Thank God for $1m
Until Tuesday TEN programmer David Mott thought he had his favourite comedy in the bag. Until Seven opened its chequebook.
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Figures about how much money was paid in the tussle over Thank God You’re Here continue.
Yesterday there was a suggestion TEN had offered $1m an episode but were beaten by Seven at $1.4m.
Today, that is scaled back somewhat to an offer of $1m from Seven. It’s a staggering amount for Australian television. We have dramas produced on slimmer budgets than that, and here’s one which celebrates the fact it doesn’t even use a script!
Until Tuesday, TEN programmer David Mott believed he had a deal with Working Dog.
“It’s fair to say I’m very disappointed after all the work we have done together,” Mott told Confidential.
“I know what we put on the table was very significant and we were willing to go there on that and truthfully I thought that would do it given what we’d all achieved together. What we put forward on the table was significant – that’s the best way to describe it.”
Producer Michael Hirsch informed Mott of the news before Seven broke the news.
But Seven’s head of programming Tim Worner was not sorry for Mott.
“Rule No. 1 in arse coverage when you’ve lost something is to say that the opposition has paid too much,” he said.
Ouch.
Source: Daily Telegraph
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54 Responses
I know they were seasoned comic performers.
But I still think Ten took some risk on what were fairly original formats and gave them a lot of freedom.
Fair enough if Working dog defects to Seven. But they should take the risk with a new format. It seems ridiculous to use two formats that were nurtured by Ten.
Well of Seven paid heaps, expect heaps of ads and cross promotion galore.
Hope Working Dog got cast iron deal otherwise Andrew O’Keefe,Daniel McPherson and even Home and Away souls to be on it.
no wonder they won’t give me a series they’ve spent all the money on this show!!!!!
But “R”, the thing is Working Dog always like to take the moral high ground and say things like “we’re gonna go out while we’re on top” etc. They even took a year off television with that as their stated purpose, leading everyone to believe that their integrity was more important than ratings and money. But a few extra dollars come their way and they are willing to forsake the network who gave them a chance in the first place. That’s what makes their actions particularly anathema to me.