There’s been more than one article. But you know what, perception is everything so label me however you want.
You win.
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Ok, so Network 10 is not “desperately” making the shift to Paramount +, ViacomCBS is.
And viavomCBS is making the shift to streaming because Disney (Disney, Hulu) NBU (peacock) Warner (HBO Max) discovery (Merger with HBO max) Nine (Stan) and others are.
This is not a ViacomCBS strategy. This is a global trend
And what are Nine, 7West in AU doing, and what are NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC, ITV etc all doing to stop the slide on linear TV?
As far as I can tell they are all doing the same. Getting into steaming!
Ok well 7 West is not, and I think that’s the story.
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Rob is absolutely fair and reasoned in his analysis. The podcast also mentioned recent rating issues elsewhere such as BB VIP and SAS Hell Week.
If I were Ten I’d be rehiring Rob as a consultant. Look at how he built Studio 10 into a competitor against the morning shows on 9 and 7 using variety and humour as a point of difference.
That’s the exact irreverence and difference Ten needs to be deploying across their entire schedule to build audience. Sadly they have become bland and stale - recommisioning underperforming programs like The Bachelor and Amazing Race hoping for a miracle ratings turnaround that inevitably never comes.
Keep up the great work Rob. The industry needs people who care enough to speak up rather than go with the flow which I’m sure would be a far easier route than being willing to put your credibility on the line.
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I’m not having a go at 10 for getting into streaming - it’s absolutely where they need to go and it’s a major issue for seven that they aren’t doing it.
My point has been there are still big dollars in traditional linear broadcasting but 10 don’t know how to fix the issues.
If 10 didn’t believe there was still money to be made in free-to-air they would switch off the signal. The ‘desperation’ comes from having no other strategy.
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The biggest issue I can see at 10 that clearly they have no desire to fix - or at least are not willing to commit the huge amount of $ and patience to : is 6-7pm.
Until they are willing to invest there - they will be #3
10s strategy clearly is push the vast majority of programming and marketing spend to 730-9 and hope that balances out the dire 6-7pm
I don’t agree with that strategy- but also I don’t know what could get people to leave nine and seven between 6-7pm - other than CONSIDERABLE investment in strategy and news. And that does not just need a huge $$ commitment
It needs a huge time commitment (10 years +) incredible strategy and considerable dollar spend.
The desire does not seem there….
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I completely agree with you. Again though, being #3 isn’t the issue - the company has shown they can make that work. The problem is lack of identity and not having ownership of any key demo.
6pm - 7pm is a MAJOR problem and, as you say, not easily fixed. No doubt 7.30pm is where the money needs to be spent but the shows they are choosing are either old or just not generating enough interest. It’s very hard and I don’t claim to have the answers.
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Thank you for the kind words, I genuinely appreciate them.
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Ten deserves all the criticism they receive. They’ve been in dire straits for many years and management has done very little to address problems. It’s incredibly frustrating to see them sink lower and lower and continue on the same old course.
Ten has nothing to lose by trying something radically different and reinventing linear television for the streaming age but they only ever aspire to be a poor imitation of the other two commercial networks. They’d do well to break the mould and start offering programming in bite size, digestible chunks, as the ABC does, instead of exhausting tired old formats that require a huge time commitment. It’s working for them now with shows like The Cheap Seats and HYBPA so why not expand on that and do it from 7.30pm?
The spin and bullshit they pump out of Pyrmont about their performance would do scottyfrommarketing proud. The petty arrogance from the top is breathtaking. They can’t even be bothered to engage in good faith with the audience through people who can help them build their audience. The place needs a clean out and the installation of some people who have true passion and some imagination.
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I understand and agree with 95% of what you are saying.
They are failing it and should make bold and innovative moves.
However you comment on spin - this comes from all networks, that’s what those teams are employed to do it’s not just Ten.
The people employed in that job have to make the best of what numbers they have. The people in that job can’t just give up and say “yep we were third” sorry bosses.
Why do you think we see words like “dominated” “lead” “peak” in releases from networks - its all spin.
The arrogance and failure of Ten is the upper management.
I don’t think media bashing any network is justified. We don’t “own” them or pay taxes to run their business.
Sure we can dissect and discuss, but a hate campaign doesn’t achieve anything.
We all have been saying they need new upper management and someone like David Mott in there who innovated Ten in the 2000’s.
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These two shows are perfect examples of a genre 10 could own.
A nightly investment Sunday - Friday at 930 / / 9 of this type of show could be a risk that could PT off considerably
When Nine and Seven go to C grade US and UK dramas and plastic surgery gone wrong type shows… 10 could be there with topical news comedy - a genre than Netflix. Amazon. Seven. Nine and Disney are absolutely not in and 10 really could own
It’s an idea that takes some strategizing and some willingness to take a risk. But also it’s not the most insane idea.
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I agree.
Be bold and different
See this is what I mean. There’s a tone attached to this comment. It’s not about winning, it’s about treating these situations with a level headed responsive or view and not throwing the baby out with the bath water as we seem to hear and read a lot.
I get 10 can be pricks, most networks are.
Picking names like we are 18 and whining about it just to me makes the situation worse and doesn’t make it come off very well to the brand or relationship.
But mate, that’s my opinion. I just didn’t like what I heard when all that happened.
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There’s spin and then there’s outright lies. The lies and false claims just makes them look like incompetent fools.
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I believe 10 is looking at a third show (next year) for 9.30 Wednesday. Seems to be working for them, but again a strong lead helps build the show.
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But does it mean that start calling them names and bash them at all opportunities? What does that achieve?
If anything you have just said it, they make themselves look like the fools… because they aren’t fooling anyone. How you deal or respond to it is key, let them dig their grave and get out of it
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I’d even argue it’s worthwhile scheduling such shows at 7.30pm as a real point of difference to what the other two are doing.
I’d be looking at community television and podcasters for fresh and innovative programming ideas.
Let people like Adam and Symon from Gogglebox loose for an hour a week to do whatever they wanted. Throw some comedians onto a set and have them riff about a different topic every week- something like the Jim Jeffries “I didn’t know about that” podcast. Music panel shows have always been popular. Reinvent Rockwiz for commercial television. Surely such formats aren’t as costly to produce as the endless hour of reality television they pump out.
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I agree with everything @blackbox has been saying. I have not watched 10 or any of the commercial channels for a long time now. i think tens offering has been very very boring and not worth watching. 10 used to be the go 2 channel for me even when it was scn. in recent times I think 10 has lost its edginess. even though I am 37 i had a step-cousin who used to grow up watching cheez tv. and because to me, there wasn’t anything decent on at that on any other channel I used to watch it to. hell i even used to tape to big brother update, only because i thought 10 was the best channel there was.now i think the oposite its gotten stale and very old and boring
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It would probably be near impossible to turnaround but what about cheap seats weeknights at 6pm or 6.30pm? It could be just 30 mins each night and have a quick entertainment and sport update from the last day? Would be much more topical and up to date and then a highlights package of the 5 shows could be stitched together for a Saturday filler?
Perfectly on brand for ten and a game
Changer for that time slot.
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It could be argued The Project already covers that patch.
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And a lot of clips end up on both shows for a laugh.
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The frustrating thing about Ten is that they really shouldn’t be in the state that they are in. There’s ways they easily could turn things around if they actually had the motivation to do so, but the management at the network are quite happy to see it languishing as the basket-case that it has been for the past decade or so.
Re the point about focusing more on comedies; that is 100% something they should be doing, Ten have generally always done comedies well.
I’ve had the idea for a while that a once-a-week, ‘older-skewing’ version of The Cheap Seats is something that would seriously be worth considering. You could have the likes of Marty Sheargold, Kitty Flanagan, Mick Molloy etc. sitting on a long desk/set (similar to “The Panel”) and comedically discuss some of the biggest topical discussions in the news.
A comedic show based on Gen X’ers perspectives on current topical events (such as cancel culture and TikTok trends) has potential IMO. You would be appealing to the older, middle-aged audiences on free-to-air as they could relate more to the viewpoints expressed, but younger viewers would also be engaged with it as they’d be familiar with Marty, Kitty etc. from HYBPA and it would be a similar format.
Again, there really is so much potential, but the creativity/motivation unfortunately isn’t there…and things will only get worse if the status-quo continues into the streaming age.
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