Australians in 2014 love to watch My Kitchen Rules, The Block and MasterChef
WITH more ways to watch TV than ever before, which shows have we been watching this year and which highly promoted programs have tanked?
COOKING and home renovation shows dominated TV in the first half of 2014.
But TV networks have also rolled out a swag of ratings duds which have been shunned by viewers.
My Kitchen Rules, The Block: Fans v Favesand House Rules have notched up massive ratings. Selling Houses Australiaposted record numbers for Foxtel, MasterChef Australiais back on track, and Grand Designsis one of the ABC’s best performers. The NRL State of Origin was a ratings powerhouse and The Voicehas stayed solid thanks to new coaches Kylie Minogue and Will.i.am.
It’s been a solid year for drama too, with a host of new productions grabbing audiences including INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, Love Child, The Killing Field, and Resurrection . Stalwarts Downton Abbey and Offspring continue to impress.
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Another sensation was Foxtel’s The Real Housewives of Melbourne which featured a bitter feud between socialites Gina Liano and Andrea Moss.
But it is the continued success of cooking and home renovation shows that really surprises.
My Kitchen Rules screened its fifth season, MasterChef is into its sixth (or eleventh including spin-offs), Selling Houses Australia its seventh, The Block is getting set to roll out its ninth, and Grand Designs is into its 13th.
“These genres (cooking and home renovation) are wholesome and positive with life affirming themes and formats,” media analyst Steve Allen says.
“They are competitions which seek out creativity, inventiveness, and encourage and nurture personal development. We can take their lessons and use them ourselves.”
But TV networks have also produced a raft of clangers. Wake Up and Spicks and Specks were axed. So You Think You Can Dance Australia and The Biggest Loser are unlikely to be renewed, and Jonah from Tonga and Secrets & Lies were big disappointments.
In recent weeks, Seven made the decision not to commission a third series of big budget period drama A Place to Call Home. The ratings were strong but the audience was too old.
“A Place to Call Home’s axing isn’t a surprise,” Maxus National Trading Director Nathan Cook says. “It was billed as Australia’s Downton Abbey and there were high expectations for it.
“If a show isn’t delivering audience in the key demographic of people 25 to 54, advertisers won’t buy it and the show becomes financially unviable.”
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WINNERS
The Block: Fans v Faves (Nine)
Someone forgot to tell viewers that the summer series of The Block is supposed to just be a warm-up to the main event midyear. Twins Alisa and Lysandra Fraser as well as tattooed landscaper Dale Vine were drawcards. Eventual winners Steve O’Donnell and Chantelle Ford going feral on the producers built interest too.
My Kitchen Rules (Seven)
The ratings success of My Kitchen Rules has nothing much to do with the cooking. Instead, this is the television equivalent of a pantomime. Viewers cheer the goodies (mums Bree and Jessica) and hiss the villains (Chloe and Kelly). It is a formula that continued to lure around 2 million people per episode.
Offspring (Ten)
Channel 10 was worried that last year’s shock death of Dr Patrick Reid (Matthew Le Nevez) could traumatise people so much they wouldn’t return for the fifth series. They needn’t have been. Still rating around 1 million viewers per episode.
MasterChef Australia (Ten)
The makers of Ten’s cooking show need a big round of applause. They learnt the lesson from last year’s dud and have re-created the warmth and magic that hooked viewers in the first place. Easily the most improved series of the year.
INXS: Never Tear Us Apart (Seven)
This 2-part miniseries about Aussie band INXS had audiences spellbound. Luke Arnold was compelling as lead singer Michael Hutchence and Samantha Jade a spookily-accurate Kylie Minogue. Add in fantastic music and Seven had a winner on its hands.
House Rules (Seven)
Seven took a chance commissioning a second series of this home renovation show after last year’s lacklustre start. It is a gamble that has paid off, with House Rules even beating The Voice some Monday nights.
Selling Houses Australia (Foxtel)
Selling Houses Australia had a record-breaking seventh season. The renovation show, with Andrew Winter, Shaynna Blaze and Charlie Albone, is now the highest rating series in Aussie subscription television history.
Grand Designs (ABC)
When it comes to Grand Designs, 13 definitely isn’t an unlucky number. That is how many series there have been of the Kevin McCloud-hosted renovation series and it is still racking up nearly 1 million viewers per week.
Love Child (Nine)
Jessica Marais reasserted her claim as one of Australia’s most popular TV performers with her star turn as midwife Joan Miller on this retro drama set in King’s Cross. Female viewers flocked to the affecting story about unwed young mums.
The Real Housewives of Melbourne (Foxtel)
A lot of people wondered whether this local spin-off could be as bitchy as The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, New York, Miami or Atlanta. You betcha. The bitter feud between Gina Liano and Andrea Moss ignited viewers who made this Foxtel’s highest rating reality series ever.
LOSERS
So You Think You Can Dance Australia (Ten)
Signing Paula Abdul wasn’t enough to generate any interest in this reboot of Ten’s once-successful dance series, last seen in 2010. Carrie Bickmore was a serviceable replacement for Natalie Bassingthwaighte but audiences had moved on.
When Love Comes to Town (Nine)
The Farmer Wants a Wife on a bus. That pretty much sums up this dreary dating show hosted by Natalie Gruzlewski. The sight of attractive independent women so desperately intent on snagging a bloke seems very old fashioned in 2014.
Wake Up (Ten)
Wake Up promised so much and delivered so little. The supposedly fresh approach to breakfast television was nothing more than a tired rehash of Sunrise and Today and saw much-hyped producer Adam Boland resign after a public battle with mental illness. The only person that came out of this mess with their dignity in tact was Natarsha Belling. Axed in May.
Jonah from Tonga (ABC)
I’m a big fan of Chris Lilley’s We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High but he has lost me with Jonah from Tonga. The continued exploits of Jonah Takalua were puerile and repetitive, and were greeted with cries of racism from some in the Pacific Islander community. It came after last year’s disappointing Ja’mie: Private School Girl. Fans rushed to watch it on iView but ratings were dismal.
Spicks and Specks (ABC)
You can’t recreate magic. That seems to be the lesson from the ABC’s attempt to revive former ratings hit Spicks and Specks with a new host (Josh Earl) and team captains (Ella Hooper and Adam Richard). Fans of the Adam Hills-hosted original didn’t bother with the reboot which rated poorly.
Intelligence (Seven)
A lot of people were looking forward to Marg Helgenberger’s first TV series since CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Pity it was this dodgy mix of The Six Million Dollar Man meets NCIS. Lead actor Josh Holloway, as operative Gabriel Vaughn with a computer chip in his head, was wooden as a plank.
The Biggest Loser: Challenge Australia (Ten)
It is always a struggle to keep a long running series fresh. This year Ten’s weight loss show focused on a single town — Victoria’s Ararat — and viewers didn’t bite. Unlikely to return next year.
The Logies (Nine)
Remember when The Logies used to be one of the highest-rating TV events of the year? No more. My Kitchen Rules (1.91 million) smashed TV’s night-of-nights (974,000).
Secrets & Lies (Ten)
There is no doubting that this 6-part mystery series starring Martin Henderson was a quality drama but it never caught on with viewers. Maybe Aussies were turned off by the dark subject matter (the murder of a child). Ten’s aggressive programming didn’t help. The first episode went up against My Kitchen Rules and The Block: Fans v Faves. Big mistake.
The Millers (Ten)
Ten tried to ensure the success of this US sitcom from Greg Carcia (My Name Is Earl) by launching it on the same night as the Aussie episode of Modern Family. The tactic didn’t work. Quickly shunted.
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