Yeah the 6am-7am weekend slots on Seven / Nine were airing kids shows until sometime in 2018.
They were frequently pre-empted for extended 6am editions of Weekend Today/Weekend Sunrise. I used to complain about it without much support. This is what happens
If Iām not mistaken, Tenās in-house childrenās production slate consists of Totally Wild, Toasted TV, Scope, Crocamole and Gamify.
Personally I wouldnāt be overly surprised if Ten hold onto their commitments to childrenās programming for a little longer than Seven or Nine (similar to how Ten continued to air P/C classification shows on the main channel for a little longer than the other two did), but at the same time I think we may see one or two titles finish production by the end of this year.
Given his history of presenting childrenās TV content which went to air during half-decent timeslots, I also personally think Drew Jarvis (heās still Tenās head of kids TV, right?) should be trying to get shows like Totally Wild, Gamify and Scope airing on 10 Peach in weekday afternoon slots rather than 8am weekdays and similarly inaccessable times for the target demographic!
They did. Then I think they tried againā¦ I donāt think it lasted.
Crocamole and Gamify have wrapped. The P-class programs are only in production for 18 months, that generates enough for 3 years of quota-counting content (first run plus 2x reruns)
I hear rumours that another P-class program is in the works, but that could get nixxed pretty easy before staff are hired.
Gamify didnāt seem to last that long though because it was only launched last year!
As much as I really hope this does not happen (the loss of jobs and peopleās livelihoods in an increasingly shrinking industry is never to be celebrated), would you say thereās even a chance that Totally Wild, Toasted TV and Scope could soon become part of Australian TV history?
Donāt know if there have been further budget cutbacks to the Network Ten childrenās programming department for 2020, but I do wonder if those made last year are a contributing factor behind the departures of at least two (well, I presume the plans to get a new host for Scope are still going ahead anyway) presenters.
As I understand it, it was only ever an āeventā series - pooling existing resources to make a really high quality show.
Donāt chalk Crocamole up to budget cuts though, Puzzle Play and Wurrawhy are recent memories productions that only lasted for 18 months. Then they wait another 18 months (while airing the show) before starting up again. The clue will be if they donāt start up again.
Not that you needed any proof that Seven doesnāt care about childrenās television, but theyāve been quick to yank the shows off 7TWO in light of the governmentās relaxed quotas during the current pandemic:
ā¦and the far more important content taking the place of Get Clever, ZooMoo Lost and Toybox? Reruns of Auction Squad and Harryās Practice from around the Early 2000s!