And whilst there have been ratings collapses in the US and UK as streaming took off I really think of the three the Aussie networks largely have themselves to blame by just sticking to the same strategy of reality franchises.
I agree. They have basically sacrificed the post-8.30pm programming in favour of the 7.30 reality TV shows. 10 years ago, the reality shows would start at 7.30 and run for an hour. Dramas and other shows would start at 8.30 and would attract huge ratings. Shows like Packed to the Rafters and Offspring were hugely popular then. Then the networks decided to extent the reality shows to 8.40, and then it became 9pm, which usually runs overtime by anywhere from 5-20 minutes. This meant the dramas and other shows had to be pushed back in the schedule, and their ratings suffered because of it.
Shows like Big Brother run for nearly 2 hours, and Ninja Warrior goes for even longer, and so whatever airs after them doesn’t start until after 9pm and gets dismal ratings. Interestingly, MasterChef on Ten only runs until 8.40 most nights, and so later shows like HYBPA?, The Cheap Seats, Gogglebox etc usually start at 8.40 or close to it. And guess what happens? Those Ten shows attract healthy ratings and are much more widely watched than the post-9pm shows on Seven and Nine.
And because Seven and Nine can’t attract high ratings to their post-9pm shows, they are reliant on the 6pm news and the 7.30 reality shows to prop up their viewership. This may have been fine when the realities were dominating the ratings, but that can’t last forever. Now the audience seems to getting bored of reality tentpoles, and previously popular shows are sinking. But all three commercial networks have been reliant on the big realities for so long that they don’t have an alternative when those shows fail.
tvtonight.com.au
