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It’s a Knockout still possible for summer

Could TEN's blast from the past be a clever pick as summer fare?

TEN is still considering the possibility of a rebooted It’s a Knockout, mulling it as a possible programme for summer.

The sprawling game show, which was a successor to the 1970s Almost Anything Goes, remains a fond if hokey remnant from the 80s.

Elements of the format were mirrored in Big Brother‘s Friday Night Live games a few years ago while Total Wipeout also proved popular. The show has a lot of goodwill, but as Gladiators and Hey Hey discovered, revivals are not always easy.

In an interview with The Age, Programming Chief David Mott also talks about some of TEN’s 2012 programming highlights.

Breakfast, to be co-hosted by Andrew Rochford will begin screening in January.

”There is a pool of $90 million at play at breakfast and we want a piece of that,” Mott says. ”I liken it to what Seven did with Sunrise, taking on the sleeping giant, the Today show. But that didn’t happen straight away. It was a slow growth. This is not a six-month strategy. It’s a big shift.”

Commenting on the performance of The Renovators against The Block he says:

The Block did exceptionally well,” he says. ”It’s a different show. Sadly, The Renovators came into a cluttered market and we weren’t in the position to delay it. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing.”

Amongst the other comments, TEN still views 6:30 with George Negus as a work in progress and Young Talent Time is likely to screen on Sundays from February with The Graham Norton Show for Saturdays.

You can read more here.

29 Responses

  1. Channel 10 should wait until Nein completely screws up The Joy Of Sets. Then they can pick up Ed Kavalee to host the new version of IAK. You know it makes sense.

  2. In the photo is Fiona mcDonald. Jackie mcDonalds sister. The guy is Billy j smith-ex Brisbane sports celebrity at tv0(ten) in Brisbane But I think the show was recorded in suburban Sydney

  3. I watched some old It’s A Knockout not long ago. As much as I loved it as a kid, it really doesn’t stand up well. I can’t see it lasting long or attracting the kind of demos Ten needs. Very much the Funniest Home Videos audience – but a hell of a lot more expensive to make.

  4. Friday Night Live didn’t compare anywhere to the quality and entertainment value of It’s a Knockout. FNL was slow and was mainly filler (it took like 2 hours to play just 3 games). IAK was fast paced and had variety in the games (6 games in an hour, 7 in the 1985 season). I hope TEN do the right thing and keep it like the original format.

    Bring on IAK… from a distance you can hear, the sound of a cheer….

  5. The key is to keep expectations low. With Hey Hey and Gladiators both Nine and Seven were pushing them to be ratings juggernauts and throwing everything they could at them, that’s why it fizzles out.

    TEN should honor the format and expect to serve a ‘niche’ market and then just be pleasantly surprised if it resonates with viewers.

    I also call bull sh*t on the ‘weren’t in a position to delay Renovators’ puh-lease you wanted to capitalize on MasterChef and that’s the end of it. Just be honest and admit you stuffed up and learn from mistakes in 2011 when moving forward into 2012. That is all…

  6. The day I get to see a grown adult dressed in a dog suit trying to climb up a steep soapy ramp to find and collect a giant bone hidden in a haystack will be a very, very good one indeed 🙂

  7. Certainly think It would work. Wipeout was popular. Just the setting looked so crappy.
    Shaun Mc would be an excellent host. Your Gen does certainly have a element of Knockout in it’s final round each show and is very funny.

  8. It’s A Knockout is a French format that was adapted by the BBC – there is nothing “Australian” about it. Friday Night Games however, was 100% Australian – and the games were funnier. If TEN could up the budget to improve costumes and the arena there would be a far better product. From my memory Friday Night Live used to get 1.3m on a good week and never less that a mill. Friday Night Games was slightly less but always around 900k – what any of the networks would do for that figure on a Friday night now!

  9. @Jimmy – Ten have tried that. It was called Friday night games. It was hosted by Mike,Fitzy and Bree. And from memory it was doing around 650-700k. And I’d love a network to invest real money during summer. There is money to be earnt. Have a look at the US summer programming. I’d love for us to have that sort of commitment from a network.

  10. Ha! That’d be good if they did.

    Interesting that they couldn’t hold off with The Renovators.

    I like the idea of having Graham Norton on Saturdays. But it would be good if they could also repeat it during the week on ONE or ELEVEN.

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