Top Gear

The fifth and final series of Sea Patrol will premiere on Nine at 8.30pm Tuesday April 26. The series is called Damage Control, and follows the premiere of new series AFP at 8pm.

The move to premiere to new series during Easter non-ratings could be an attempt to get a head start on Seven and Ten, both of which are airing alternative or repeat programming on that night. Winners & Losers is not on Seven that Tuesday – it has a week off.

It also comes with yet another amendment which sees new CSI: NY drop off the schedule again having only been scheduled for 9.30 Tuesday for a few hours today. Been a huge day for programming changes.

Tuesday April 26 now looks like this:

8.00 AFP
8.30 Sea Patrol: Damage Control
9.30 Top Gear repeat S14E1
10.50 Kitchen Nightmares USA

AFP – Tuesdays from April 26, 8.00pm

For the first time ever, the Australian public is given exclusive behind the scenes access with the men and women of Australia’s national and international policing agency, the Australian Federal Police. Produced over two years and filmed in more than eight countries, find out how the AFP protect us and see the challenges they face in keeping Australia safe.

Sea Patrol: Damage Control – Tuesdays from April 26, 8.30pm

A suicide bomb attack in a nightclub has a shocking impact on the crew of HMAS Hammersley. Dutchy goes undercover with the SAS to capture a group of deadly extremists before they can attack Australian targets. 2Dads risks his life to save Hammersley from a bomb attack. Kate’s world is rocked when her former lover, SAS officer Jim Roth, returns to Hammersley. Mike risks his career by refusing to co-operate with a high ranking ASIO spy. Stars: Lisa McCune, Ian Stenlake, Conrad Coleby, Ditch Davey, Tammy McIntosh, John Batchelor.

 

So obsessed were Nine at getting people to watch the Vietnam Top Gear special – which they called “motor cycle madness”, that they advertised the show during Survivor: Redemption Island!

Survivor Redemption Island last night was a double episode spanning from 7.30 – 9.30pm. Half way through the first episode, at around 8pm, was the ad for Top Gear – saying tonight 8.30pm on Nine. Top Gear, of course, airs from 8.30 – 10.00 on Nine on Tuesdays – starting half way through the Survivor double.

Now – cross promotion of your channels is one thing, but advertising for a show on another channel that starts midway through the one they are already watching? Robbing Peter to pay Paul? The viewers are already within the Nine network.

Perhaps the Top Gear promos were aimed at those who switch off after the first episode of Survivor to go to Seven or Ten. Nine / GO! may have been better off reminding viewers that Survivor was a double episode (as it was a last minute programming change) to minimise switch off.

Ratings for Top Gear on Nine hit a new low – just 485,000 for last night’s episode – a repeat of the Vietnam special which sees the guys trying to ride bikes, the way many do in Vietnam – with varying levels of success. These figures are lower than those SBS used to achieve for Top Gear.

This is probably one case where excessive promos did the show more bad than good as fans would have realised they had already seen this episode before – and not that long ago either.

The fact that a repeat of Two and a Half Men aired at 8pm before Top Gear would not have helped either.

Nine may be lucky with the Big Bang repeats at 7pm pulling over 800,000, and then having all that audience staying on for the 7.30pm repeat episode last night, but their luck has well and truly ran out for Two and a Half Men repeats drawing closer to 600,000, and numbers dropping further for Top Gear.

In main channel shares, Nine was outdone by Ten last night, with Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation and NCIS both drawing over a million viewers, and NCIS: LA finally puling respectable figures of 744,000 and winning its timeslot now that it is in the timeslot it belongs in.

Seven again killed the competition with the second MKR finale drawing 1.6 million and Winners & Losers close to 1.4 million. Seven won all timeslots from 6pm – 9.30pm.

 

Dancing with the Stars cast revealed

The cast for the 2011 season of Dancing with the Stars has been officially announced by Channel 7, with the likes of Lara Bingle, Manu Fiedel, Brynne Adelsten and Nathan Bracken confirmed to be taking part. See the full line-up here.

Top Gear cleared over Mexican comments

Top Gear has been cleared of breaching any programme rules following the controversial comments on a recent episode regarding Mexicans. British media regulator Ofcom has considered the comments made by the show’s hosts that suggested Mexicans to be “lazy, feckless, flatulent and overweight” to be part of the programme’s “irreverent style and sometimes outspoken humour.”

Family Guy comic set for release

A comic book series based on Family Guy is set to be released midway through this year in the US. Titan Comics has announced the development of the long-running animated series into a monthly comic that will “follow the Griffin family on a string of brand new outrageous storylines.”

Lloyd joins comedy pilot

Christopher Lloyd has joined a new comedy pilot for NBC centring on a doctor who joins his family’s medical practice. Lloyd will play the grandfather of the lead character in the pilot, which is penned by Parks and Recreation writer Dan Goor.

Simmons to guest on Castle

KISS frontman Gene Simmons has signed on for a guest role on Castle where he will play himself. Simmons will aid Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic) in the episode’s investigation.

 

Just how is 2011 doing so far in TV land? Already – there are flops as well as surprise early season finishes – like Packed to the Rafters on Seven.

Looking at the list of shows for 2011 and their premiere or returning air dates, here are our comments on just how things are going – show by show.

30 Rock – Seven – Thur Feb 3, 11.30pm
Still airing at that time.

60 Minutes – Nine – Sun Feb 13, 7.30pm
Still airing as planned.

6PM With George Negus – Ten – Mon Jan 24, 6.00pm
Still on, despite poor ratings. The 10.30pm encore nearly doubles the exposure of 6PM. The ratings at 6PM are on the way up, sitting around 400,000 at the moment.

American Idol – FOX8 – Thur Jan 20, 7.35pm
Who says Idol needs Simon Cowell to work? Enjoying this season more than many of the previous seasons.

Ben Elton: Live From Planet Earth – Nine – Tue Feb 8, 9.30pm
Flop number 1 for 2011. Poor premiere ratings, followed by even lower subsequent ratings means it only lasted 3 weeks.

Better Homes and Gardens – Seven – Fri Feb 4, 7.30pm
On and rating as well as ever.

Blue Bloods – Ten – Wed Feb 2, 8.30pm
Ten’s first high profile import casualty of 2011. Moved from Wednesday nights to 9.30pm Friday nights, where even less people are watching compared to Wednesdays.

Bob’s Burgers – ELEVEN – Wed Jan 26, 9.30pm
Doing OK for a multi channel and considering the timeslot.

Bondi Rescue – Ten – Sun Feb 6, 8.00pm
On and continues.

Bones – Seven – Mon Jan 31, 8.30pm. Sundays and Mondays 8.30m from Feb 6.
Back to once a week, then Seven caught up with episodes from the US. Rather than being a few days behind and fast tracking as such, Seven have chosen to air repeats, which will most likely remain until after Easter.

Border Security – Sun Feb 6, 7.30pm
Doing well as usual.

Brothers and Sisters – Seven – Mon Jan 31, 9.30pm
Doing OK.

Burn Notice – Ten – Feb or later*
According to TV Week, Ten have no plans to play Burn Notice in the immediate future on either Ten or ELEVEN.

Castle – Seven – Sun Feb 6, 9.30pm
Doing well.

Chuck – FOX8 – Sun Jan 23, 6.30pm
Flopped in that timeslot, although, this season is no where as good as previous ones. They have moved Chuck to Friday nights, and are playing the season from the start again. Assuming no programming changes, first run episodes will air from Friday April 22.

City Homicide – Seven – Wed Feb 2, 9.30pm
Final Wed March 30, 9.30pm.

Cougar Town – Seven – Tue Feb 1, 10.30pm
Still on.

Conviction Kitchen – Seven – Feb 8
Played after Rafters on Tuesday at 9.30 before settling to 8.30pm Mondays where it remains. Should finish Mon April 11 (assumed).

Criminal Minds – Seven – Wed Feb 2, 8.30pm
Now the highest rating import on TV at the moment. A double episode will air Wednesday April 6 (and presumably 13th as well).

CSI – Nine – Thur Feb 3, 8.30pm
Amazingly for Nine, it has stayed in that timeslot. There were two weeks of doubles though in February

CSI: Miami
New episodes air again from March 28, after being in and out of Nine’s schedule a number of times in 2011.

Desperate Housewives – Seven – Thur Feb 3, 9.30pm
Doing fine.

Fat Family Diet – Seven – Mon Jan 31, 10.30pm
Series has finished.

Fringe – GO! – Wed Jan 19, 9.30pm
After GO! Played a double episode recently, Fringe has disappeared from the schedule. GO say they will play them once they have enough episodes built up to go to the season final without a break. Possibly some time in April.

Getaway – Nine – Thur Jan 27, 8.00pm
Still there in its new half hour format.

Glee – Ten – Mon Jan 31, 7.30pm
Last new episode for a while airs March 21. A break in the US means we probably won’t see any new ones until May 2, after Easter non-ratings.

Grey’s Anatomy – Seven – Thur Feb 3, 8.30pm
Doing well.

Hawaii Five-O – Ten – Sun Jan 30, 8.30pm
Doing OK, and picking up 15%-20% more audience on timeshift figures. A double episode back in February didn’t help the audience build.

Home and Away – Seven – Mon Jan 24, 7.00pm
Doing well – reaching over a million on some nights.

House – Ten – Feb – Wed Feb 2, 9.30pm
Moved to Mondays 8.30pm in response to poor ratings of other shows.

How I Met Your Mother – Seven – Thur Feb 3, 7.30pm
The double episodes means we have nearly caught up

Keeping Up With the Joneses – Ten – later in year*
No news on this one.

Law & Order: SVU – Ten Thur Jan 20, 9.30pm
Doing OK.

Lie to Me – Ten – Feb*
Went to Wednesdays at 9.30pm. Last new ep aired Wed March 16. Currently not in the schedule due to comedy specials on Wednesday nights March 23 and 30.

Mike and Molly – Nine – Wed Feb 9, 8.00pm
Also airs on GO now – not performing as well as Nine would have hoped, but still is there in the same timeslot.

Modern Family New – Ten – Sun Jan 30, 7.30pm
Not attracting the number of viewers it used to, bit still doing well.

Murphy’s Law – 7TWO – Wed Feb 2, 9.45pm
Still on.

My Kitchen Rules – Seven – Mon Jan 31, 7.30pm. Continues Tue Feb 1 and Wed Feb 2 at 7.30pm. Airs Mon – Wed – 3 nights a week from then on.
Rating through the roof – so much so that a third series has already been commissioned. MKR alone is causing most of the problems that Nine and Ten have with their 7.30 show ratings Mon-Wed.

NCIS New – Ten – Feb – Tue Feb 1, 8.30pm
Always does well. May pick up more viewers now that Rafters has finished.

NCIS: LA New – Ten – Sun Jan 30, 9.30pm
Ten should play this on Tuesday night after NCIS. NCIS: LA does not do as well as it should, being after Hawaii Five-O.

Nikita – GO! – later in year?
Still no sign of this show.

Packed to the Rafters – Seven – Tue Feb 8, 8.30pm
Finished already (but will be back later). Last new episode aired March 15.

Parenthood – Seven – Tue Feb 1, 8.30pm (double ep, then Tue Feb 8, 9.30pm)
On again, off again, on again. Interruptions to its timeslot with Conviction Kitchen in February, then another next Tuesday March 29 has not helped its figures – which are down on last years’.

Private Practice – Seven – Thur Feb 3, 10.30pm
Still there. Obviously not the same number of viewers as it got at 9.30, but still not bad for its time.

Rescue Special Ops – Nine – later in the year
Possibly to air in May but not confirmed.

RPA: Where Are They Now? – Nine – Wed Feb 9, 9.30pm
Continues as scheduled.

$#*! My Dad Says – Nine – Mon Jan 31, 8.00pm
Flop number 2 from Nine. Out of the schedule already, not even on GO yet.

Sunday Night – Seven – Sun Feb 6, 6.30pm
It’s success so far in 2011 has prompted Nine to put ACA on Sundays as well.

Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation – Ten – Tue Feb 8, 7.30pm
Nowhere near as successful as it used to be. Too many repeats have affected the shows performance this year.

The Amazing Race Australia – Seven – Later in the year*
Most likely to air soon after the conclusion of the US series currently airing on 7mate Sundays at 6.30pm.

The Big Bang Theory New – Nine – Tue Feb 8 and Wed Feb 9, 7.30pm
A stable timeslot would help. New eps have now been on every possible combination of Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

The Biggest Loser Families – Ten – Sun Jan 30, 6.30pm Then Wed-Fri 7.30pm.
Doing better than the previous year.

The Farmer Wants a Wife – Nine – Wed Feb 9. 8.30pm
Series 6 about to conclude. There will be a 7th, applications are open. Ratings so far lower this season than previous ones.

The Force – Seven – Sunday Feb 6, 8.00pm
Still on and doing OK.

The Good Wife – Ten – Thur Jan 20, 8.30pm
Doing OK for its time.

The Mentalist New – Nine – Sunday Feb 13, 8.30pm.
Doing OK, but not as well as previous years.

The Vampire Diaries – GO! – Mon Jan 31, 9.30pm
Has stuck to the same timeslot but is currently off due to a break in the US. Should return April 12.

Top Gear New – Nine – Tue Feb 8, 8.00pm
Now has moved to 8.30pm. Ratings are down on last year.

Two and a Half Men New – Nine – Mondays Jan 31, 7.30pm
Figures are down, but the show remains on Nine, same time for the new episodes, repeats as well. Nine calls a double new episode, a “Two and a Half men Event” – goodness – if that is an event, what would they call the Olympics?

Underbelly – Razor – Nine – later in the year
To come later in the year.

Underbelly Files – Tell Them Lucifer Was Here – Nine – Mon Feb 7, 8.30pm
Underbelly Files – Infiltration – Nine – Mon Feb 14, 8.30pm
Underbelly Files – The Man Who Got Away – Nine – Mon Feb 21, 8.30pm
All have aired, they were also encored on GEM. All did over a million on Nine.

V – GO! – Wed Jan 19, 8.30pm
Final March 23.

Winners and Losers – Seven – Tuesday 8.30pm, from March 22.
About to premiere.

With ratings for Two and a Half Men falling, what should Nine do with 7pm weeknights?

They are trialling the Big Bang Theory at 7pm in Brisbane. Overall, using Big Bang is a bad idea unless they are removed from all the other timeslots they air on Nine and GO. There simply are not enough episodes for Big Bang to be a long term solution for 7pm. Plus Big Bang has already been heavily repeated.

What Nine should really be considering is producing something locally for that time. There are too many sitcoms already at 7pm when you consider the programming on other digital channels.

But – until they come up with a locally produced 7pm solution, here’s one idea:

Who ever said that 7pm weeknights has to be stripped? It seems that on every channel, programming always strips the same show over 7pm most weeknights, with different shows at 7.30pm.

On Tuesday night for example, Nine could start Top Gear at 7pm – that way it would finish at 8.30, and would probably do better at that time.

On the other nights, play the new episodes of Two and a Half Men, Big Bang, $#*! My Dad Says and Mike and Molly at 7pm. Then – as new episodes run out, move onto other sitcoms like Hot In Cleveland, Episodes and Mr Sunshine. Avoid repeats altogether.

These shows are not doing that well at 7.30pm/8pm, so why not bring them forward and compete properly at 7pm – new content at 7pm would surely boost Nine’s performance then – no other main channel airs repeats at 7pm weekdays during ratings season. Leave all the repeats for GO and GEM.

The first issue Nine will have with this solution would be what to fill some of the 7.30 timeslots on Monday and Wednesday, but there is enough content (at this stage) if they were smart about it.

The bigger and probably more important issue is how would the regionals / affiliates deal with the programming – they air ACA at 7pm after either one hour news or two half hour bulletins where one is local, the other is capital city based. Back in the days of Temptation at 7pm, regionals used to air it at 5.30pm before the news. Maybe that is one option, but 5.30pm would be a bit of a waste for new sitcoms. And that wouldn’t solve the Top Gear dilemma if it was to start at 7pm on Tuesdays.

Better solution is that the regional networks air local news at 5.30pm, capital city news at 6pm then ACA at 6.30pm. Hot Seat at 5pm. Cut 4.30 news in half, or lose it altogether and put something like Antiques Roadshow on at 4.30pm. Ratings for the 4.30 news – especially on Nine/affiliates – is not that good anyway.

So assuming 7pm is freed up for regionals as well, current program might look something like:

 

Mondays
7.00 new Two and a Half Men
7.30 Million Dollar Drop (due to air soon anyway, factuals until it is ready to air)
8.30 This is Your Life
9.30 specials/CSI: Miami

Tuesdays
7.00 new Top Gear
8.30 20-1
9.30 Survivor Redemption Island (Nine needs to air this NOW)

Wednesdays
7.00 new The Big Bang Theory
7.30 RBT
8.00 another factual
8.30 Farmer Wants a Wife
9.30 RPA: Where Are They Now?

Thursdays
7.00 $#*! My Dad Says
7.30 Getaway – back to an hour
8.30 CSI
9.30 Footy Shows

Fridays
7.00 Mike & Molly
7.30 (AFL States): sitcom / factual repeats / movies
7.30 (NRL States): Friday Night Football

Having different first run shows on at 7pm each day could just be the point of difference Nine needs to help lift their current situation. If they keep on playing repeats at 7pm, like some of the digital channels do, they can only expect similar ratings.

I recall hearing about plans for a reality show to strip across 7pm – what happened to it? Were they just waiting until the Two and a Half Men craze died? Or did they really have nothing planned and are now in somewhat of a crisis mode?

With Ben Elton’s show axed, Nine have re-programmed their Tuesday night.

Sorry to say, but Survivor Redemption Island is not part of the line up.

In a move that will drive fans nuts, new Big Bang Theory returns to Tuesday night March 1, but on Tuesday March 8, it is not designated as a new episode (yet). A repeat episode follows at 8pm. New Big Bangs remain at 7.30pm Wednesday as well.

Tuesday March 1 looks like this:

7.30pm New Big Bang Theory
8.00 Rpt Big Bang Theory
8.30 Top Gear new
10.00 new Adults Only 20-1
11.00 Kitchen Nightmares USA

Tuesday March 8 is the same – but with the high chance that the 7.30 Big Bang being a repeat.

That means, that between GO and Nine, there will be NINE episodes a week of Big Bang based on this programming.

How about keeping the new episodes to Wednesdays, and leaving the repeats for GO? Why not move Top Gear to 7.30? And where is Survivor Redemption Island?

 

   

Nine generally do not cross promote their channels, but anyone watching GO or GEM last night, would have noticed an abnormally large number of promos for shows on Nine – alot more than usual.

During the Underbelly Files: Infiltration encore on GEM, there were numerous promos for Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away – which airs tonight (Feb 21) on Nine, as well as promos for new Top Gear, A Current Affair and $#*! My Dad Says. Over on GO!, similar promos could be seen for Nine shows.

In ratings, Nine are taking a beating from Seven landing a distant second in the weekly result. Shows on Nine are generally not performing as well as they may once have, especially those against Seven’s ratings powerhouses Packed to the Rafters and My Kitchen Rules.

New episodes of The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Top Gear are all way down in viewers compared to last year, while new comers $#*! My Dad Says and Mike and Molly have struggled to make any ground and ACA constantly loses to TT. And we all know about Ben Elton.

The ads on Nine’s digital channels for show on the main channel are an attempt to remind viewers about new shows on Nine so ratings will hopefully improve.

 

 

 

New details on upcoming Spartacus season

Spartacus showrunner Steven S. DeKnight has released details on the upcoming second season of the drama. He says that the new run will portray Spartacus and his warriors as a “very dysfunctional family.” He said: “[In] most interpretations of Spartacus, they break out, and it’s like Robin Hood and his merry men. They’re all together and fighting the system. In our season two, they are not getting along. They all have different agendas [and] they all think [the uprising] should be done a different way, which is historically accurate.”

Hammond to host web series

Top Gear’s Richard Hammond will front a new web-only series called Richard Hammond’s Tech Head. The presenter will take an “irreverent look at everything from toasters to tanks” in the new series which will be available free on YouTube.

Prison Break actor offered pilot role

Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller, who played Michael Schofield, is said to have been offered a role in a new ABC pilot called Identity. The pilot will follow a specialist police unit which tackles modern crime such as identity theft.

Awards shows drawing huge audiences

Televised awards shows are proving as popular as ever with the two that took place yesterday drawing huge audiences in the US and UK. The BAFTA Film Awards drew its biggest audience since 2004 in the UK while the Grammys pulled its best audience since 2001 in the US.