Law & Order

Monday May 7 at 10.30pm on W

Now in its 20th and final season, LAW & ORDER is the longest-running crime series and the second-longestrunning drama series in the history of television. The investigations are challenging, prosecutions are complicated, and decisions about legal procedures and plea-bargaining are vexing. In the arduous and complex process of determining guilt and innocence, lives often hang in the balance. Cast: Jeremy Sisto, Anthony Anderson, S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston.

Monday December 5 at 9:30pm on W

Filmed entirely g j y on location in New York, the realistic program looks at crime and justice from a dual perspective. In the first half, Detective Cyrus Lupo and his new partner, Detective Kevin Bernard, investigate crimes and apprehend suspects under the supervision of their precinct lieutenant, Anita Van Buren. In the second half, the focus shifts to the criminal courts as Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter and the Executive Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa work within a complicated justice system to prosecute the accused under the guidance of the newly appointed District Attorney Jack McCoy.

Cast: Jeremy Sisto, Anthony Anderson, S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston.

*W presents Law & Order commercial free on Monday nights.

Ten’s Friday night is one of the most unstable nights of programming in Australian free to air TV. It seems that no matter what they air on a Friday night, they simply don’t attract an audience, and the network is prone to react to the low figures by chopping and changing programming.

However, it is this very chopping and changing of programming that is to Ten’s detriment. You never know what you will get on Ten on Friday night, and, when they do try something new there, you never know if it will be on for anymore than a few weeks before they take the show off.

Friday nights on Ten in 2011 have featured new episodes of Law & Order, Blue Bloods, Burn Notice, repeats of Hawaii Five-O, Terra Nova encores and movies amongst others. The night has been so erratic, that nothing has lasted there for anymore than a few weeks.

The usual argument is that the network needs to respond to ratings, and that their core demographic is out on Friday nights. Sure – people do go out on a Friday night, but alot are also watching TV on Friday nights. Better Homes and Gardens on Seven dominates Friday night ratings, while digital channels like GO! and 7TWO reach large audience shares on Friday night.

So what should Ten do to gain audience on Friday nights? (and for that matter, Saturdays as well).

Well, firstly, commit to stability. Schedule the night, and let shows run their course without changing so often. As for movies? Ten simply don’t have enough titles to entice viewers without regular repeats. What ever they do, they need to accept that ratings will usually be lower on weekend nights, but if they program wisely, and don’t change the schedule every few weeks, the people are there for the taking. Maybe it is time to program weekend nights like weekdays, and air new programming?

The people are there – but they are not going to watch repeats of shows that have only recently aired or movies they have seen many times before. Encores should be left for the digital channels – one of my great disappointments with Terra Nova is not being able to see it in HD. Ten should have encored it on ONE in HD instead of the late night Friday night reply on Ten.

That aside, here is a list of ideas of what Ten could do on Friday nights to attract viewers. Some of these ideas are out there – but what do they have to lose in trying? These ideas could extend to Saturday as well, now that there will be no more AFL on Ten next year.

In no particular order…

1. Play out new shows and stick to it. No more repeats. The addition of the weekend nights give more timeslots available for new titles.

2. Animation night. Take the best of ELEVEN’s animation night and do it on Ten on Friday night – mostly for the benefit of those who don’t have digital and don’t see anything on ELEVEN.

3. Best of the digitals night – why stop at animation – play some of the shows that aired on ELEVEN and ONE during the week on Ten (and some of Ten’s on ONE in HD!). Shows like Supernatural, currently airing on ELEVEN on Monday nights, will find a wider audience on Ten. It could easily fit into a weekend timeslot on Ten.

4. Actually MAKE something for Friday night to air at say 8.30. A light comedy show? Light entertainment / variety? Reality elimination? If Pay TV can make shows exclusively for their own channels that reach a fraction of the audience of the free to air main channels, then surely making content for lower audiences could be a consideration for a network like Ten.

5. I have always wondered how Aussie scripted drama like RUSH would do on a Friday night with less competition from rival broadcasters? It couldn’t do any worse than on a Thursday night. Yes, I know, alot of the show’s fans are out, but you never know. It is last season for Rush anyway, but it is a good example.

6. Retro night. Programming from 90′s, 80′s or even 70′s? There is ALOT of content from the past we do not see now despite day time schedules of digital channels, most notably 7mate and ELEVEN, being filled with old TV shows. There is alot of Australian content from the past that never sees the light of day again (although I believe this has mostly to do with the expense of royalties when these shows air).

7. Do a deal with Foxtel and show some content usually only seen on Pay TV. Foxtel keep first to air rights, but Ten air later. Rove: LA for example would fit well on Ten. True Blood on a Friday night on Ten? Could get tricky with who owns what rights, but it is an idea.

8. Ask the viewers what they would like to see on Friday nights. Like radio stations do with listener surveys, why not try the same with TV? Listener surveys of the 1990′s in radio helped the Austerio network in particular gain traction and make its way to the number one music network in Australia.

What do you think? What would you like to see on Ten on Friday and Saturday nights. Do you even watch TV on those nights? Would you watch more free to air on the weekend if the content was there?

Feel free to comment and join the discussion.

Bad news for fans of The Good Wife. Ten still have not scheduled the show for the week October 23-29. With only four weeks of ratings following this week, I would say it appears unlikely The Good Wife season three will air this year, even though Ten had suggested they might fast track the series.

Also still in repeats is Modern Family with no new episodes scheduled, despite the fact the series is reaching new ratings highs in the US.

Meanwhile, Bondi Vet has its season finale on Wednesday night.

No major changes to Ten programming for the week.

Sunday October 23
6.30 Merlin
7.30 Junior Masterchef
8.30 Terra Nova
9.30 Ringer

Monday October 24
7.30 Junior Masterchef
8.30 Undercover Boss Australia (YMCA)
9.30 Law & Order: SVU (rpt)
10.30 Good News World

Tuesday October 25
7.30 Modern Family rpt
8.00 Modern Family rpt
8.30 NCIS
9.30 NCIS: LA
10.30 NCIS: LA rpt

Wednesday October 26
7.30 Modern Family rpt
8.00 Bondi Vet – SEASON FINALE
8.30 Hawaii Five-O
9.30 An Idiot Abroad (India)
10.30 White Collar

Thursday October 27
7.30 Recruits Paramedics
8.00 Keeping Up With the Joneses
8.30 Rush
9.30 Law & Order: SVU – rpt
10.30 Law & Order

Friday October 28
7.30 Rules of Engagement
8.00 Rules of Engagement
8.30 House
9.30 TBA (most likely Terra Nova encore)

Unforgettable, Nine, 8.36pm
New series premiere. Australia’s Poppy Montgomery stars as former detective, Carrie Wells – a woman with a memory so flawless that every place, every conversation, every moment of joy and heartbreak is forever embedded in her mind.

The Slap, ABC1, 8.32pm
New series premiere. This series traces the shattering repercussions of a single event upon a group of family and friends.

The Amazing Race 19, Seven, 9.30pm
Starting in California, U.S, 11 new teams of two embark on a race around the globe, travelling through four continents, 20 cities and cover nearly 40,000 miles. Which team will persevere and win the grand money prize?

Law & Order, Ten, 10.30pm
New episode of original series. Is a graduate student working in the medical lab at a prestigious university, robbing and killing female escorts to support his gambling addictions?

America’s Got Talent, FOX8, 7.30pm AEDT
Finally we get to see one of the American versions of these shows! Join host Nick Cannon and Judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel for a new season of America’s Got Talent, in search of the hottest talent and novelty acts across the US. Let’s hope they do X Factor US one day?

9.30pm Friday August 26 on Ten

Is a graduate student working in the medical lab at a prestigious university robbing and killing female escorts to support his gambling addictions?

Tonight a young woman is found murdered in a hotel and the evidence leads the detectives straight to him.

Ten in crisis.

Seems that five episodes of various Law & Order franchises each week was not a good idea afterall. Who would have thought…

Ratings lately have been so low for Ten, they are close to that of ABC1, and even below ABC1 as was the case last night when Ten was fourth in both main channel shares and network shares.

Ten keep trying to compensate by making last minute programming changes. The latest round of changes sees Law and Order and Law and Order: UK out of Friday night, and Law and Order: SVU out of next Thursday night (September 1) in favour for a double premiere episode of Rush.

This Friday night, August 26, the movie Australia plays from 8.30pm with the Can of Worms encore at midnight.

Then next Thursday (September 1), the premiere of Rush moves to 8.30pm and airs as a two hour double episode. As a result, Law & Order: SVU is out on Thursday night.

Seven also have pushed back their Law & Order: LA that airs on Thursday night to 11pm, after the movie The Proposal.

All these changes as a result of too many Law & Orders spread over the channels. The brand becomes diluted and ratings dive. No Law & Order episode reach much more than 600,000 now - SVU perhaps has been the best performer. Law & Order: CI last Monday was close to 400,000. The Friday night episodes just as low. 

What would you do if you air a TV show that does not rate? Even on a digital channel?

Take it off – that’s what. This is exactly what happened to “What Would You Do” which aired on GEM last (Wednesday August 24) night at 8.30pm. It’ not a bad show, featuring hypothetical situations and investigating what normal passers-by will do to help the situation.

Made by US network ABC, What Would You Do usually airs well after midnight on Nine, but it seems no one cared for the show on GEM, or more likely not aware it was on, with the show not making top 100 digital shows.

The Closer, as a result, moves forward an hour to 8.30, with Rizolli & Isles following at 9.30pm. At 10.30pm, Law & Order airs – creating the situation where there is a Law & Order franchise airing on all three commercial networks at some stage during the week. The Closer was in the top 100 digital shows for last night with 90,000 viewers – more than the number that watched What Would You Do?

The finale of season three of Masterchef Australia airs on Ten Sunday August 7, 2011.

As Masterchef concludes, Ten’s new reality competition series The Renovators will fill the timeslot voids the cooking show vacates.

On Sunday August 7, Masterchef airs at both 6.30pm and 8.30pm, with The Renovators sandwiched in between at 7.30pm.

Masterchef at 6.30pm sees the final two contestants enter the kitchen for the final food fight. Three epic challenges stand between them and being crowned Australia’s Masterchef for 2011.

On The Renovators at 7.30pm, one team’s head renovator has been eliminated which means there is now a new set of keys up for grabs. To be in the running, contestants must first lay a brick wall, then win another white room challenge.

Then, at 8.30pm, it is Masterchef Australia The Winner Announced. The judges have cast their votes and the 2011 winner of Masterchef Australia will be announced during this one hour final instalment.

Following on, soon after 9.30pm is a 5 minute first look at Ten’s new series, The Class of 2011, which will premiere on Ten in coming weeks.

Then at around 9.40pm is the movie Tropic Thunder.

The rest of the week looks like this:

Monday August 8.
7.30pm The Reonovators
8.30pm Can Of Worms
9.30pm Law and Order: Criminal Intent (new)

Tuesday August 9.
7.30 The Renovators
8.00 Modern Family – NEW episode
8.30 NCIS repeat
9.30pm NCIS: LA repeat

Wednesday August 10.
7.30 The Renovators
8.30 Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation – new episode, new time, season return
9.30 The Defenders continues

Thursday August 11.
7.30 The Renovators
8.00 Modern Family (repeat)
8.30 Law & Order: SVU – new episode
9.30 Law & Order: SVU – repeat

Friday August 12.
7.30 The Renovators: How to (which is basically the Masterclass of The Renovators)
8.30 Law & Order: UK – season premiere
9.30 Law & Order – season return

GEM is Nine’s third channel and the channel that took away Nine’s main channel HD simulcast when it launched September 26, 2010. The announcement for the new channel came two weeks after Seven announced it would launch its third channel 7mate on September 25, right after the 2010 AFL Grand Final.

Unlike ABC News 24 and 7mate, GEM did not move to a different LCN (logical channel number) than the channel it replaced Nine High Def or 9HD, causing some confusion to viewers not familiar with the change.

From the outset, GEM promised viewers a mix of general entertainment and movies “in stunning high definition”. Using Lisa McCune as the face of GEM, the channel was planned to aim more towards a female demographic while still providing sport on high definition in order for Nine to meet their HD sporting commitments.

As the channel went to air, questions were raised about how sport would fit into a female skewed channel and what would happen to being able to see Nine’s main channel content in HD. GEM was to air the Four Nations Rugby League in HD, as well as Nine’s summer of cricket in HD including the Ashes and One Day series but the network back flipped on these HD simulcasts, in favour for GEM’s own unique programming which would supposedly deliver more ratings to the network as a whole than HD simulcasts of sport would.

GEM has been used on occasion to provide sport coverage when the main channel has provided rolling news coverage of major natural disasters and events.

Before GEM went to air, many of Nine’s regular programs were simulcast in HD on Nine’s HD channel. Nine even rebuilt some of their news studios to look better in HD. Regular shows like Two and a Half Men, Top Gear, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, all of the CSI franchise as well as local productions like the various Underbelly series were all able to be seen in HD on Nine High Def or 9HD. During prime time, there was generally more content in HD than there wasn’t.

With the advent of GEM, that is no longer the case. Other than ONE HD, GEM is the only HD multi channel promoted as being a HD channel. While the content of GEM does not appeal to the majority, there are a number of shows on GEM in HD including repeats, encores or simulcasts of content from Nine.

HD programs on GEM include Today 5.30am – 9.00am weekdays, The Closer, Law & Order, The Ellen Degeneres Show at 5pm weekdays, The Mentalist, the Harry’s Law replays on Friday nights as well as the CSI’s on Saturday nights. Most of the movies that GEM play are in HD – even some of the old movies that fill weekend day time timeslots are in HD as such – which of course is possible, using the original film as a source. Gone With the Wind for example – made in 1939 – plays on GEM in HD (next airs Sunday April 10, 3.30pm).

McLeod’s Daughters which airs on weekdays at 3pm is in HD, as is hit sitcom Friends, now airing in double episodes on weekdays at 6pm – having been remastered to both wide screen and HD.

Including Friends, there is 27 hours of HD programming per week on GEM during the prime time hours of 6pm to midnight. That amounts to an average of just under 4 hours per night out of the 6 prime time hours. Saturday night has the most, with movies from 6.30 and three CSI’s after the movie, while the Thursday night line up is devoid of anything HD after 7pm.

During the day, there is a further 6.5 hours of HD content on weekdays and varying amount on weekends, depending on which of the movies are made in HD.

In terms of a free to air source for HD content, GEM exceeds that of ONE HD, but still leaves a lot of the more populous content from Nine’s main channel that the network has available in HD, airing in standard definition only on Nine’s main channel.

Nine say that where ever possible, they source all content in HD. Good news for the future perhaps. Nine even has HD versions available of content that airs on GO! Many of the movies in their library are in HD.

An interesting side point, with the current programming on GO! being made up of mostly movies and Big Bang Theory repeats, if GO! was a HD channel, it would have just as much, if not more content in HD than GEM does.

If providing HD content was the focus here, between GEM and GO, Nine could have a channel that is 100% HD in prime time, leaving all the non-HD stuff for the second standard definition channel.

Next time: 7mate – the channel that occupies Seven’s HD stream.

Note: HD programming details based on the week April 10-16, 2011.

To read more about thoughts of what Nine should to get the most out of their digital channels, click here.

Click here to go to part one, and index.