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Why RocKwiz said yes to Foxtel revival

Producers talked to other networks and streamers before a lifeline came from Foxtel for much-loved trivia show.

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When RocKwiz returns this Friday it will be after a 7 year absence from television screens.

Finally Julia Zemiro, Brian Nankervis, the RocKwiz Orkestra and a brigade of devoted fans will test music trivia questions along with live performances from favourite artists.

But RocKwiz is not back on SBS but revived on Foxtel after former SBS TV exec Marshall Heald moved to the Subscription TV provider and found a way forward for the much-loved quiz show.

In the intervening seven years, the brand was kept alive with live touring while producers explored conversations with other networks. In the end it was Foxtel that came through with 8 new shows.

“We went to a lot of networks, certainly all the free to airs and a few other streaming services,” Brian Nankervis tells TV Tonight.

“They’d all say, ‘People love that show,’ or people within the organisation loved it. But then negotiations would hold because they didn’t have the money, or perhaps they felt that it had already been on … who knows how a network makes decisions?

“We were reluctant to let fans down in terms of not doing the show”

“We were reluctant to let fans down in terms of not doing the show. We just thought, ‘Well, we can get up on a high horse and we can say no, we want the show to be on free to air so everyone can see it.’

“That spirit has been fairly strong in the RocKwiz camp -that we want everyone to see it, we sort of believe in fair play and all the rest of it.

“But then the alternative is to not do the show, to not keep going. There’s no doubt about it: being on TV does feed into the live show.

“Finally, we just thought, ‘Well, we may never ever get the chance, so let’s take it.'”

Nankervis is grateful to SBS for 14 seasons over 12 years, even if it was unable to continue the show after 2016.

“We were aware that we’d been there for 12 years and we felt pretty fortunate. We had a very good run. But the shows we did in 2016, we felt were as good as any that we’d made. So it was frustrating, because for whatever reason, SBS decided to put their funds elsewhere.

“We just got on with the business of doing live shows”

“So we accepted it and we just got on with the business of doing live shows.

“We’d sell out shows all over the country from Hobart to Darwin, Full on national tours, all sorts of festivals, our Really, Really Good Friday show at Hamer Hall. We did a show at the museum, we did a NAIDOC show, basically because we loved it.”

The new show is no longer filmed at the Gershwin Room at St. Kilda’s Espy Hotel and episodes run for 30 minutes. But there is still a live audience, Dugald the Human Scoreboard, and RocKwiz OrKestra members Peter ‘Lucky’ Luscombe, Clio Renner, Bill McDonald and Olympia.

“There was a reasonable amount of compromise,” Nankervis says of the show’s evolution. “That makes it a little bit more challenging and it puts you to the test. They wanted us to skew a little bit younger, which I think we’ve done. But I reckon over the years RocKwiz sort of suffered slightly from a perception that it was all music from the 60s and the 70s. But that was never the case, we always had new and upcoming artists,” he insists.

“So we work very hard to actually have music, performers, and questions from all across the board.”

Guests this season include Megan Washington, Dan Sultan, Tina Arena, Vance Joy, Ella Hooper, Ben Lee, Chris Cheney, Meg Mac, Gretta Ray, Sam Cromack, Isabella Manfredi, Wilsn, Fanny Lumsden, Thndo and Allen Stone and even Jimmy Barnes sits alongside one starstruck fan tested on music trivia.

“When the guy realises that he’s about to sit next to Jimmy Barnes he just can’t believe it! …about a week before Jimmy’s hip operation. We were very lucky to get him, says Nankervis.

“But there’s something great about doing the show in a space that is actually designed for a TV show. I love the Espy and we adored being in the Gershwin room, but boy, it was hard work. It was deep, it was hot, it was crowded, and people would faint.

“We couldn’t do it there anyway, because the renovation meant that we couldn’t get our trucks in.”

“In a way, it’s classic RocKwiz”

Barnes will also feature in the closing duet, always one of the show’s favourite segments, this time with a rising star.

“In a way, it’s classic RocKwiz. It’s a household name, paired with someone who is largely unknown, but very striking.

“Some of the duets that are coming up are remarkable, Tina Arena, Megan Washington, Ben Lee … they’re just fabulous.”

7:30pm Friday February 24 on FOX8 / Binge.

19 Responses

  1. Heads up… was checking my Foxtel remote record app and Viceland has Rockwiz Salutes the Decades Series 13 episode 1 on 8th March at at 7.30pm for those interested.

  2. Another music show for old people featuring old people, just like Idol. You’d think there are no young people making music in Australia. It was dated even when it was on TV last time.

    1. A reminder that ageist views are a no no here, but you haven’t read the story which clearly indicates emerging talent is part of the show and always has been. I went to a recording and saw a fantastic young singer duet with Barnesy. The show has always done this, Moe.

      1. Great response to Moe David. Particularly on the young artist focus. It has always been the case. RocKwiz is a terrific Australian production – one of the few.

      2. Thank you David a much need response nowadays unfortunately. Aging rocker myself music is for all ages, tastes, backgrounds and brings joy to those prepared to listen and even unite people.

      3. Exactly, I mean Cortney Barnett was on there before she hit it big, as was Megan Washington, Kimbra, Bertie Blackman, then throw-in the likes of Katy Steele, Husky Gawenda, Sophie Koh, Dan Sultan, Emma Louise, Declan Melia, Jack Ladder, Natalie Pa’a’pa, Kav Temperly, Abbe May, Sophia Brous, Karina Utomo, even Olympia herself and countless others. It was Dan Sultan doing With A Little Help that brought him to be more well known, people have to remember that a lot of those names in there that we saw between 2005 and 2016 weren’t that well known when they first appeared.

  3. I was more a Rockwiz person that a Spicks and Specks person (but I like it now). I never knew who the musical guests were but on saturday nights I loved it.

  6. I love most of these kind of panel shows, but could never get into this one for some reason, it just always seemed rather awkward and (this will sound strange) almost too calm and quiet

  9. It’s a pity Foxtel don’t have a Binge Free version like how they have a Kayo Sports Free, then things like this could be viewed on that, even if on a one or two week delay or something like that. Ah well guess one day, somehow, somewhere I’ll find a way to watch it, who knows perhaps on Blu-Ray/DVD, though if the past is anything to go by that’ll just be Duet DVD’s like I have now and not full shows (well not after Series 4 anyway as far as I know).

    1. I think they have a free trial – so you could wait a few months then jump on and watch the entire series during the trial. I guess that’s why it’s called Binge!

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