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Star, Tyrant test multichannel patience.

If you don't build it, it's pretty clear they won't come...

More rapid changes to TEN’s multichannels shows there is little patience in letting shows find their audience.

Take Star for example, Lee Daniel’s newest music drama.

It premiered in March but was yanked after one episode.

It then inexplicably knocked Empire out its Thursday night slot mid-season. That lasted another week. Now it is out for Sex and the City replays. That makes 2 Daniels gazumped in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile Tyrant was due to return last Tuesday. But just a day before an amendment show it was out for a repeat of COPS. So far there is no sign of its return.

While nobody expects a show to remain in schedule with a tiny audience, multichannels are supposed to be about niche audiences. Given there is negligible (or in some cases, none) promotion for many of the shows, the best way to build a crowd is with sustained slots to allow for word of mouth.

That’s something TEN has demonstrated well with Have You Been Paying Attention? and The Project.

Less kneejerk programming, please?

TEN has been contacted for comment.

20 Responses

  1. So many channels yet so many dumb progamming decisions. I have made comments about this before. Recently i have been watching more 7Flix hoping it would be great being able to see the shows that are not on Mate or Two or the main channel, however its not quite that, for example the programmers have chosen to air multiple BBT episodes back to back in a row etc each night. that must be lazy programming at its best/worst. THey have other shows yet they cant properly program them on 7 Flix or other channels. Also some shows do not belong on Mate they belong on Flix Seinfeld for example should not be on Mate. Nine is better TEN is simply a rabble. THey have a “expensive” output deal with CBS and FOX yet dont use it in full. Its these dumb decisions that are negatively impacting on the industry.

  2. I tried Star this time … last time I taped it but it was yanked so quickly I deleted it, not wanting to get in to something I wouldn’t see any more of. This time I jumped in, thinking surely it wouldn’t get shafted again. Really enjoyed the first ep and a bit desperate to see more. Now I’m remembering why these days I’m watching a lot more stuff on streaming services. FTA does itself no favours. So many channels and still apparently no space to screen first-run entertainment.

  3. why bother buying programming to air not on the main channel(10) but for the digital ones and then not playing it for no reason. You’re the Worst, Empire, Star, and probably other shows have been given the “Sex and the city ” repeating instead of playing out in full by the programmers of One and Eleven. Obviously repeats of Movies and Older programming seems to rate higher than the the newer shows which they fail to give a chance to.

  4. Add Speechless (was Sat 11pm amongst other slots) to that list of shows disappearing. Fairly certain there was only 3-4 eps left of the 22 ep season. Well done Ten.

  5. Stuff on a multi-channel still has to generate more in advertising revenue than it costs. When stuff is only rating 10 or 20k, it makes more economic sense to stream to those houses than broadcasted it across the entire country.

    Eleven is a separate venture joint owned by Ten and CBS and it mostly shows content owned by CBS. So maybe CBS is letting people know the series exists, then hoping to generate revenue from streaming or DVD sales.

  6. Whether it resonates with audiences or not, ELEVEN should be at least playing the series out instead of resorting to blocks of Sex and the City. It’s getting a bit ridiculous and lazy.

      1. As much as I like shows on ELEVEN such as Raymond, Frasier, King of Queens and Cheers, MASH and Star Trek: TNG on ONE, seriously TEN needs to shake up the programming. It’s like I said ridiculous and lazy.

  7. TEN, just re-brand both Eleven and One into time-shift channels, TEN+1 and TEN+2 already! With the amount of replays from the main channel, they may as well be.

  8. I just do not understand the mentality of trying a new, unpromoted drama for one week and then yanking it before people even knew it was there.

    All three commercial networks seem to schedule programs using a dartboard. The dart thrower at Ten must also be blindfolded and spun around three times beforehand.

  9. I was just thinking that yesterday, when I noticed ‘Star’ was not set to record. I thought surely I don’t have to send another query to David! Thanks for the article. Anybody’s guess on when and if it returns. Also don’t like the outlook for ‘Cannonball’ considering it includes contestants from 2016 MKR!! Not 2017.

    1. The cultural elements, including the hip hop background, go some of the way towards its niche audience here. But don’t forget shows like Roots and Cosby were big hits here. Nevertheless multichannels should find room for niche shows.

        1. Same argument applies to Empire too; sure, it has a significant music element heavily influenced by hip-hop, but it’s definitely a lot more than just a show on hip-hop.

          And by the way, I’m white and Australian and I’m a massive fan of Empire.. so..

          1. I am a fan of the machinations of rich and powerful families, enjoying shows like Dirty Sexy Money and Revenge, but I am afraid Empire was too Black American culturally specific for me. I gave up during the second episode I think.

      1. Empire was firstly a melodrama which was something different and good fun. But it was all about generating contrived conflicts, then a surprise twist to resolve them and then doing it over again. The writing just wasn’t good enough to sustain it and it got tiresome quickly. I stopped watching during S1b. Revenge was done much better.

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