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Where are the Drama hits this year?

5 weeks in and we're still waiting for a local drama hit this year.

Australian drama is off to a sluggish start this year, with no breakout hit after 5 weeks of ratings.

Neither Seven, Nine, ABC or TEN has managed to hit a bull’s eye with their local dramas yet, even factoring in Timeshifted and VPM figures.

Hoges was a disappointment for Seven, at 837,000 viewers in Overnight ratings, and rising to 973,000 in 7 day Timeshifted viewing.

800 Words is now sitting at around 650,000 in Overnight numbers. Its best was 797,000 -before the official start of ratings- rising to a healthy 1.01m in Timeshifted.

House Husbands was also strongest in early February with 644,000, rising to 776,000 in Timeshifted. Last week it slipped under 600,000.

ABC’s Newton’s Law started out with 708,000, a good number for ABC, rising to 832,000 in Timeshifted. It recently fell to 455,000.

So what about our soaps?

Early in the week is best for Home and Away with 809,000 on Monday February 20 as one of its better performances -that lifted to 881,000 in Timeshifted.

Neighbours of course plays out on ELEVEN, so a direct ratings comparison would not be fair. It tends to hover between 150,00 – 170,000 but rose to around 200,000 with the return of Madeleine West.

All of these dramas also attract a VPM figure when viewed on devices, but the figure is complementary to other OzTAM data, and can’t be counted as single viewers.

By comparison 2016 dramas went as high as 1.78m for Molly -on Overnights alone.

The Doctor Blake Mysteries averaged 874,000 in metro Overnights last year, lifting to 1.09m in 7 day Timeshifting, and 1.15m in 28 Days -not enough to save it from ABC’s axe.

So what do we have to look forward to next?

So far only Seven Types of Ambiguity, The Warriors and Wentworth have confirmed airdates.

Fingers crossed one of those draws a big crowd and a bit of buzz.

15 Responses

  1. I like Aussie dramas far better than US ones, but in all shows there is too much emphasis on crime and evil. 800 words and House Husbands hit the spot for drama about real life.

    But combined with late start times, and repetitive storylines (there are other occupations apart from lawyer and doctor!) it is hard to get excited about new shows. I would also like to see more period drama – more along the lines of Home Fires.

  2. Dramas? The serials are on every night. There’s the “Trump And Friends” Comedy/Drama. There’s the ever-changing plot-lines, back-stabbing, survivor/get me out of here playlets from the Libs. The Anarchistic sub-plots while we’re Waiting For Godot from Labor and the suspenseful “twist at the end” that we all can see coming from One Nation.

  3. Aussie producers have ushered a golden era of dinky di biopics.

    Can’t wait to see:
    Wascally Wabbott: The Tony Abbott Story
    I Will Not Be Lectured!: The Julia Gillard Saga
    Jobs and Growth: The Malcolm Turnbull Deception
    Move Out Of My Way: From Charlene to Kylie
    Where The Bloody Hell Was My Head At?: The Tragic Love Story of Clarke and Bingle
    Ssshhhhh!!!!: Life After Big Brother With Gretel Killeen

  4. Apart from H&A and Neighbours mist dramas start 8.30 to 9.30pm. Who can be bothered to watch them at this time of night. Love to see one of the commercial networks give a 7.30pm timeslot to some form of Aussie drama. Somehow those days are behind us one senses.

  5. Seven seem to invest the most in drama, followed by Ten (in terms of quota, it’s of course due to Neighbours & Home and Away).

    But I doubt there’ll be a big hit this year.

    Ten have “Wake In Fright” telemovie, Nine also have something for later in the year.

    It’s a shame, because “Molly” was brilliant last year on Seven, rated around 2.1m in 28 Day Consolidated (let alone regional and VPM)!

  6. I think its more a matter of quality and a lack of new ideas combined with stupid timeslots (not so much ABC but Seven and Nine’s have to start after nightly realities. Need something different.

    Hoges was nowhere as good as it should have been. House Husbands has gone on at least a season too long now while 800 Words should have been one season. Didn’t get into Newton’s Law but may try again. Home & Away is suffering from the longer, sometimes 2 hour episodes on Thursdays. Don’t know why they don’t just do Sunday to Thursday 7pm, with 7.30 starts for MKR etc every night its on.

  7. I’m watching as much drama as ever just not on Aus FTA, which either doesn’t have the good stuff, or delays it and then bounces it around the schedule without warning.

    None of the shows whose ratings are mentioned above interest me. They are all mediocre at best, with cardboard cutout characters and uninspired, by-the-numbers scripts, and awful cliché-ridden dialogue.

  8. Did Wanted do well this time last year?

    It seems we (as a public) have little faith in our local offerings.

    Fingers crossed we see some improvement over the cooler months.

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