https://twitter.com/BickmoreCarrie/status/1549658349054349312
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The show has certainly changed from its premiere episode.
From memory, it was on the verge of being axed after only 2 weeks on air but 10 stuck with it by adding a number of format changes. Numbers did eventually improve.
Originally it was more a talk/entertainment show rather than news and current affairs based.
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I am surprised about the shows longevity. When it launched I thought it would last only a few months as it’s competing against ABC News 7pm editions and Today Tonight and A Current Affair.
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Nope… these were at 6.30 back then (2009). The 7PM Project was only a 30 minute show when first launched. It extended to one hour late 2011.
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It is recognised as 20 July but we saw it on the 21st
Barely anyone remembers the brief period when it aired from 6-7pm
From memory (2012) … that only lasted for about 10 months before moving back to 6.30-730. Ten was a basket-case at this time.
Was it that long? I can only barely remember it being on at 6-7 but 10 years ago is a long time
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They were trying to start primetime at 7 which isn’t a bad idea but they had turkeys at the time
21/7/2008 Ten News relaunches its graphics for the first time since 2005/6, and a new set is introduced in Sydney, which would also be used for all national bulletins. Also that night, the finale of the eighth season of Big Brother goes to air with Terri Munro winning. It was the final season to air on the network.
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Yep… and commence reality at 7pm. Unfortunately it just didn’t work.
Wasn’t 7pm the timeslot for Big Brother daily shows?
Big Brother season 8 in 2008 was the last one on Ten. Repeats of comedies filled the 7pm when Masterchef or The Biggest Loser weren’t screening.
When The Project started Ten said they were looking for an alternative program at 7pm that could run all year round and reality shows moved to 7.30pm.
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From 2001-2008 it was. 10 would usually fill that slot post-BB with things like Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond and Futurama. In 2009 they aired the 1st season of Masterchef in the 7pm slot. After the first season of MC ended they debuted The 7 pm Project.
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which brings us back to the original point that The Project had a stint at 6-7pm, what was on at 7pm during that time? Was it another series of MasterChef?
22 July 1981: Power restrictions triggered by the snap strike called by power workers in the Latrobe Valley led to Victoria’s TV stations restricted to a maximum of 2 hours of programming between 6-8pm and that domestic TV sets were not to be switched on outside these hours. https://televisionau.com/classic-tv-guides/tv220781
The restriction forced HSV7 to postpone the final episode of its major mini-series A Town Like Alice to the following Sunday. ABC shifted Nationwide and The Inventors from their usual later timeslots to air in the two-hour timeframe.
Radio stations continued operation as per usual with no restriction on the use of battery-powered radios, but mains powered radios were also restricted to operation between 6-8pm only.
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Yes, reality. From memory the Biggest Loser followed by MasterChef. (2012)
Then at the end of 2012 the Simpsons returned at 6pm and The Project was pushed back to a 6.30 start again. After the Simpsons (2014) Family Feud was launched.
Would have been interesting to find out if GTV brought back the FUBK test pattern card for that particular day.
yeah I can’t recall at all what they did. I don’t know if they were allowed to air a test pattern or whether they had to go full shutdown/off-air until midnight. I only vaguely remember Channel 10 in its closedown gave a plug to 3XY for people to tune to. I don’t recall anything else that any of the channels did that night.
A couple of years later we were destined for another 6-8pm TV lockdown but at the last minute it was negotiated to extend it to 4-11pm which wasn’t quite as dramatic a reduction.
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History may well repeat soon (albeit under vastly different circumstances) but TV networks would not be forced to reduce broadcast hours these days given the potential loss of revenue.