7PM Project divides critics
This week Channel TEN's 7PM Project notches up 8 months on air. TV Tonight turns to some of Australia's leading TV Critics to ask how it's faring.
- Published by David Knox
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This week Channel TEN’s 7PM Project notches up 8 months on air.
After repeated attempts at developing a show to fill the timeslot, including Taken Out and even the infamous Yasmin’s Getting Married, TEN has held its nerve with the Roving Enterprises show, despite figures which many assumed would sound the death knell.
Last week it averaged 653,000 viewers, and has doubtless impacted on TEN’s early evening schedule.
But has it found its feet? Has it improved its mix of news and comedy and is it time for audiences to revisit the show?
TV Tonight turned to television critics and found an audience just as split as the one at home.
Michael Idato from the Sydney Morning Herald has mixed feelings about whether the show has improved or not.
“Yes and no,” he says, “I think the production is much, much tighter but in terms of answering a more important long-term objective – what is the show, exactly? – it is still sometimes a little unclear. That’s an issue with the news / comedy balance which they still struggle with. As a new and creative element of TEN’s schedule, it’s excellent.”
James Manning from Mediaweek also likes what he sees, and notes technical hitches have been ironed out.
“Issues with camera angles have been fixed, the number of stories packed into each episode have been dropped and interviews are handled well by the guests with no abrupt endings,” he says. “The hosts are doing a pretty good job and it seems (TEN Programmer) David Mott and (Producer) Craig Campbell recruited well when they launched.
“The mix of news and comedy does work, but I wouldn’t mind if there was even more gags, but that’s probably not the show’s brief.”
Amanda Meade from The Australian, who admits to being a semi-viewer, agreed.
“I don’t see a lot of 7PM but I do like what I see and I think there’s a real need for a light, entertainment-based news show like this,” she said.
“I like all the hosts, and enjoy the regular comic bits by Kitty Flanagan.”
But Dianne Butler from the Courier Mail admitted she is no longer a regular viewer.
“I’m not watching it anymore. I did at the beginning and now I keep forgetting it’s on. I don’t think it’s by accident my brain is doing this either,” she said.
She also doesn’t believe the show has been treated unfairly by media.
“It’s the opposite,” she says. “There’s been massive goodwill from the media and from TEN because they like the people on the show. Plus, I don’t know, but I think maybe because Dave Hughes and whoever all work on other things that are successful, there’s the feeling that The 7pm Project is too -that it’s just an extension of those other jobs.”
Critics were also divided about some of the show’s hosts.
Richard Clune from the Sunday Telegraph agrees the show has tightened since dropping its “inane” crosses to Ruby Rose. He is a supporter of Charlie Pickering as the central host.
“He is driving this show, passionate about the medium and the news and there’s an obvious desire to make this work. He knows what he’s talking about, flicks between serious and funny in a facile way and I believe he will go far – but maybe this isn’t the show for him given that the audience hasn’t responded,” he says.
Michael Idato calls Pickering one of the best television discoveries in recent years.
“He’s bright, smart and likeable. Pay television deserves a little credit here as it has in the last 15 years demonstrated a real ability to unearth real talent (Jabba, James Mathison, Brendan Moar) at a time when free to air has recycled familiar faces to the point of audience exhaustion. The most interesting thing about Pickering / Bickmore / Hughes is that as a trio they have settled into a very comfortable dynamic. In effect, their collective chemistry is greater than the sum of its parts.”
But Richard Clune isn’t so enthusiastic about news presenter Carrie Bickmore.
“I feel I’m not alone here. She seems somewhat like a female token on that panel – she’s able to deliver a solid, well-articulated female point when necessary, but just who is she and why do I care…?” he asks.
Richard Clune says Dave Hughes’ schtick hasn’t changed in 15 years, and says nobody outside of Victoria is that interested in the Melbourne comedian.
“He needs to go,” he says, adding that Hamish and Andy would add more to the show.
“TEN paid big bucks for Lee and his offsider Blake – now put them to use in lifting 7PM before you need to scrap it.”
While critics responded to James Mathison, there was less enthusiasm about the contributions by Ruby Rose.
Mediaweek’s James Manning said, “James Mathison and Ruby Rose seem to have all but disappeared. Don’t miss them too much because with three hosts that’s probably enough. Ruby seems to have lots going on elsewhere.”
Michael Idato even went as far as to dub Mathison a ‘superstar.’
“He’s intelligent, is just offbeat to work in a medium where most of his peers are bland and difficult to distinguish from the pack,” he says. “Ruby Rose has been underwhelming. She’s ubiquitous at the moment, which creates challenges of its own – such a high level of over-commitment means that almost everything she does looks as though it’s done on the run, with little research or preparation. A more experienced presenter could hide those frayed edges, and she doesn’t always do a very good job of that.”
Several critics made mention of regular panellists on the show, most of whom provide a generational contrast to the show’s three hosts.
“I’ve enjoyed them working in more commentary from people who tend to polarise with their varied opinions – namely (Steve) Price, (Neil) Mitchell, (George) Negus, although I doubt they cut through to TEN’s desired younger demos?” asks Richard Clune.
But there was sharp criticism from others.
Andrew Mercado from TV Week said, “I switch the channel the moment I see Steve Price. He is totally inappropriate for the show (and TEN’s audience in general). If they want a regular redneck, they need to find someone younger and more relevant.”
Amanda Meade agreedm saying, “Producers could try a bit harder to get some ‘credible’ guests on, that is, someone a little more interesting than failed shock jock Steve Price and a little younger than George Negus. Try for some big hitters with real credibility.”
But Michael Idato notes Negus’ Monday night appearances as one of the show’s better contributors.
“For the most part they work well, but the standout is George Negus, and in that sense it answers the question of whether the show should be more news / topic focused, or more comedy free-form. The best moments on the show have been those which tap into the news, so I believe a slightly straighter, slightly sharper but more in-depth approach is the smartest route.
“One of the show’s weaknesses is that the conversations are cut short too frequently. When the show is able to harness people like George Negus, it’s wasteful not to let those conversations get more in-depth.”
There were genuine concerns the show has impacted on other TEN brands.
“The big casualty so far is The Biggest Loser which had its numbers pummelled because it was displaced out of the timeslot it has historically occupied on TEN’s schedule. That’s a huge impact for TEN, for Fremantle (who make it) and for Shine (who own it). I would imagine all three parties have been wringing their hands over the numbers,” says Michael Idato.
He notes So You Think You Can Dance Australia has also taken a hit from The 7PM Project and warns that as Masterchef approaches, three underperforming franchises would be too high a price to pay for one show’s modest success.
But Dianne Butler says TEN will probably stick with it.
“It gives them a platform to push other product, people … And what else are they going to do anyway? Their highest rating show at the moment is the News at five o’clock in the afternoon so there are plenty of other problems apart from this one to sort out,” she says.
There was universal applause for TEN’s loyalty to the show.
Andrew Mercado summed it up, saying, “I couldn’t admire TEN more for their loyalty but it’s not enough to just sit there and hope the audience finds it. Why doesn’t Rove step up and become an occasional panelist – surely that would bring in a few more eyeballs?
Richard Clune says part of the problem is that younger viewers have already received their news throughout the day via the internet and suggests it could be retooled as a longer, weekly show in a later timeslot which would allow it to be even more risqué.
“Ultimately I think TEN and the team – minus Hughes – have given it a fair crack and for that they’re to be congratulated… But it hasn’t worked and it’s time to either pull it apart and start again or simply walk away,” he says.
Finally, few critics were able to nominate a highlight from the show’s life thus far, although Michael Idato observed that Adam Lambert’s take on the opposition leader’s comments about feeling comfortable around gay people was an intelligent and topical treatment of a news story.
And as the show continues a cultural shift on the TEN audience at 7:00, he says it’s almost impossible to navigate between news and comedy because people react to that balance according to their own taste.
“For me, no, it needs to be focused a little more in the news and a little less in scripted comedy or punchline-delivery moments,” he says.
“In a very broad sense The 7pm Project serves as a current affairs program, albeit one tailored almost entirely to TEN’s stated target demographic of 16-39, and frequently offers more insight into topical issues than either A Current Affair or Today Tonight.”
Maybe it’s time for another look after all?
75 Responses
very good article David.
Hopefully 7pm doesn’t damage Masterchef’s numbers causing 7pm to get the chop, if so I hope a late night weekly hour show is planned as a backup rather than just removing it outright. It’s not as though Ten don’t have a 930pm slot that this couldn’t easily fit in to, maybe against the Footy Show.
and as for the chorus of disapproval for Dave Hughes, will happily join the choir -he can be funny, but the format of the show is not suited to him.
The show is very cheap for Ten to make and they should also have a Sunday night version at 6 pm with different people. A repeat of The Simpsons that Ten show at 6 pm weekdays and on Sundays, costs them 25 grand each time one is aired. They should move the show to 6 pm, Simpsons repeats to 6.30 pm and move Neighbours to 7 pm to compete against Home & Away.
People have voted with their remotes. Despite the vocal opinion of the minority who think it is decent, there is no denying it is a flop and audiences are not resonating with it. The only reason the trash is still on air is because Ten’s expectations are rock bottom.
My whole family enjoys the show as it is nice and light and not bogged down with current affair type stories
I just don’t understand why Dave is still on there when it is quite clear that his jokes fall flat and that he doesn’t bring any intelligent comment to the table. Steve Price has turned me off the show completely, he makes me angry whenever he opens his mouth.
Is the problem that Rove and Craig are too proud to change the format, or are they more worried about giving their friends jobs? Peter Hellier’s lame brand of humour left a sour taste in my mouth whenever I watched, and I’m certain they only kept him on because he was Rove’s BFF, despite the fact the ratings breakdown would show that whenever he was on screen people changed the channel.
My family and I would watch it more often if Dave Hughes went. Viewing a mega repeated 2.5 Men episode is far preferable than a show with him in it!
I like Richard Clune’s idea of a longer, weekly show in a later timeslot as I’m never able to watch it, 7pm being an inconvenient time for me to sit down in front of the TV. I can tell you that there’s at least one thing it’s achieved – my teenage son is happily watching the news for the first time.
I still quite like it……George Negus irks me though – he’s great on SBS, but on this he just seems to try too hard…..
as for Kitty Flanagan, that is when I switch off!!! I just don’t find her funny…..
I really like the show now, though I do just have it recorded every night and probably fast forward through about 5 minutes (plus ads obviously) of it on average when I do watch it. Dave Hughes probably could be replaced, but Charlie and Carrie are good after I thought Charlie especially was a bit weak early on.
They need to do something big just to get the million plus people who watched the first couple episodes to check it out again, it’s massively improved on the mess of the first few weeks.
It’ll be interesting to see the effect that ABC2 running the Daily Show/Colbert at the same timeslot has, nominally they’re similar shows (aside from TDS’s total American slant) and it’s obvious that 7pm has tried to walk a similar path with Pickering and Stewart (politically smart, intelligent comedians)
Agree about the comments re: Dave Hughes… I don’t mind him on the radio, but on TV it’s just the same tired jokes over and over and he adds nothing to the show.
I don’t watch. Its too short; trying too hard to be funny; has too many awkward cross promotions; and I can’t seem to connect with any of the hosts. Especially Pickering – when somebody is billed as a brilliant comedian and commentator, I expect more than the jokes of a 12 year old and a few throw away lines. – Harsh, but true.
It’s still tedious, despite production values having obviously becoming better. Charlie is a decent enough presenter, it’s just that he has almost nothing to work with most of the time.
If they removed Dave and Carrie, both of whom I find grating in the extreme, I’d possibly even find it watchable, though it would still be little more than chewing gum for the brain.
The only thing keeping it from sinking with all hands is the fact that there’s very little else on at 7pm. If ABC2 aired The Daily Show on the hour, instead of the silly timeslot it now has, they would blow it clean out of the water.
I’m actually watching it more now. I’ve been defending it since the start cos i thought it had potential, but i was only ever really watching every now and then, but now i’m watchign every night. It’s fixed most of the problems is a very entertaining show.
Last night they discussed the drink driving limit, and they had an honest open discussion with them revealing themselves have been done for drink driving. And then they moved straight into light hearted, funny story without a hitch, before it was awkward, but it’s blends well now.
Kitty Flannigan is always a highlight to me. I think Charlie and Carrie are great. Dave Hughes still needs to go, or the very least just be a guest panelist and appear once a week. Steve Price is terrible and stuck in the 50s doesn’t relate at all to todays generation, and while George Negus can be dull sometimes i think he actually has some things worth saying.
Overall though, it is a good show. It is not responsible for the rating woes of Neighbours, TBL & SYTYCD. The ratings have shown that people tune in for 7PM and then tune out at 7.30, i’m one of them. We’ll see when MAsterchef starts though, maybe that will reveal the truth.
I love the idea of The 7PM Project, it just has never really quite got there with too many clunky moment to not make me cringe. To be honest, although I know it is better than when it first started, that first month on air was terrible and unfortunately, that is where it lost me as a regular viewer.
It is a shame because they have good talent (minus Dave) and TEN are doing a great thing by sticking by it, unlike what Seven and Nine would have done to it.
Maybe it’s time for a set change and a re-launch?
Great story/article!
Rumour has it that if 7pm damages Masterchefs numbers, even slightly, it’s gone.
Too many hosts.Too much pen holding & pointing.Too much laughing at things that are not funny.
I have tried but i just cannot watch.Boring television at best.
The sad part is,what would be the alternative?
Channel 10 hit on a good idea several years ago with Level 23 or 24???
But it just didn’t take off.In todays fast paced world something like that should & could work.7pm Project is for people who started on the drink earlier in the day & will laugh at anything,even George Negus.
Get it off!
Interesting comments. Have to agree totally with the consensus on Ruby Rose’s presence. She was quite average.
I was a skeptic when they announced this show would be airing ,however if you dont like Home and Away and sick of sitting thru 2.5 men for the 15th time then this show is fantastic,its even better when Dave Hughes isnt on and the less Carrie has to say the more inclined Iam to stay tuned into this show,a few more tweaks and they should have it as good as it gets
I tend to agree with the comments by these people.
Ruby Rose – don’t like her and glad she is off there – she added nothing anyway
James Mathieson – would like to see more of him – he’s pretty funny
Charlie Pickering – not too bad as host, don’t like him on TBYG
Carrie Bickmore – i like her, maybe Charlie and she could co-host more
Dave Hughes – no comment. OMG this guy is totally unfunny. I’ve noticed they’ve reduced what he does to only make “funny” comments on clips of the day.
George Negus – I like him and his left views would go down well with audience
Steve Price – WTF is he doing there?? He was a talkback radio host that has no TV prescence at all. Surely they could find some younger right-wing person for the show.
Excellent article David. Well done.
I think the question “what is the show, exactly?” is the big question. I stopped watching the show about two months ago (and went back to ABC News) when I realised that other than a few headlines of news, I wasn’t actually getting anything from the show.
I really enjoy 7PM. It is informative and It approaches stories from a different angle to the other current affairs shows which are basically carbon copies of each other. Negus is always a higlight. Carrie works well but I’m not sure about Charlie and Dave, i think there is one too many male hosts on the show and this just complicates proceedings.
Great story David. At a time when networks cancel or move show every week, Ten must be congratulated for sticking with this. I agree Masterchef has been impacted by 7pm however I think Dance cannot blame this show for their issues.
Fantastic story David. We all love these well researched and written “focus” stories you do. Great work! Thank you!
However one thing you have failed to acknowledge yet again (surprise, surprise!) is that total people figures are less relevant that 18-49 viewing figures. Especially for Ten, and even more so for this show.
So you sum up it’s ratings success by providing one total people number for 1 of it’s 32 weeks on the air. Hardly an account of the show’s performance.
Total people matters a whole let less than 18-49. And at Ten, even more so. Why not acknowledge this?
Looking at Monday night 18-49 viewers just gone in the 7pm slot, we see that “2.5 Men” had 513,000 viewers, “Home and Away” 413,000 and “The 7pm Project” had 402,000. “ABC News” had 221,000
That shows, that “7pm” is fact very competitive. It’s #3 yes, but it is a very competitive #3 coming within a whisker of “Home and Away” Considering the production costs of a studio panel show v a nightly soap, Ten would come out on top of Seven on a cost basis.
Sure, would Ten love “7pm” to be doing a litttle better – yes. But it is not that far behind Nine and I suspect some nights pips “Home and Away” into 2nd position.
Also, how about some historical ratings comparisons. Show us what 7pm has averaged over it’s 8 months on the air V “Home and Away” and “2.5 Men” then we could really see the trend. Much like the fantastic TVbythenumbers site.
I know you say you don’t have access to all the demo info – but it’s findable on the web. It would be nice to at least have TvTonight acknowledge that 18-49 is more important than overall viewers.
Alot of problems have been caused because of the 7pm project:
shows that used to start @ 9.30 now start at 10 and thats too late for most people to watch an hr show till 11pm( 11.15 most times). The biggest loser now has 5 nights of intense competition @ the 7.30 slot where most big shows are put on other networks so it cant compete aswell as the 7pm slot where its against the same 2 shows everyday. Ten finds it hard to win any demo for the 7pm project anyday. It just puts ten’s whole schedule out of whack, and for what? what has ten got in return in the 8 months> ?
If masterchef is put on @ 7.30 like loser i can guarantee you that it will loose viewers with the stiffer comp.