TEN gambles on the stars
TEN's Beverley McGarvey says the launch of I'm a Celebrity Get Me out of Here! is an entertainment alternative to the Australian Open.
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TEN’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! premieres on Sunday with some of the biggest buzz of the 2015 season.
But there’s a lot riding on the first week, against My Kitchen Rules and The Block. Even with no Aussies competing in Australian Open men’s final TEN will need to pull a big crowd.
TEN programmer Beverley McGarvey tells TV Tonight there are no easy options, but remains confident it is a viable alternative.
“We’ve launched our schedule on that night for years and we don’t take that decision lightly. But do you go up against the tennis or do you go up against Kitchen Rules? Not an ideal option!” she concedes.
“But what we’re offering is an entertainment schedule, so against an established sports schedule at least it’s different.
“If you had your chance would you go up when Seven and Nine are doing nothing? Of course. But Seven and Nine never do nothing. You have to play the way the game is played.”
TEN has watched on with (mostly) bemusement as audiences and media speculate over the stars that will be thrust into the African jungle, with rumoured names to include everyone from Pamela Anderson to Joel Creasey.
All will be revealed on Sunday, with celebrities emerging from lockdown to learn whom their co-stars are. More celebs will appear across the series, meaning some of the speculated names may not necessarily be core cast -even if they are correct.
“We haven’t revealed exactly how that’s going to work but there is a core cast of 10 people and that much we have revealed. Like any series throughout the season there will be things that happen that are a surprise to the cast. So we don’t want to talk about them until the cast are in lockdown.
“But there will be other people entering, like the British series. It’s a format point of the show.”
Almost everything is ready for the big night. With close to 400 people involved, Celebrity is not a show that comes cheap but TEN knows it has to take risks in order to reap big rewards.
“The set looks amazing. It’s rainy season over there now so it looks really lush and beautiful. We’re finishing the challenges and testing them and everybody is kind of there now, in terms of our people,” she explains.
“Any of the big franchises have hundreds of people working on them.
“You have a lot of people on Production, a lot of Runners, a lot of people looking after the Talent.
“It’s actually more efficient than other genres because you get to amortise the cost of the show and the set etc. across a large number of hours.”
The series has been a long-running hit in the UK but it’s taken some time for ITV to secure an Australian broadcaster, with the format having been shopped to other networks prior to TEN’s announcement.
Aside from new hosts in Julia Morris and Chris Brown and the African jungle backdrop, how will the show differentiate itself for Australian viewers?
“It is Live, it is a Comedy and I think Julia and Chris will really help put that spin on it,” said McGarvey.
“In terms of what will make it Australian, you’ll certainly see some of the ‘yukky’ challenges from the British version but there will be more physical action, because Australians are quite ‘outdoorsy’ and brave. They’re not so afraid of spiders so we need to up the ante a little bit.
“In order for the celebrities to be a fish out of water they can’t be in an Australian landscape. It’s just not challenging enough for them.”
I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! premieres Live 6:30pm AEDT on Sunday.
33 Responses
I think it will do better than many on here think. Ten can’t just give up and surrender to 7 and 9 with MKR and the Block. People will get sick of these two shows one day. Ten just need to make sure they have the right alternative when people do
@Shoudy Chen – Seven air The X Factor live eps 3 hour delay into Perth? The ODI only goes up against IAAC for like the first ep.
@ryaneco – exactly
@Roughneck – then why is it successful overseas? People said Family Feud will be a disaster and it’s no.1 game show in Australia. People are expecting it to be a massive audience here. Premiering at around 1m before settling in at 700k for most of its run.
This is foolish. McGarvey should of learnt her lesson last time. This will be an expensive debacle.
@Roughneck: Ten’s target demographic is people aged 25-54.
If I remember correctly, Young Talent Time premiered against the tennis and did quite well.
Like most have already said this will have a very short successful run and then like all the other reboots recently that TEN have done will tank. As for tanking SharkTank will also tank. The 7Network tried a local version of Dragons Den over a decade ago theirs clip on YouTube Andrew O’Keife was host and nobody really remembers that either. TEN do get points for trying but when the network is in dier straights atm they need to be doing better than trying new things. They need shows which will work, plus like I have said before TEN’s image has been trashed.
I’m sick of the ads for it already!
At the end of the day it is just another reality program, added to the scores of mindless other reality programs on offer at the same time. With people getting fed up with more of this dross, their options are Foxtel, streaming and legal & Illegal downloading, which is a better offering than 3 commercial networks all offering reality television all at the same time ….
This should be called Celebrity Career Killer. It will get about 600K on opening night then crash and burn.
If it has a great “insta feed,” Ten’s target audience of 16 – 24 year old Family Fueders will watch it because it is essentially Celebrity Big Brother in the Jungle. Normal people will be watching either Block or MKR.
It will be on Eleven within 2 weeks.
I don’t understand complaints about it not airing “live” in other states that aren’t NSW and VIC… taking WA as an example, if it were to air live it would be 3.30pm….. are you really ready to sit down and watch TV at 3.30? Haven’t you got better things to do like being outside enjoying the sunshine? Going to the beach?
I don’t think it takes alot to avoid spoilers.
Will give it a go, Chrissie Swan will be entertaining to watch
If I want an alternative to the Australian Open, I’ll pop a DVD on, read a book, watch the ABC or watch paint dry, not this, this is not alternative to anything.
Would be very strange why TEN Perth will delay this I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here for 3 hours. Might as well watch the ODI Cricket on Nine.
I know I sound like a broken record but “It is Live…” in only 3 states. Australia is more than just Syd and Mel.
@smit0847 – you’re last line actually made me LOL.
interesting behind the scenes story of this show on studio 10 this morning
The success of this show is going to come down to the audiences “care factor” of who the celebrities are. No one will “care” about “celebs” they’ve never heard of (think recent series of Dancing with the Stars). No matter how hard the publicity machine tries to educate us who a D grade celeb is…the audience just won’t care.
@smit. I think he was randomly in Perth as he was doing a show as part of fringe world which would have been booked months ago.
It will all depend on their cast of celebrities and how they interact with each other. I wouldn’t want A-grade celebrities on this show as they’d be too worried about their image (and would therefore never apply anyway). I want to see celebrities who aren’t afraid to be themselves and have nothing to lose.
I predict that this show will be a hit for the first week. And then will flop badly afterwards like Masterchef: The Professionals
But good on TEN for trying something different than The Biggest Loser in this part of the year
Given Joel Creasey happened to randomly be in Perth (one of only two Australian cities with flights to South Africa) for a pointless segment for The Project a week ago I think its certain he will be on the show.
I think Richard Reid will also be given he’s just signed to Studio 10 and would go to the opening of a leg wound.
I don’t think its a bad idea for ten to air I’m a celebrity on sunday. There are lots of people that aren’t tennis fans and this provides them an alternative. The match itself doesn’t actually start till 7.30pm and I’m a celebrity finishes at 8 so even for tennis fans they can watch a big chunk of celebrity and switch over before the match starts or even miss the first few games of whats traditionally a long match. I’m not interested in reality at all this year but there will be the curiosity factor as to who will be part of the show so I’m may watch a small part.
I love the hosts, so I will watch the first Ep at least … hope there are some Celebs that I find engaging or it will be short lived viewing for me! Real celebrities, not B-grade!
Why not film it in Australia, going overseas makes no sense on every level.
I think it is shown delayed in Brisbane. The two guides I have checked both say 6:30pm local time.
I’m sure I saw a promo for this to start The Sunday before Australia Day in early January which would have given them 2 MKR/The Block free days and in my opinion a nessessary head start. Even if they get people intrigued to see who’s in there on Sunday, they will be third at best on Monday with the first 2m viewers going to 7&9. Why?