet, Hey Hey probably deserves a run when it isn't competing against the single most popular show on TV. It may come back after the Commonwealth Games but I doubt we'll be seeing it again next year. Surely Nine can't afford to throw good money after bad. While there are examples -- like Neighbours and Seinfeld -- of programs that built momentum after very slow debuts, you must remember that Hey Hey isn't a new show, it's a revival of a show that hit its peak in the 1980s. The Nine network desperately needs to plough what original production money it does have into a show that has MasterChef potential -- the realistic chance it will pull in big ratings numbers, and thus advertisers' dollars, regardless of what's scheduled against it. Hey Hey isn't that show.

You read it here second: the next big talent show to hit Australian television will be called Don't Stop Believing. The Guardian reports that the show's format has been sold to the Ten network, which dumped Australian Idol last year. The UK version, which will screen on Channel Five from this weekend, is being pitched "as an energetic feelgood competition to find Britain's best all-round singing, dancing and acting group". It's being sponsored by retailer Argos and a deal is in place with MySpace for clips to be used on the social network site. The show will be "deliberately softer and less cruel than The X Factor". So, no Kyle Sandilands clone on the judging panel, then...

I was having lunch in a pub in Horley yesterday, watching the BBC News with the sound turned down and the subtitles on. And the captions were woeful to the point that it was almost impossible to follow what was going on. In a story about technology that allows medical students to practise injections on a virtua "arm", the subtitles typed that it helped them "find out where the famous". Or, presumably, where the vein is.

Gee, Kyle Sandilands really does have a good deal with Channel 7. Not only has he been confirmed as a judge for the revamped X-Factor, his wife Tamara Jaber (described by Seven as a pop star, despite her lacking the series of hits one would expect to accompany such a description) is on the next season of Dancing with the Stars. A Seven media release confirms the full line-up as:
Alex Fevola, celebrity photographer
Tamara Jaber, pop star
George Houvardas, Packed to the Rafters actor
Jo Beth Taylor, performer
David Wirrpanda, AFL legend
Rachael Finch, Miss Universe Australia 2009
Esther Anderson, Home and Away actress
Jason Stevens, former rugby league star
Rob Palmer, Better Homes & Gardens DIY guy
Blair McDonough, actor
Melinda Schneider, country music star

Channel Nine's Go! Network is introducing short news bulletins called Newsbursts. A Nine media release says they will play four times each weekday at 3.30pm, 5.00pm, 7.30pm and 8.30pm. The release says: "Devina Smith be the first host for the news service. Each week Go! will rotate the hosting duties among the younger journalists from the Nine newsroom."

The BBC's Have I Got News for You pointed out this gaffe from an item by Jason Beattie in the UK's Daily Mirror:

Guest host Martin Clunes quipped: "Forever, d-ckhead. The next one will be the 54th."

May 17 updateIn a similar vein, Channel 9 Brisbane has sent out this media release:
Sorry, but you can only win week 12 once.

The Seven network's decision to invest heavily in The X-Factor will certainly bring a smile to the face of Simon Cowell, who is also trying to kickstart the franchise in the US. But does Australian television really need another talent show? What the industry really needs to do is invest in talent that can create and nurture new shows that aren't talent shows.