Thursday, June 05, 2008

Kochie versus 60 Minutes


It’s the Battle of Sunday night’s…

In the Red corner we have the challenger, Seven who has struggled to dominate Sunday’s with the falling Gladiators, My Name is Earl, Most Shocking and Grey’s Anatomy (unlike the winning Where Are They Now? / Ugly Betty / Grey’s Anatomy line-up of 2007)….

Against the Champion in the Blue Corner, Nine with a resurgence from 60 Minutes, strong ratings from Domestic Blitz (and before that Royal Flying Doctor Service / Medical Emergency) and the dominant CSI.


Seven are pinning their hopes on David Koch who will attempt to unearth 60 Minutes in the key 7:30PM Sunday night slot. Kochie’s Battle of the Choirs will be screened from Sunday week, June 15.

Competiting choirs vying for $100 000 = riveting television... NOT

Will it work?

I don’t think so.
Seven are on a time bomb with this one. 60 Minutes is back. Dancing With the Stars has been done and will be back, It Takes Two 2008 has been screened and figures were down, so why would choirs be any different?

Seven still have some ammunition within their armour in what has been a successful slot for Australian drama and/or comedy with Kath & Kim and Ugly Betty finding success in the 7:30 slot.
Packed to the Rafters would appear as the perfect fit to their 7:30 Sunday slot. Maybe it is coming and maybe I am going to be proved wrong about Kochie’s Choirs but I don’t think the show will be as big a success as Seven are hoping.

The network has also announced a new reality TV series, Make Me A Supermodel which is cashing in on the success of Fox 8’s Australia’s Next Top Model. The Seven series, Make Me comes from the British format which is a smart purchase for the network to appeal to it’s younger demographic. Somewhat of a surprise that Seven has bought the right’s to what appears on the surface to be a Channel Ten-esque show but nevertheless a clever strategic move.

Seven have also got a lot of new episodes of City Homicide to screen which the network’s scheduele is screaming out for as audience numbers are on the slide with Criminal Minds and Bones being used as 8:30PM shows.

Grey’s finishes up very soon as does Desperate Housewives so expect to see the new spin-off of Grey’s, Private Practice to air in the Grey’s slot, 8:30PM Sunday while City Homicide may replace Desperate Housewives again in what would be an interesting and unique challenge.

Aussie drama versus Aussie drama with City Homicide (Seven, 8:30PM Monday) up against Sea Patrol (Nine, 8:30PM Monday). I cannot remember the last time networks put one Aussie drama against another... can you?

Seven may resist doing this as it has not been done for some time and the Aussie drama sector may wish to protect itself against putting two products against each other.

Which still leaves the debut of Packed to Rafters unknown at this stage while Nine remain tight-lipped about McLeod’s Daughters.

Kochie (The Battle of the Choirs) versus 60 Minutes starts next Sunday, June 15.

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