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“Total nonsense!” TEN rejects claim shows under review.

Beverley McGarvey rejects "ill-informed" press article and confirms I'm A Celebrity for 2019.

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TEN has denied a string of its profile shows are “under review” following an article in the Sunday Telegraph.

The report claimed Australian Survivor, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Pointless and either The Bachelor or The Bachelorette were all under review with CBS scrutinising TEN performance.

The article suggested honeymoon with CBS was over amid a declining market share, tipping I’m A Celebrity would trim from 6 to 4 weeks and that TEN would greenlight Dancing with the Stars, a local version of UK factual Ambulance and a local version of Saturday Night Take-Away.

But TEN has hit back issuing a statement which rejects nearly all the claims.

Chief Content Officer, Beverley McGarvey, said: “The claims made in The Sunday Telegraph today are ill-informed, misleading and completely wrong. We were not asked to comment on these claims before they were published. If we had been, we would have furnished the reporter with the truth.

“The facts are clear. Network TEN’s audience has increased strongly over the past three months, thanks to the success of MasterChef Australia, Have You Been Paying Attention?, Shark Tank, Australian Survivor and other shows. Last week, TEN had the #1 show of the week in total people with MasterChef Australia The Winner Announced and four of the top six programs of the week in our key target market of people 25 to 54.

“To claim Australian Survivor, The Bachelor Australia, The Bachelorette Australia, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! and Pointless are under review is total nonsense.

“We are very pleased with the performance of the new season of Australian Survivor. After two nights, it is up 6% in total people year on year and it ranks #1 in its timeslot in total people and 25 to 54s.

“The new season of The Bachelor Australia, with Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins, starts on 15 August and it is set to be a fantastic season. The new season of The Bachelorette Australia with Ali Oetjen will follow later this year. The claim that we think the shows are too similar and that there is only room for one is naïve and false.

“I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! performed very well for TEN in early 2018 in our core target market and it will be back in 2019, while Pointless is generating good growth for us among younger viewers.

“Overall, TEN is performing well and we are looking forward to launching the new seasons of all the shows that are allegedly ‘under review’. To suggest otherwise is just plain wrong.”

CBS also issued a statement: “CBS has and continues to support Beverley, the TEN management team and the Network’s programming strategy. The second half of 2018 will see the most comprehensive investment in Australian content in the history of the network, and they will soon be announcing a significant investment in summer and first quarter 2019. The story in the Sunday Telegraph is simply not accurate.”

20 Responses

  2. The odd thing is TEN often gives Daily Tele / News Corp stories first, especially for Sunday papers before the rest of us. I get they have the big footprint but it’s a very awkward relationship.

  3. 2nd only to the Daily Mail for strange stories…..DT has now overtaken local community newspapers…cannot read much of anything online without getting…Subscribe page…why would you.

  5. I read that article and it seemed quite ridiculous. First the claim that CBS had put TEN on a year’s probation after buying it, and that was now over. Why? Why would anybody pay millions of dollars for a business then sit on their hands for a year before making changes?

    Then there was the claim that TEN had previously outsourced their management and programming, and that CBS would now be taking direct control. Again, why? Why would bosses allow other people to run their business and do nothing while it was being driven off the rails?

    That whole article lacked credibility and I’m surprised it even made it into print.

  6. If I was the CBS exec in New York charged with “looking after” TEN , I would certainly get involved, especially after grimacing at last night’s viewing figures.
    And any night’s viewing figures, post MC.
    Check out the cost of Survivor, versus it’s ratings…or the decision to commission Pointless to an audience that doesn’t exist for this show beyond the BBC / ABC.
    Some serious questions need answering.
    I reckon Programming has a lot to worry about in their Pyrmont bunker, and singing happy campfire songs to ward off the nasties isn’t going to stop the axe falling – as it most definitely will.

  7. Survivor is the only show that doesn’t quite make sense to me. The total budget of that series does not at all match with the low viewership.

    1. Koh-Lanta (the French version of Survivor), was shot in Fiji this year. Why? Because of the large incentives provided by FilmFiji, including paid air fares, equipment hire, insurances, etc., etc.

      1. Maybe that is a win-win. Surely having shows made in your country adds to your economy, and presumably FilmFiji wouldn’t provide all that if it wasn’t to Fiji’s benefit. Benefit to us is that we get an exotic location (required for this show) at a discounted price.

  8. I think we are all intelligent enough to read between the lines of anything published/broadcast by Mr L.M. CBS have already fostered an image of ‘entertainment and adventure’ is coming to the new-look TEN.
    I, like many others I’m sure, welcome TEN’s resurgence into the marketplace.

  9. Reading the story yesterday, I just didn’t think it was accurate. It relied on the ubiquitous “unnamed source” and more questionable research unsupported by facts.

      1. Totally agree a lot of the news limited tv stories are based on pure speculation rather than facts, but I believe Seven actually has the tennis for one more year before it moves to Nine …

  10. David, is there some truth that Ten programs will align with CBS from next year? I presume this means fast tracking shows so they air here next day?? Or does it mean they get the whole suite of CBS programs??

    2. Be good if they did, in fact they could do them delayed same day, as in say how NCIS shows in the US 8pm eastern Sunday that is 10am est Monday here, so having it on at 8:30pm could be achievable (as would other shows).

      Of course there would be a whole raft of distribution deals to clear first, was actually surprised they didn’t slot Elementary into the Instinct spot once that ends it 13 episode run this week.

  11. Sometimes even the people who should know what is really going to happen, don’t know. I’ve been in a position where we spent millions of dollars improving a manufacturing site only to shut it down 3 months later. Full steam ahaead until a change indirection comes along. Not saying this will happen at TEN but we should not assume that the head of a department knows evrything that is being planned.

  12. Clearly someone doesn’t like 10s recent success!! Any excuse to write a story that isn’t true…almost like Women’s Day and New Idea!

  13. Ha, a Murdoch paper making up stuff. What a surprise. I think everyone knows you take everything you read in a Murdoch rag with a grain of salt. But the good news is I’m a celebrity is coming back. Thought it was axed. So yay.

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