Much of the attention through the "back end" of this ratings year has rightfully been on the ascendant Seven Network and the success of its new and continuing shows. The Tuesday night line-up of RSPCA Animal Rescue, Find My Family, Packed to the Rafters and All Saints has been a notable standout. While Make Me a Supermodel has stumbled and Dancing With the Stars has waned, other shows, such as City Homicide, The Force, Border Security and Better Homes and Gardens have continued to perform strongly.
Nine has battled on in second place, riding on the surprising popularity of Two and a Half Men and, last week, the Rugby League grand final. But struggling harder in third place, and even wobbling dangerously there, has been Ten.
The youth-oriented network has suffered a string of prime-time problems over the last weeks. Episodes of the Beverly Hills 90210 revival, fast-tracked from their US screenings, have appeared and abruptly disappeared due to viewer indifference. The success earlier in the year with Bondi Rescue was not repeated when the lifesavers took their patrols to Bali and Bondi Rescue: Bali was also axed. The misconceived dating game, Taken Out, intended to anchor the 7pm slot on weeknights, lasted only two weeks.
House, once a reliable Top10 program, has also experienced a slump. Last year, it could be counted on to draw more than 1.5 million viewers, but the new, fast-tracked episodes of the hospital drama have conspicuously failed to achieve those heights. Last week, it was No.69 nationally with only 858,000 viewers. In the same timeslot, the final episode of ABC1's The Hollowmen drew 900,000.
Another new show with high hopes stepped up to fill an unscheduled gap last week when Jamie's Ministry of Food premiered to a lukewarm reception. Attracting only 764,000 viewers, it was No.80 nationally. This suggests that the Naked Chef's heyday as a TV drawcard may be over. Perhaps we are now firmly in the Ramsay era, or maybe Jamie Oliver's healthy food warrior phase is less appealing to viewers than the cheeky lad bouncin' around a cheery flat, happily snipping his homegrown herbs into some brilliant new dish.
Amid this succession of failures, one of Ten's crucial "tentpoles", the Australian Idol franchise, has also been fading. With 1.21 million viewers last week (No.25 nationally), it's not in critical condition, but it's not attracting the crowds it once did.
Amid the upheavals, the American crime series NCIS has proved a hardy stayer (No. 20 last week with 1.3 million viewers). The new Australian police drama, Rush, has also been a bright spot, in terms of quality, if not numbers. Perhaps inhibited by its 9.30pm Tuesday timeslot, Rush was No. 70 last week with 838,000 viewers. One can only hope that Ten has some patience with this one, because it's worth it. Many local series that went on to have long and healthy lives didn't take off until their second seasons (Blue Heelers and Water Rats among them).
Even with its focus fixed firmly on the youth market niche rather than a more broad-based appeal, Ten isn't doing well. In a horror week earlier this month, it was beaten in the national ratings by ABC1, an exceedingly rare event. And as it surveys the prospects for 2009, what Ten might see is a big slab of the schedule, estimated at 120 hours, that will no longer be filled by Big Brother, which was axed in July after eight seasons.
Seven is powering through its post-Olympics run and easily won the week. In Melbourne, it recorded a victory with a substantial margin, scoring a 31% prime-time audience share ahead of Nine (25.1%), Ten (20.2% ), ABC1 (18.6%) and SBS (5.1%).
Media Man Australia Profiles
Television
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