Nine to simulcast The Block on 3 channels
Nine borrows TEN's simulcast strategy in a brazen bid to top the ratings.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News, Top Stories
Welcome to the new TV landscape, where multichannels are just an excuse to prop up your ratings (or even your local content quotas).
Tomorrow night Nine will simulcast The Block launch across its three channels: Nine, GO! and GEM.
Under OzTAM rules networks can merge simulcasts into a single  ratings figure ….and presumably benefit from a single headline trumpeting its success the next day.
TEN boldly utilised the simulcast strategy for Family Feud‘s first two weeks (and will continue into a 3rd), resulting in ratings figures higher than it would attract on a single channel.
What if all the channels combined their ratings?
Industry observers suggested that other networks would be eyeing the strategy closely, and possibly borrowing the technique.
Nine’s Block launch on Sunday goes up against The X Factor, and competes on the same night as the penultimate MasterChef finale.
The simulcast will likely push the show to the top at a time when it is most crucial. Ironically, TEN’s chance of MasterChef topping Sunday night will now see the strategy it ignited being pitted against it. Be careful what you wish for.
Nine and TEN both employing such smoke and mirrors will put pressure on Seven to follow suit.
Updated: A Nine spokesperson told TV Tonight, “Nine was the first to do this type of simulcast, we played the launch of The Apprentice on Nine and simulcast on GO way back in 2009.
“In the heavy traffic with Commonwealth Games we want as many people as possible to sample The Block as we are really confident it’s a great series.”
Such creative use of multichannels follows the media watchdog ACMA releasing data that indicated Nine had counted 51% of its local drama as New Zealand titles on GO! and GEM in 2013.
In TV Tonight‘s recent Multichannel Survey with networks, Nine advised its branding for GO! was “Comedy and Movies.”
It’s not clear whether The Block: Glasshouse is movie-worthy, but the way viewers are being offered less choice on multichannels is becoming a hell of a comedy.
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- Tagged with Family Feud, MasterChef Australia, The Block, The X Factor
79 Responses
This is getting out of hand now. The government should step and pull them up for this. The whole point to multi-channel is to offer more variety across multiples channels to allow them to compete with the pay TV. So far all we have managed to get is 2 extra shopping channels per network and 2 more channels that hald=f the time have infomercials on them or shows that are in black and white. Colour TV was around in the 70’s so surely w can expect colour nearly 40 years later? No wonder alot of people download shows off the net.
Any network who roadblock any program, only guarantees one thing in my house, it’s not watched!
Now that i think about it didn’t foxtel also simulcast the first episode of Wentworth season 2 on 3 or 4 channels? Anyway i don’t like this roadblock simulcast idea unless its for a hd broadcast it just seems pointless.
To their very rare credit, WIN is airing Tom & Jerry Wizard of Oz on WIN Go!. The simulcast on WIN GEM of the Block looks shockingly bad, a really bad conversion to upscaled HD, looks like it is coming via Youtube!
It would be nice if The Block was at least in HD on GEM
This could potentially back-fire on 9. As others have commented – there was a clear reason for 10 do to this (exposure). However, the Block is a known quantity. Nine may end up giving up viewers who would have watched Go/Gem, but have no interest in the Block. I hope so – sick of 9 copying 10 where ever it can
I hope this doesn’t become the norm. I don’t watch much FTA as I don’t like reality tv or watching US series I enjoy delayed. When I’m not watching online content/box sets the only channels I watch are GO & 11 – & I’m a dag because I like the Friends repeats & things on 11 like Charmed. It gives me a rest from the demands of Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, etc. I would be disappointed if those channels ended up being eroded. Also, re shift workers, I work odd hours & can’t believe how many channels use those times for infomercials, even 11 now do infomercials from 5am, they never played them before. I don’t understand the strategy of putting The Block on all 3 channels just in the hope to pick up stragglers. You’d have to be living under a rock to not know about the show & I don’t like feeling manipulated into watching something (though I am not the target…
When it comes to the issue of simulcasting of programs across two or more channels (such as tonight’s airing of The Block: Glasshouse on Nine/GO!/GEM), I’m in two minds about this. On the one hand, it is rather pointless and encourages viewers who otherwise would’ve watched GO! or GEM to switch to other networks. On the other, it’s a smart move to generate some publicity and at least we may be able to watch the show in HD (that is if The Block even produced in HD, I’m not 100% sure on that).
I’m definitely not trying to defend Nine’s decision to simulcast The Block on three channels or the similar move by Ten with Family Feud here, but you do have to look at this from all perspectives. And yes, I agree that live sport and big event programing would be better content to simulcast in HD than a standard episode of The Block but that’s a discussion for another day.
Re: the…
Does this give them three times the local content quota too?
From what I can tell the Block is not made in HD.
But this certainly begs the questions why sport and other new shows aren’t simulcast in HD on GEM.
Wait – Nine in particular said that the reason they don’t do HD simulcasts was to give viewers more options over more channels…
This move goes against that statement.
In Nine’s case GO! and GEM usually do quite well in shares regardless of what is on the main channel – this will simply reduce the shares for GO! and GEM and doesn’t necessarily mean any more would watch the Block who would not have anyway.
themanfromoz, you may have noticed that The X factor repeats, but not on all three channels at the same time, The Block is all three channels of 9, all the same show, and all at the same time.
My question is not about why Network Nine is doing this, but is to ask ‘ how and why’ are the FTA networks ‘allowed’ to do this???
Its bad enough as it is trying to avoid the advertising for these shows constantly shoved down our throats without it being sent to the other channels too. We can only hope its an unsuccesful strategy.
@Russell re ‘There are still 12 other channels to watch.’ There won’t be if most of them start doing the same thing! As others have said, multi channels is supposed to be about choice, not lack of.
“Nine was the first to do this type of simulcast, we played the launch of The Apprentice on Nine and simulcast on GO way back in 2009″
We cooked the books and were dodgy before anybody else.
I’m sure Nine has this in the works as soon as Ten found success with FF.
They would have left the announcement to late Friday to minimize Seven or Ten reacting.
They knew all along. This is about sampling.
Get over it guys – it’s 2 hours out of a week. There are still 12 other channels to watch.
But don’t the networks potentially lose money out of this because that’s why they stopped the simulcasts in the first place.
Like sheep they look over their shoulders and copy. What BS.
abit off topic but did anyone notice the two sets of 3+ plus of X-facter ‘encore’ last night and today?
what a joke (and probably all comes under local content)
This will be the norm from now on.
Multi channels were supposed to provide more choice of programming.
If you are a shift worker without foxtel you will see that most overnight shows on all channels are infomercials.
David – how about a story on the non-use of multi channels to provide actual content people want to watch. Movies (old or new), repeats of Australian drama/comedy/whatever and not rubbish commercials.
What I don’t get is why you would watch this on any other channel that isn’t 9 itself? I bet the block isn’t in HD, so theoretically 9 should get 0 viewers from it’s other channels.
Well I would have watched Blackadder on GEM but now I guess I will watch recordings instead.
Channel 10 – there’s never been a better time to bring back ‘Yasmin’s Getting Married’ across 3 channels.
what a waste do we really want three television channels (yes I prefer channels not stations) to broadcast the same program its not really necessary to do so
Agree with most people why have three channels on 9 if they are going to show the same programme across all three, hope it turns out to be a disaster I would be really pleased, the idea of three channels is for a variation of shows. Should be stopped now before it gets out of hand , lets have the variation back.
FTA TV is a joke anyway, and this just proves it. I mean look how many “shopping channels” we have, plus “shopping programs” on both the regular and dig. channels. Pathetic. As for quality programs, give me a break. I hardly watch any FTA now as I loathe “un-reality” TV!