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In defence of Andrew Winter

The question is not "Who is Andrew Winter?" The audience already knows damn well.

“Gold Logie nominee you’ve never heard of.”

“The man is a real estate agent.”

“Who is Andrew Winter?”

Wow. Media really took a harsh view of the Selling Houses Australia host Andrew Winter being nominated alongside the likes of Tracy Grimshaw, Grant Denyer and Jessica Marais for the Gold Logie.

How dare this rank outsider elbow out the likes of Carrie Bickmore, Karl Stefanovic, Manu Feildel. Surely they are more popular, right?

No question, they have bigger audiences. Foxtel is, after all, in around 30% of Australian homes. But does that make them the most liked on TV?

To win a Logie you have to emotionally move people to choose you to vote. Did those criticising the shortlist actually cast a vote?

But the question isn’t really “Who is Andrew Winter?” The question is “How the hell did he get so many people to connect with him with only 30% of the audience ….and how do we bottle that?”

As anyone who has seriously watched Selling Houses Australia knows, Winter is a brilliantly authentic communicator, showing an innate knack for storytelling, with an effusive style that invites you into the drama. Free to Air networks should be falling over themselves to sign him up.

Last year he added Love it or List it Australia to his portfolio, while Selling Houses Australia recently had reruns on Seven.

Winter’s popularity is no late run. He won Subscription TV’s ASTRA Award as Favourite Male Personality in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Selling Houses Australia, now in its 11th year, was at one stage pulling a bigger audience on Pay TV than Game of Thrones. Winter is coming, indeed….

But even if he got a boost from a social media campaign (as did several others) his nomination represents the fragmentation of Television.

In 2018 TV viewers watch Free to Air, Subscription TV and Streaming. The idea that “Most Popular” is tied to exclusively Free to Air will be increasingly diluted. The Logies must adapt if it is to continue its 60 year legacy and Winter’s nomination indicates it is doing just that.

Next year Tidelands on Netflix should be eligible for nominations, as a locally-produced streaming drama. If it’s well-received, we would expect it to be seen by a massive audience, and that may be the biggest disrupter so far.

The Logies may not be perfect, and bashing them is a bit of an Aussie tradition.

But Winter’s nomination is a sign of the changing landscape and evidence that the audience will gravitate to a storyteller time after time.

And that’s the message an industry in decline should be celebrating.

23 Responses

  1. Certainly deserves his nomination no doubt.Been watching this show since it began,and with the FTA offering similar on shows they have never have that extra punch than what Selling Houses Australia achieves.Don’t think he will win but my choice would be Grant Denyer

  2. You are damn right David. Good on him & good luck. If you haven’t seen SHA, it’s well worth a watch, particularly if you are a fan of The Block or House Rules.

  3. With FTA slowly drifting towards streaming on small screens and more TV viewers using the Internet than Foxtel, perhaps the Logies should include YouTube and Social Media Channels. At least it would get the younger generation to vote!

  4. The Gold Logie campaigns have been contentious for many years. There have been some itinerant and arguably subjectively odd inclusions where shows and stars with ten times the ratings or exposure are excluded. The years of voting forms ex TV week were far from perfect either. And years where the same person would win consecutive years for an eternity were heavily criticised too. We haven’t had a repeat winner for at least a decade.

  5. Logie nominations in any category should be for anyone who creates, produces or stars in an Australian production. No matter where it is screened (foxtel, free to air, netflix, stan etc). If you are part of an australian production then you are eligible to be nominated. simple as that. sorry that most people only have free to air tv but times are changing and not fair that a great host/actor/creator is denied a nomination just because a free to air network wouldn’t give them a chance.

  6. I love Andrew Winter, he’s one of Australia’s best hosts on one of Australia’s best shows. And it’s been running for 11 years. Very natural, very funny.
    Delighted he’s up for the gold.

  7. I’m amazed Andrew Winter is up for the Gold as he is a no-name for me. I agree with carole in that Pay-TV and Streaming should have their own categories. Like her I’ll never have Foxtel Why didn’t Real Housewives of Melbourne or Sydney get any nominations?

    1. So a film shouldn’t be able to win the Oscar for best picture because it was only shown at arthouse cinemas and not at the big blockbuster cinemas? The Gold Logie award is for the most popular person on TV and if the voting audience has shortlisted Andrew Winter we shouldn’t deny him the opportunity.

  8. Selling Houses Australia is one of my favourite shows on Australian TV. The days when the major screen awards only cover free to air are long gone. We have a rich choice of media which, as with most other things, we choose to buy or not. Those who appear on or make shows for non-free to air outlets shouldn’t be penalised by being ignored because some people exercise their right not to buy!

  9. Andrew is one of the most natural and entertaining presenters of an observational series – the next is Jo Van Es on Gogglebox. I recall watching him back when he did the original UK version of Selling Houses which was regularly on LifeStyle prior to his move and commencement of the Australian version. It was one of the reasons I have the SHA a go when it started.

  10. It’s not just the media asking, I wondered the same thing when I heard his name. Some random guy on an obscure show only available on foxtel. I don’t have foxtel & have no intention of ever getting it I’ve said it before that foxtel shows should be in a separate category since not everyone has access to it.

      1. I’ve never heard of him, either. I’m a strictly FTA kind of guy. I’ve heard of Wentworth and Gogglebox (the latter is only on my radar because of its airing on TEN). If I don’t have access to something, it really doesn’t tend to interest me. Does this make me a bad person, though? No :-).

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