★★★★★ 0/5

No risk for 20-TEN

Programmer David Mott tells TV Tonight why TEN is very happy to be facing 2010 without the need to be taking its trademark risks.

82
Leave a comment

talkin bout On set Shaun 2A year ago when TEN unveiled its programming for 2009 it brazenly shocked the nation when it said Big Brother would be replaced by a cooking show. And it promised other local titles including Talkin’ ’Bout Your Generation, Guerilla Gardeners, Bondi Vet and even some that never eventuated: Australia’s Hidden Genius and Undercover Boss.

Unveiling its 2010 titles last night in Melbourne, TEN programmer David Mott played it both safe and sure, only promising one new local title, the Junior Masterchef spin-off. For a network that has prided itself on taking risks (including the Big Brother brand, dropping Sunday night movies, and commissioning MasterChef Australia and The 7PM Project), it is a stark contrast.

As Mott tells TV Tonight, he is buoyant about heading into the new year from a position of strength. The network has confirmed its returning shows will be led by Masterchef, The Biggest Loser, So You Think You Can Dance, Australian Idol, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, Rove, Recruits, Bondi Rescue and Rush.

“That’s the good thing about where we sit today. We haven’t had to take a big risk,” he says.

“Yes a lot of it’s what we’ve known but that’s the best position for any network to be in. Because at the end of the day we’re creating television that people want. They have clearly resonated with these shows.

“Media-buyers, advertisers, key clients, they want shows they know have some audience numbers there that says ‘this demographic watches that show.'”

Mott says 2009 was all about building domestic content.

“We knew we were saying farewell to Big Brother. We knew we had a big job convincing the market and coming up with new shows. It was hugely risky.

“If you think 12 months ago when we gave a sense of a lot of new programmes, how did the market react? MasterFlop I think was the term used,” he says.

“A number of those on your site referred to it as MasterFlop but I’ve got to say you are my site of choice in terms of updates on television and to get exactly what’s happening in the industry. You’re the first site I go to. And I have absolute respect for people on that site, because you need to get a sense of what they’re talking about.

“And when I read about MasterFlop I thought ‘God have we made the right decision? These are our viewers.’ But again, people probably didn’t see what people saw in that show.”

Other titles to return in 2010 include Merlin, House, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Dexter, Californication, Burn Notice, Bondi Vet, Good News Week, Neighbours, Numb3rs, The Simpsons, Jamie Oliver, Lie to Me, Law and Order: SVU, Criminal Intent, Medium, TEN News, AFL. They will be joined by new US series The Good Wife, The Cleveland Show and Modern Family along with the continuation of Glee.

“The benefit was while MasterChef was just launching we then went to the US for the LA screenings and suddenly we’re seeing some shows coming through and we’re thinking, ‘Now we’re starting to cook.’

“This is starting to become the network that we’ve been looking forward to for some time. We’ve never had the sum of all the parts,” he says.

Pivotal to this were the deals with CBS and the winning deal with FOX Studios.

Local drama Offspring, described as Brothers and Sisters meets The Secret Life of Us, is hoped to proceed to a series. The Hawke telemovie is also slated for 2010.

But not everything is settled. The 7PM Project has struggled to build an audience amid comment its format is still in need of change. Mott says he would be happy with 850,000 viewers.

“It’s not right, it’s not there yet,” he concedes. “But I gotta tell you, it is going to get there. The idealogy behind 7PM is absolutely right. And there’s nothing stronger in my mind that that show will be around in 5 years plus. Things may change within it, but the idea of that show absolutely belongs at 7pm. I completely stand by it.

“I’ve been very clear with that show from day one. We are completely changing the landscape of news gathering and news reporting each day. Now have we got it right? Not 100%. My view is we’re 65% – 70% there.

And as I’ve been saying to a lot of people, it’s content over comedy not comedy over content.”

TEN plans to continue the show through summer, into the new year and indeed, into the ratings year moving key shows such as The Biggest Loser and MasterChef to 7:30pm. Mott is adamant the shows will improve their pull at 7:30pm.

“Suddenly people are over with dinner and they can now sit down as a family and watch television. All the shows get a bump at 7:30,” he says.

“Whenever I would extend the episodes from 7:00 to 8:00 –and I did that often– with MasterChef and with Loser, you always got a bump at 7:30. There’s some switching going on at 7:30. So potentially those shows can perform even better from 7:30 – 8:30.”

One of the networks other weak points is Friday nights. Next year TEN will rollout extended episodes of Biggest Loser on Fridays with a ‘healthy living’ outlook. Based on the succes of its Friday Masterclass on MasterChef, It will include a dietician, doctor and cook.

“I think Better Homes and Gardens great show, but you know what? It doesn’t deserve the figures it’s getting. We’ve proven that with MasterChef up against it. We can knock it off.

“We are committed to doing something broader on a Friday night. It’s tough. You’ve got NRL and AFL. We’ve tried series. But I’m very open to ideas from our loyal fans about trying to find a solution there but they need to go back and study what’s gone there before. I think we’ve got the answer with extended Biggest Loser and extended MasterChef.”

As for Australian Idol, Mott defends its one million viewers and its demographics. The network is yet to begin discussions with FremantleMedia on how it would adjust the show for 2010.

“All the product we try and develop nowadays is the ‘stickiness’ factor of these shows.It’s not just a linear broadcast now. That’s not what television’s all about. It’s the stickiness: online, catch-up, mobile… Australian Idol still plays a function of bringing content to consumers in a number of different ways.”

With the Delhi Commonwealth Games set for October, TEN is also considering its option for the programming of Idol next year.

Another show yet to be clarified is 9AM with David and Kim. With David Reyne departing the show at the end of the year, TEN is still considering its options for the competitive morning slot, particularly when it enjoys no significant lean-in.

“It’s like having 3 casinos in 3 shopping centres all delivering the same thing. What you need is a real point of difference there. You’ve got male / female, female, blah blah blah… all well and good. But when you’re delivering the same message in principal and the same reason why they belong then we need to create something new,” he says.

“Where we lose out in the mornings, we gain in the afternoon, and we do. Look at the numbers.

“There is a great opportunity to come up with something new and different in that timeslot and that’s what we’re about at the moment.”

Finally, TEN confirmed its plans for a new digital channel to replace ONE SD, at a time of its choosing.

“We’re assessing where Nine are at, where Seven is at, so it gives us the ability to go ‘Ok where do we see our channel going forward?’ We are technically ready.”

Updated.

82 Responses

  1. I think 2010 should be Idol’s final year, but it should be announced before the auditions begin. It might help increase the talent pool if people know it is their absolute last chance to try out. Also needs the results show back, but at 30 minutes. It doesn’t have to be Mondays either. But there needs to be something Idol related on another night besides Sunday.

    I like the idea of sitcom night on Fridays. Also please consider The Office again for Summer or a low profile time slot.

  2. Anything about a new logo? I would have thought 2010 would have been the perfect year for it…

    Not that the logo is tired… I just like new things 😉

  3. GNW I hope comes back but couldn’t they had the best of both worlds like 90210 at 7:30pm and GNW an hour later to keep their targetted generation who watch both given the lack of decent offerings elsewhere happy.

    I love my funny takes on the news and how a programme like that makes a person smarter.

  4. I would have liked then to develop at least two new australian series – one drama and one comedy. they could have used their high rating programs to launch more shows. It would enhance their rating perofmrance in the back end of 2010.

  6. @KFed I think Idol isn’t dead I just think its timeslot isn’t right. We seen Idol do some very nice number during the semi finals on weeknights. How about a move to Thursday 7:30 with an elimination show on Fridays or possibly Sunday 6:30 for half an hour? The performance show on thursday 7:30 managed close to 1.3 mill its highest figure so far this year. As for changes there is one I would make – Lose the judges give people something new to listen to!

  7. Thanks for a great interview and it’s great to see once again David taking the time to communicate with non traditional media.
    This comment “And as I’ve been saying to a lot of people, it’s content over comedy not comedy over content.” strikes me as strange. In my opinion and this is more from radio than tv, you never get a good result when you get comedians and then ask them not to be funny all the time. They’re not happy and they’re not sure why they’re doing what they’re doing. Why stack a panel with comics and then have comedy the secondary element? The panel got it right but they had a week of stories to choose from and a longer format. They were also around before the internet was as big as it is now. I still think it’s a confused show but I think it’s great channel 10 are actually giving it a shot and I hope it pays off for them.

  8. As I’ve said many a time before, TEN really should look at moving their News service to 6pm; the First at 5 thing really isn’t relevant anymore in the digital age. Problem is, TEN seem to be resistant to any form of change, particularly between 5pm to 7:30pm.

    The programming is this area has been non-existent for the past odd-15-years; at the time, it may have been a good idea, come on guys, you’ve been on endless Simpsons repeats, interspersed her & there with failed projects or other repeat sitcoms, that Seriously, when one think TEN, they think Simpsons – and Law & Order and that’s about IT! And I don’t think that’s an exaggeration.

    I would be happy for Neighbours to remain @ 6:30pm (happier for it at 7.00pm, it’s original home) as long as it it didn’t suffer the shocking lead-in it’s had for over a decade!

  9. @ Russell: News at 5 & 6? That’s way too much. It would also potentially damage either 5pm news or 6pm news. No one wants 2 hours of news back to back.

  10. Hi David, great interview, congrats! Was there any word on when exactly MasterChef Australia and Biggest Loser will come back? I assume MasterChef first, then Loser? Thanks!

  11. Idol really, really needs to be put out of its misery. I can’t think of a possible format change that could save it.
    Or maybe we could get already well-known acts and have Dicko tell them why they suck? I’d watch that.

  13. As for the Friday night problem, maybe say a two hour youth oriented show from 7.30 – 9.30 with music, interviews, youth culture, etc – something poeple can watch before they go out or have on while friends are over? Then follow with series for those staying home.

  14. I think you’d find that many Ten news viewers are actually gone long before 6pm in any case. I’ve seen a number of comments here and elsewhere about people who switch over to 7 or 9 around sport time and then watch 6pm news. I don’t think news at 6 would do anything for Ten and I don’t think having 90 minutes of news on 10 would hold the same numbers it has as a 5-6pm average.

  15. What about shows such as 90210 and Melrose?? When are we seeing these??

    Why can’t they put them on a Friday night? or after Glee?

    Also, they should switch their news to 6PM and have editorial content like Fox News.
    This is different and would appeal rather than watch bogan “current affair” shows on the other two.

    Neighbours could move to 5PM after Bold.

    Surely there must be a show they could try at 7PM and Friday nights, I mean there are 1000’s of channels worldwide.

  16. One assumes The Spearman Experiment is gone with the wind, as I can’t see it mentioned in the article.

    Hopefully Madga gets another shot at TV hosting, she just needs the right vehicle I think.

    And as always I would love to see Ten use its archives and show some classic stuff from the 60 – 80s either on a new digital channel or as a late night ‘cult’ idea.

  17. It costs Ten $25000 to air a Simpsons repeat at 6pm, most of which have been already shown 2000 times (which means they probably have to make 3 times that much in the ads shown from 6 – 6.30pm for 8 or 9 minutes), so it’d definitely be cheaper and wiser for Ten to show a re-airing of what their 5pm news covered in 40 minutes, over 22 minutes at 6pm, or they could show longer Aus interviews and stories, that had to be cut down for the 5pm news.

  18. @Russel or the opposite could happen and ten lose viewers and GO! and 7TWO gain viewers, in particular. People will get bored of the hour long news and may switch over for another opinion or for entertainment! Ten already win the 6 timeslot in 16-39 and competitive in 18-49 so you can see why ten would opt for repeats of simpsons over more news. Also a repeat of the simpsons costs 20,000 dollars to show which would be a lot cheaper than showing more news. But I agree i think ten should increase the news – but I was just giving you an idea from the other perspective its not all win win.

  19. @ Paull. I never said move Ten News @ 5. I said a brand new Ten News @ 6. In addition.

    So you’d have

    5.00 Ten News @ 5
    6.00 Ten News @ 6
    6.30 Neighbours
    7.00 The 7pm Project
    7.30 Primetime

    Ten News @ 6 may not win, but I’m certain it would do better than The Simpsons does now. It also stops that massive switch off from news at 5 into simpsons at 6 that Ten has now. Not only would they bost their own 6pm numbers, but they would dent Nine and Seven’s numbers.

    It’s win win.

  21. Excellent Interview, Ten is really taking a good hard look at itself. No mention of Bondi Vet returning, that was such a solid show this year, thought for sure it would be making a return. Great to hear David checks out this site to get a feel for what people are thinking, as for friday night the solution is Sitcom night an Hour of “The Office” plus other comedys..

  22. You cannot have digital at above 576i as the main channel which is the analogue equivalent otherwise that’s HD and the law as it stands does not allow that.

    Those asking for Ten HD to return you have let any programming from any Ten network channel on it not just Ten 1. You may not like sport having exclusive access but you’ll find there’s bugger all room for all HD content on one channel without having something rescheduled or delayed “very frequently”. ONE will be HD for some time (probably + 3 years) until more spectrum is used or compression broadcasting starts up depending on MPEG-4 equipment take up.

    I’d also say Mott is playing his cards close to his chest because until Ten 2 is ready to start there’s hardly any benefit in announcing what shows will be on it for the competition to counter act.

  24. @ Russell: I have to disagree with your opinion of moving 10 news to 5. Ten news does well at it’s 5pm times slot, and being a whole hour of news/ sports, it targets a different market. If they go for the 6pm slot then they’re likely to lose because people are used to getting their news from 7 and 9, any other competitors will only eat into that share, rather than build it up. Also, if they moved neighbours to 7pm, then that would push out the 7pm project, one of my favourite regular weeknight shows (I didn’t jump for it at first, but it grew on me).

    Maybe ten should get rid of Ten digital and turn it into Ten HD at 720p, with OneHD reduced to 720p, for those who want SD ten, just turn to an analogue tuner, almost all digital tvs/ tuners have an analogue tuner built into it.

Leave a Reply