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TEN: “We were pinching ourselves” over CBS conversations

Paul Anderson says CBS execs focussed on content, content, content has renewed confidence at TEN.

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With CBS due to finalise its ownership of TEN this week, CEO Paul Anderson says he was buoyed by conversations with US execs, with particular reference to the shift from previous climate.

Speaking at the Screen Forever conference yesterday he said, “We had a bunch of them out here, maybe 3 weeks ago, and halfway through the week we were pinching ourselves with the change in dynamic with conversations about content, how we drive audiences with content, and we monetise the content with the viewers.

“Being able to tap into that experience and financial backing is probably the single-biggest thing that gives us confidence to the future.”

Anderson acknowledged the support of staff and advertisers through the administration process, but he also noted that CBS’ hefty finances would not mean irresponsible spending.

“We’re not sitting here saying ‘Well, these guys have got massively deep pockets, so we can just go out and splash money around,'” he assured. “That’s just not how things work in real life and it’s just not in TEN’s DNA either.

“At the end of the day, TEN has to stand on its own two feet and it has to make a profit and a return for CBS, first and foremost.”

12 Responses

  1. They have the $$$$ behind them…so Sport has to be their main aim to drag audience numbers back.

    CH10’s coverage of the AFL was great….they gave us HD games on ONE when they had the partial rights…..but then Murdoch et al came on board and stuffed it all up. Still bleeding about how they half way through their last AFL season removed the simulcast of games on ONE in HD to only show them on 10 in SD.

  2. CBS lost 13% of its US viewers in 2016-17. So far 2017-18 is making last season seem like a picnic. Morning TV is for infomercials and cross promoting your evening lineup. There are no magic bullets. If they tried to get the NRL or AFL right, that would be an existential threat to others with the rights so they wouldn’t be cheap and Ten doesn’t have the audience or content to benefit so it could take them years to make money.

    1. That’s one way of looking at CBS’s US performance.

      The other way would be to notice that the majority of networks had massive falls in total viewers except NBC (who picked up a miniscule 0.2%) and Fox (who picked up a slightly-larger 1%).

      Yes, CBS had the biggest fall (12%, btw – not 13%, though I’m surprised you didn’t go with the 22% fall in the 18-49 demo to make it look worse), but they’re still # 1 and still beating 2nd-place NBC by about 20% (9.6M vs 8.1M).

      And on the 2017-18 figures so far (as of 11/11), nothing much has changed – CBS @ #1, still way ahead of NBC in #2…

  4. As far as I understand the ownership situation:
    -The CBS takeover gained court approval last Friday
    -The deadline for appeals to the takeover was Tuesday 5pm (and they would need to pay legal costs associated with debating an appeal)
    -No appeals were lodged, despite 2-3 smaller shareholders expressing their opposition previously
    -Therefore, the earliest day for all shares to be transferred to CBS was yesterday

  5. “monetise the content” is code for more intrusive ads, more pop-ups, etc. Perhaps a more pragmatic approach to scheduling “after The Block on TEN”? A Foxtel-like Ten Plus 2?
    Telstra offering “Unlimited” Broadband plans couldn’t have come at a better time for FTA-on-demand viewing. Dare I say Free WiFi on Public Transport?

    1. Or perhaps instead they will have ten shows available on CBS On Demand so that those of us who like an ad free experience can pay for it.

      Yes, I would pay into CBS All Access to watch neighbours. 100%

    2. The word ‘monetise’ is used in most businesses nowadays, especially value adding which every consumer experiences from time to time. If CBS want to improve advertising revenue by promotions, infomercials and product placement they could well get away with it if the supporting show has good ratings potential especially with younger audiences who obviously are the biggest sales promotion market.
      I would not be surprised if Amazon do not become CBS’s best customer.

  6. CBS doesn’t have a terribly successful breakfast show in the US, I can’t imagine they would be in a huge hurry to launch one into an already crowded time period here.

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    I even if Rupert and Lauchlan Murdoch and Bruce Gorden had got their grubby hands on TEN all the talk would have been about cost cutting moving everything over to foxtel HQ ten news merging with sky news ,job loses content sharing with foxtel doom and gloom .what a positive thing the CBS takeover has been for TEN and its staff. I just hope CBS do an Australian version of their hit breakfast show CBS this morning with their new star signing as one of the hosts. .Australia needs a fresh approach to breakfast tV what we have now is boring and stale .

      1. Needs music and variety acts to lighten up breakfast TV. News every half hour gets repetitious if your watching it over an hour or two. Most people l know have it on in the background.

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