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Programming war heats up

Could Seven shake up Sundays with Border Security and Triple Zero Heroes?

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bordersecAn article today speculates on more programming plans between Seven and Nine with the following:

SEVEN
– Border Security to 7:30pm Sunday followed by Triple Zero Heroes.
– City Homicide to 8:30pm Sunday followed by Bones.
– How I Met Your Mother 7:30pm Monday.
– Australia’s Got Talent to 7:30pm Wednesday.

NINE
– Two and a Half Men (new) to 7:30pm Monday
– Domestic Blitz to 7:30pm Wednesday -this is already confirmed, and while Blitz has had its order upped, it tends to perform as a special or short-run series.

Nine’s director of research Steve Weaver said “dog” shows will be cut quickly despite an audience backlash to slicing and dicing of shows.

“Nine is absolutely sensitive to viewer concerns but we have to balance that with what we face in terms of this year’s fierce battle for revenue,” he said.

“The fight for your share will be fierce.”

Nine programmer Michael Healy added, “We attack and address every year as competitively as we can.”

If Seven does move Border to Sundays following Sunday Night it would be quite a cultural shift by the network, traditionally given to light entertainment rather than factuals. The night has been problematic for the network for a long time.

Expect Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters to move into 8:30pm / 9:30pm Mondays and Private Practice to join Grey’s Anatomy on Thursdays after it has a 2hr debute on Thursday Feb 5th first…. but we’ll know soon enough!

Nine is yet to announce times for key shows including Farmer Wants a Wife, Underbelly, Ladette to Lady, Sea Patrol, The Mentalist and more.

Seven and Nine should confirm additional timeslots early this week.

UPDATE:  Returning: Housewives, Mother, Brothers & Sisters, Got Talent, Anatomy

Source: Herald Sun

22 Responses

  1. “At airports there are signs indicating Border Security is filming and if you don’t wish to participate please advise an official. Not the other way around. It is only written in English.”

    David thank you for informing me of this as I didn’t not know that Seven’s filming went to such a manipulative and misleading extent. Gobsmacked, Border Security may or may not promote “greater compliance” with quarantine rules, but it is certainly not lending “greater compliance” to international visitors. Clearly the underlying tone strives for an, as David succinctly put it, “us vs them” mentality. Take for example one of the latest ads. The voice-over emphatically announces that “it’s not What he’s bringing into the country, it’s Who he’s bringing in” while showing a shot of a vulnerable woman of asian appearance. Do you think that this is portraying foreigners in a balanced, fair light? Is it impossible to assume that viewers may adopt a negative opinion of foreigners after being continually drummed by images of foreigners “carrying drugs” et al? Furthermore do you think the filming process quoted above by David is fair and balanced and indicative of a consideration of ethics?

    Absolutely not.

  2. monday evenings- how i met your mother Vs Top gear ?? Noooooooooooo………two of my fave shows, battling against eachother for my attention. Say it aint so.

    Am glad himym is making waves, absolutely one of the most brightest comedy shows on tv at the moment…….been a fan since episode 1.

  3. Let’s continue this conversation after you’ve **actually** watched a few episodes…

    And maybe you should take some time to consider all the good the show has done, for example educating people about Australia’s Quarantine regulations, leading to greater compliance. That’s a fact.

  5. So what you’re saying is that once people are either convicted or proven innocent, they actually **want** the footage (interrogation) to be on national tv to further tarnish their reputation? It’s the ethics of the whole show, which even as an ‘outsider’ to the show, i see as completely missing.

  6. My understanding is that everyone who has been filmed by Border Security and walks free from the airport has to sign a release form (in their own language or through an interpreter) agreeing to appear. I’m sure many passengers love to have their 15 minutes…

    The stories involving narcotics aren’t aired until the cases have been dealt with in open court.

    Once again, it’s obvious that you know nothing about how the show operates, and I’m guessing you don’t even watch it. Have a look when it comes back after the tennis, Benno.

  7. They don’t have to explicitly say that they are constantly trafficking drugs etc, it’s all in the representation – a camera crew in a room with yet another person from another country, the blurred face, the accusations (unproven in court). It perpetuates the fear of outsiders.

    I sure wouldn’t like to travel to an asian country for example, and have a camera crew film me and air the footage on TV when i didn’t do anything wrong. Would the viewers be any wiser to the truth than the representation the network provides? Over time, if enough people from Australia or western countries were featured on the show, it would reinforce negative stereotypes that they can’t be trusted in their country. Again, that reinforces racism.

  8. It’s not racist Benno, it’s fact. The majority of people who try to smuggle drugs in to Australia aren’t Australian nationals – they’re citizens of other countries. That is a fact. It’s not being racist.

    Many Australians know that there’s a good chance they will be caught if they smuggle drugs. Maybe those who do don’t want to be filmed by Border Security?

    I’ve never seen a promo or show which says “outsiders” are “constantly” trafficking drugs. Be fair.

    1. At airports there are signs indicating Border Security is filming and if you don’t wish to participate please advise an official. Not the other way around. It is only written in English. For someone coming into the country Border Security probably sounds like official customs camera crews, not a commercial television enterprise. After a long haul flight (they are all long haul to Aus) how can anybody think clearly about consenting to participation? The show has traded very successfully off the Howard Years / Tampa / Schapelle Corby and it’s time to treat visitors with some decency instead of furthering an Us v Them mentality.

  9. Gobsmacked – how about all those promos – infact, nearly all of them – which suggest that outsiders are constantly trafficking drugs, taking part in illegal activities, etc? A huge percentage are people not from Australia……..Coincidence, i think not. And that’s just the promos….

  10. Border Security has a racist subtext?? You’ve got to be kidding me! Shows you are very ignorant yourself, Tepee.

    I hope Border continues to go from strength to strength. It is Seven’s best hope of smashing 60.

  11. So basically Seven are moving their ususal Monday programming to Sunday. Who knows if it will work. A little risky though, because it might weaken the ratings of Border, 000 Heroes and City Homicide, just as moving DWTS to Sundays greatly weakened a once dominant show. Then again, with its racist subtext Border Security deserves nothing better than to be smashed.

    I also don’t know if moving How I Met You Mother to Mondays is the right decision. Last year it was averaging 1 to 1.2 mill on Thursdays, well down on the accustomed 1.5 mill upwards that Seven is accustomed to on Mondays, plus it didn’t have to compete with 2.5 Men. Although I think keeping DH and moving Brothers & Sisters to Monday is a great idea – both excellent shows that in my opinion are more of a “weekday” show rather than a “Sunday” show.

  12. Will be interesting to see how border dose against 60 hopefully 7 will put it back in its proper timeslot of Monday nights if it fails which it probably will

    Sunday night will probably have a hard fight with TBL

  13. Well, it looks like Nine haven’t leant a think from last year which is why I will be choosing what programs I will invest my time in very very carefully.

  14. I think Seven are smart moving all their previous Monday lineup to Sundays. Unfortunately Australia seems to love that horrible 2.5 men, it was still rating over 1 million for repeats last year even when it was on 10 times a week. That said I hope people have the sense to flock to HIMYM, its definitely got a lot more depth and heart than Men which is all about juvenile sex jokes and neglect on the fat kid.

    That said I hope 60 Minutes slaughters Border Security in the ratings.

  15. Oh crap. i hope they don’t put HIMYM on the same time as 2.5 men. Unlike many on this site I love 2.5 men. a comedy classic in my opinion. I have got a higher regard for HIMYM after watching over the summer. I previously found it pretty one dimensional, but the early seasons fleshed out the chararacters a bit more than was apparent on last years “Brittinay” season. I was looking forward to Nine going back to Mondays as their sit com night, as in the good old days of Friends.
    Seven has always had Thursday as their comedy night, now their gonna go a wreck things.

  16. So they will be cutting ‘dog’ shows quickly. Except their definition of a ‘dog’ show is unrealistic, such as just under 1m. It looks like this will be an interesting year from the sidelines. Of course, none of the changes they will make will affect me, as they have lost me long ago.

    Did i just see channel nine say “Nine is absolutely sensitive to viewer concerns”?

    Ha! Sure they are, when pigs fly to the moon!

    “despite an audience backlash to slicing and dicing of shows.”

    That backlash isn’t just angry fans on messageboards – that’s also people checking out torrent sites and sticking with them, and never coming back.

    Let the knee-jerk reactions begin.

  18. Nine: “shows will be cut quickly” etc etc…

    Honestly, how on earth do they expect new shows to get any kind of foothold, ever? I for one no longer watch TV for this exact reason. If they want to shuffle programming around, then so be it. But they don’t just shuffle, they kill off programs, so before you can even begin to get into a series, it’s gone, indefinitely, probably forever. And then they are left with the same old shit; the dregs.

    Honestly Nine, and all FTA, if you want to keep your numbers up, you have to actually put shows to air for them to attract audiences.

    Thankfully for me, the 8 or so series I currently follow (all OS series mind you), all have alternative methods of viewing. Until FTA shapes up [read: indefinitely], I will choose these reliable alternatives.

    Thankfully the NEWS is still shown daily as programmed, otherwise I could sell my TV.

  19. Aaand the lube supply’s been refreshed andthe execs and programmers are pulling ’em out again to win the “mine’s biggest” contest.

    As always, the viewers come last. They even admit that now.

  20. I haven’t seen any previews for Sea Patrol – perhaps they’ll hold it till after easter.

    If their summer scheduling is anything to go by expect the Mentalist to occupy every post 8.30 timeslot that’s not tied down with a different one each week.

  21. and audiences will quickly cut the “dog” network ie. 9. not that they even have a single program i want to watch as they either sold them to foxtel or simply refuse to air them.

    if this is true there will be a war between himym and 2.5 men- it will be interesting to see if quality (in my opinion anyway) wins out. with repeats of himym surging on 7 over summer and 2.5 only declining in ratings 9 would be mad to face them off when it seems clear where the audiences will lie, they would be better off trying to capture that audience in a different timeslot instead of fighting over and splitting those looking for sitcoms.

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