Nine’s 5.30pm dilemma


Wanted. By the Nine Network – a
light entertainment program designed to appeal to women aged 40 years or
more, for the 5.30pm timeslot.

This has been possibly THE most troublesome spot for the
network over the past 18 months. Why? To help Nine News
fight back against Seven News (especially in Sydney). And to help the
strongest Nine News markets of Melbourne and Brisbane fight
off the slowly advancing Seven News. Now what about
Adelaide and Perth? Well they would get some benefit, but the real
benefit is being sought for the Packer-owned Nine stations on the East
Coast.

The
Price Is Right, has been tried at 5.30pm in various guises: an hour and half
hour. A short version of Eddie McGuire’s Who Wants to Be A Millionaire was tried there last year for a couple of
weeks. Frasier
was even tried there for a few days in a forlorn attempt to
appeal to women viewers in particular. Nine
even had a remake of Celebrity Squares underway when David Gyngell quit in May as head of Nine. His replacement, interim CEO, Sam Chisholm, took a look
at Celebrity Squares and said nope, back to the drawing board and keep The Price
is Right there, even though its ratings are light.

Now
Nine is out beating the bushes around the producing
independents looking for format ideas and production deals. If only Nine
could think outside the “square” and look beyond a game show format to a female
orientated chat show, such as the one it had planned to run called The Watercooler, but was canned to save money in May.

Seven’s
Deal or No Deal with Andrew O’Keefe has been simply too strong and too vibrant
for whatever Nine puts up. It has topped the million viewer
mark on numerous occasions and is presently garnering around 860,000 to 950,000
each night Monday to Friday for Seven, giving the Seven’s 6pm News a nice
boost.

More True Stories for Seven

Another
good night last night for True Stories, the Seven Network’s “reality” current affairs show based on the ABC’s Australian Story. The
third of the initial four programs rated well, attracting its highest audience
of 1.726 million people, helped by Border Security topping the 2
million mark.

Now I
hear that the program is due to return to the Seven line-up next year with a much
longer run: up to 20 episodes in all. So what
then of the Nine Network commissioned pilot from Andrew Denton’s
Zapruder’s Other Films group?

But the
Seven Network was less enthusiastic about the jointly produced (with
Britain’s Channel 4) series, Last Man
Standing. It’s
being shifted to 10.30pm on Tuesday September 6 to accommodate the two hour return of
Dancing With The Stars. That’s
the kiss of death and might explain the guarded comments of Seven CEO, David
Leckie in Sydney yesterday. He thought it was a great series but was not
as forthcoming about it’s future as he was on the return of True
Stories.

Last night’s TV
ratings

The Winners Nine won narrowly again, Seven’s Border
Security topped the list with 2.047 million people and True Stories was next, but Nine’s CSI and Afterlife were the rocks
on which the Network won the night. Ten struggled – Neighbours was its
most watched program. Ten used three repeat episodes of The Simpsons last night, such
is its desperation to remain competitive. Bec Cartwright’s departure on Home and Away is ensuring it
beats Temptation, with the new Bec arriving next Tuesday.
The Losers Ten’s The4400 (752,000 at 8.30pm) and Nine’s
Taken (477,000 at 10.30pm), both sagged. Last Man Standing (755,000
people at 9.30pm) added more than 100,000 viewers. Will Seven can it, as it
looks like doing or will there be a last minute stay of execution? Celebrity Ready Steady Cook attracted 747,000 viewers with too much time on their hands
last night (including me).

News & CA
Seven News and Today Tonight
again won nationally, while in Sydney, Seven won the news battle and ACA the brawl with TT at 6.30pm. Nine News and ACA both won in Melbourne. Brisbane
saw wins to the Nine programs but Seven News and TT won both Adelaide and Perth.
The Stats Nine won 30.6% to 29.9% for Seven and Ten way back on
20.2%. The ABC was on 14.2% and SBS on 5.1%. Seven won Sydney and Perth, Nine
won Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Glenn Dyer’s
comments		 Another close night between the big two and tonight shapes as
another competitive evening with Ten in the hunt with Rock School, a Jamie
Oliver repeat and House. Nine’s CSI Miami and McLeod’s Daughters,
along with Without A Trace should be enough for the Network to sneak home.
Seven’s Beyond Tomorrow, Blue Heelers and Forensic Investigators might not have
the oomph to build on Seven’s early evening strength in the 6pm to 7.30pm
timeslots.