TEN boss: ‘We had the wrong shows, wrong strategy’
Hamish McLennan says TEN had the wrong shows and some programming will time to work out of the system.
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TEN CEO Hamish McLennan says shifting the network’s focus from 18-49 to 25-54 will take time and he has inherited some programming “which will take time to work out of the system.”
He also laments that the network that first had Big Brother and X Factor let them go to other networks, which are now punishing them in the ratings but signals that more Sport, Reality Television and News, under Peter Meakin, are coming.
However TEN’s AGM is also coming next month.
McLennan, who began at TEN in March,  has given an interview to Business Spectator‘s Alan Kohler, Robert Gottliebsen and Stephen Bartholomeusz touching upon programming, revenue and strategy:
AK: Explain to us what was wrong with the strategy – you said the strategy previously was wrong. What was wrong with it? Explain that.
HM: Look, we historically have gone for a 16 to 39-year-old demographic. It was adjusted to 18 to 49-year-olds. But the simple fact was that the orientation of the business was focussed around the youth market and statistically if you just look at the numbers, the biggest body of viewers – and the most profitable body of viewers – are 25 to 54-year-olds. But we were chasing a market that was just declining in overall numbers and we were producing shows like Being Lara Bingle, I Will Survive and The Shire that were alienating our older consumers, and those kids don’t watch free-to-air television the way perhaps we did when we were young. There’s not a lot of money to actually capture them anymore – they’re ripping stuff off the net and watching YouTube. They just don’t consume free-to-air television the way they used to. We were just chasing the wrong demographic.
Interestingly, when you look at some of the shows that had worked very well for us in the past – like Masterchef – the viewers were falling well into the 25 to 54-year-old demographic and picking up a wider pool of people. We were chasing the wrong demographic and we had the wrong shows – hence the wrong strategy. Now putting the focus back on programming like live sport, I can’t underestimate the value of things like the cricket, which we’ve secured at the right sort of price as we did with the Winter Olympics. It’s live programming that doesn’t get PVR’d (recorded on personal video recorders).
At its core Ten still has very good roots. Its DNA is very, very strong. I’m impressed by the quality of people, we’ve just got to reorientate the ship around a more profitable market and that market is 25 to 54-year-olds. And let’s not forget too that we also launched our digital channel, Channel 11, which was also cannibalising the mother ship, which was Ten. So we had strategically two channels that were fighting against each other with even more fierce competition and it wasn’t working for us.
Stephen Bartholomeusz: Hamish, you’ve made quite a big investment. You referred to the Big Bash, so there’s a big investment in sport – Big Bash, Commonwealth Games, Winter Olympics and The Breakfast Show. How big a gamble is that? I mean, if it doesn’t pan out in the next 12 months, where does it leave you?
HM: You have to back up your strategy with programming. I would just highlight that when you look at programs like the Commonwealth Games, that was a deal that was done four years ago and comes at a very, very high cost – much higher than what the Winter Olympics will cost us. The simple answer is that you can’t sit on your hands and do nothing. We’ve inherited some programming which will take time to work out of the system and I think that anyone who has a very clear view of our internal financials understands there are some contracts that we just need to work out.
We’ve got some formats that have been around for many years. A lot of them are good franchises, but we just need to start making better choices around what works. I think what pains me is … this is the network that invented Big Brother, had X Factor in its first year and launched Australian Idol and I think we let those franchises go and we were too quick to dismiss them and then move on to other things. So it’s going to be a return to shows or brands that will work for us. Reality-style programing does work very well on this network, we just need more time to do more of it and get focussed on what works.
We did an analysis last week where if you look at the top 60 programs in the country, 75 per cent of them have been around for more than a few years. My point being, that once you get a franchise you’ve got to work damned hard to make sure that it works and you’ve got to be focussed on making it fresh and new. I think that we’ve been too quick to walk away from what’s working. Some of those franchises, like reality television, you can embed advertising more easily and there are great client opportunities to do integration, and those things will all drive a more profitable outcome for the network. And again, if you look at what we’ve done with Studio 10 and Wake Up, they’re formats that we own.
So it’s very early days. It took a couple of years for Sunrise and Today to really drive great growth, so you’ve got to get new audiences acquainted with your network. We own the IP on those shows. They’re a great opportunity for us to then cross-promote throughout the day through to the evening schedule, and that will work for us. And I think when I anecdotally look at those shows, whilst it’s very early days, they’re quality programs that I’m proud of and it’ll just take time to build.
You can read the full article here.
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- Tagged with Big Brother, The X Factor
58 Responses
I was thinking why not have Monday to Friday The Project 630PM and Sunday to Friday Brisbane Sydney Melbourne Adelaide Perth version of the project at 7PM
channel11 get rid of couch time it crap
Brad and Sally should do late news on ten don’t no why but with them doing news I enjoyed it more.
HM is very critical of his predecessors, but he is the one that is running the 4th rate network. As poorly as people regard Bingle, shire, I will survive, ect. Atleast the network was coming 3rd during that period. That’s more than they can say about their work ever since.
@ryan-Spot on re:HD channel Ten should show HD movies,sports,docs as a Premium quality channel
Neighbours is working reasonably for Eleven, not sure whether it would be a good move to take it back to Ten.
I call Neighbours the thinking persons Home and Away
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@BigJMathews, David is right, Ten most certainly did have The X-Factor, about six or seven years ago. If my memory serves me correctly, Daniel McPherson, who now hosts DWTS, was the host and Kate Ceberano was one of the mentor/judges.
Good article. I agree with his summation of 2012 – totally the wrong strategy with execrable turkeys like The Shire, I Will Survive and Being Lara Bingle. Even a wall-to-wall reality show cable channel like Arena would have rejected those offerings as puerile and of nil interest to viewers and believe me, Arena screens some barrel scraping dross. I note that he mentions MCA as one of their major performers, which it has been in the past, but this years series was greeted with indifference by viewers. The finale barely broke 1M. MCA needs loads of work to get it back to its glory days. I don’t know what the answer is for Ten, I really don’t. It is going to be a very difficult road back to ratings traction for them.
Ten Never had X Factor for one, they had Australian Idol which was completely different. However about the Big Brother issue itself I would say that they drove it into the ground by the people they casted for it and therefore didn’t renew the bar that would have blocked Channel Nine from swooping.
TEN absolutely had X Factor first, for 1 year.
If ten are trying to turn direction, why then start again with idol and SYTYCD? …. that doesnt make sense at all …….
they should pick up days of our lives. speaking of which is their any news when or if might be back on our TV screens
Simpsons needs to be taken off Eleven completely and put on ten same with new eps. Don’t waste a hd channel with crap like what you have atm, use the hd to your advantage showing movies, docos and sport in hd. Bring Roseanna back to 11 and try get the rights to 3rd rock from the sun to take over from Raymond but don’t axe Raymond just keep it at 7.30.Sandra sully’s talents are being completely wasted keeping her in 1 state where the rest want to see her on 10 l8 news. Never move a show once it has a following ever!
They can do it but they need to start spending the money on shows like Mc and sytycd, Mc prize money needs to rise, sytycd needs to be huge go all out on hiring the best people behind the scenes and produce your own stripped reality show, clearly Aussies can’t get enough of D.I. Y shows because we are big d.i.y people ourselves and love to see how things are done and how things can change.
As an old timer I remember Ten were brave enough to launch and air Australian Idol for 7 years and Big Brother for 8 consecutive years….They were very different but equally brave decisions that paid off handsomely for Ten Management and the company …..I suspect if Idol was now in it’s 14 year and Big Brother it’s 13 year- they may be a bit tired.
That said, let’s judge the new Ten and CEO on Wake Up, Studio 10, A league of Their Own and the upcoming Winter Olympics and Big Bash ? Any guesses ?
History has a funny way of being forgotten …
I recall Lachlan heralding “we must go after the youth market..we must get back to our core”.
A year later when Warburton was fired “Lachlan says our strategy for youth was wrong and we must head older..”
Hamish is now saying “Ten must get even older and we must focus on Sport !”. Surely he is not referring to Lachlan changing direction or failing in his strategy ?
Ten really have put all their eggs into the morning tv basket which is very very risky. Studio 10 is quality tv however, Wake Up needs an awful lot of work. Relaunching Eyewitness News was good in theory but the execution has been diabolical. The “Anywhere. Anytime” selling point has totally crumbed due to their failure to pay for the rights to air live streams nationally. Some locations only receive one live bulletin a day during the week and none on the weekend even though it’s promoted as “Live”. Ten need viewers, anyway they can get them. Sorting out Tenplay & live streaming needs to be a massive priority. Why aren’t Studio 10 & Wake Up uploaded as full episodes on Tenplay?
If ten are looking at popular programs, what about some of the really popular pay tv shows like the wrestling and local dramas. Pick the eyes out of Foxtel Ten!!
Ten talks brands and formats that work for them…….Bring Back Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Gen’ – problem solved!!!
Shaun wanted to move on.
What we need is no more reality shows. More shows that will enaged. Looks like Lolyd Wright was right, TV has become Bublegum with Pitcures. TV has simply gone backwards.
I can’t see reality TV as the path back to success, esp for the demographic they are looking at. I think they need to invest in the V8s when those rights come up to return to being the ‘Home of Motorsport’ – they did it well in the past (How long has Matt White got on his Ch7 contract?) and could leverage digital rights with V8Supercars on Tenplay. To paraphrase a rival, Motorsport is ‘in their DNA’. But on sports generally, they have really botched an opportunity to re-invent the NBL.
I wouldn’t necessarily say being the ‘Home of Drama’ is a way back either. A new ‘back to basics’ exercise to really foster and understand what their audience want. We don’t all watch Offspring…
If I was Ten I would be looking at the new format shows in the US & fast tracking the US version onto Eleven to see if their is a market here. Nine did it with The Voice on Go! & really got viewers exited that an Aussie version was coming soon.
I would bring back Neighbours to 6pm on Ten (if the contract with Fremantle allows it) as a lead in to The Project.
Homeland is a niche show, it is a cable show in the US (Showtime) and pulled in its best ratings last week of 2.5 million viewers across two plays (8pm to 9pm and 10pm to 11pm).
The premier got 1.73 million viewers which was 60% up on last year and pulls in an average of 4.4 million weekly viewers across platforms — DVR, On Demand, Encores and Streaming.
The 400,000 Homeland gets on TEN is actually about right for the niche market it works with, it rated under Dexter in the US and that was on 11 here.
HM’s fundamental assertion is that TEN’s challenges are cyclical not structural. There are plenty of people who would argue otherwise. Just say he’s mistaken? Do we really need a third version of what Nine and Seven are doing?
They had strong programming and high viewer levels back when they concentrated on real TV, not reality TV.
When 10 was all about drama and comedy programs, it was at its best (talking at least a decade ago now). 11 is more like how 10 used to be. 10 was the less serious/more irreverent alternative to the ‘establishment’ face that 9, and to a lesser degree 7, liked to portray.
10 had some brilliant series that they just let wither on the vine. I’m thinking of programs like Monk and Psych, but I’m sure others have their favourites as well. This was done to accommodate the new world order of programs like Big Brother, which frankly, have done no network any huge favours.
As for sport, years ago 10 had some decent ongoing commitments, like the Touring Cars, not these pallid one-off events that they managed to scrimp and save for (winter Olympics are cheap? wow, who’d have…
I think Hamish is off in fairy land. They tried extended news in the evening. George Negus flopped.
Big bash, the olympics and commonwealth games (two weeks each) will do well, but are only a few weeks and the broadcast rights are very expensive.
I really don’t know what the answer is. When they can’t even get 400k for Homeland, some thing is very wrong.
“Being Lara Bingle, I Will Survive and The Shire” you can’t blame the failure of those terrible shows on demographics. Crap is crap.
They will need to put some work into Masterchef next year.
They have SYTYCD coming back. TEN should strip back it’s Roving content, there is no need for all the panel shows competing against each other with basically the same talent on each.
They should maybe look at the UK game show The Chase, which is a very solid format, run it at 6pm perhaps. Bring back Neighbours to 6.30 to lead into the Project.