The Bounce

It looks as though Seven will close out the ratings year with both the most number of viewers as well as the most number of local programming flops.

The network leads the list of new programming failures with a range of new Australian shows failing to take hold in the domestic market.

While Seven enjoyed success with the return of ratings powerhouse Packed to the Rafters, its list of pulled shows is vast.

AFL magazine show The Bounce barely got off the ground before being pulled along with The White Room, which lasted just two weeks.

Reality shows ICU, Beat The Star and Australia Versus were all pulled form Seven this year after poor showings, alongside The Suspects, Under The Hammer and Russell Crowe’s Damage Control documentary.

Channel Nine pulled new Kate Richie drama Cops LAC during the year while TEN managed to escape without any casualties.

Source: News.com.au

The past week saw Seven win their first week of ratings over Nine since Easter. The win has for the most part been attributed to the huge share the network on Friday night by showing live AFL into Melbourne. Losses in previous weeks have been mostly due to Seven’s poor Thursday night performance where, since AFL show The Bounce was rested, the network has shown different programming in different markets.

In the NRL markets, the Matty Johns Show remains at 7.30pm while the AFL markets see UK comedy the Vicar of Dibley. At 8.30, the NRL markets get Criminal Minds repeats while the AFL markets were given another UK comedy – Benidorm – to try. These programs are then followed by double episodes of the Amazing Race with Flashforward wrapping up the night after 11.30pm.

With heavy competition from both Ten and Nine early Thursday night, Seven has struggled to get a grip on the night. Masterchef and Glee on Ten top their respective time slots while Getaway and Sea Patrol on Nine come second after Ten. While The Vicar of Dibley may do very well on a Saturday night when there are fewer options on free to air TV, it does not fit well into a competitive prime time weekday timeslot where you would expect a network to offer better programming than 15 year old British comedies.

While Seven should probably be applauded for trying something different like Benidorm at 8.45 after the Vicar, it is reasonably obvious that such a show will have a more niche audience, and is best suited to 7TWO where will rate probably as well as many of the other British comedies that channel offers. Benidorm will never do well on a main channel. As a result, it will no longer be on from Thursday June 10 and may come to 7TWO at a later date.

As for showing Criminal Minds repeats after Matty Johns in the NRL markets, just because the show rates well in other time slots, does not mean it will do well at 8.30 Thursday night after a football show. The figures have been woeful to say the least, with the combined ratings for the 8.30 timeslot in both markets on Seven no better than what they were for Cougar Town and How I Met Your Mother – both of which were axed when The Bounce was pulled. How I Met Your Mother can usually draw a million viewers but the show was victim to being paired with the less popular Cougar Town and simply lost in Thursday night especially considering that late running footy shows meant the start time could be anything up to 15 minutes late.

Then there is the Amazing Race. I am an Amazing Race fan, but cannot understand why Seven would want to rush through the series so quickly by putting double episodes on which end up finishing close to midnight. The Amazing Race concludes on June 10. All that has done is to reduce interest in the show as viewers have been lost with the late finishes. The ratings for the Amazing Race are the lowest they have ever been and Seven would have been better off playing them once per week at 8.30 with perhaps How I Met Your Mother and other comedies following from 9.30. A comedy Thursday night on Seven would offer an alternative to crime on Ten and footy on Nine and would lift the networks’ shares to a better position.

But what about 7.30pm Thursday? To me, the solution is simple. With AFL fans in Melbourne in particular screaming for live AFL coverage on Friday night, why not give them the live AFL and move Better Homes and Gardens to 7.30 Thursday night in AFL markets? That way, in NRL markets, you would have the Matty Johns Show on at 7.30pm Thursday with Better Homes and Gardens remaining on Friday nights – at the same time Nine shows live NRL. Meanwhile – Seven in AFL markets would have Better Homes and Gardens on Thursday nights at 7.30 and live AFL on the Friday nights from 7.30pm (although would still be delayed in Adelaide and Perth).

With Amazing Race finishing June 10, Seven will need to come up with a completely new Thursday line up form 8.30pm. Had they not have rushed through the series, Amazing Race at 8.30 followed by a comedy night as mentioned earlier might have been a good idea.

Which ever way Seven goes, expect a completely new Thursday night on Seven from June 17. As for June 10 in the AFL markets, Benidorm’s 8.45pm timeslot is still reaming as TBA for now.

We will update with programming details as they come to hand.

With the Bounce now gone in AFL markets, Seven have taken the opportunity to revamp its Thursday night line up. As suggested in an earlier post, Cougar Town and How I Met Your Mother have been chopped from the Thursday night line up effective immediately. Figures for both shows were very poor to say the least, not helped by erratic start times and incompatible lead-ins and lead-outs.

While I am not a big believer in lead ins – it seemed very odd that a show like Cougar Town would follow a Football show unless the network was sticking to accurate start and finish times. I have seen comments in other TV blogs with Cougar Town viewers annoyed at having to sit through minutes of either Footy show to get to the one they want to watch. Further more, How I Met Your Mother appeals to a different audience again – and is more established now being in its fifth season.

The resulting programming is now as follows:

Sydney, Brisbane:
7.30 The Matty Johns Show
8.30 Criminal Minds Repeat
9.30 The Amazing Race Season 16
10.30 Flashforward
11.30 American Dad Repeat
12.00 Auction Squad Repeat

Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth:
7.30 The Vicar of Dibley repeat
8.45 Criminal Minds Repeat
9.45 The Amazing Race Season 16
10.45 Flashforward
11.45 American Dad Repeat
12.15 The Matty Johns Show

Seven usually makes programming changes with enough notice for printed guides to be correct, but in this case they have chosen not to wait in response to a very bad result last Thursday that cost them the win for the week.

Over on 7TWO, Heartbeat will also be taken off at 7.30 Thursday as the audience is too similar to the Vicar of Dibley. Airline USA will fill that time slot. That means only 3 episodes a week of Heartbeat instead of 4!

Some programming info from TV Tonight.

Seven have axed the Bounce after just 5 episodes. Last week, the Bounce was watched by just 300,000 and the week before 366,000. Masterchef, last Thursday in Melbourne alone rated over 500,000.

The Thursday night AFL Football show hosted by comdian Peter Helliar, AFL great Leigh Matthews, and former Tigers champion Matthew Richardson will be replaced with the Vicar of Dibley.

Seven’s programming and production head Tim Worner said the Bounce would go into production hiatus and possibly return in September to cover the finals.

Creator of the show, veteran TV executive Rick McKenna, said he was disappointed the show did not work but vowed to make the most of the second chance Seven had offered later in the year.

Meanwhile, helped mostly by the Melbourne Storm crisis, the Matty Johns show remains in the NRL states, ratings far better than its AFL counterpart with over 450,000 tuning in last Thursday.

The Bounce – Gone until September.
The Vicar of Dibley – 7.30 Thursdays on Seven Melb, Adelaide and Perth
The Matty Johns Show – 7.30 Thursdays Sydney and Brisbane.

In the lead up to the traditional ANZAC Day match at the MCG, Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell appears on THE BOUNCE to discuss his team’s chance of success against the Bombers.

Maxwell previously helped launch the THE BOUNCE’s highly popular Bounced segment with a fake back-alley black market sting against fellow teammate Steele Sidebottom.

Fresh from Saturday’s win over Adelaide, Carlton star Marc Murphy shows us both brains and brawn by testing his coordination skills at Drop Kick and AFL general knowledge on Are You Smarter Than A Footballer?

Plus, all your favourite regular segments, including the Kids on the Fence, resident tipster Colin Banks and Big Call, on THE BOUNCE – Thursdays at 7.30pm on Channel Seven.

His excruciating pain was felt around the country…St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt clutching in agony at the hamstring he tore during the Saint’s round three win over Collingwood.
 
Is Riewoldt’s season over, or can he return before the finals? Could the Saints win without him?

The star full-forward relives the heartbreaking moment on THE BOUNCE tomorrow night and takes footy fans through his plans for recovery.
 
Also on THE BOUNCE, Adelaide legend Mark Ricciuto set’s up Crows star Nathan van Berlo in a side-splitting episode of Bounc’d – in which a diehard fanatic becomes a little ‘too close’ for comfort with the talented midfielder.
 
Hawthorn’s Rick Ladson and Melbourne’s Nathan Jones battle an audience member in the AFL quiz segment ‘Are You Smarter Than A Footballer?’
 
Tune in for the latest installments from hilariously committed workplace tipster Colin Banks and hear what the Kids on the Fence have to say about the week that was.
 
All this and more, on THE BOUNCE – tomorrow at 7.30pm on Channel 7 (Melb, Adelaide and Perth. After midnight Sydney and Brisbane).

Sunday’s Hawks-Bulldogs stoush at Etihad Stadium will be previewed tomorrow night on THE BOUNCE with appearances by opposing players Barry Hall and Jarryd Roughead.

High-profile Gold Coast recruit Karmichael Hunt will also feature in an exclusive question-and-answer session with host Peter Helliar.

As well as your favourite returning characters Colin Banks and the Kids on the Fence, THE BOUNCE will premiere a new interactive footy skills segment, ‘Drop Kick’, featuring AFL superstars.

All this and more, on THE BOUNCE tomorrow at 7.30pm on Channel 7.

Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna remained coy tonight on THE BOUNCE when pressed about the future of Geelong Cats star Gary Ablett and his relationship with the new Queensland-based club.

McKenna made no secret of Ablett being a target of the Gold Coast, joking the club was eagerly awaiting an answer from last year’s Brownlow Medallist.

“Every time the phone goes, we jump at it,” McKenna told Peter Helliar on THE BOUNCE.

McKenna’s poker face was again put to the test when Flight of the Conchords comedian Arj Barker was challenged to make the Gold Coast mentor laugh within 90 seconds in new segment “Crack the Coach”.

Footy-loving cabbie Kev Braithwaite dropped Cats forward Cameron Mooney into the studio, where Mooney expressed his desire to join the new club – even bringing in Ablett’s controversial poster for McKenna to autograph.

THE BOUNCE’s Catherine Ellis egged on Mooney to repeat last weekend’s fluke kick – which not only scored Geelong a goal but landed in a boundary esky – but he fell short.

Popular Channel Seven tipster Colin Banks returned to help a grieving colleague through her time of need; meanwhile Helliar quipped that Richo’s masks were the latest trend in back-street hold-ups.

In a bid to help outfit local footy clubs, Bendigo Bank announced it would award $1000 each week to the club which sent in the best motivational talk captured on video in new segment “Spray of the Day”.

THE BOUNCE – Thursdays at 7.30pm on Channel 7.

He’s brutal on the park and brutally honest off it – tomorrow night Geelong’s Cameron Mooney will join THE BOUNCE to open the vault on how the Cats’ season is shaping up.

Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna will join Peter Helliar and Matthew Richardson live in studio while Leigh Matthews and Tom Harley preview the Brisbane-Carlton clash live from the Gabba.

THE BOUNCE will have the latest instalment from your favourite personalities including resident Seven tipster Colin Banks, and comedian Arj Barker will pay a visit for a new segment “Crack the Coach”.

All this and more on THE BOUNCE tomorrow at 7.30pm on Channel 7.

Despite pulling a bumper television audience on Wednesday last week, heads are rolling behind the scenes of Seven’s brand new footy show The Bounce after just the first episode.

The show’s executive producer Rick McKenna is looking to make the show more family friendly and has shed six original staff members in order to do so. Line producer Rachel Miller, four writers and a script co-ordinator are the ones shown the door.

Several of those let go had worked previously with host Pete Helliar on Rove and it is believed the writers struggled to adapt their content to a more family-friendly style for The Bounce which screens at the much earlier 7.30pm timeslot.

Although drastic changes are being made to the comedy show so early on, McKenna insists the Seven network is happy with last week’s premiere and the audience it drew, which peaked at 344,000 viewers.

“The show was funny. We’ve had great feedback on it. The network is delighted,” McKenna said.