★★★★★ 0/5

2012 Mid-Year Report Card

At the half-way point of the 2012 Television Year what are the Hits and Misses so far?

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Tomorrow marks the half-way point of the 2012 Television Year -counting 20 weeks of surveys.

Strictly speaking we will have several weeks of Olympics, which as an abnormal event is usually separated from standard data.

As of Sunday Seven was leading in Total People, but Nine was in front on Demos.

I’ve taken a look back over the year and made a few assessments on the Hits and Misses so far. This is purely a subjective view, and based on Total People figures, not critical reviews (some of the shows I’ve deemed a “Miss” I personally enjoyed).

I also haven’t ranked every show, because a lot of others fall into a middling range that is neither glorious nor disastrous. So you will some don’t rate a mention -they’re doing ok business.

Furthermore I’ve judged some on the kind of numbers the network can reasonably expect on its respective network in its timeslot. So while 500,000 may be a Miss for one show on one network, it might be considered a Hit on a different network in another timeslot. I also considered their previous performances for comparison.

I’m sure plenty will disagree with the way I’ve called them, but here they are:

SEVEN: B+
HIT:
My Kitchen Rules
Revenge
Once Upon a Time
Downton Abbey
Packed to the Rafters
Seven News
Sunrise
The Morning Show
Please Marry my Boy
Australian Open

MISS
Australia’s Got Talent
Dancing with the Stars
The Price is Right
Criminal Minds
Desperate Housewives
Sports Fever
Border Security
Titanic
The Amazing Race

NINE: B
HIT:
The Voice
The Block
Beaconsfield
State of Origin
Domestic Blitz
Nine News
Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year
The Big Bang Theory
Today
The Footy Show (AFL)
Logie Awards
One Day Cricket
60 Minutes
Hot Seat

MISS
Tricky Business
Excess Baggage
Alcatraz
The Voice US
Two and a Half Men
Top Gear
The Footy Show (NRL)
Unforgettable
Harry’s Law

SBS:  C
HIT:
Eurovision
Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta
Tour de France
Heston’s Feasts
Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve
Coast
Machu Picchu Decoded

MISS:
Danger 5
Man Vs Wild
Bollywood Star
Dateline
Shameless
Freddie Flintoff vs The World

TEN: D+
HIT:
The Biggest Loser
MasterChef Australia
Offspring
Homeland
New Girl
Modern Family
NCIS

MISS:
The Project
Breakfast
House
Glee
Hawaii Five-0
The Circle
Young Talent Time
The Finder
A Gifted Man
Touch
Terra Nova
It’s a Knockout
The Glee Project
Californication
Ringer
Mobbed
Jamie’s Thirty Minute Meals

ABC: D-
HIT:
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
New Tricks
Australian Story
Q&A
Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell
Death in Paradise
The Diamond Queen
Media Watch

MISS:
The Straits
Mabo
Randling
Laid
Woodley
Outland
7:30
Wild Life at the Zoo
Dumb, Drunk & Racist
Auction Room
Photo Finish
Australia on Trial
Dragon’s Den

42 Responses

  1. I rekon the living room is the best new show on Ten this yr. Also Before the game has lifted its game this yr even though it doesnt get great ratings

  3. For me personally with Seven I’m loving Downton Abbey, Once Upon a Time and Castle. Also occasionally Air Crash Investigation (not the start times however i.e. 10.15pm ) . With Nine I want to watch Person of Interest also Alcatraz. Why did they put the former against Castle?!? Sigh. Really love Sherlock a lot. I also love on their multi-channel Chuck and Fringe. But not the surprise times and days.

    With Ten I did enjoy Eleven with Star Trek (TNG & Voyager ) also Dollhouse. But the 10pm timeslot is a miss. Plus no Voyager at the moment. I also like Supernatural and Smallville. Loved that they put the latter on a weekday and before 10.30pm.

    SBS I’ve loved Coast, Simon Reeve, Mythbusters and sometimes Who Do You Think You Are? Plus the news. Last but not least the ABC. I look forward to Catalyst being back. Lateline, Q&A, Four Corners (especially the Tuesday night repeats ) , Media Watch, Mad as Hell and Phryne Fisher. There’s more but too much. Although I wonder if The 7.30 Report will ever get its name back. I also especially look forward to Doctor Who.

    P.S. Sorry got carried away David.

  4. Ratings wise The Straits was a miss but it was badly scheduled up against some stiff competition every one I know who watched it did so at a later time on iview through there Smart TVs and other devices. All that did liked it

  6. To be fair – a few of Ten’s Misses are due to Ten stuffing around with their timeslots.

    YTT – a much better talent show than AGT and The Voice was literally destroyed when it was bumped to Friday night. It’s finale rated under 500K because it was up against bloody football!

    Same goes for Glee and House. One week they are there and the next they are somewhere else or nowhere to be seen for weeks…

    And while we are at it – I am sure Gina and Lachlan would consider the Bolt Report the biggest hit of the year to date.

  7. Yup, pretty much agree with everything there, altho’ I prob would have added Mrs Brown’s Boys to the hit list and Life’s Too Short to the misses.

    Also, there needs to be a separate category for Excess Baggage and Ten’s Breakfast.

  8. While I’ve only seen brief snippets I would have thought Dumb, Drunk & Racist would be considered a hit, it’s rated well by ABC2 standards and has triggered a lot of social commentary.

    @James: I don’t think it’s any secret that The Footy Show AFL does an awful lot better than its NRL counterpart in ratings terms.

  9. I agree with most, though NCIS is down much on last year, I would call it a miss. If The Project could be split then the 630pm would be a hit, 6pm miss. Nb. Chrissy was great on The Project last night – more please.

  11. David, If you base these results on Total People, then shouldn’t Sunday Night be included as a hit when it averages higher than 60 Minutes. And Dancing averaged higher than most other hits yet made the miss pile…..

  13. Attempts at these kind of things usually start big arguments but I agree with a lot of it. The one I disagree with the most is New Girl. It had some good rating episodes at the beginning of the year but it’s definitely been a flop for a while now.

    Hit of the year: The Voice
    Flop of the year: tossup between breakfast and excess baggage.

  15. I would have to agree with everything you have listed and i take it The Amazing Race is the US version. The only thing i don’t agree about is Criminal Minds. 1 episode in the non-ratings period with no promotion at all is a bit hard to gauge a hit or miss but i can see why its there.

    Its going to be an interesting 2nd half of the year. I expect a number of hits and misses to come.

  16. Harsh but fair! It’s an interesting way of looking at the year to date and further confirms my view that the current commissioning team at the ABC in drama and comedy are squandering the budget increases they were given and delivering far too many misses. Leadership, vision and risk taking in all genres should define the national broadcaster.

  18. There is always going to be some shows that people agree or dont agree belong on the list,but alot of that comes down to individual preferences.I think for the most part the list covers what the hit and misses have been this year

  19. Love the report card David!

    I agree with all the hits/misses you’ve listed, but personally I think ABC’s overall grade should be higher then Ten’s grade, especially against 2011’s performance.

  20. I’d mostly agree with what you have here although I would’ve though Amazing Race Australia was a hit, probably the only thing I watch on ch7.

    Disappointed that the Finder is listed as a miss. One of the shows that I really enjoyed despite clearly being in the minority.

  21. The NRL Footy Show should have really gotten Matty Johns and let him have creative control over the show because whoever is boss of the show at the moment is doing a terrible job.

  22. I agree with all apart from one. Im really enjoying Ch7’s Amazing Race Australia and would definitely call it a hit. Maybe the Amazing Race US is more of a miss, in a similar vein to The Voice US…

  24. It is very subjective and can be argued over all day. However I must raise the issue of Olivia and Timmy Time on ABC2, both are solid regular performers and hit their target consistently for a digi channel, they should be included as a hit for ABC

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