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Australian Survivor Ratings
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There may be no choice but to add cooking challenges into survivor.
Instead of solving puzzles,
"your challenge for reward: create a croquembouche of escargot" - survivors ready? cook!
Serious question: do you think it hurt the ratings that the tribes were so unevenly divided and the promotions for the show gave away what would happen?
I think if I was in new viewer and I saw a huge tribe against a few people I wouldn't be interested. It was obvious what would happen.
I know this elimination of a tribe hashappened on US survivor but I think that's when the reasons why they started doing swaps. I'm not sure about that but week after week of the same tribe going did not happen early seasons of US survivor.
Now we are at the halfway point. Most people remaining have had very little screen time so they are relatively unknown. Outside of Lee, I don't know if anyone has enough star power to hold and gain interest in the show.
I just don't see anything happening to improve the ratings. I was hoping they would be slowly but steadily climbing. Instead, I'm concerned they are going to be dropping as other shows get closer to the end of their run and announcing winners.
What do you guys think?
I think if I was in new viewer and I saw a huge tribe against a few people I wouldn't be interested. It was obvious what would happen.
I know this elimination of a tribe hashappened on US survivor but I think that's when the reasons why they started doing swaps. I'm not sure about that but week after week of the same tribe going did not happen early seasons of US survivor.
Now we are at the halfway point. Most people remaining have had very little screen time so they are relatively unknown. Outside of Lee, I don't know if anyone has enough star power to hold and gain interest in the show.
I just don't see anything happening to improve the ratings. I was hoping they would be slowly but steadily climbing. Instead, I'm concerned they are going to be dropping as other shows get closer to the end of their run and announcing winners.
What do you guys think?
...I have to be honest Rose711... as a newbie to the show I was watching it even more than I would've been just because I wanted to see the smallest Vavau tribe beat the smug-arsed Sanaapu tribe... I just wanted the underdogs to win whatever they could so I actually loved the idea that the tribes were so unevenly unbalanced... it was a David V Goliath battle for me as a newbie but seasoned veterans might not have seen it that way possibly... but for me personally I loved the odds...
...as for the Channel 10 promos they should learn to shut the fuck up as far as I'm concerned... I so hate it when they telegraph what to expect and then it turns out to be exactly that... it's like an instant soft-on for me when that happens... they just shouldn't do it... I put it down to the fact that this is the first season for this 'new' show and that they're desperately trying to pump it up so that it becomes a ratings winner and that hopefully they ease off with the enthusiasm if it goes to season 2 onwards... but being a TV Channel competing so fiercely for viewers... I doubt that that will happen somehow... well they're my thoughts anyway... cheers.
I'm no ratings expert but I don't think any shows really improve ratings throughout the season. Best case scenario I think is a slight drop then for the ratings to stabilise. Most people have their shows chosen before they air. So it's between seasons where they have their best chance of gaining viewers IMO, via word of mouth and such from the last season.
As for how the last weeks events have played out in keeping interest I think they've chosen to merge at just the right time. Any more of the Vavau bloodbath would have started to fatigue the viewers IMO. I know I was starting to get fatigued. Having Saanapu as a bit of an unknown might actually work in their favour by refreshing the show so to speak. We get to pick our favourites again and if you're a new viewer you're no more in the dark then the rest of us!
As for the promos I can't really comment as I never pay attention to ads.
The block has one distinct advantage over survivor:
It is much easier to know the teams, follow them and remember their ups and downs.
with 8 or 10 contestants they each get a lot more exposure and a fuller character is
easy to connect with.
The thing that probably distanced many viewers from survivor is the complexity
of so many people in three tribes. We are halfway and some people have had
very little screen time to develop stories around them.
I think the merge to one tribe is basically a new game that restarts.
They should advertise it as "Its a whole new ballgame" so people who
havent been following, maybe give it a second chance to follow.
It is much easier to know the teams, follow them and remember their ups and downs.
with 8 or 10 contestants they each get a lot more exposure and a fuller character is
easy to connect with.
The thing that probably distanced many viewers from survivor is the complexity
of so many people in three tribes. We are halfway and some people have had
very little screen time to develop stories around them.
I think the merge to one tribe is basically a new game that restarts.
They should advertise it as "Its a whole new ballgame" so people who
havent been following, maybe give it a second chance to follow.
Agree - and the size of the tribes reflects that. Feel like I know Vavau quite well but half of Saanupa I couldn't even identify.
In theory a show like Survivor should grow in the ratings from this point forward now it's personal, but if the competition is growing too as it reaches the latter stages that's a problem. Just can't understand Australias obsession with putting like for like shows up against each other - the UK and US networks try to avoid it as much as possible through either unwritten gentleman agreements or just pure common sense.
In theory a show like Survivor should grow in the ratings from this point forward now it's personal, but if the competition is growing too as it reaches the latter stages that's a problem. Just can't understand Australias obsession with putting like for like shows up against each other - the UK and US networks try to avoid it as much as possible through either unwritten gentleman agreements or just pure common sense.
What does this mean?
How much do they have to have to make continuing worthwhile?( I guess we don't know).
I wish I could help with the marketing!
I wish they would at least stop spoiling their own show- do other shows do that in Australia? Does the block give away who is losing or going home in the promos? Do they tweet the result 15 minutes after the show? It's so bizarre.
PS where do you find the ratings? I can't tell but it seems that the show has been losing ground. I can't compare on night to night.
PPS. What is this music quiz show? What a nightmare to compete against.
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Plus I'm concerned they might start losing hard core survivor fans with the twists that imbalance the game further and make it harder to follow.
On the US show, the initial tribes have color coordinated clothing. Hell they could have given each team a cheap t shirt to wear in addition to the buff. They also put the persons name and tribe on the screen when they guve confessionals. That helps people identify the tribe.
I'm concerned now that the show is too big and on too many nights to be manageable. I'm concerned people might start giving up on it because we still have a long way (and who knows what twist) to go to the end.
The numbers are total viewers in the five main capital cities (at least according to AusTAM who does the ratings). I get the info from TVTonight.
700,000 viewers is enough for Ten to renew the show, in all likelihood, because it's about as good as it gets for them as Australia's third-rated network (sometimes even fourth).
Melore
Tiny Member
Only a few years ago 700,000 was considered so bad Ten viewed "I Will Survive" as a flop and started gutting its contents manically, and then scheduling some really woeful shit they thought would appeal instead.
Ten has clawed its way back up from its dismal years by revamping/returning to roots Masterchef, and sticking with their new productions - I'm a Celeb and The Bach/ette franchise - despite wobbly starts in ratings for The Bach especially, and building these new shows, a lot of it by word of mouth.
Even though these are not crash hot ratings, it is still rating better from my recall than any of Ten's other recent offerings in these timeslots on these nights, up against the bigger rating reality shows of Nine and Seven - and most nights it beats Dumbo's - and it is still the highest rating show on Ten on these nights. So...
Thanks. It's hard for me to understand these numbers from the US. I think Survivor is very expensive to make compared to those other reality shows: master chef and the bachelor.
It does provide hours and hours of content so maybe it's worth it.
I admit I was surprised that the numbers weren't increasing because the show is good but I'm watching it in a vacuum.
I will be curious to see if it can sustain its numbers after the merge. Maybe some compelling characters will emerge once individual immunity is in play.
It does provide hours and hours of content so maybe it's worth it.
I admit I was surprised that the numbers weren't increasing because the show is good but I'm watching it in a vacuum.
I will be curious to see if it can sustain its numbers after the merge. Maybe some compelling characters will emerge once individual immunity is in play.
OK because a picture paints a thousand words (and also because I have way too much time on my hands) I made this graph:
Survivor has definitely stopped losing viewers in the last couple of weeks, and has even started to trend up (abeit marginally).
Overall average viewers:
Survivor: 680,000
The Block: 996,000
EDIT: Data only from dates where The Block and Survivor both aired.
Survivor has definitely stopped losing viewers in the last couple of weeks, and has even started to trend up (abeit marginally).
Overall average viewers:
Survivor: 680,000
The Block: 996,000
EDIT: Data only from dates where The Block and Survivor both aired.
Melore
Tiny Member
They fly out some of the best/most famous chefs in the world for Masterchef, and have to cough up appearance fees I expect, on top of flights and accomodation. Plus it has a large crew and our own judges would charge a fair fee for their involvement now it's so successful. But Aus MC is also really popular in India, so I guess they recoup some of their expenses selling it overseas?
All these shows seem to be produced by the same mob, or variations on the theme. Shine. Endemol. I don't know what their budgets are for these shows, but they do come up with lavish-looking production values - and they've clearly spent a bit on choppers for all the glorious aerial views on Survivor; but they are pretty spendy on our Bachelor lately also, with choppers for this and that. I know Survivor has a large crew on location. As does I'm a Celebrity... So the expense of these productions must be made back in advertising revenue, and by other means.
I hope the numbers increase, but who knows. I mean, the Block is the same shit every year, dust and ugly rooms and bickering, but people like it.
D
Deleted member 39902
Guest
Sunday night and the weekly viewing cycle is sort of interesting. (Sunday traditionally being the biggest viewing night of the week, and high revenue for that reason).....What a bunch of fickle viewers lol .... watching the Block reveals on Sunday, then Survivor Mon/Tue 
Of course it's more complex than that with other shows, but a trend is pretty clear - Block goes up on Sunday while Survivor goes down, then Survivor peaks Tue and the Block bottoms out.
I can see why there may have been talk of pulling Survivor from Sunday, but only if TEN have something BIG to compete with the Block....like Peter Brock?..mass, middle-Australia appeal....just like Scotty Cam
Of course it's more complex than that with other shows, but a trend is pretty clear - Block goes up on Sunday while Survivor goes down, then Survivor peaks Tue and the Block bottoms out.
I can see why there may have been talk of pulling Survivor from Sunday, but only if TEN have something BIG to compete with the Block....like Peter Brock?..mass, middle-Australia appeal....just like Scotty Cam
Yes I was going to comment on exactly that; it's almost exactly a mirror image (abeit not as exaggerated on the Ten side) but as you say there is quite clearly a chunk of viewers (not looking at anyone in particular @Consuela) who watch both shows, catching the Block reveals on Sunday and the Mon/Tue Survivor shows. All the more reason Ten should reconsider Survivor's slot when/if it returns next year.
*Consuela has thus far stuck it out on Sundays, but we are watching you!
I also think the block is so much better at creating drama and real tension between the teams.
This heats things up.. In block NZ 5 the girls "stole" house 3 which set in motion a huge
chain of tensions. In this block they create tension by making one team decide on things
that then impact the others or having one team delegate shared spaces.
Survivor needs to find a way, apart from challenges, to create more tension between tribes
and inside the tribes. Amp up the drama - bring in 3-4 Des next time.
One way to do it is "overnight guest" where one of each tribe goes for one night
to the other tribe.. or bartering for food/shelter between tribes.
This heats things up.. In block NZ 5 the girls "stole" house 3 which set in motion a huge
chain of tensions. In this block they create tension by making one team decide on things
that then impact the others or having one team delegate shared spaces.
Survivor needs to find a way, apart from challenges, to create more tension between tribes
and inside the tribes. Amp up the drama - bring in 3-4 Des next time.
One way to do it is "overnight guest" where one of each tribe goes for one night
to the other tribe.. or bartering for food/shelter between tribes.
Usually getting voted out creates enough tension. Taking that away and creating no elimination tribal councils is a big departure, though I understand why they do it with 26 episodes to create.
With one or two exceptions from seasons years ago, the tribes don't become so uneven. There is always a swap to even out the numbers.
The dynamic they created with the pick yor best team draft and then didn't correct is a completely skewed view of how survivor can be played. Usually there is some tension as to who will win, and if there isn't, those tribes only last two episodes or so.
Regarding costs for shows like Masterchef, I was thinking of US Masterchef which is 13 episodes or so. I still think Surivor costs more but again, flying people to pacific islands is a lot closer from Australia!
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