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Morning TV war set to heat up

Updated: As Kim Watkins departs 9AM, TEN will soon announce the replacement show with an ensemble team, taking on the competitive morning landscape.

9oclockThis Friday marks the last episode of 9AM with David and Kim.

The show will conclude its 4 year run of live morning programmes following the earlier resignation of co-host David Reyne.

Updated:  Kim Watkins is also to depart, announcing today, “I’ve loved interviewing, quite literally, thousands of people from all walks of life on 9am. Each day has been a challenge and, for the most part a delight and a privilege.”

TEN’s chief programming officer, David Mott said: “We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Kim over the four years of 9am and we’ll be sad to see her and David off at the end of the week.

Next week it begins its annual summer series featuring highlights from the year, with links hosted by Ann-Maree Biggar.

TV Tonight understands TEN is set to announce a new-look show for the timeslot for 2010 which will take the form of an ensemble morning television programme, expected to be a predominantly female team.

Respected producer Pam Barnes has been appointed to helm the show, raising subsequent questions about any on-going involvement with Hey Hey its Saturday for 2010. Barnes produced the two reunions after her long affiliation with the show.

As part of a rejuvenated format, TEN’s new show is understood to be favouring advertorials with a humorous slant. But whilst many shows have tried to emulate ‘Graham Kennedy-style’ ads, Seven’s Morning Show learned how difficult that was when it first launched. It too promised the same thing.

With three head to head shows, the morning landscape is certainly a competitive field for a modest audience, but even running third in the slot, TEN isn’t prepared to give up its lucrative advertorial revenue -worth up to $11M a year.

Next year Mornings with Kerri-Anne will also have a revamp, under Today show producer Tom Malone. It promises a new look, new set and new segments. With the Vancouver Olympics on air in early February, Kerri-Anne wins an extended summer break.

Both face a big task to take on Seven’s Morning Show, which has been the clear winner since it hit the screens in mid-2007. Ratings for Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies have never looked back since launched off the back of Sunrise.

13 Responses

  1. the morning show is a great show to have in the background while you are doing your morning stuff i often get a few good belly laughs. larry emdur is a great talent some of his advertorial exiting segues are priceless. and kylie has a great personality and the chemistry works so well.

    the 9am replacement will have to be very good to get my viewership.

  2. I hate the advertorials, but if they must have them, how about a compromise and get rid of that bloody annoying Danoz guy. I swear, sometimes he is yelling at me on all 3 channels at once!

  3. It’s pretty pathetic how the ABA actually allows advertising as TV content to be aired. If more apathetic Aus viewers bothered complaining to them, they might consider outlawing it, but it’d be interesting knowing what their argument currently is, for permitting it (advertorials to be aired and used as TV content).

  4. Neon,

    Replacing advertorial won’t exactly get any more interesting content since these shows are meant to be advertorial in part rather than like the overnight exercising and knife one’s just straight selling. Any successful program will just attract as many ads as does 9AM whether it’s a fake show or genuine 30 sec ad.

    Whichever way you can look at it the faces might change but the content will be the same.

  5. The Morning Show tried too hard – and too briefly – with it’s “comedy” advertorials. It would be a lot easier if Ten hires somebody with comedic ability to present them, a few ad-libbed one-liners go a long way. A key part of the IMT format was that presenter (say, Bert) would interact with Graham, the host, during the advertorial and the fact that they were live – pretaping does not lead to spontineity. The client would also have to give up having such a tightly scripted sales pitch.

    I’m glad Mornings with Kerri-Anne is getting a revamp, much needed and deserved.

    I have no idea how The Morning Show does so well. It has brilliant hosts, but the format is tired and very samey – how many poorly researched Top 5 lists and passionless “debates” can people sit through? (Hundreds apparently)

    @Neon Kitten The only reason these shows exist is because of advertorials – that’s where the $11million comes from. No advertorials = repeats of ’80s crime shows.

  6. A few weeks ago on Weekend Today, Cam and Leila said goodbye to Kerri Elstub (Executive Producer), who will move to Kerri-Anne in 2010. Tom Malone will remain producer of only Today.

  7. If Ten wants to expand its audience, it absolutely needs to lose the advertorial. It’s cheap, it’s tacky, and I’m surprised David Reyne hung around raising his eyebrows at its stench for as long as he did.

  8. ten could put the best show in the world at 9am and it would prob still fail because of its crap lead ins!
    if kim watkins is not in the new show then i will start watching the morning show.

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