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TEN showcase waiting in the wings

TEN's 2018 showcase could be the most interesting so far.

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On Thursday it is TEN’s turn for its 2018 Upfronts.

Advertisers, media, execs and stars will gather at Darling Harbour. Of the three commercial networks, this event is bound to be the most fascinating, given the network’s turbulent year.

Spare a thought for Programming who have had to plough on without clarity about ownership and budgets. But with the support of CBS it could also be its most exciting showcase in years. The recent signing of Lisa Wilkinson indicates surprises are still possible.

Content priorities are likely to include The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, MasterChef‘s 10th anniversary season, Gogglebox, The Project, Studio 10, Big Bash League, Have You Been Paying Attention?, The Living Room, Hughesy We Have A Problem, Shark Tank, Russell Coight’s All Aussie Adventures, Family Feud, Body Hack with Todd Sampson and I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. The latter is an expensive venture but whispers suggest it will resume.

Based on this year’s ratings, the expensive Australian Survivor is no guarantee, but TEN has made noises in the past that it has let go of brands too soon -with CBS on board there is room for optimism.

Drama is where the most interesting news should come. While Neighbours has been renewed by UK’s Five, an Offspring return seems unlikely. I can’t see The Wrong Girl resuming on recent numbers and it is just too early to expect decisions on Sisters (in 2015 there was no announcement on Party Tricks when it scored 430,000, higher than Sisters this week). Look for at least 1 new Drama to excite the market as a result.

Put a red line through Common Sense & The Biggest Loser. It’s also too soon for a decision on Cram, but what of the long-running Bondi Rescue?

Lisa Wilkinson and Dave Hughes are bound to be on show, and it is surely time for Bondi Vet to unveil the replacement/s for Dr. Chris Brown?

Meanwhile could there be more joint projects with Foxtel and is it too soon to hope for CBS-led announcements?

TV Tonight will be Live tweeting info from late Thursday arvo.

12 Responses

  1. Ten have quite a list of reality TV so viewers will have to wait what directive CBS will give on content in the future, there may be some changes made to Ten’s corporate business plan which may cause a few upsets with Australian management. This CBS investment is fascinating to observe as it could encourage moves by other overseas investors for ailing Aussie networks if it proves successful.

  2. CBS can’t have much effect before 2019, there just isn’t time. The main thing they can do is finance Ten to try and retain the BBL from Nine’s attempt to get it with the domestic tests and ODIs.

  3. It’s disappointing they won’t have final confirmation of ownership come Thursday. They would have wanted this to give a vote of confidence to the market

    1. The three shareholders have until Wednesday (November 8) to provide further evidence. (Thanks Maev….Sydney for that piece of news)

      Still possible that the three shareholders will just give up on Wednesday and Ten officially becomes CBS property before the next day’s upfronts.

  4. People know the survivor format, it’s been around for near enough 20 years. Anyone who wanted to watch a local version would have found it by now….

  5. As a massive fan of Survivor (and someone who wants to be a contestant on the show), I hope it gets a renewal. Especially after the outstanding quality of the last season, it would be a great shame if it doesn’t come back.

  6. I would be amazed if Survivor came back with those sub par ratings. The audience just hasn’t resonated with the local series and I can’t see any advertisers taking a risk with it.

    1. They be stupid not to revive it for at least one more year til they have some new hits. Start it later in year so it plays now with no competition from 7/9. Look at its replacements 200/300/400k at 7:30pm.

        1. Do you mean non ratings period?
          In my opinion putting a show in the non ratings period (pretty much all of December and January) shows a lack of confidence in the product.

          Maybe starting a season sometime in September and finishing late November would be a better option.

          Hopefully ratings juggernauts MKR, The Block, House Rules and Married at First Sight (I watch none of those four shows) would have finished their 2018 seasons.

        2. Maybe a bit of both – the Bachelor does well on Wed/Thu so perhaps Survivor could be tried there, but as it airs same time as year as the Bachelor/Bachelorette it would need to move, unless they just switch them around and try The Bachelor up against The Block.

          1. Bachelor does well, they originally tried a Sunday it didn’t work well and then they found gold. I wouldn’t be touching its Wed/Thursday combo. They will already be pushing their luck with a 3rd franchise next year. I certainly wouldn’t go looking to schedule anything major in non-ratings when they don’t have enough to fill the ratings period. plus the constant moving of shows would be tough, should TEN hold onto Big Bash.
            If I where TEN I’d look at running another Celeb Jungle companion show on Eleven hosted by Sophie Monk, just so Nine etc can’t get her for their dating show next year.

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