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Andrew Bolt to replace Charlie Pickering on The Project

Updated: TEN has been testing Andrew Bolt to replace Charlie Pickering on The Project.

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bolt-project2EXCLUSIVE: Outspoken News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt will replace Charlie Pickering on The Project.

Bolt, who is in his fourth year as host of The Bolt Report, will join Carrie Bickmore and Peter Helliar at the desk after Pickering departs next week.

The surprise move is designed to make the show more ‘watercooler’ and help lift TEN’s primetime ratings share, and follows Bolt’s Sunday morning show being quietly extended from 30 to 60 minutes this year.

Charlie Pickering announced his departure earlier this month but while no permanent replacement was announced, TV Tonight understands testing has been underway at TEN’s Como building in South Yarra.

A TEN insider said, “Love him or loathe him, Andrew Bolt gets people talking and right now TEN realises that’s just what they need. Steve Price has worked well for the show so Bolter is the next logical step. It will all make sense after the Murdoch camp buys the network for a song.”

Roving Productions is understood to have agreed to more coverage of the Abbott government policies and less talk on climate change, while asylum seeker issues are off the table unless the story can elicit some tears from Carrie Bickmore -considered by producers to be ‘ratings gold.’

Bolt was coaxed into joining the show in order to take on “that reckless, unapologetic ABC”, before realising the public broadcaster actually out-rates Network TEN.

Meanwhile The Project is also expected to move back to a 6pm start to allow MasterChef to screen at 7pm. Sources suggest Programming never wanted to move its Reality shows to 7:30pm in the first place, but it was a decision made by an executive who was on pain killers at the time.

However the moves have also caused rumblings within The Project office, with a petition set to unroll at change.org and Peter Helliar threatening to start telling ‘Dad’ jokes in protest. Carrie Bickmore was more upbeat about the changes, overheard telling colleagues, “You think you got problems? I’m hosting a Dance show on shopping night! Compared to those ratings this show is practically Game of Thrones!”

TEN declined to comment on the details, simply saying, “The Project is in the top 15 shows for  13-29 year olds.

“We are in this for the long haul. “

131 Responses

  4. As an avid reader of this blog for many years, this David is not one of your better April Fools Day postings- your worst IMHO. But thanks anyway for the great free service you provide. The best TV related blog in Australia.

  5. As someone who considers themselves leaning Left on political issues, they’re probably going to lose me as a viewer. I do enjoy Charlie and Steve’s heated moments (where 99% of the time Charlie puts Steve back into his corner) but if you’re going to have 2 right-wingists regularly on the show all I’ll hear is the same old world views, with no sort of rebuttal.

  7. As April Fools as this is, there’s an frighteningly equal possibility that those in charge of ‘decisions’ at Ten might actually think this could work…

  9. Best April 1st joke I have seen – brilliantly written!!
    The only sad part is that it probably will happen one day. It goes like this – don’t replace Charlie P (undoubtedly the heart and soul of the Project) – watch the ratings decline to a point where TEN management “reluctantly” axes the show – TEN management then needs to find a news/current affairs replacement for 6:30 pm – hmmm who have we got who could…. aha! Andrew Bolt, Steve Price!!! What a brilliant idea – yet another nail in the TEN coffin and none of it premeditated in the slightest. Idiots!

  10. You have a massive scoop with this story, but could it be that I may be innocently able to out scoop your scoop that also involves and adds to the rise and rise of Andrew Bolt.

    Seems because of production problems, a one off introduction of a special category at this years Logie presentations has now been bumped..Much was involved in the design alterations to the traditional Gold Logie, to make this one off Logie, so much so that it required a new mold for making it, basically it is a traditional Gold Logie except it is missing the entire left hand side, but eventually the logie itself was OK.
    But problems arose when trying to mount it on its base, because it was so heavily waited and with a big lean to the right, it had to be propped up continually, plus with the now smaller base width there was simply not enough to engrave ” To Sir Andrew Bolt” for supporting the Ton…

  19. Thought this was real for a bit then remembered the date.

    Thought it would totally suck as well but then I remembered that before being given his own show, he was a panellist on the project a few times, and we didn’t really get his over the top viewpoints then.

  21. Now, yes, I did fall for it, until I opened the story and noticed the date – and then the fact that no posts had been shown yet. Good one.

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