http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/13/1094927507186.html

More bad news for Seven Network
By Christian Catalano
September 14, 2004

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2004/09/13/seven_wideweb__430x301.jpg

In prime time, Seven had an even more forgettable result.
Picture:Gabrielle Charotte

Some more news David Leckie probably did not need to hear.

Not only is the Seven Network boss' post-Athens ratings revival failing to materialise, but now his former employees at Nine are throwing huge resources at their news and current affair hour - the one area where Seven has been able to make strong inroads this year.

Media buyers estimate that the Kerry Packer-controlled Nine has spent more than $500,000 over the past three weeks promoting its 6pm news and A Current Affair at 6.30pm through radio and full-page newspaper advertisements with a particular focus on Sydney.

Whereas Seven had surprised the advertising market with strong ratings wins in its news and Today Tonight over the past few months, last week's survey shows that Nine's promotion has helped the channel again to stamp its authority in this area.

While Nine had 300,000 more viewers (1.5 million) for its national news bulletin than Seven, A Current Affair (1.34 million viewers) also broadened the gap to 200,000 viewers over Today Tonight.

Media agency Fusion Strategy head Steve Allen said of Nine's advertising campaign: "It's a serious amount of money to spend on the one area.

"I don't remember seeing anything like it."

In prime-time (6-10.30pm), Seven had an even more forgettable result last week, slipping to third behind Ten in total audiences and failing to have one program in the top 10.

__________________

they don't even have the rights to the Commonwealth or Olympics Games anymore eh?

Ha-ha. I'm glad.

7's news is atrocious, like its current affairs/Sunrise crap. 10's comes close and 9's is passable at times.

Even the overall dumb-ass fickle viewing public (me included) have a level, s'pose. That's why the answer is easy.

SBS

Well it doesnt sound all that good for Channel 7, although I still probably watch more Channel 7 than any other commercial channel, closely followed by 10. I would have thought that was alot of money to spend on advertising for one hour of news. I suppose it must be one of the hardest timeslots to advertise for because really the news is the news is the news, and if other people are like me and watch sunrisein the morning, when they turn the TV on when they get home from work it is already on channel 7 so why bother changing the channel.

Ha-ha. I'm glad.

7's news is atrocious, like its current affairs/Sunrise crap. 10's comes close and 9's is passable at times.

Even the overall dumb-ass fickle viewing public (me included) have a level, s'pose. That's why the answer is easy.

SBS
Ahhh, Sex Before Sleep. The last two times I turned to that channel I caught the same movie, some flick about a couple girls in love (one of which jumps off the roof of her school in the end).
Excellent movie (and I'm not saying that because of the fleshy scenes).


This is God getting Leckie back for putting Stargate on at 10:30.

How much did they blow on their Sydney Martin Place newsroom with the blinking walk sign in the background? Heh heh

there all bad ;)

i chose abc sbs where possible

Their coverage of the Olympics are always shocking. I give them a gold medal for ad breaks at the most innapropriate times.

I prefer 7, its modern, funky and interesting as opposed to 9 which is old, grumpy, boring and dated. Most of what I watch on TV is either on 7 or 10. I don't watch 9 at all now. I hate 9 :mad:

^^ By showing programming that you enjoy, Channel 7's ratings have gone to the shitter. Probably says a lot about your taste.

they redeemed themselves by putting stargate on twice a week. im happy.

How much did they blow on their Sydney Martin Place newsroom with the blinking walk sign in the background? Heh heh

They blew 30 million on that 'windows on the world' studio. Now they put frosted glass in to shield the viewers from the unwashed doing naughty things.

Got to love channel 7.

^^ By showing programming that you enjoy, Channel 7's ratings have gone to the shitter. Probably says a lot about your taste.
meow!

There is no need to be nasty!

meow!

There is no need to be nasty!

Should I have put a :) or a ;) at the end of that post? :)

Yeah but stargates on at 10:30pm on both nights. wed and thurs.
I remember the good 'ol days, an episode every thursday, on at8:30pm, thats a family time. if they get rid of that shitty paris hilton show, they can move stargate on thursday to 9:30, thats better.
Just wait a few months untill channel 7 start showing Stargate Atlantis, and then we will have one night stargate, and the other atlantis.
I'm a big stargate fan, i have all the dvds in boxsets up to season 4, and i well, have downloaded the episodes for about the last year, after channel 7 canned it, so i'm up to date with the US and UK, we are still 2 seasons behind... 44 episodes.
Oh well enough of the rant, channel 7 has suffred alot.
SBS rules!

Channel 7's recent misfires...


An obsession with shows featuroing Michael Caton rabbling on about houses
Ripping off concepts found on other channels like Miriam, Wife Swap and Extreme Makeover
Coxy's Big Break (I hope this dies a shameful death)
Mistreatment of it's good US shows like Scrubs and That 70s Show
The funniest US sitcom of the moment "Arrested Development" is nowhere to be seen
Giving up the rights to Everybody Loves Raymond to Ten.
Cancelling Tru Calling
Popstars Live
Alleged new shows starring Molly Meldrum and Daryl Somers
Programs good crime show "Forensic Investigators" against Top 20 Crime Drama "Without a Trace"
The ridiculous lawsuit over AFL and NRL rights, for gods sake concentrate on Union and get the rights to Basketball or something, develop a sport for fuck's sake.
Best show on it schedule is re-runs of Ex-Ch-10 Hit The X Files

SAy what you like about AFl, but as soon as 7 lost the rights to braodcast it, it has been a down hill slide for 7 ever since. Snowball effect.

Seven falls away
By Ross Warneke
September 16, 2004

Amid growing speculation of changes at the top of the underperforming Seven Network, its Melbourne station suffered another embarrassing loss last week. In fact, embarrassing is being kind. Disastrous is more apt. (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/14/1094927572225.html?from=storyrhs)

Only a week after the Olympic Games, which gave Seven its first ratings wins for the year, Channel Seven in Melbourne was thrashed by Nine and Ten, and did not have one program in the list of Melbourne's 20 most-watched shows.

Nine had 30.9 per cent of night-time viewers last week, and 15 of the top 20 shows. Ten scored 28.6 per cent of prime-time viewers, and five of the top 20, including the two most-watched programs on TV last week - Saturday night's AFL semi-final between Geelong and Essendon and Friday night's encounter between St Kilda and Sydney. Seven was a distant third, with 21.4 per cent of viewers, followed by the ABC (an unusually low 14.6) and SBS (4.5).

Seven's poor post-Olympics performance could not have come at a worse time. The Melbourne results, along with a third place in last week's national ratings, too, came as all commercial networks are intensifying their pitch to advertisers for support in 2005. But with Seven having only one early-to-mid evening winner last week - the 7pm soapie, Home & Away - Nine and Ten hold all the bargaining chips.

Nothing is going right for Seven, and that was accentuated last week with the disastrous premiere of one of its most-hyped locally produced shows of the year, Playing it Straight, in which a young woman must choose a partner from among 12 contenders, six of whom are gay. She does not know which of the 12 are gay. But despite the enticing premise, and relentless promotion during Seven's Olympics coverage, the premiere episode attracted only 688,960 viewers nationally, almost a million viewers behind Ten's Law & Order: SVU (1,644,343) and more than half a million adrift of Nine's RPA/Body Work double act (1,226,426).

Seven's 6pm news, Today Tonight, and its two adult Australian dramas, Blue Heelers and All Saints, continue to be beaten handsomely by Nine. To make matters worse, All Saints was also beaten last week by The Bill on the ABC, and Today Tonight lost out to A Current Affair on Nine and Neighbours on Ten. Even Lisa McCune's latest project, the creditable Forensic Investigators, succumbed to Nine's Without a Trace, although its score of 1,202,633 viewers nationally, including 367,937 in Melbourne, was impressive in a particularly difficult timeslot - and by comparison to most of Seven's prime-time offerings.

For the ABC, the Friday night British whodunit series, Midsomer Murders, was the top show, with 1,272,396 viewers in the five major mainland capital cities and 335,177 in Melbourne. The Bill, 7pm news and Australian Story were the national broadcaster's other top shows.

Inspector Rex, the Austrian drama series about a police dog, continued to top SBS's ratings, with 491,800 viewers nationally and 140,864 in Melbourne. The alleged comedy show, John Safran Versus God, and Great Battles of the Great War were SBS's other ratings achievers.

Kommissar Rex is awesome! hah ;)

I know it's probably wrong (hah! pfft) but I am loving the demise of 7.

HSV7 - Herald Sun TV at its most shittest ;)

Yes I too have long hated Seven, ever since they usurped Ten's output deal with 20th Century Fox, they had access to some of the best shows Angel, Buffy but let them languish in late night timeslots. They took forever to bring out Friends and deserved to lose it to Nine, just as they deserved to lose Everybody Loves Raymond to Ten. Meanwhile whilst all these crap Aussie Property/Reality/Gimmicky shows are stinking up the airwaves where is Scrubs, That 70s Show, Will & Grace or Arrested Development - yet another show not yet seen which Seven will flush down the toilet. Rot in Hell channel 7 you've earned it.

I love That 70's Show. Its stupid, but it's funny, and you have to love Red and Kitty. It's actually one of the reasons why I don't mind the non-ratings season.

No-one can throw around the word "Dumbass" like Red!

I've felt burned by channel 7 ever since they canned A Country Practice.

Oh and the AFL.

I don't mind channel 7. At least you can turn it on and not see some show about ultra smug investigators/detectives, or that windbag allan jones, like i saw this morning. and channel ten just irritates me with the way they hype their "sexy" "bitchin" "emotionally charged" dramas and the constantly "shocking" episodes of australian idol. Plus I love a channel that shows Passions.

Losing the AFL football has really hurt 7 much more than they expected but I dont think they will have the where withall to take on the the consortium in 2006 when the TV rights come up again.

One thing seven is doing right is that they're bringing back The Amazing Race into primetime. Season 5 premeres 9.30 Thursday October 7th replacing the low rating Trading Spouses. They had better not screw this up!

I hope Seven collapses so they can sell off their digital spectrum to some decent multi-channelers.

Don't get me wrong - Seven has good shows, it's just that you wouldn't know it if you watched their primetime lineup. Showing the Amazing Race is encouraging - especially since the Footy Show is over for the year, but Seven should check the figures, re-runs of SVU have been beating the Footy Show even!

An interesting sidenote - this season of Amazing Race has hit paydirt in the US thanks to the popularity of one of the contestants who is vertically challenged.

Ahhh, Sex Before Sleep. The last two times I turned to that channel I caught the same movie, some flick about a couple girls in love (one of which jumps off the roof of her school in the end).
Excellent movie (and I'm not saying that because of the fleshy scenes).


This is God getting Leckie back for putting Stargate on at 10:30.


I agree Stargate on at 10:30 pisses me off!
This is one of channel 7s only saving graces and they shuffle it to a late night time slot? They didn't even advertise it was coming back I realised by shear coincidence it was coming back.

http://www.photoadelaide.com/seven_on_location.jpg

^ beautiful

LOL suck on that CH7!