It has become the latest troublesome timeslot for Seven – Tuesday night 9.30pm, after Packed to the Rafters.
Following Rafters at 9.30 Tuesday this week and last was Ghost Whisperer. Before that, Australia Versus. Next week, due to bad ratings, Ghost Whisperer has been moved to 10.30 only with repeats of Thank God You’re Here to fill the 9.30pm timeslot.
Packed to the Rafters rates for Seven almost as well as Masterchef does for Ten, and better than Underbelly did for Nine this year. All three shows have either passed or flirt with the two million mark in ratings, a fete rarely achieved these days by other regular shows.
But rating around the 600,000 mark at 9.30, after a show that had nearly two million tuned in is simply not good enough, in the eyes of Seven programming. Compared to what is on Nine and Ten at the time, Ghost Whisperer is not too far behind Nine’s Paul Hogan which managed 717,000 but finished at 10, while 20 – 1 pulled 550,000 from 10pm. On Ten, the second NCIS repeat was watched by 840,000.
Does Seven really think Thank God You’re Here repeats are going to do any better? They didn’t rate much better than 600,000 when aired on Thursday nights earlier this year. And just because they are putting it after Rafters is not a guarantee of ratings success. Expect another change if Thank God You’re Here doesn’t work. Maybe time they put on Parenthood – alot of people are asking for it. Something new and fresh in that timeslot could work.
From next week, with no Masterchef, Seven should see Minute to Win It pick up again, while their strength in 6pm – 7pm combined with nearly two million watching Packed to the Rafters will see the network win Tuesday night over Nine and Ten. New Top Gear may help Nine, but Modern Family and NCIS repeats will keep Ten firmly in the race for second.