Dance Your Ass Off

If channel 9 have the intention of keeping as many viewers away from their network on Tuesday nights, then they are doing a GREAT job of it.

Their Tuesday night line up has changed AGAIN, and at very short notice AGAIN.

Two weeks ago, they had Dance Your Ass Off at 7.30pm. That show was axed a few days later. Last week, they had Two and a Half Men on at 7.30, then the New Adventures of Old Christine at 8, followed by 20-1 at 8.30, then CSI: NY at 9.30 and 10.30.

This line up failed and gave 9 the worst Tuesday night ratings that I can remember. WHY? Simple: noone knew what was on. Printed guides wrong. EPGs updated sometime over the weekend. And out of those who did know what was on, many would have chosen not to watch any of the shows knowing full well that it is unlikely the same show will be on the following week.

Next Tuesday (Aug 4) sees 20-1 return to its original Tuesday night time slot of 7.30, with an hour of Two and a Half Men to Follow. At 9.30, it’s Commercial Breakdown – another show that noone watches, so expect it not to be on the following week – followed by Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares at 10.15.

If they would only settle on a line up and keep it the same for more than a week, they may actually have the very strange effect of the audience building. The 20-1 / 2.5 Men line up is tired as, and now the laughing stock of the industry. So much so, the line up was sent up on channel 7’s Double Take last Thursday, showing a channel 9 “coming up next” screen with 3 Two and a Half Men episodes, followed by – well, in the skit, they start typing 20-1 in, then change it, then change it again, then say we don’t even know! Maybe another Two and a Half Men?

And even TV Burp had a go at it, with a segment called “RIP Dance Your Ass Off – 15/7/09 – 15/7/09”, which started with Ed discussing the new show on 9 which is a cross between So You Think You Can Dance and the Biggest Loser. While he introduces the show, he takes phone call, saying the show has been axed already.

It’s fair enough to dump shows that are not rating, but it is sheer stupidity to change the line up of a whole night every week at the last minute with no regard for the fact that printed guides will be rendered useless, and many EPGs will not have up to date programming until some time on the weekend. Both channel 7 and 10 go through the same process but, these days, rarely change a show at such short notice.

It is time channel 9 started listening to their audience, and started allowing viewer loyalty to build up. Think back one year or so, channel 10 was in the same boat – chopping and changing the schedule at short notice and coming 3^rd in the ratings. Now look at 10. What’s the difference? THEY LISTEN. They care. They try new shows, new ideas and aren’t afraid to go out on limb.

And as for channel 7, quality, stable programming is also their key. 7 allow shows to build. Look at Scrubs on Monday night for example – it ended up at around a million viewers, but started at 600,000. If that was channel 9, it would have been off after a week.

An interesting fact I read on TV Tonight – When 9 first aired Two and a Half Men, it rated so poorly, that they took it off one week later. The show returned one summer, built audience and has been on ever since.

Finally – there is a twitter account called twitter.com/fixchannel9 following me, and after checking who they are following, a lot of other TV based twitter accounts. Don’t know who or what it is, could be a promo even, who knows? But there’s one thing for sure – channel 9 definitely needs fixing. We’ll have to wait and see what comes out of this twitter account which so far only has one update commenting on last Tuesday night’s performance.

Channel 9 have axed Dance Your Ass Off – a show that should not have even been aired at a 7.30pm prime time time slot on free to air TV. The show may appear on GO! In a later time slot or (hopefully) simply disappear altogether. Its best suited to Foxtel, on a channel like Arena late at night.

I cannot understand though why the show was allowed to air on 9 in the first place. While TV blogs tend to favour negative comments, I have not seen anywhere a single positive comment for the show. Seems every body every where knew the show would flop, except for channel 9 programmers. Perhaps the move was more of a financial move where the show was quite cheap to air, while still returning reasonable advertising revenue.

Channel 9 would have hoped for a better audience than what was achieved – less than 800,000 people watched Dance Your Ass Off. Unless the network are completely blind, they could not possibly have hoped for more than a million watching, and, if the show was really cheap to obtain, then the advertising revenues may have been acceptable.

Tuesday nights continue to be 9’s worst weeknight, usually featuring various Two and a Half Men and 20-1 episodes as well as other poorly performing shows that come and go. Over at 10 and 7, it is amongst their strongest nights. All the more reason why 9 should make some attempt rather than just leaving things be. There a numerous weeks where the poorly performing Tuesday night is the difference between 9 winning a week and coming 2^nd or even 3^rd. Surely they cannot be happy with their performance.

Channel 9 will be hoping that the new digital channel GO will achieve the 4% share they are hoping it will get. If it does, it will help the 9 networks’ share each night increase and will get them more winning nights. Even if the increase is just 2%, that will put 9 back in the race. So long as the channel provides regular and reasonably quality programming, it should build a solid audience in coming months.

Premieres Tuesday, July 21, at 7.30pm on Channel Nine

Twelve finalists, nearly 1361 kilos, one goal – to go from an eating machine to a dancing machine – in Channel Nine’s outrageous new dance/weight loss competition series DANCE YOUR ASS OFF, to premiere on Tuesday July 21, at 7.30pm.

Bringing dance and diet together, DANCE YOUR ASS OFF features talented, full-figured contestants who have to lose to win, in this fun, energetic new series that has been a massive hit in the US – scoring the Oxygen Channel’s highest ratings ever.

Each contestant is paired with a professional dance partner who will train him or her for weekly stage performances – ranging from Hip Hop, to Ballroom and even Pole Dancing! Then they shake and rattle their rolls in front of a live studio audience and a panel of expert judges. The judges score the routines, and then the contestants weigh in to reveal their weekly weight loss. The dance score and the weight loss are combined for an overall score, which determines who is sent home each week.

Producer Sally Ann Salsano, who has weight issues herself, hopes the 12-week program would show viewers that losing weight does not have to be torture.

“They are having the time of their life and they are shedding weight,” she said. 

DANCE YOUR ASS OFF is hosted by actress Marissa Winokur, who won a Tony award as Tracy Turnblad in the musical Hairspray on Broadway.

“We are delighted to bring Australian viewers this fun new series for the whole family to enjoy,” said Nine’s Head of Acquisitions, Les Sampson.

DANCE YOUR ASS OFF Premieres on Channel Nine, Tuesday, July 21, at 7.30pm

What are 9 thinking by putting on Dance Your Ass Off? A show that airs on a niche audience cable channel in the US. Sure it may do OK over there, but here, it is likely to fail in ratings, and be subject to 9’s well warn axe within one week. The first week maybe OK, but if they actually let a 2^nd one air at that time *** UPDATED – It’s been axed, so no second show!!! ***

Tv Tonights’ David Knox has given the show a half star out of five rating as calls it “cringe worthy”. Based on the ads, and seeing parts of the show on American talk shows, I could not agree more. Not only is a show with the word “Ass” in its title inappropriate for prime time viewing, they have promoted the show during times where children as young as toddlers watch TV. I have seen an ad for it in the ad break between ET and Here’s Humphry – a time when 100,000 toddlers are in front of the TV waiting for their daily shot of Humphry. Obviously the ads are for the parents, but does any parent want their 3 year old running around saying “dance – ass off?”

As a parent of a 3 year old girl myself, who repeats everything she hear, the answer is no. And its enough to keep us away from channel 9 even at G, C or P rated times. Even during Australia Funniest Home Videos the show was promoted 3 times. Another show my 3 year old loves, and we all know is watched by kids Australia wide.

If only someone at channel 9 could explain what their motivation is with a show like this. It is an all time new low for the network. It belongs in the “What were they thinking” basket and will only add to the growing list of shows on 9 that have been axed within a few episodes. Trouble in Paradies, axed after 3 episodes would have been better in its place at 7.30 Tuesday.

A new idea for a 20-1 episode: Channel 9’s top 20 axed shows for 2009. Followed by: GO!99’s top 20 new programs (yes, this one would be the same list).

Dance Your Ass Off  HAS BEEN AXED. Surprised anyone?

Twelve finalists, nearly 1361 kilos, one goal – to go from an eating machine to a dancing machine – in Channel Nine’s outrageous new dance/weight loss competition series DANCE YOUR ASS OFF, direct from the US.

Bringing dance and diet together, DANCE YOUR ASS OFF features talented, full-figured contestants who have to lose to win, in this fun, energetic new series that will premiere in the coming weeks on Channel Nine.

Each contestant is paired with a professional dance partner who will train him or her for weekly stage performances – ranging from Hip Hop, to Ballroom and even Pole Dancing! Then they shake and rattle their rolls in front of a live studio audience and a panel of expert judges. The judges score the routines, and then the contestants weigh in to reveal their weekly weight loss. The dance score and the weight loss are combined for an overall score, which determines who is sent home each week.

Producer Sally Ann Salsano, who has weight issues herself, hopes the 12-week program would show viewers that losing weight does not have to be torture.

“They are having the time of their life and they are shedding weight,” she said. 

DANCE YOUR ASS OFF is hosted by actress Marissa Winokur, who won a Tony award as Tracy Turnblad in the musical Hairspray on Broadway.

“We are delighted to bring Australian viewers this fun new series for the whole family to enjoy,” said Nine’s Head of Acquisitions, Les Sampson.

For a sneak peek (US promo): http://nbcuni-international.com/danceOff_v1/video.html