More change expected at The Project after Lisa Wilkinson exit

As Lisa Wilkinson joins Carrie Bickmore in leaving the Channel 10 flagship, industry talk suggests more changes are afoot for The Project and its big names.

Further change is afoot following the departure of Lisa Wilkinson from The Project.

Industry speculation suggests Channel 10 will make further changes to the format as part of a wider move to freshen the show going into 2023.

Some have claimed other big name panellists may also depart The Project with a question mark hanging over the future of high profile presenters Waleed Aly and Pete Helliar.

It comes weeks after Carrie Bickmore announced her departure from the show.

A replacement is expected to be revealed as soon as this week.

Lisa Wilkinson is kissed by Hamish McDonald as she announces her resignation from The Project. Picture Supplied

“The biggest problem with The Project is the inconsistency,” said one well-placed TV executive.

“How many hosts or people do they have rotating on that panel? Is it like 25 of them. You switch on every time and there is a different line up. The Project hasn’t evolved in however many years. They have their work cut out for them.”

The Project launched to market in 2009, providing an alternative to the traditional news formats with the panel-style show. It has proved popular with younger audiences and is the youngest skewing news and current affairs show on Aussie television.

OzTAM figures show some 49 per cent of The Project’s audience is under 50, compared to about half that for the traditional news shows on rival networks.

As is the broader trend with free to air television, ratings are down.

Sunday’s The Project, in which Wilkinson announced her departure, was the ninth most watched program of the night with a five city overnight audience of 244,000 viewers.

Lisa Wilkinson announces her resignation from The Project. Picture Supplied

Recent Instagram photos of Carrie Bickmore, Picture: Instagram/ Supplied

That compared to 871,000 for Seven News as the most watched program of the night and Nine News at 729,000, the ABC News at 526,000 and 60 Minutes at 391,000.

Ten though claims The Project reaches 6.2 million Australians each month.

“It looks like they may be altering the business model as are all TV productions to get a lower cost base,” Mediaweek editor in chief and industry commentator James Manning said. “News shows like The Project rely more on their live audience so the total TV numbers, taking in catch up figures, tend to be less important.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR WILKINSON

The show seems to have been positioned for a relaunch at the start of 2023, with a more affordable hosting panel and a re-targetting of lapsed viewers.”

In the final moments of Sunday’s show, Wilkinson revealed it was her final episode.

She famously joined The Project in 2018 after jumping ship from Nine’s beleaguered Today breakfast show.

Wilkinson referred to stresses through the year in making her decision. She faced backlash when in her Logies acceptance speech she referenced the Brittany Higgins rape case.

“To be clear, I am not leaving 10, and we are looking at some very exciting work ideas ahead,” she said.

“But I also have to be honest with you, the last six months have not been easy and the relentless, targeted toxicity by some sections of the media has taken a toll, not just on me but on people I love. Don’t get me wrong, I am not above criticism, far from it, I am human and I don’t always get it right, none of us do, but by god I have tried. I have given this job everything I have and I hope you at home know that. I hope I have brought you stories that matter and introduced you to people whose lives and experiences might otherwise never be told and help bring into focus issues that deserve our collective attention.”

One executive suggested the decision though came after recent contract negotiations, while others claimed the show was moving towards an even younger audience.

“If you’ve got an absolute star, age doesn’t matter,” the TV exec said. “It is format driven. When that format started, it was all fresh and wow. It has hardly changed since launch. They tweak the graphics every now and then, but nothing else has changed.”