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Seven yanks kid’s shows off 7TWO

Networks move at lightning speed after govt relaxed rules on quotas.

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Seven has moved quickly to yank Kid’s content off 7TWO after the government advised there would be no quota content for Drama, Children’s or Documentary for the rest of 2020.

Early morning titles Get Clever, ZooMoo Lost and Toybox have been replaced by reruns of Auction Squad and Harry’s Practice from Monday April 27.

7am Get Clever Auction Squad
7:30am ZooMoo Lost
8am Toybox Harry’s Practice

Science show Get Clever is a first-run title, produced in-house by Seven, while the others were repeats.

Last week the government suspended quotas for the remainder of 2020 as part of a package to offer networks relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But it has attracted criticism from the independent sector and performers, who have already lost work.

Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Deaner said, “We understand better than most that there will be disruptions to the supply of Australian content, particularly drama, documentary and children’s content. Our members are standing down production teams, cast and crew and halting production activity on over 100 productions, with devastating economic and employment impacts. However, rather than a hard suspension of quotas, we suggested temporary averaging flexibility, to allow broadcasters relief in the coming year, contingent on the overall obligations being acquitted across the coming years when production activity can return. This would ensure demand returns to the system at levels sufficient to get the sector back on its feet and able to pump out productions and employ large numbers of people.

“It would also recognise that there is a significant amount of quota content already completed and sitting with the broadcasters (or soon to be delivered). We have surveyed our members and determined that there is a substantial amount of content ready to go on free-to-air television this year. A complete suspension of the quotas in 2020 is disproportionate to the actual level of disruption to the supply pipeline.

“Furthermore, with no incentive for the broadcasters to release hundreds of hours of already delivered but not yet broadcast children’s, drama and documentary content, it harms the Australian public’s ability to access the content which is sitting gathering dust on shelves.

“A complete suspension is also a very blunt tool when it is considered that some sub-types of production are still able to be commissioned, including animation and documentary. Suspension of commissioning activity essentially knocks out demand for these productions, which would have been crucial in keeping people in jobs in the industry during the wider shut down.”

Seven recently threatened to stop commissioning Kid’s titles if the government did not drop quota obligations

9GO! and 10 Peach are yet to follow suit.

Updated.

26 Responses

  1. Please help, hoping this still gets addressed. I work with an amazing autistic lady who has been very saddened by 7twos decision to do this. As it has been a crazy year, I think she feels its more related to covid and is in hoping that 7two will continue showing children’s shows next year. Can anyone direct me in the direction to contact necessary person to find this information out???

  2. Good riddance, the local industry only complains when they lose their free funding. Decent children’s content has been dying for years, and there usually isn’t anything worth watching any more for older children.

    Seven has not shown any decent content for children, since they lost the Disney rights.Nine mainly shows cartoon designed solely to sell toys. Ten reduced Toasted TV to cartoons designed for pre-schoolers. And the ABC mainly offers DreamWorks content, that it easier to access via streaming.

  3. I remember a few years ago when the tv channels would have programs suitable for the young brigade usually from 3.30 to around 5pm. Not so any more. Channel 10 has Bold And The Beautiful at 4.30 which is not suitable for children and is a disgrace. I Believe it is wrong to keep lessening the amount of tv show suitable for children on any channel.

  4. It’s disgraceful. The way the commercial networks treat kids shows these days is appalling. ABC are the only one who actually care. Channel 7 in particular though lately have been treating their viewers like crap with the yanking of shows for “The Latest”.

  6. Very poor form, poor children stuck indoors and they’re removing content that is relegated to 7two anyway, why worry. I thought we were in this together, not if you’re channel 7 by the sounds, just goes to show the government can’t relax these regulations in future or 7 won’t voluntarily show children’s programming… silly move by then if that was 7s hope in the future.

    1. Kid don’t care about this stuff, they are all streaming more entertaining shows on iView without ads, for free. Nobody was watching them. Seven produced figures that showed an average of 6,000 viewers and some shows recorded 1000, the minimum, which means nobody watched them. They are rubbish, cheaply made and stuck on in the least damaging slots where they can meet th quota, so that;’s not surprising.

      It’s obvious that the networks are going take them so they will have them available for if quotas are reimplemented. They are commercial networks and they lose money on making and airing them. The main thing the SPA is worried about is just how little viewers will miss them. Children don’t need masses more screen time watching rubbish, they need a smaller amount of good TV. Especially at the moment when they are watching too much video already while at home.

        2. A generation ago both Agro & Cheez TV proved before school slots can be prime time for kids.

          With modern day restrictions of advertising to kids & competition from ad-free ABC2 / ABCME, commercially they would rather families just have Sunrise on in the background than bother with Kids TV?

          To reboot these slots networks would need to get hold of the next international hit as a lead-in, just like Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z made Cheez TV a must watch destination for Ten in the early ’00s.

        3. Bluey is aimed at 4-7 yr olds i would think? Everytime a story like this comes up i question whether older children watch or want to watch anything on FTA tv when they have endless other options, as Pertinax has already mentioned. And every time no one seems to be able to answer the question. I see little point in producing & airing fta content for older kids (age 5 -12) just for the sake of fulfilling some sort of imagined need when they may not be interested.

  8. Pathetic, Seven. I actually liked to watch Get Clever with my kids then but won’t bother now you e dragged out those tired old repeats and basically turned your backs on kids stuck in isolation.

  10. Geez, they were quick to get rid of the children programs. A shame really. But to air lifestyle repeats…. that are often repeated during the day anyway. What’s the point really?

  11. To quote Helen Lovejoy from the Simpsons “Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children?” I was enjoying Get Clever. Dr Harry is on enough as it is. The repeats of axed game show Million Dollar Minute is what needs removing.

  13. Personally I think it’s disgusting tbh. If two shows are repeats then it shouldn’t matter. ABC Kids has repeats all the time. Disappointing 7. I am sure there were kids watching these shows…especially in these times…have you asked them??

  15. What a joke when broadcasters should be doing all they can to help kids and their parents through the outbreak. This is clearly Seven using rules relaxed due to the crisis for commercial reasons.

      1. Who is the audience for Harry’s Practice at 8am? This is shameful programming. Air a test-pattern if you’re not looking to provide service to your audience and seeking the cheapest programming instead.

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