Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Almost the end of the (Canal) Road


Nine have more or less boned Canal Road… well as close to a boning as possible without being boned, instead, bumped. Spending months and months of production, advertising dollars and publicity on the new medico-legal drama thriller it has been removed after only two weeks from 9:30 until 10:30 affectively righting off the show this year.

It seems a surprise premature move by Nine who have acted swiftly after only two outings. Admittedly the show did drop 300 000 viewers and has the best lead in from Underbelly but the sure deserved a few more weeks to develop an audience.

It’s replacement, Hell’s Kitchen – more Ramsay. Now he is cooking the ratings on Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s and if the show keeps on returning big numbers then Nine could keep this pattern going all year as the show can easily be repeated.

When Ramsay twice a week wasn’t enough… Nine are gambling on there chef and the current ‘it’ program but are they over-exposing Ramsay?

I hope this decision doesn’t backfire for Nine because they are hedging a lot of bets on Ramsay and when the season’s finish and they broadcast other shows – will anyone be watching?

My Kid’s A Star was deservedly removed to midday Saturday effectively another ‘bone’ but it’s replacement for this week only is two new episodes of Two and Half Men and from next week it’s Search & Rescue with Fire 000.

So what will Nine do when Underbelly wraps up?

McLeod’s Daughters maybe?

So far Nine have gambled with Moment of Truth, Monster House, My Kid’s A Star, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Power of 10, Cashmere Mafia and Canal Road but all have failed.

On the flipside Underbelly has been a success, Ramsay has performed very well for Nine. Sea Patrol, Getaway, The Footy Show and CSI have also been strong and now Australia’s Funniest Home Videos and 60 Minutes are again on the up.

While Two and A Half Men, Royal Flying Doctor Service, David Attenbrough’s Life in Cold Blood and Animal Emergency have surprisingly been somewhat successful, developing consistent audiences.

David Gyngell said that Nine were going to gamble this year and try things, they are and should be commended for creating new shows but they are not hitting the mark. With 7 failures there have been sprinkles of success but to bump Canal Road after only two weeks when the network persisted with Moment of Truth for so long is a tragedy to Australian drama.

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