Sorry, you’re too happy … A message from Uncle Rupert … How will the media downturn affect higher education? … The five best attempts to describe “emo” on local news networks … US newspaper circulation figure may be even worse than thought … Kristof calls for a boycott of “Chinese propaganda tool” Microsoft Bing.
Death of BB marks an end to cruel, crude reality TV
|
There’s more to the demise of Big Brother than meets the eye. It’s a final and emphatic rejection by Australian TV viewers, especially younger ones, of a nasty, confrontational approach to culture. Ten’s core audiences, the 16 to 39 and 18 to 49 viewers have said ‘not interested any more’. It’s a message for all Australian TV. The positive, affirming debut of So You Think You Can Dance Australia started in spectacular fashion in February and finished its first season strongly. And an early warning shot was fired by the audience back in 2005 when the confrontational X Factor bombed here and bombed badly for Ten. It remains successful overseas but could never get going here in a miserable season for the Network. Ten’s executive chairman Nick Falloon sprung a surprise earnings downgrade for the 2008 year with an expected drop in earnings and profits in the 4th quarter. The share price tanked as a result, only to be arrested when it pops out an equally surprising buyback of up to 10% of its shares, that won’t be accepted by major shareholders, CanWest and Win Corporation (Bruce Gordon). Then the Network reveals plans to end Big Brother when the program finishes next Monday night, July 21. The decision was being made while the Network was proclaiming the success of bringing Pamela Anderson to Australia to try and tart up the ratings, which she did for just one night. The audience of more than 1.4 million was the program’s best this year, the next night it struggled to hold the 1 million mark. She was everything that was wrong with the program, from Day one, and the tabloid culture that marked her brief time here. So why did Ten go with Pammie if closing BB had become an option, as it seems to have been at Ten for the best part of the past month? It’s clear that Ten Network had the Big Brother closure planned: the producers were told, the cast were told yesterday, officially, and the full page ads in New Ltd tabloids this morning contained carefully written ad copy, selling the BB closure as a positive for Ten. But BB has been dead for more than two years. A burial a year ago would have surprised some in TV, but the ratings slide in 2007 made it clear it could probably have lasted one more year: 2008. Ten cut costs to make it profitable, but the audience responded by turning off while programs like Domestic Blitz on Nine at 6.30 pm Sundays, Australia’s Got Talent on Seven Tuesdays at 7.30 pm and to a lesser extent, The Battle of The Choirs also on Seven on Sundays at 7.30 pm, gained interest from viewers. We should look at the demise of BB as a positive story, not a cynical ratings ploy from Ten to boost audiences this week and next. It might be in its eighth year, which is a long time in TV, but it was an imported nasty franchise from Bad Lad Britain where class still resigns and programs like Ladette to Lady, Bad Lads Army and the various Gordon Ramsay programs with their ‘F’ words are considered entertainment of the most successful kind. Britain is also where some the bleakest, goriest and most depressing dramas (especially crime thrillers) are coming from. It’s a tabloid driven culture (thanks Rupert) where young men and women drink to excess and behave appallingly to get themselves noticed. That culture still dominates British life and media: especially TV. Anyone seen I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here? The most successful TV ideas in this country have been home grown and not nasty. Satire works well here, as does irony. Frontline and all the programs from Working Dog in Melbourne (Thank God You’re Here) Kath & Kim; The Gruen Transfer on ABC TV. Even the dark and rotten Underbelly was a class above any crime-related drama we have seen from overseas. (Its strength was that it was based on fact, not a story editor’s imagination). The Wiggles, Hi-Five and Play School are standout for children and except for Sesame Street, are head and shoulders above anything else. Ten now has between $25 million and $30 million to spend on 120 hours of TV to replace BB next year. That in turn makes it imperative that Australian Idol works for Ten this year. With two sponsors not renewing this year, it’s going to be a big test for Ten and its management. CanWest, which controls Ten, continues to lose money in Canada, and should have taken what was on offer last year when it was trying to sell. It was too greedy and the heady days of the network being worth $2.5 billion won’t return for some time. That somehow sums up the BB culture: greedy, self interest. CanWest never learned that lesson and has paid a substantial cost which continues in a weak Ten share price. |
|
|
12 Comments
Re your rant about the nasty imported franchise from Britain Big Brother. It’s actually a nasty imported franchise from Holland.
Let’s hope some great British TV replaces the dross that is the Australian version of BB!
Underbelly was good for Australian TV, and better than the various CSI programs, but better than The Sopranos or The Wire? Hardly.
Hallelujah. Next thing, the professional castration and euthanisation of Tim Clucas (has any man put more sh*t on Australian tv?), Sandilands, Jacki O, every contestant ever, Gretel Killeen, Mike Goldman, Bree, the other idiot and everyone who ever had anythin to do with this show.
Tony Squires is the underrated ‘showkiller’ talent - has anything he’s ever done lasted more than a season? His forced, irritating, yet bland non-persona has what? Showed that as a tv performer, he was a good tv critic. And in fact, he’s the second worst tv critic the country has seen (after the execrable Ruth Richie).
And, re: Idol - we don’t have the talent pool. Same for Dance - Both Idol and Dance can get some terrific people? but 25 a season? Not every season. Make them bi- or even tri- yearly.
with the exception of Operatunity, I have not watched 5 minutes (probably cumulative) of “Reality TV” for about 3 years now. It has gotten to the stage where I only turn on ABC or SBS so that I don’t even have to worry about enduring an ad for this garbage.
I am led to believe that there is some worthwhile stuff on commercial TV; maybe it will be safe for me to tune back to those stations soon.
Does this indicate that we may be seeing a turnaround from the Dumbing Down of “popular culture”? While I hope so, blue is not my colour, so I’m not holding my breath…
According to Wiki (And other sources), Jackie O has hosted a variety of television shows:
The Pop stars series, in which televised auditions were held to select members of a vocal group. Previously a television smash hit before the emergence of Idol, ratings plummeted and it was cancelled.
In 2005, Jackie O also hosted the Network Ten reality show, Australian Princess, in which they transformed a group of women into sophisticated “princesses”. A second series of Australian Princess has gone to air during the non-ratings summer period on Network 10. In other words, ratings sucked and it was buried. As an added bonus, in 2006 Jackie O’s woeful performance as host of this show meant she was voted Australia’s Worst Female TV Personality on Australian TV (The Fuglies - Australian anti-television awards).
In June 2007, she was a cast member of The Nation airing on the Nine Network. It was a ratings disaster and it was cancelled.
Jackie also joint hosted the comedy show Surprise Surprise Gotcha on the same network, the series has been called the Australian version of Punk’d which was made famous by pranking many celebrities. It was a ratings disaster and it was cancelled.
On October 28th 2007, Jackie O along with her radio partner Kyle Sandilands took Gretel Killeen’s job in hosting the 2008 series of Big Brother Australia, Killeen hosted the show (a rating behemoth and huge revenue generator for the network) from its start in 2001 to her removal in 2007. Ratings plummeted and today Monday July 14th, 2008, it was also cancelled.
That’s a pretty rotten record…! What other shows do the networks need to get rid of? Maybe they should call her up! lol!
Jump the Shark has a new Queen!! All hail Jackie O!
Bradley, that was GOLD! Do you have anything similar for Kyle?
do you really believe that Underbelly was top notch drama? There are better storylines and more social commentary in a single episode of The Bill than the entire series of Underbelly, which came across as a sophomore attempt to make inept Melbourne crims look like Scorcese.
most of the really progressive drama from the UK doesn’t get much of an airing here, but if you think that Aussie TV produces anything as good as Skins, Queer as Folk, Life on Mars etc etc then you are as sheltered and parochial as Kath and Kim.
and FYI:
Big Brother came from Holland
Play School comes from the UK
Hollowmen is a ripoff of The Thick of It
and the only truly original TV to come out of Australia is The Upside Down Show
British crime thrillers have always done well in Australia. You cannot turn on a tv on a friday night without coming across one or another. I fail to see how you can connect Big Brother (a Dutch originated program, not British) with British crime dramas and then blame it on an Australian (Rupert Murdoch). Do the editors review your rants, or are you allowed to make up anything you like?
“Underbelly was a class above any crime-related drama we have seen from overseas.”
I dont think so, Crime shows like The Sopranos and The Shield make underbelly look like it was made by schoolkids.
nic I think you’ll find Seven and ABC reap the Friday night British crime drama ratings bonanza you speak of when most people under 50 are either out or watching the football on Nine. It’s more like a white flag than an attempt to win back viewers. The excellent Spooks is oddly out of place amongst the usual codger-codgerette crusader-for-justice most of them employ.
I think you’d also be the only one still considering Rupert to be an Australian.
At last! The death of BB has taken way too long in Australia. Kyle and Jackie-O are Z-list not fit for Ed Wood extras.
Now we need an attack on all these crime/forensic shows that have murders being performed or recreated or people being cut open. Doesn’t anyone else find the idea of watching this “material” somewhat bizarre? Don’t people have REAL problems to get off their arses to solve or something they could do better in their own lives with that time?
At last! The death of BB has taken way too long in Australia. Kyle and Jackie-O are Z-list not fit for Ed Wood extras.
Now we need an attack on all these crime/forensic shows that have murders being performed or recreated or people being cut open. Doesn’t anyone else find the idea of watching this “material” somewhat bizarre? Don’t people have REAL problems to get off their arses to solve or something they could do better in their own lives with that time?