How Channel 10 saved I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! from the chopping block
The reality TV show looked set for the chopping block last year. Now it’s back on track. So how did Channel Ten turn around the jungle-based reality romp?
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Last year it looked like Channel 10 was set to axe I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! The fourth season of the jungle-based reality show had been a ratings dud.
Viewers shunned the trumped-up controversy the producers tried to generate by putting boxing rivals Anthony Mundine and Danny Green into the jungle.
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Bickering couple David and Lisa Oldfield added to the poisonous vibe. The show’s biggest drawcard, controversial Aussie tennis player Bernard Tomic, quit after three days.
Only 804,000 viewers across the five capital cities tuned in to the finale — way down on the 1.056 million the previous year. It was smashed by rivals Married At First Sight and My Kitchen Rules.
The six-and-a-half weeks run-time seemed an eternity. Ten’s research showed that even the show’s biggest fans were getting sick of seeing the same challenges each year.
Jump forward to today and I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! is back on track. Ratings are up around 15 per cent year-on-year.
The show beat the Big Bash Cricket on Seven and even had some wins against the Australian Open tennis on Nine.
So why did Ten decide to make another season of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! and how did they turn the show’s fortunes around?
Here are the answers:
TEN HAD TO REPLACE THE BIG BASH CRICKET WITH SOMETHING
Necessity is the mother of invention. When Ten lost the rights to the Big Bash cricket it was staring at a massive black hole right through January. The common wisdom is that people will only watch sport in that month and that anything else doesn’t stand a chance. Ten proved that theory wrong when the January 13 launch episode averaged 1.098 million viewers across the five capital cities.
“It took us four or five months to decide (to make another season of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! and to launch it in January),” Ten program chief Beverley McGarvey says.
“It was a big strategic move. What we had to get our heads around was whether there was an available audience. We knew Aussies loved to watch sport (in January) but we really believed — based on some evidence of how MasterChef Australia performed against NRL State of Origin — that there was a good chance that we could get audiences for entertainment shows at that time of year.
DON’T GIVE UP ON A SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISE JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE DUD SEASON
Channel 10’s ratings success is built on franchises — Bachelor, MasterChef, Survivor — with Dancing with the Stars set to come. Ten stuck with The Biggest Loser despite waning ratings and it decided to do the same with Celebrity.
“Out of the first four seasons we probably had two that we loved, one that was good and last year we were disappointed in terms of some of the casting — especially with people (Tomic and Mundine) leaving the show,” McGarvey says.
“Last year’s Celebrity — the total audience was 750,000 (nationally). It is a case of not throwing things away too quickly.
“Of course you sometimes get a series where you think ‘that’s not too flash’. A lot of reality shows are post-produced these days (think My Kitchen Rules and Married At First Sight) and can be fixed in the edit. Celebrity is largely live.
“That is its greatest asset but it is also the most terrifying thing about it. You are so reliant on those 10 or 12 celebrities.”
TEN GOT THE CASTING RIGHT THIS YEAR
When the celebrities for this year’s season were announced a lot of critics slammed them as D-listers. But who knew that former Love Island contestant Justin Lacko would be reality gold? Angie Kent and Yvie Jones are just as much fun as they were on Gogglebox Australia. Richard Reid has wiped away memories of US star shockers Tom Arnold and Tiffany.
“The bigger celebrities aren’t always the most interesting people to watch because they tend to be incredibly well media trained,” McGarvey says.
CHRIS BROWN AND JULIA MORRIS HAD A HAND IN THE CASTING PROCESS
This is the first year that hosts Brown and Morris were involved in the casting and it has paid off big-time. In past seasons the pair didn’t want to know who was going into the jungle so they would be genuinely surprised on launch night.
“Chris and Julia were very involved,” McGarvey says. “Their insight is actually really valuable in terms of what is interesting and what cuts through (with viewers). They have worked on the show just as long as anyone else so it is really useful to have their input this year. Also they are so connected — they know people and who may or may not be interested (in being on the show).”
FUN — NOT CONTROVERSY — IS THE CATCHPHRASE
The tone of this year’s season of Celebrity is completely different to last year and that is on purpose. Out with the contrived controversy and in with the breezy fun. There have been more laughs in the first fortnight than entire past seasons.
“The hosts are having fun — you can see it on the screen and the celebrities are having fun and enjoying it a bit more (than past seasons),” McGarvey says.
“The shorter run (four weeks) makes it a lot easier for them to see the light at the end of the tunnel which really helps.
“In the UK the series is three-and-a-half weeks. We were going six-and-a-half weeks. This year is considerably shorter.”
LET THE EMOTION COME THROUGH NATURALLY
Rather than trying to manipulate controversy, Ten has decided to let the emotion come through naturally. Who couldn’t be moved by Dermott Brereton’s tale of narrowly escaping the 2002 Bali bombings but losing a friend, Karri to terrorists? Sam Dastyari told of his drinking and marital woes. Yvie broke down in tears as she talked about the death of her mother. Natasha Exelby struggled when recalling some of the horrors she witnessed as a foreign correspondent.
“What you are looking for is a particular type of personality — someone who has something interesting to talk about and who is also willing to let their guard down enough to see who they really are,” McGarvey says.
NEW CHALLENGES HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO THE SHOW
Who didn’t laugh themselves silly when they saw Richard Reid hurtling in a bath towards a cliff in the Trouble Bath challenge or turn green as he was flung upside down in Flying Helicopters? Even the yucky tucker challenges have been given new twists with Groundhog Day, Breakfast in Bed and Meal of Fortune.
“The team that makes the show all have amazing imaginations,” McGarvey says. “We let them off the leash this year (with challenges). We said ‘go and have fun and go your hardest’ because that is what the audience wants.
“It is really about finding the line between terrifying and fun. This year we do have some terrifying ones and some gross eating challenges but what we really wanted was to find the fun. Australian celebrities aren’t as afraid of stuff as the British celebrities are.”
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