TEN about to cut the Biggest Loser fat
TEN boss cites Biggest Loser as an ageing format, but after 9 seasons should we expect anything less?
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
This Sunday TEN screens its two-hour finale for The Biggest Loser, staggeringly scheduled out of official ratings survey.
TEN moved the show from its former plan to run it across two nights, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, to avoid clashing against The Block. It seemingly rolled over replacing it with Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club which landed last in its slot on Wednesday.
On Sunday Loser presumably has a bit more oxygen, against Sunday Night and a replay of David Attenborough on Nine. Out of survey the show will have no impact on end of year shares for TEN and Winner Announced figures will, presumably, be absent from annual lists of the network’s best-performing shows.
Yesterday TEN CEO Hamish McLennan indicated the network’s entertainment schedule was under-performing, and today identified Loser as an “ageing” domestic franchises -no surprises there.
“Some of the franchises that rode off the back of Sochi like The Biggest Loser are getting towards the end of their life cycle, and much of the content was in the can nine months ago, so we have to run it out,” he told The Australian.
But time for a little more perspective…
The Biggest Loser was filmed 9 months ago in Ararat because it was initially intended to run in the back half of 2013, just as Nine has been aired dual seasons of shows in the same calendar year. It was never intended to be the flagship February version, but was rescheduled by the network.
TEN also did the show few favours by allowing it to run at 7:30pm against The Block and My Kitchen Rules. Barring a miraculous re-think or change in fortunes, TEN is in now in danger of making the same mistake with MasterChef post-Easter.
With the figures for Loser this year, McLennan is right to view the show as having hit fatigue. That happens to most shows and there are few local Reality shows that have reached 9 seasons. Australian Idol had 8. Big Brother had 8 + 1 celebrity version before being successfully revived by Nine. Dancing with the Stars is an exception at 13.
So of course fatigue has set in. Criticism about the show’s approach to crash-course weight-loss have also gathered over the years. Romantic behind the scenes stories have been a challenge for Publicity.
But while Loser will likely depart our screens on Sunday it isn’t necessarily the end for the brand. Indeed rival networks are both understood to have circled the format at various times. Nine even offered up Excess Baggage from FremantleMedia, previous producers of Loser. It was shunted to multichannels before the start of the ratings season. Nine has enough depth of programming to shuffle the deck to weather those situations. TEN, on the other hand, must resort to Jamie Oliver or pulling shows from multichannels (Blue Bloods) to cover programming potholes.
So as contestants swan down a 9 month old catwalk on Sunday night sporting their own fabulous makeover, it remains to be seen if TEN and Shine Australia can makeover the show in a few years’ time.
Pass me the dessert treats.
The Biggest Loser finale aires 6:30pm Sunday on TEN.
30 Responses
Well I have said it before, that it was a mistake to move Neighbours to ELEVEN, but it is there now, so leave it there, with multi channels the LCD viewers do not seem to know that there are these shows there.
Most of the public seem to focus on the main channels…..I dont but I hate contrived reality shows.
Saying that put the project on at 6.00pm and run it for an hour and then put Masterchef on at 7.00.
But do not put an ad in Neighbours saying to cross over to TEN , why would you try to split viewers for your own show. I turned off Charlie when he had the ads saying to cross over to the Project.
Such a shame, but even a TBL fan like myself can admit it’s time to give it a rest while Ten lick their wounds.
TBL and SYTYCD were both slaughtered due to Ten putting them up against MKR and The Block.
Now it looks like MCA will be up against The Voice and House Rules.
Does Ten really think viewers are going to rush to watch a cooking show after MKR?
MCA will suffer again like last year and be slaughtered by Voice and House Rules.
At the moment Ten is on the nose with viewers. They could screen the Olympics and it would fail. Oh wait – they just did and it didn’t rate well at all.
Lachlan has jumped ship after he stuffed the network and it’s obvious he did this to help his dad’s Foxtel network.
I still watch some Ten shows but I can understand why so many people are deserting the network.
Ten needs to learn that “entertainment” does not necessarily mean reality shows. The reality market is over saturated by Seven and Nine, and Ten could benefit from offering a fresh alternative. I think there is a market out there for viewers who don’t want to watch reality tv or news at 7pm. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are also there for the taking if they were willing to program more competitively.
I would love to watch a weight loss show where they showed people’s struggles with weight loss in their normal lives. Surely there would be an audience for such a program.
I used to watch TBL, but since a couple of years ago I stopped watching it. It’s format is ageing and I think that apart of the problem. I guess viewers want something fresh. But it’s also not helping that everyone has practically deserted Ten.
But I can’t help think that this may be the fate of a particular cooking show…. and I don’t just mean Masterchef. I think MKR will suffer viewer fatigue as well into the future.
Masterchef will cop this same TBL fatigue too
I switched off TBL this year because of the limiting it to Ararat, absolutely a dumb idea and I has to give up when they loaded people in on that crane thing for ep 1 weigh in – shows need to maintain integrity and not stupid gimmicks like this
I haven’t watched TBL in years. I don’t like the aggressive format and I can’t stand Michelle.
The Block and MKR are just too strong and I don’t think there is enough viewers to go around.
So few people have been watching TBL that the move to out of ratings for the final is probably to save it from embarrassment in the end-year results when the numbers are likely to be poor.
MasterChef will really struggle if Ten leave it at 7:30. It won’t do as badly as TBL, but it won’t come close to Seven or Nine. 500-600K per night for MCA. If Ten want anything more, then they will return MCA to 7pm. Viewers like 7pm reality and there is a void left by Nine moving ACA there. I think Ten are reluctant to do this because the latter half of The Project rates significantly higher than the first half. What they should do is return Neighbours to the main channel at 6:30pm. The Project can move to a 9:30 timeslot. The Panel was successful there, and Ten would have a point of difference in that slot since all the other networks have slow-tracked overseas dramas.
I have enjoyed this season of TBL.
I didn’t mind that they all (bar Kevin) came from Ararat.
My ideal version TBL would be no temptation, no fridge or immunity bracelet. Just want to see 10 weeks of training with all the contestants staying ’til the end and then a final winner emerging.I would like to see it return.
TBL ratings were bad last year, but Ten brought it back because they were scared of another Big Brother scenario. But keeping stale shows alive forever the answer. Ten were right to axe BB in 2008. Their mistake was not bringing it back in 2012.
Ten need to stop trying to compete head to head with Seven and Nine. History has shown that when you have 3 similar shows competing for the same audience, you have 2 floaters and one struggler. Examples include Ten’s attempts to enter breakfast TV and the 6pm news war.
TBL should cease. Ten keeps on falling ratings.
And also I am sick and tired of watching Channel 9’s and 7’s reality shows – The Voice AUS, BBAU and the voice Kids, X Factor, House Rules and MKR.
So will Ten move Masterchef to 7pm or will they leave it to be crushed by shows like Houserules. My guess is ten will leave it to be crushed.
Thoughts on Masterchef: it will depend on the cast of contestants for 2014.
The 2013 series suffered because there really weren’t too many people for the viewers to get behind.
I still think that Gary, George and Matt Preston are far better judges and mentors than Pete Evans and Manu.
I think TBL has had its day, the format is old and tired!
If Channel 10 were to do another series, I would suggest they bring back the U.S trainers Bob & Jillian, and even try and get Alison Sweeney to host the show(which she might agree to, as she is leaving Days of our Lives)
The Biggest Loser is a victim of the times. I know that in the early years contributors on gainer websites such as Bellybuilders used to take screenshots of the weigh-ins in the first episode and post them to much acclaim. Since then obesity has become unfashionable, gym membership is up and people just don’t want to see “the fatties” on TV anymore. It’s not a problem with TEN, it’s just the public moving on and attitudes changing. In the same way we couldn’t have Love Thy Neighbour on TV anymore, so too we no longer like watching The Biggest Loser.
Masterchef will struggle, that much is certain….. I agree with Ryan, everything Ten touches turns to crap …… First of all even though they are aiming from an older audience, there is not many people in that older audience that really wantst to watch reality television ….
Yet Hamish Maclennan has already announced today he is going to stick with event television …. I mean …. reality television…. Hamish, you had better be ready for more disasters if you don’t listen to your audience ……. and the people of this blog ……..
Its run its course and now its time to move onto something else. Just like Masterchef, The Voice and all the other crappy reality shows.
I dont mind the biggest loser, but what has disappointed me this season is I like the temptation part and they only had it once or twice.
I fear for Materchef though because it didnt get nominated for a logie and it didnt go so well last year.
TBL has too much emphasis on the ‘celebrity’ trainers & have moved them into a hosting role on the show also.
The US version is blessed with a great host in Alison Sweeney which the Australian version lacks. Hayley Lewis has never seemed comfortable in the role & her flat delivery doesn’t help.
Also the over exposure of all Hayley & all the trainers in the many commercials they do does nothing to help the credibilty either.
Maybe go back to the beginning & bring the US talent in to make a new local version. Then relaunch in 2 years with brand new host & trainers.
So much is wrong with this season of the biggest loser. Casting your net to find contestats over only a small town rather than a whole country was always going to dimish the quality of contestants.
Michelle Bridges being MIA for all but 1 episode a week for most of the season was also a huge mis-step.
Loser has bee a solid performer for TEN over the years though, yes, this last season has been a ratings disaster, but it should go out with its head held high.
I’m sure it will turn up again somewhere a few years down the track.
Bl is an ageing format but that’s not what is killing it, it’s Ten!
The problem with TBL over the last few years has become the gameplay and the emotional elements. “Reality” shows now delve so much into the personal lives of contestants, and I think people are sick of it. You look back at the first season of TBL from the US, it was far different to what we see now. Strip it back and focus on the weight loss and the challenges, and less on the “advantages” and “temptations”. Same with Masterchef. Even The Voice – I want to see more auditions, and less “back stories” on the contestants. Save that for if/when they make it through.
I think the problem with The Biggest Loser is also occurring with a few of Ten’s other shows – they’re stuck in the same format, with the same hosts/stars, and the same stores; ie, we’ve seen it all before. The Biggest Loser would work well as a one hour makeover show each week, similar to Extreme Makeover.
I’d be concerned Masterchef will also struggle as nothing has changed, and the audience won’t be drawn in. Again, perhaps a fresher format would be having a 2 hour live Masterchef event on Sundays, or a 1/2 hour nightly 6pm Masterchef cooking show with previous stars – just something to play with these formats, and spice them up!