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Jonathan Coleman survives, but TEN’s Creative Development Unit shrinks.

Jonathan Coleman remains on a talent deal with TEN while the ambitious Creative Development Unit is now depleted.

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It was launched by James Warburton with big ambitions, but just months after the Creative Development Unit embarked upon becoming TEN’s internal production driver, it is now depleted.

Amid network redundancies last week a number of staff also left the unit, which has now been integrated with the Programming and Production department.

In June CEO James Warburton announced Lisa Fitzpatrick as Director of Development and Production to oversee domestic productions and the Creative Development Unit.

“Lisa’s appointment and the new Creative Development Unit are key planks in our strategy to renew our creative content and to ensure we are meeting and exceeding viewers’ expectations,” he said at the time.

Sources say the CDU had around ten members, including presenter Jonathan Coleman. He is understood to have left the CDU but remains on a network talent deal. Coleman has made appearances this year on such shows as TEN Late News.  

Audience research expert David Castran also left some time ago, following a leave of absence for personal reasons.

TEN would not confirm the remaining numbers, rumoured to be around 3 people now, or the details of staff who had left.

A TEN spokesperson told TV Tonight, “Some (not many) members of the creative development unit have departed this week. It is not appropriate for us to discuss publicly the nature of their departures.”

The Creative Development Unit was a move by TEN to try and replicate the success Seven has had with its internal productions, such as Packed to the Rafters and My Kitchen Rules, despite the independent production sector remaining cynical about its chances of success.

None of the shows TEN announced for its 2013 Upfront were developed by the CDU.

“The creative development unit is working on a range of projects for 2013 and beyond. None of those projects have been announced publicly yet, but they will be.”

9 Responses

  1. When will the Board recognise that the decision to hire Warburton has been a disaster.

    He has not made a single decision that makes sense other than cancelling the now forgotten play thing of Lachlan – Breakfast.

    Ratings have plummeted, revenue is embarrassing,the Executive Team are lost and void of any experience or business knowledge and their seems no end in sight !!`

    Replace the entire board on the basis of incompetence or mismanagement of shareholders funds.

  2. @ David Knox

    Thank you for your prompt reply, and I accept your decission.

    I hope you will also log this clarification please. David never at any time did intend for Anybody’s privacy to be infringed upon, hence the ‘Únkown’ heading, and I appologise if you interpretated it as such.

    My request was innocently asking for a ‘collation’ on a simplified single page, of known events, history and facts etc, most of which having been released verbally or written ‘in diverse items’ by those affected themselves, as it is near impossible to keep abreast of all things that cross your desk?

    For example was I the only one unaware of Kath Robinsons actual situation?, till you detailed it in your reply.

    Please keep up with your good work and much valued information.

  3. @David Knox

    Given Ten’s ‘no longer strange’ decission to keep the unimpressive Jonathon Coleman, and this mornings P Henry’s first? and however brief quip, about his coming departure, can you confirm that he will be definitely and entirely off Ten’s books?

    Also I may have missed details surrounding Kath Robinson’s departure, has she jumped, or was she pushed?

    Given the fractured way individual stories are emerging, eg Bill Woods among others, David would it be possible for you to compile in a single page layout, seperate colunms, possibly under similar headings , Voluntary, Forced, Unknown, with each persons years of service after each name ie.10, and as a bonus based on your industry knowledge and from our comments, colunms headed, For and Against in aprox. percentages against each name.

    If acceptable to you, in the For and Against category one line entry allocated to Network Ten in general regarding our perceptions of how they themsevles have performed? with no need for individual enteries here, because if some individules are so unaware of their own shortcoming, such a list would be water off a ducks back to them.

    1. People deserve some degree of privacy, so I will decline your suggestion. TEN hasn’t detailed all positions, names or circumstances that were affected by redundancies enforced or otherwise. My understanding is Paul Henry and Kathryn Robinson were both given notice on Friday 9th, though I would anticipate with different contract exit conditions.

  4. When will the TEN share holders wake up to the fact that the Warbler has no idea what he is doing? Seriously, is the Board asleep at the wheel? WTF is going on there? No plan, now there is no ideas department (Jonathon Coleman – please!), & u turns on concepts…..this will go down in TV history as a disater navigated by a bloke who has clearly been promoted beyond his abilities.

  5. Ten’s quotes to TV Tonight have been very cold and impersonal lately. At least when David Mott was there they seemed to go out of their way to give more pleasant and jovial responses

    Of course, with the amount of axings and redundancies lately, it’s natural the atmosphere there would be miserable

  6. So they fire Bill Woods, Kathryn Robinson, 100 journos, 30 more across the network including 3 talented creatives from the development unit and keep a radio star from the 80s on a “talent” contract?

    Good decision, Warburton.

  7. Whats with Ten’s habitual practice of hiring and/or retaining people who by inuendo, project anti government comments into almost any topic they are talking about.

    However subtle,obvious or outrghtly desperate their seque’s are, hasn’t Ten learnt anything yet?, that these people who continually slip such comments in every chance they get or even create, devalue their own and Ten’s credibitly and simply alienate viewers.

    This could contribute to a poor performance in the rating chase, come to think of it, isn’t that what is happening for Ten at present?

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