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Great Debate (won’t) tackle MasterChef finale

Update: The Debate will now air at 6:30 Sunday for one hour with David Speers as adjudicator.

Anyone who wants to be voted in as Prime Minister at the coming election needs to show they are in touch with the public.

So whose idea was it to propose a Great Debate between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott this Sunday night?

The thing is expected to go up against the MasterChef finale!

Ludicrous.

AAP says it is likely to be the first and only leaders’ debate of the 2010 election despite a call from Mr Abbott for three debates.

Julia Gillard told ABC, “I can understand the fascination with cooking and eating, so I know many Australians will watch that show, but I think Australians still pay some regard to the debate and to the election campaign and what’s said in it.”

Not when we have the biggest TV show of the year we won’t.

If it airs on Nine and / or ABC it will be good news for them, against the reality juggernaut.

Presuming this event is over by 9pm, it shouldn’t impact majorly on MasterChef’s figures. TEN has coded the show into two titles, with The Winner Announced to air from 9pm – 9:30pm, which is where it will attract its whopping figures. Even Kylie should have finished singing on Seven by then too.

But maybe Gillard and Abbott should square off on either side of a hotplate, with Matt Preston and a Mystery Box in between them. It would get more people watching than this idea.

Update: Ben Fordham on NineMSN says: “The backroom boys of the ALP have ruled out 7:30pm Sunday night. It may be printed in the TV guide, but it’s not going to happen. They’re trying to move the debate forward to 6:30pm, but even that doesn’t solve the problem because it’s supposed to run 90 minutes. Another option is Monday night. They’re trying to sort it out right now.”

The Debate will now air at 6:30 Sunday for one hour with David Speers as adjudicator.

27 Responses

  1. More people will watch the Masterchef finale than the AFL Grand final. Do you think they would even have considered such a debate during a grand final? Glad to hear it has moved to 6.30.

  2. Put the country on hold, while a minority of Australians watch Masterchef on television. As if teh television debate has ever been swayed by other television programming.

  3. Some REs:
    David: An article in today’s Herald Sun indicates that the Liberals wanted the debate for this Sunday, and Labor wanted to schedule it on a different night.
    Craig: I’m pretty sure that Seven had plans to book a big-name guest for the DWTS finale (whether it was Kylie or someone else) long before the debate plans were known.
    Patrick: ABC1 (and presumably News 24) will probably simulcast the debate as well.

  4. Great assessment David..I think the Labor party is not taking their one debate seriously and wants it buried under press coverage that will be given to the Masterchef winner next day.We deserve better than that.

  5. @Byron

    Since it’s so important, shouldn’t they schedule it to maximize viewers and their focus? I always watch the debates live but I guess not this time..

  6. Anyone is kidding themselves if they think that the debate is not going to rate as well as the master chef finale, I mean this will be probably be the only occasionan that gillard and abbott go head to head in the next 5 weeks, as much as some people can’t stand either or both leaders, I reckon it will rate very well against the Masterchef finale.

  7. Byron, we’re obviously all here because we’re lovers of tv. Surely you can not be surprised? And we are talking about Masterchef, people have been living and breathing it for the last 3 months, so yes, for these millions of people it actually is much much more important than the leaders debate. And it’s not that we don’t care about politics, it’s just that the Masterchef Finale will be more important than Everything for that one night.

    Which gets us back to the questions, who’s decision was it to hold the debate this sunday and what were their motives??

  8. Well no one is forced to watch Masterchef – everyone has the freedom to choose what to see.

    I assume the debate will also be shown on SKY News as well.

    So if Masterchef gets 3 mil viewers, that leaves about 19 million Australians liable to watch the debate on either FTA or Foxtel.

    As for having 3 debates – that’s a good thing, but I don’t think there’s been 3 debates since the 1996 election between Keating and Howard.

    I’d like to see one between the Deputy leaders and those for the minor parties – anything to get a fair balance.

  9. With all due respect, what is ludicrious is your suggestion that the leader’s debate should not be on against the finale of a t.v show. What is our country coming to when something like Masterchef is considered to be a more important event than a debate between possible future leaders of our country

  10. At least if no-one watches the debate, there is a perfectly good reason why!
    It is going to feel like a saturated 35 days of campaigning, the finale of the biggest tv hit of 2010 would be a welcome distraction – and i don’t even watch Master chef! To some extent, there will always be an audience for the leaders debate, and vcr’s and remote control switching during the abundant ads on 10 will allow people to view both!

  11. You seriously think TEN is going to delay the MC final, likely to top 3 million viewers?

    I feel more sorry to Kylie on ch7, who at Seven thought it was a good idea to put her appearance on the same night?

    Sunday night I’ll be watching the F1.

  12. According to another SMH article, “the leaders’ debate is traditionally held on the first Sunday after the writs are issued,” so it wasn’t just an oversight.

    smh.com.au/federal-election/chefs-win-in-ratings-boilover-20100719-10hzc.html

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