Gruen Transfer wins second season

There’s more Gruen coming -that’s the good news.

But the bad news is not until next year. The series will conclude at the end of this month, and alas, it won’t return to production until 2009.

With figures of 1.2m viewers and over 100,000 downloads on its website, it’s no surprise the series has been given a second lease of life.

Producer Andrew Denton said, “We are thrilled to be given a crack at a second series, as, in some ways, it feels like we’ve only just begun to explore the extraordinary world of advertising and its ways of persuasion.

“We are also looking forward to handing out more impossible advertising challenges to the industry, such as making Sam Newman a spokesman for women’s rights, or selling nuclear reactors as the must-have facility for your town”.

Press Release:
ABC-TV announced today it has commissioned a second series of The Gruen Transfer from Zapruder’s other films.

The current series is averaging 1.2 million people each week, with an excess of over 100,000 downloads and streams on the website.

The Gruen Transfer is hosted by Wil Anderson, and features advertising industry regulars Todd Sampson and Russel Howcroft.

The new series will go into production early next year, with the final episode of the current series to screen on Wednesday July 30.

The show’s website (www.abc.net.au/gruentransfer) has been breaking records and attracting massive attention with user-generated video mashups. Over 8,000 mock ads have been produced by viewers using the Ad Remix Tool, and the site has attracted over a million views since the show premiered.

Amanda Duthie, Head of Arts, Entertainment and Comedy said; “We are excited about the success of The Gruen Transfer. Not only because it’s an original Australian concept, but that it has worked on TV, as well as online. The video mashups has been phenomenal.”

Andrew Denton from Zapruder’s other films said, “We are thrilled to be given a crack at a second series, as, in some ways, it feels like we’ve only just begun to explore the extraordinary world of advertising and its ways of persuasion.

“We are also looking forward to handing out more impossible advertising challenges to the industry, such as making Sam Newman a spokesman for women’s rights, or selling nuclear reactors as the must-have facility for your town”.

Arul Baskaran, Executive Producer of ABC-TV Multiplatform, who commissioned the Ad Remix Tool said; “The web is changing the way viewers engage with TV. The video mashups success is fantastic and a perfect extension of the show’s exploration of advertising.”