Ten left with Idol and an empty house
got this from smh.com.au
THE Ten Network has been quick to play down concerns about its other ageing franchise, Australian Idol, following its decision to end Big Brother after the audience for the reality series slumped this year.
Australian Idol, in its sixth year when it starts airing in August, has lost two of its top sponsors, Telstra and Procter & Gamble, amid fears it may be unable to rebound from a 19 per cent ratings decline last year. Ten has sought to breathe fresh life into the show by adding another host, former contestant Ricki-Lee Coulter, and extending its auditions to Britain to find more talent.
"I think we have got every faith in Australian Idol," Ten's chief programming officer, David Mott, said, citing the quality of this year's contestants. "It's the positive, life-affirming shows that are resonating well with audiences." Ten said it has signed new sponsors it was not yet allowed to name, along with returning sponsors McDonald's, Mazda and Cadbury Schweppes.
But the fate of its key show Big Brother, which has lost about 12 per cent of its audience in its eighth season, will do little to alleviate concern about Ten's strategy based on big-franchise shows.
Ten has lost its early ratings lead with its target audience aged 18 to 49 to the resurgent Nine Network. Despite the prospect of a share buyback, Ten's stock has fallen 26 per cent since the company warned on June 13 that its TV earnings would be 10 per cent lower this year because of a sharp drop in advertising demand. The downgrade has wiped $482 million off Ten's market value and prompted analysts to slash profit forecasts for the entire media industry.
But media buyers including the nation's largest, Mitchell Communications Group, questioned Ten's market guidance, saying they had yet to feel the effects of a slowdown. Fusion Strategy's Steve Allen reckoned Ten may have sold ads too cheaply to fill slots when faced with slowing ratings momentum, lower government ad spending and Seven's coverage of the Beijing Olympics.
Without Big Brother, Ten will have to find about 120 hours of programming to help fill its prime time broadcast schedule between April and August next year.
Mr Mott said the network had already started talks with production companies and "identified a number of shows that can broaden our audiences".
It plans to use largely domestic content as well as some programs from its deals with 20th Century Fox and CBS Paramount.
Putting on a brave face, he said the move would let Ten use the money spent on Big Brother to create "a very new, diverse schedule" to boost its audience, "and it's cost-contained; that's a very good position to be in."
The end of Big Brother also affects Fairfax Media, whose Endemol Southern Star joint venture produced the show for an estimated $30 million this year. But, with analysts forecasting annual sales of more than $2.9 billion for Fairfax, the decision is seen as unlikely to have a big impact on earnings.
THE Ten Network has been quick to play down concerns about its other ageing franchise, Australian Idol, following its decision to end Big Brother after the audience for the reality series slumped this year.
Australian Idol, in its sixth year when it starts airing in August, has lost two of its top sponsors, Telstra and Procter & Gamble, amid fears it may be unable to rebound from a 19 per cent ratings decline last year. Ten has sought to breathe fresh life into the show by adding another host, former contestant Ricki-Lee Coulter, and extending its auditions to Britain to find more talent.
"I think we have got every faith in Australian Idol," Ten's chief programming officer, David Mott, said, citing the quality of this year's contestants. "It's the positive, life-affirming shows that are resonating well with audiences." Ten said it has signed new sponsors it was not yet allowed to name, along with returning sponsors McDonald's, Mazda and Cadbury Schweppes.
But the fate of its key show Big Brother, which has lost about 12 per cent of its audience in its eighth season, will do little to alleviate concern about Ten's strategy based on big-franchise shows.
Ten has lost its early ratings lead with its target audience aged 18 to 49 to the resurgent Nine Network. Despite the prospect of a share buyback, Ten's stock has fallen 26 per cent since the company warned on June 13 that its TV earnings would be 10 per cent lower this year because of a sharp drop in advertising demand. The downgrade has wiped $482 million off Ten's market value and prompted analysts to slash profit forecasts for the entire media industry.
But media buyers including the nation's largest, Mitchell Communications Group, questioned Ten's market guidance, saying they had yet to feel the effects of a slowdown. Fusion Strategy's Steve Allen reckoned Ten may have sold ads too cheaply to fill slots when faced with slowing ratings momentum, lower government ad spending and Seven's coverage of the Beijing Olympics.
Without Big Brother, Ten will have to find about 120 hours of programming to help fill its prime time broadcast schedule between April and August next year.
Mr Mott said the network had already started talks with production companies and "identified a number of shows that can broaden our audiences".
It plans to use largely domestic content as well as some programs from its deals with 20th Century Fox and CBS Paramount.
Putting on a brave face, he said the move would let Ten use the money spent on Big Brother to create "a very new, diverse schedule" to boost its audience, "and it's cost-contained; that's a very good position to be in."
The end of Big Brother also affects Fairfax Media, whose Endemol Southern Star joint venture produced the show for an estimated $30 million this year. But, with analysts forecasting annual sales of more than $2.9 billion for Fairfax, the decision is seen as unlikely to have a big impact on earnings.
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