Playing it safe won’t work for networks in 2019

Falling back on cooking, renovation and talent shows just won’t cut it for free-to-air networks in 2019, writes Colin Vickery. If they don’t break some rules and take some risks, they’re doomed.

Let’s throw a lot of stuff at the wall and hope something sticks.

That seems to have been the philosophy of channels Seven, Nine and Ten in 2018.

I can’t remember a year when so many new shows were churned out in the hope of landing a hit.

But the bad news is that pretty much nothing worked. Look at the year’s top shows and it was the reality stalwarts — Married At First Sight, My Kitchen Rules, and The Block — that ruled the ratings.

Light entertainment was a major go-to. Ten launched Hughesy, We Have a Problem, Rove McManus’ Show Me the Movie, Blind Date with Julia Morris, Game of Games hosted by Grant Denyer and comedy Street Smart.

The reason behind Ten’s thinking was the continued success of Have You Been Paying Attention? and Gogglebox Australia.

Trouble was that saturating the schedule with so many similar shows was a law of diminishing returns.

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Dave Hughes’ program resonated with viewers and is back in late January. Show Me the Movie is getting a second season despite ordinary figures. The other three were stinkers.

Despite that setback, Ten is throwing more light entertainment in the mix in 2019 with Sunday Night Takeaway with Morris and Dr Chris Brown, and Bring Back Saturday Night with McManus.

Seven gave light entertainment a serious nudge as well. Worried that The Block would be a juggernaut, Seven rolled out what it hoped would be a potent alternative — talent shows Dance Boss, All Together Now and more Little Big Shots plus dating show Take Me Out.

None hit big and neither did Seven’s Australian Ninja Warrior clone Australian Spartan or Married At First Sight wannabe Single Wives, which tanked earlier in the year.

Dramas were a mixed bag. Nine’s crime thriller Bite Club failed to generate much excitement. Seven threw the third season of Wanted away and won’t be commissioning any more of The Blake Mysteries.

Ten’s Playing for Keeps, with Madeleine West and Olympia Valance as footy WAGs felt fresh and got a deserved second season commission.

The biggest drama of the year played out behind the scenes — Nine snatching Australia’s summer of tennis and Foxtel and Seven teaming to grab cricket.

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Australian Spartan was Seven’s failed attempt to cash in on Nine’s Australian Ninja Warrior success.

Nine had a policy of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” but second seasons of Australian Ninja Warrior, True Story with Hamish and Andy, and Family Food fight slid significantly.

Only Married At First Sight went to the next-level. Love Island Australia screened on 9GO! but will go to the main channel next year.

Nine axed the NRL Footy Show and the future of the AFL version is still being sorted. Today is on the ropes and co-host Karl Stefanovic is gone.

It is clear that Seven, Nine and Ten are still trying to work out how best to combat the disruption that has come from Foxtel and the streaming services.

But at the moment I don’t believe they are thinking outside the box enough. They are still falling back on the more talent shows, dating shows, cooking shows model. But doing more of the same doesn’t cut it anymore.

Ten’s Pilot Week was a welcome initiative though botched. The focus on so many male-centric shows including Trial by Kyle caused a backlash.

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Feisty WAG drama Playing For Keeps was one of the few TV drama bright spots of 2018.

The lack of imagination looks set to continue in 2019. It is hard to see any game-changers among Seven, Nine and Ten’s new offerings.

Seven’s best hopes are its three new dramas — Between Two Worlds from Packed to the Rafters creator Bevan Lee, an adaptation of stage play Secret Bridesmaids’ Business, and a Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries spin-off with Geraldine Hakewill (Wanted).

Nine is going back to the future by resurrecting SeaChange with Sigrid Thornton. New drama Bad Mothers, with Melissa George and Mandy McElhinney looks enticing.

Ten is promising three new dramas but apart from naming Lucy Lawless in My Life is Murder, not a lot of detail is known.

But is that enough? At a time when the commercial networks are confronted by a rampaging Netflix as well as Foxtel and other streaming services the last thing they can do it play it safe.

Break some rules. Take some risks. That is the only way to survive in this brave new world.

Colin Vickery is a News Corp national TV writer.

@Colvick