And drama series like All Saints and Blue Heelers which had rated above 2 million viewers would get axed if they fell bellow 1.3m.
1 Like
Yes however Blue Heelers had 40 odd episodes a season and were considerably more costly to produce than the reality dripple we have now that have much smaller runs. I think it is a big pitty there is very few such shows left.
2 Likes
Good to see news not as dominant - Seven Mon-Fri bulletins outside the top 10 and Nine outside the top 20 even.
2 Likes
i think there was outrage at the time that Always Greener or one of those dramas was axed despite still drawing in around 1.1 million viewers each week
1 Like
Today Tonight / Seven News were unbeatable at this time.
1 Like
But there was still some work to do in Melbourne and Brisbane where Nine News held strong. However, I would like to think Seven News went all out in those two markets in terms of promotion, marketing etc.
1 Like
It only failed because Seven put season 2 directly against Big Brother evictions which had huge ratings. The season 1 ratings were huge.
2 Likes
From Wikipedia:
Rumours were that the cancellation was due to falling ratings. The show began with over 2 million viewers in 2001, but ratings never recovered from the disastrous decision to début the second season in the low rating Easter period of 2002 - Against stronger competition in both ‘60 Minutes’ and ‘Big Brother’. In 2002 the show moved from Sunday to Monday and then back to Sunday by 2003. Always Greener was rating around 1.0 million when cancelled. However, Seven cited “cost management” as the reason for dropping the series.
1 Like
They messed around with the schedule as well which didn’t help as people didn’t know when it was on. I really liked the show and i wish they made more episodes.
3 Likes
This was the start of Seven relying too much on local factuals to fill gaps in the schedule, a habit that still persists today.
1 Like
In 1988, as Nine was preparing to launch Live At 5 (and having to bump off accidental hit The Addams Family), the AFR took a look at some of the different ratings patterns that had emerged between Sydney and Melbourne in the early evening timeslots.
Interestingly, Seven Nightly News in Melbourne had already bounced back to getting 10s and 12s after hovering at low single digits the previous year. The revamped line-up of Jennifer Keyte and Glenn Taylor and returning to the 6.30 timeslot appeared to be paying off.
Eyewitness News on Ten still getting steady low 20s ratings in Sydney and Melbourne, while National Nine News the clear winner in both cities.
Neighbours a clear winner at 7.00pm in Melbourne, though it’s a tighter margin between it and Sale Of The Century in Sydney.
2 Likes
One for @TelevisionAU given it coronation day - do you know what the highest rating Royal “event” has been? (In Australia) I would have thought it would be either Princess Di’s funeral or William & Kate’s wedding
1 Like
I thought it was the 1981 wedding. Charles and Dianna?
2 Likes
The lists I’ve seen put coverage of Dianna’s funeral in 1997 ahead of her wedding in 1981. It is usually credited as the most watched TV event of all time.
4 Likes
Yeah. I would’ve guessed Diana’s funeral as first and the wedding of Charles and Diana as second.
I’d say the more recent weddings are further down the list due there being less interest in royalty and the availabilty of a lot more entertainment options as competition.
1 Like
Nowadays the ratings have dramatically changed between the 40 years
Ratings for First Half of 1984
Ten - 32.0%
Seven - 29.5%
Nine - 26.2%
Let’s Fast Foward to 2023
ABC - 16.7%
Seven - 30.0%
Nine - 29.0%
10 - 15.8%
SBS - 8.5%
From Network 10’s Heyday in the mid 1980s that went from 32.2% audience share to make it Australia’s most watched TV channel in early 1984 to a 4th placed network behind the ABC which usually attracted fewer audiences that now the ABC being a competitor with the commercials by increasing the audience share whereas 10 fell to 15.8%. ABC TV went strong by investing in more Australian productions such as Hard Quiz, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, The Code, Mystery Road, Spicks and Specks which rated well with Australian audiences and ABC’s British import Vera is the most watched international TV drama in Australia last year with 1.5 Million national viewers. While 10 rather had a turbulent time especially after 2012 where launch of new shows failing to fire such as Can of Worms and Young Talent Time reboot all been canned after their debut season which eventually caused 10 to lose to the ABC for third place in 2013 for the first time since the channel launched in 1964. This caused David Mott’s resignation which he pioneered Australian Idol, The Biggest Loser and MasterChef Australia 4 years later 10 went into administration and CBS Corporation brought the Network which the parent company later merged with Viacom which is now called Paramount Global and nothing much has improved. Hunted Australia is 10’s most watched program of 2023.
5 Likes
Source: The Age, 28 July 1988 The Age - Google News Archive Search
3 Likes
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 28 August 1964 The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search
5 Likes
A Sydney newspaper promoting a Melbourne station?
1 Like
It would have been an ad aimed at Sydney executives to promote booking advertising to the Melbourne market.
3 Likes