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No Deal at 5:30 in ratings race

Ratings: If Seven wants to address its 6pm News woes it needs to revamp its 5:30 lead in.

nodeal aokSeven’s troubles at 5:30pm continue to impact on its 6pm News.

Last night Hot Seat was 719,000 followed by TEN News (627,000) and Deal or No Deal (521,000). Buoyed by such a strong lead in, Nine News dominated in Melbourne and Sydney and was the #1 show nationally. Seven still took victory in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Deal or No Deal has been a license to print money for most of its afternoon timeslot, which began in 2004. Andrew O’Keefe’s ability to drive the format, unscripted, has been remarkable. But it is regularly beaten by Eddie McGuire’s Hot Seat which benefits from general knowledge trivia (despite its host locking in correct answers far too quickly and giving contestants more think time when they are wrong). Deal would simply be better served at 5pm if Seven wants to address its ailing News in Sydney and Melbourne. It’s been dragging on too long and they know it.

Last night Nine network share was 28.6% then Seven 27.7%, ABC 19.2%, TEN 18.8% and SBS 5.7%.

Nine News led the night with 1.24m for Nine then ACA (979,000), The Footy Show (849,000), Top Gear (772,000) and Hot Seat (719,000).

Seven News (1.21m) was best for Seven then Today Tonight (1.08m), Mrs Brown’s Boys (993,000 / 392,000), Home and Away (950,000), Border Security: International (877,000), Citizen Khan (584,000) and Deal or No Deal (521,000).

ABC News (1.02m) won its timeslot. ABC’s other performers were The Checkout (912,000), 7:30 (786,000), Desert War (651,000) and Grand Designs Revisited (385,000).

Law and Order: SVU was 637,000 / 506,000 for TEN. TEN News was 627,000, The Project was 528,000, Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals was 526,000 / 515,000 and The Simpsons was 321,000.

Gourmet Farmer (374,000) topped SBS ONE then Shane Delia’s Spice Journey (343,000), World News Australia (197,000), One Born Every Minute USA (163,000) and Marco Pierre White’s Kitchen Wars (149,000).

Bananas in Pyjamas was best on multichannels with 347,000.

Mornings: 139,000
The Morning Show: 132,000

OzTAM Overnights: Thursday 2 May 2013

52 Responses

  1. In Perth put what ever on at 530Pm because I think seven news Perth will win no matter what because for some resin seven better then nine in Perth.

  2. Best afternoon quiz show is Jeopardy. I used to watch the US version on W on Foxtel and it was absolutely fantastic. We need an Australian version of it, such a great show.

  3. It looks like we’ll see another Wheel Of Fortune revival back on Seven with Cameron Daddo soon.

    Hope they don’t axe Deal or No Deal.

    mediaspy.org/forum/index.php?/topic/23567-sevens-secret-daddo-project/

  4. How about TT at 5:30 and Cameron Daddo with Blankety Blanks (for those that can remember, it was the game show that Graham Kennedy made a great success) at 6:30??

  5. Time to bring back a re-vamped version of Sale of the Century on Seven. I think this would win hands down or even bring back Jeopardy!
    As long as Seven would treat it with a big budget unlike they did with the Price is Right, that would be still on now if they had a big budget for that show.
    I don’t think there is anything wrong with Wheel of Fortune, at least you could play along with it at home and guess the puzzles. There problem there was they were changing the hosts every five minutes, just stick to one host.

  6. An Aussie version of The Chase from 5-6pm could work for Seven – think that would have the ability to pull viewers from Hotseat.

  7. I have no suggestions for the 5.30pm show if Seven want to replace it. But if I’m home at that time I used to have the TV off. Because it is my habit to turn the TV on at 6pm. Although sometimes I now watch the News on the ABC at 5.30pm. Not everyday however. As it isn’t practical all the time.

    That said I really hope they don’t go with the hour News idea. As it might cause me to quit Seven News or at least only watch half. I hate that idea.

    Lastly as a viewer I don’t usually let any show be a lead in for another show. I know how to change a channel and will do so. Although I also know about and watch the multi-channels too. But I can be tempted to watch a channel most of the night.

  8. You can’t blaim the ailing performance of Seven News on its lead in, especially when you’re talking about a schedule staple such as the 6pm news. Lead ins are nothing if the program itself is not resonating with the audience. The Big Bang Theory rates without a lead in or stable timeslot while The Following and Last Resort couldn’t hold their Voice/MKR lead ins.

  9. The problem with Deal or No Deal is the format. It’s so overdone that any sense of excitement is lost.

    I recently caught the UK version while in Europe and it was fantastic. The whole look and feel was very low key and understated, but they’ve realized the game is just a vehicle for the host to carry interesting discussion with the player, funny banter with the banker, etc. Our version rushes through the actual play so fast that the human side is somewhat lost.

  10. @JenC
    The name of the game show on 7 a few weeks ago, was called, Who’s Still Standing. It got replaced because it only had 9 episodes, it got cancelled, due to high production costs.

  11. I find myself agreeing with David twice in the same thread… miracle!

    Definitely doesn’t need to be a game show before the 7 news. O’Keefe keeps DOND alive but he’s wearing thin and needs to get back on the Ritolin.

    Like others have mentioned, I watch the news because it’s the news and not because it follows on from some other program. I wonder if this is a hidden trait that TV execs haven’t cottoned on to yet? 7 News and the Ten 5pm news here in Perth are both fronted by excellent female newsreaders and given the time differential to the eastern states, no issues or personalities from the East are going to cut it over here… excepting WWIII. However, by 5 minutes past the hour the 7/10 news(s) degenerate into “see harrowing footage of an escaped 3 month old kitten… live and exclusive” so I’m off to see a repeat of Grand Designs.

    Those old game shows are just that, old. Bury them forever more.

  12. Thanks David!
    61,000 that’s really bad, but at least the main Footy Show at 8:30 is rating really good and winning the demos. So that’s good.

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