Channel 10 dumps comedy Street Smart from prime time slot
IT made its TV debut on Sunday night starring former Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan and comedians Rob Shehadie and Tahir Bilgic. But some are now questioning whether Channel 10’s decision to move Street Smart to a later timeslot is a dumb move.
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IN what some are questioning as a dumb move — Channel 10 has dumped its new comedy offering Street Smart from prime time just 12 hours after it debuted on Sunday night.
The show — starring acclaimed comedians Tahir Bilgic and Rob Shehadie — has been moved to Mondays at 9.40pm — spelling what many fear is its death knell, just one episode into the eight episode series.
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Bilgic and Shehadie are the brains behind Channel 9’s hugely successful Here Come The Habibs which earned the show a Logie nomination.
The family comedy series — which also stars former Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan and celebrates diversity with its multiethnic characters — went head-to-head with Channel 9 juggernaut The Block which won the night with 1.163 million views.
Despite the stiff competition, Street Smart was the second-most watched show for Channel 10 on Sunday, recording an audience of 385,000 — the 12th most-watched show overall.
It recorded higher audience numbers than Channel 10’s highly-promoted The Sunday Project.
The decision to move timeslots came a day after The Sunday Telegraph revealed Channel 10’s Chief Programming Director Beverley McGarvey was under increased pressure to arrest the station’s declining market share by new American owners CBS.
“Channel 10 hasn’t given the show a chance,” a TV source said.
“To debut it against The Block was just stupid.
“This is a family show. How do they expect kids to watch it when it’s on at 9.40 at night?”