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Bumped: Counterpart

Drama with J.K. Simmons pulls numbers too low for SBS schedule.

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SBS has bumped Counterpart to a later timeslot following disappointing numbers.

It drew just 47,000 & 34,000 for 2 episodes last Thursday.

But the series has been available at SBS On Demand since early June.

It will now screen at 11pm Thursdays after the late news, with a repeat of 24 Hours in Emergency in its place. It remains in double episodes.

11 Responses

  1. Perhaps if SBS were to broadcast it before putting it out for computers etc…as per suggestions below, if they charged for streaming (assuming that’s legal for a govt funded broadcaster), the number of folks that would pay for it would plummet.

    1. If the SBS charged for their streaming then there would need to be even more diversity of content including the dedicated and sometimes infamous ‘World Movies’ channel. There’s also numbers of viewers who would like to have more Asian movies and shows to watch that aren’t from China or India,a significant audience would be there if the price is right.

    1. I’ve got no problem with double eps as it gives a high rotation for the network, 5 weeks [in this instance] and they can move onto the next thing. How many times have you put off binge-watching this series or that because of the constraints on your available down-time and you rather just sit and watch it in a couple of sessions on a dreary weekend?? It’s not so different.

  3. With so few viewers watching Counterpart live it’s irrelevant what time it is broadcast. Networks have gone from a few to 21 hours of first broadcast scripted drama a week. Nobody is is going to watch what’s on Thursday night, even when despite its flaws, Counterpart is one of the better ones.

    1. Not true. Bachelor, Gogglebox do well on Thurs. SBS has traditionally done well with Food on Thurs, and even Handmaid’s Tale was decent for SBS. Networks need to decide if an online screening first is supposed to be a positive or negative experience.

      1. The SBS could quickly turn their SBS on Demand into a pay to view app considering the library of titles they have available, it would be easy to conclude that the SBS are making a political point to their political masters about the commercial options available should they choose to use them to keep Australia’s established multi-lingual channel running. .

        1. They would need to stop pulling the app from several devices. I can now no longer watch on demand in my living room. They pulled the app from playstation and TCL Smart TV.

  4. Agree with Cronker that it’s slow burn, but now that I’ve got my head around happenings, I’m fully on board. I guess those that have seen it have made use of SBS on Demand. I note before reading this that Counterpart was destined to be replaced with the recent BBC Cymru adaptation of War & Peace. Hopefully it does not suffer the same fate.

  6. Disappointed, but not surprised with those numbers. It’s really a slow burn and very niche, but excellent so far. Kudos to SBS for at least giving it a run.
    Hopefully we get Bodyguard on FTA next.

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