Holden-Ceberano row boils over
| BACK | 17 April 2005
Holden-Ceberano row boils over
The on-screen row between two X-Factor judges has carried
on off-screen too.
13apr05
MARK Holden has slammed fellow X-Factor judge Kate
Ceberano's handling of protege Jacob Butler, saying
she is "out of her depth".
Holden also revealed the on-air feud between the two
judges was for real, and that he didn't speak to Ceberano.
Holden said her decision to kick Jakey B, the rock
kid, from the show on Monday night because the "show
had let him down", was "p@!#weak" and
"pathetic".
"She had nearly five months to develop him as
artist," Holden said. "It's not the show,
it's her team.
"She should have had him working with the best
songwriters in the industry."
He said Ceberano had "mishandled Jacob from pillar
to post", hammered his individuality out of him
and failed to get him writing quality original music.
Jacob told The Eye yesterday that he had wanted to
stay in the competition and had only pretended to be
happy about leaving after Ceberano warned him she would
choose him to go.
"We talked about it in the ad break and she said,
'I'm going to do you a favour'," he said.
"You know who you are and where you're going."
Holden said it was blatantly obvious to all that Jacob
had more X-factor than his rival, Vincent.
It had been obvious over the past few weeks that Jacob
had been working hard on cultivating his rocker image.
We'd already seen him toss equipment across the stage,
and try his hand at the smouldering mysterious look.
He was also standoffish to the point of being rude,
which was very uncool.
Now it seems he's got the lingo down pat, too.
"I'll speak to my people in the next couple of
days and we'll formulate a plan," he told us yesterday
when asked about his future.
If his "people" are jazz singer Ceberano
and her brother Phil, whose rock band Trentwood has
been monumentally unsuccessful, we think Jacob should
take Holden's advice and get a new mentor.
Holden said: "Kate doesn't understand artist development."
Angry words
TALKING of Kate, our inside sources said she threw
a huge tantrum backstage after her two charges finished
bottom.
X, lies and videotape
By Fiona Byrne
April 10, 2005
From: Sunday Herald Sun
A JUDGE on Channel Ten's struggling talent program
The X Factor has blown the lid on fake on-air fights
and behind-the-scenes resentment.
John Reid revealed the judges have been urged by producers
to verbally attack each other in a desperate bid to
capture public attention.
The tension between judges Mark Holden, Kate Ceberano
and Reid on last weekend's show was obvious to viewers.
Reid, who has managed Elton John and Queen, was shocked
by the order to get nasty.
"The difference between the British show and this
show is that there seems to be an interest in the judges
attacking each other," Reid said.
"Certainly, from the producers' point of view,
they would like to see the whole thing escalated.
"That is not what this is about.
"It is fair game in the way the show is constructed
to criticise the way another judge is mentoring. But
when it gets to the really vicious level that it seems
to have gotten to, I think that is a turn-off.
"This is not a blood sport. It is a show to encourage
young Australian talent, of which there is a lot."
Reid said he was also surprised that Ten chief John
McAlpine had sounded the death knell, saying it was
unlikely to be re-signed for a second series.
"If the show does not work to the degree that
they want, they (Ten) have to look at how they handled
it," Reid said.
"The show is absolutely huge in Britain. In Britain
they did the performance shows at 6.30pm and the eviction
show on the same night.
"It was much tighter, there was drama, anticipation,
and excitement. Here it is stretched over Sunday and
Monday and on Monday night you also have The X-tra Factor.
"I think they dragged out the preamble too long.
We had too many pre-recorded shows from the auditions,
lockdown and masterclass.
"People have got other stuff to do. They are not
going to hang around endlessly waiting.
"They (Ten) should look to themselves rather than
be bagging the show before it has actually established
itself - which I think it is only just doing."
Reid said the best was yet to come, with the remaining
six contestants rising to the challenges in front of
them.
"We have got a few more weeks to go and I think
people will be drawn in," he said.
Reid said despite the lacklustre ratings, he was confident
there were genuine stars among the remaining six finalists.
"The day Russell Gooley walked in to the audition
in Perth he definitely had a presence," Reid said.
'Then he sang. He has the voice, he looks good and
week by week by week he keeps growing.
"Roslynn Mahe was a timid little girl with a big
voice when she walked in to the auditions.
"Now she is very comfortable, she is sexy, and
has shown herself to be a fine musician."
Reid said his goal was to give his contestants, Gooley
and Mahe, the grounding to carve out "good solid
careers internationally.
"I really believe that both Rosylnn and Russell
have the capacity to record and perform anywhere in
the world."
Screen gems lose sparkle for Ten, seriously
| BACK | 17 April 2005
Screen gems lose sparkle for Ten, seriously
By Annie Lawson
April 6, 2005
Once the jewel in Channel Ten's programming crown,
the reality format has lost its lustre among network
executives, in London this week schmoozing with international
program suppliers.
The genre is not totally off the menu - Ten is about
to launch its new series of Big Brother - but the fact
that its $25 million investment in X-Factor failed to
bear fruit has left a sour taste. The disastrous Australian
version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, axed after
just three weeks, was another disappointment.
After scouting for new shows in Britain this week,
Ten chief executive John McAlpine, head of drama Sue
Masters, programming director David Mott and Tim Clucas,
head of production and program development, will fly
to Cannes for the annual international television trade
fair, MIP-TV.
The network gets a portion of its Hollywood product
from studio supply deals with Universal, which makes
Law & Order and Monk, and Paramount, maker of Charmed
and NCIS, but also snares the occasional nugget on the
buying market. Previous hits from that market include
Jamie's Kitchen and The Osbournes. Trade fairs are a
helpful barometer to determine which shows will dominate
the following year and it seems the non-scripted format
is less likely to capture the imagination of network
programmers.
"Scripted is coming back; it's proven in the US
and it's happening here," says McAlpine. "I
think we're probably going through a cycle - it (reality)
could have peaked and it's fair to say you're probably
seeing drama being more dominant."
Apart from the Big Brother franchise, Ten's schedule
for the second half of the year looks like a drama-laden,
reality-free zone.
"There's no new reality this year and I don't
see any format right now," McAlpine says. US crime
shows will dominate Ten's schedule later this year,
including Blind Justice, Numbers and Law & Order:
Trial by Jury. Other shows include US sci-fi series
4400 and House, a US medical drama starring British
actor Hugh Laurie.
Television is not an exact science - one in four shows
fail with Australian audiences and one in 25 shows are
destined for failure in the US.
"You've got to bite the bullet and move on,"
McAlpine says. "Part of the creative process is,
you're going to make mistakes, or you may not make any
mistakes but the consumer doesn't bind with it. You've
got to keep experimenting. As the years go on, different
shows become popular, the cycle continues and you keep
reinventing."
McAlpine hopes the shift away from the reality format
will help the network defend its coveted 16-to-39 audience
that a resurgent Seven Network has been nibbling at
this year. He denies reports that he plans to reclaim
the No. 2 spot Ten occupied in 2004 during Seven's dark
days and says Ten is happy as long as youth is still
watching.
"Our mantra is 16 to 39 - it would be nice if
we were No. 2 in 25 to 54, as we were last year, but
we won't be this year," he says. "We remain
totally committed to our business model and don't even
look at total people figures. We religiously stick to
it; there's no scope for anyone to have the ambition
to say, 'lets invest another $200 million to get to
that No. 1 spot'."
McAlpine says that Seven's revival, on the back of
blockbuster hits Desperate Housewives, Lost and Dancing
with the Stars, has not encroached on Ten's share of
the $3 billion TV advertising market. Instead, Channel
Nine is feeling the heat, putting under threat the 15
per cent premium it charges advertisers.
"Seven has taken 1 per cent of the 16-to-39 demographic
(from Ten) and Nine is down about 6 to 7 per cent,"
he says. "The majority of it is coming off Nine
and the heartache is going to be felt at Nine because,
if they are not No. 1, they won't get the premium."
Some media analysts question McAlpine's claims that
the network would capture 30 per cent of the capital
city TV ad market in the June half, having done so in
the June 2004 half.
"I am surprised and can't believe in the second
quarter it won't be affected by Seven's resurgence,"
says media analyst Steve Allen, of Fusion Strategy.
Ten achieved a 30 per cent ad share in 2004 despite
its expensive investment in the reality flops The Hothouse
and The Resort, which suggests the performance could
be replicated this year despite X-Factor's failure to
bedazzle audiences. Allen says this is predicated on
Ten's ability to keep its costs down, which could be
difficult if it invests heavily in locally produced
drama.
This year the network has committed to the big-budget
Australian miniseries Mary Bryant and the Small Claims
and Black Jack telemovie series, and is developing a
long-format drama series for 2006.
Harold Mitchell, of media buying firm Mitchell &
Partners, believes Ten will maintain its share of advertising.
"While it has lost a little in the 16-to-39 demographic,
it still represents the most cost-effective avenue of
reaching this audience," he says. Should Seven
continue its strong run, Nine is more likely to suffer,
he warns.
Ten's TV ad revenue rose 11 per cent in the three months
to February 28 and an estimated 7 per cent in March,
compared with Seven's 10 per cent increase and a 5 to
6 per cent rise at Nine.
Watching from the sidelines as its commercial rivals
battle for No. 1 places Ten in a strong position, according
to McAlpine.
"One of the things people forget is that if you
are in the fight to be No. 1, there is a very large
cost attached to that and to get there, you have to
invest heavily in costs," he says.
"Seven and Nine are at each other's throats like
there is no tomorrow and we're trying to keep our head
below the radar. Ten is happy to hang back - if you
don't strive to be anything to all people, then you
can achieve keeping costs down."
NETWORK Ten will let ratings runt The X Factor die a natural
death while still pinning its hopes on its parent show,
Australian Idol, to reverse a poor start to 2005.
The $25 million X Factor and the disastrous Australian
version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, axed after
just three weeks, have disappointed executive chairman
Nick Falloon (above).
But he confidently predicted yesterday that Idol 3,
along with Big Brother and AFL coverage would make Ten
the most profitable TV network and ensure it holds on
to the No. 1 in the crucial 16-39 demographic in 2005.
After a bad start, Mr Falloon appears intent on making
the most of third spot among the commercial networks.
"Would we rather be up? Of course we would . .
. with the schedule that we've got for the back end
of the year we're very confident in us being able to
continue to build on what we're doing," Mr Falloon
said.
"On the other side of the fence our two competitors
[Channels 9 and 7] will be, as they are, building their
costs fighting each other to be No. 1."
With six weeks until the end of The X Factor's season,
it seems the show, and other idol clones, have been
assigned to the TV history book.
"We're clearly unhappy with X Factor's ratings,
it's a bit hard to hide that . . . it's difficult for
me to see now that you would introduce another show
of that genre," Mr Falloon said.
Ten yesterday unveiled a 23 per cent lift in first-half
net profit to $53.45 million, hailed by analysts as
proof that Falloon and chief executive John McAlpine's
low cost-focused management was the best in the TV business.
TV revenue rose 15 per cent to $433.8m while costs
rose by a thin 6 per cent to $239.8m in the first half.
And Mr Falloon predicted a record full-year profit.
"This will be the first year in television where
we are the most profitable of the networks, in a real
sense not just the margin sense," he said.
He added that he expected to continue to capture 30
per cent of all advertising revenue in the commercial
TV market.
Ten's sideline business, outdoor advertising outfit
Eye Corp, also impressed, up 48 per cent to $58.7m.
Shaw Stockbroking media analyst Greg Fraser said Ten
was "easily the best-managed" TV network.
"[This result] shows the strength of the business,
that they've got far better cost control and they are
not having to spend huge amounts of money on news and
current affairs," Mr Fraser said. "And they've
increased the number and prices of the sponsorship of
the key shows."
He said sponsorship of Idol 3 would pay in large part
for the production and cost of the rights, making advertising
and market share "cream on the top".
Shareholders received their first fully franked payment
of 15.5c a share for 2004/05 in January, with the second
dividend detailed in June and paid in July. Ten shares
slipped 3c to $3.59.
Hyped to the max but Ten's star recruit lacks the X factor
| BACK | 17 April 2005
Hyped to the max but Ten's star recruit lacks the X factor
Sally Jackson
March 31, 2005
CHANNEL Ten's musical talent show The X Factor has
flopped so hard it has turned the network off launching
any new programs in the genre.
Ten chief executive John McAlpine said yesterday he
believed that category of television had now peaked
"in terms of adding to the supply pool" of
programs.
"We're clearly unhappy with The X Factor ratings,
it's difficult to hide that," he said, adding that
the series was unlikely to be renewed for next year.
He said he also didn't know if Ten would again schedule
American Idol, another music quest show that is failing
to thrill viewers.
Nevertheless, he predicted that series three of Australian
Idol, which is scheduled to air in the second half of
this year, would do well. "Our expectations are
the same as last year" in terms of audience numbers,
he said.
Series two of Idol last year averaged 2 million viewers
on Sunday nights and 1.7 million on Mondays, and the
Final Verdict show was the most watched program of the
year, with 3.3 million viewers.
Ten reportedly paid more than $25 million for the rights
to The X Factor, believing that if it didn't, rivals
Nine or Seven would nab the format and use it to blunt
this year's Idol.
"It was a competitive environment. Everyone wanted
the show, we wanted it, plus we wanted it [as] a defensive
move," McAlpine said. Now, however, "it's
a bit hard to defend it".
The series started promisingly in early February with
1.45 million viewers but within a week its audience
had plunged by a quarter to 1.085 million. Within a
month it had halved to 705,000.
Yesterday Ten announced an interim net profit of almost
$53.5 million for the six months to February 28, up
23 per cent on the same period last year, with the television
business contributing revenue of $433.8 million, up
15 per cent.
Ten's programming costs rose by 5.1 per cent, or about
$10 million, half-on-half. That did not include the
cost of The X Factor, which will show up in the second
half of this year.
"We will continue to invest strategically in programming,
it's what makes the world go round, it's our business,"
McAlpine said.
One genre he said Ten was looking at launching was
that of celebrity-based entertainment programs. Seven's
Dancing With the Stars is the nation's No.1 local program
and Nine has also had a hit this year with its Celebrity
Overhaul.
"We don't know how long it's going to last, these
things are cyclical, but we have got a couple [of programs
in the genre] coming up at the back end of the year
that we haven't made any announcement about," McAlpine
said. "I think there's room for a bit more –
but again, how long does it go and when do you put your
foot in?"
Overall, he said it had been an "interesting"
start to the ratings year. After years as the No.2 commercial
network, Seven has stormed the No.1 spot this year and
is averaging a 29.2 per cent 6pm-midnight audience share
to Nine's 28.4 per cent and Ten's 21.4 per cent.
However, McAlpine said Ten's share of 16 to 39-year-old
viewers between 6pm and 10.30pm, its core demographic,
was only down 1.2 per cent.
"We believe we will retain our lead in 16-to-39s"
for the year, he said, although he conceded Seven's
resurgence means "it will be tough" for the
network to keep its No.2 spot in the 25 to 54-year-old
demographic.
"We're very satisfied with our progress to date,"
he said. "Agencies and clients are not concerned
with the small drop in ratings we have had ... We have
depth in programming to get us through the rest of the
year. We will finish very strongly."
As to whether he thinks Seven or Nine will win the
year in the "all people" demographic: "Don't
care," he said. "It won't affect us either
way."
Ten factors out song and dance
| BACK | 17 April 2005
Ten factors out song and dance
Mandi Zonneveldt
31mar05
NETWORK Ten's love affair with talent quests appears
to be over, with TV head John McAlpine yesterday signalling
the death of X Factor.
Mr McAlpine said it was unlikely X Factor would return
for a second season.
"We're clearly unhappy with X Factor's ratings.
It's a bit hard to hide that," he said. "I'd
struggle to say right now that we'd renew it."
And while the network is still hoping for a high-rating
third season of Australian Idol, Mr McAlpine said it
would be alone in its genre.
"I think we've peaked in terms of adding to the
supply pool," he said. "Australian Idol we
want to protect. It will do a good job at the back end
of the year, but it might be on its own in the future,
I think."
Mr McAlpine's comments came as Ten claimed the title
of most profitable commercial television network for
the first time.
The network reported a 23 per cent increase in net
profit for the six months to February 2005 to $53.5
million.
Revenue from television lifted 15 per cent to $433.7
million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation
and amortisation for the TV division climbed 29 per
cent to $194 million.
And chief executive Nick Falloon predicted another
record year ahead.
"Given our financial results to date and the likely
continuation of solid advertising demand, we are confident
Ten will deliver a record performance in the coming
financial year," he said.
"Despite the intense competition between the networks,
we believe the depth of our program schedule . . . will
ensure another victory in the key 16-39 demographic."
As well as Australian Idol 3, Ten's 2005 line-up includes
another rendition of reality show Big Brother and international
hits The 4400, Law and Order: Trial By Jury and Kirstie
Alley's Fat Actress.
Mr McAlpine also hinted at the inclusion of celebrity-driven
reality shows, with the format proving successful for
other networks.
"We've got a couple coming up at the back end
of the year that we haven't made any announcement about,"
he said.
But the ratings rivalry has already proven fierce,
with the Seven Network overtaking PBL's Nine for the
first time.
Mr McAlpine yesterday admitted Ten had suffered a slight
drop in audience share this year, but said the network
was satisfied with its programs to date.
"This is a marathon. You've got another 36 weeks
to go," he said. "We are judged on our performance
on an annual basis, not on six weeks."
But Mr Falloon said the network was leading in the
16 to 39-year-old demographic for the first time in
five years, and its focus on that market had not changed.
"Would rather be up, of course we would, but it's
not significant in the scheme of where we are,"
he said.
"With the schedule we've got for the back end
of the year we're very confident in being able to continue
to build on what we're doing.
"On the other side of the fence, our two competitors
will be, as they are, building their costs fighting
each other to be number one."
Ten's outdoor advertising division Eye Corp also performed
strongly in the six months to February. Its revenue
increased about 50 per cent to $58.1 million, while
EBITDA climbed to $14.4 million.
Exit factor leaves Janie cold |
BACK | 17 April 2005
Exit factor leaves Janie cold
Dumped X-Factor contestant Janie Shrapnel fires off at
the judges' decision
30mar05
CHANNEL 10's The X-Factor became interesting this week,
at the expense of its oldest competitor.
Janie Shrapnel was booted from the show after an out-of-tune,
out-of-time performance on Sunday night and a no-show
on Monday's elimination night.
The 47-year-old told The Eye yesterday she was angry
that the saga had been misrepresented to the public.
What the audience didn't know on Sunday was that Janie
was suffering from a serious bout of the flu and was
relying on drugs to get her through the show.
"I don't remember the performance at all,"
she said.
"I was pretty drugged with cold and flu tablets.
"But I assumed the judges knew that and I assumed
the public knew, too."
Janie said she was shocked to discover that judges
Mark Holden and Kate Ceberano were not aware of her
illness, which was made clear by their brutal comments.
The show left regular viewers thinking Janie had suffered
a recurrence of the performance anxiety discussed in
the series.
The next night, Janie said she was so unwell she was
physically unable to sing and opted to sit the show
out.
And just for the record, Janie did sound extremely
ill and not at all mentally fragile when we spoke to
her on the phone yesterday.
"There were moments of anger," she admitted.
"Everything is for the TV show and not much for
the music. If it gets a bit boring, they throw a cat
among the pigeons.
"Now there's relief just to get off this insane
roundabout we've been on.
"A normal life sounds pretty good right now."
Janie said leaving the show would be bitter sweet though,
because she had grown close to many of the contestants.
She said her mentor, John Reid, had been incredibly
supportive of her and her future in the music industry.
The pair will meet this week to discuss Janie's dream
to continue as a singer.
FAMILY groups have criticised the "sexing up"
of a 16-year-old television singing contestant, saying
she's too young to dress raunchily.
In a revealing dress and stilettos, Victoria's X-Factor
finalist Gemma Purdy wowed judges and audience with
an alluring performance last Sunday.
"I think we've seen the first example of sex-factor,"
Channel 10 judge John Reid said following the sultry
act.
But Australian Family Association president Bill Muehlenberg
said he was worried by the way Purdy's image had been
changed.
"This is yet another example of how we are robbing
our children of their innocence, trying to turn them
into adults too quickly," Mr Muehlenberg said.
"With all the problems of pedophilia and child
sexual abuse, this says our children are fair game as
sex objects and networks are profiting."
Jane Roberts, president of Young Media Australia, said
the show's producers had a responsibility when they
know their audience is going to include young, impressionable
kids.
"The message that particular sexing up sends out
is that it doesn't matter how good your talent is, unless
you've got the image to go with it you're not going
to be successful," Ms Roberts said.
But X-Factor judge Kate Ceberano, who burst on to the
music scene at 14, said she had encouraged Purdy to
experiment with her image.
"What a wonderful way to set her up in a coquettish
designer outfit. I don't think there's anything wrong
with it.
"It's kind of provocative, but clean. She's not
trying to be sexy. She just is," Ceberano said.
Ceberano said image was important, but performers were
not locked into a particular look.
"The wonderful thing about music is there's a
fantasy element to it. You can be anyone you want to
be," she said.
"I see some of myself in Gemma. She just reminds
me of me."
Purdy, a Year 11 student at Box Hill Senior Secondary
School, can't understand the fuss.
"I just took it and laughed," she said of
Reid's sex-factor remark.
Ceberano and stylist Daniel Manning created Purdy's
look.
The student admitted her head was spinning with the
attention.
"Everything is so surreal, I'm just walking around
going, 'Oh my God'.
"It was only last year I was sitting on the couch
watching Australian Idol and wishing I was doing something
like that," Purdy said.
The youngest of four children, Purdy has been inspired
by her oldest brother Liam, who is undergoing chemotherapy
for the auto-immune disease lupus.
"Seeing your brother suffer is one of the worst
things you can go through. He's so supportive and always
has been and this has totally lifted his spirits,"
she said.
Purdy said her family and boyfriend James, 17, helped
to keep her grounded.
No matter how far the student progressed on the show,
Ceberano saw a big future for Purdy.
"I really feel that this kid is going somewhere.
She's really one out of the box," Ceberano said.
Send in the clones
March 22, 2005
Why viewers are turning off copycat television programs.
David Dale reports.
Not long ago, John Stephens, formerly a programmer
with Channel Nine and now head of program strategy and
acquisitions for Channel Seven, had a feeling of deja
vu as he was looking through some proposals for new
dramas from the United States. He had found one called
Soccer Mums. "It's about what these women do all
day after they drop off their kids at school in their
four-wheel-drives," he recalls. "I thought,
'Oh yes, I wonder what could possibly have inspired
that'."
Seven is revelling in the success of Desperate Housewives,
which is unique on TV, even if it owes a little to Melrose
Place, Six Feet Under and Sex and the City. But as Stephens
knows, nothing on the box stays unique for long. Nearly
40 years of deja vu experiences tell him that Soccer
Mums is the first of many Housewives clones.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, Stephens
says. Copycatting is a time-honoured TV tradition. You
just have to be smarter in the way you do it these days.
"When I was a kid, Bonanza was on top and all
through the '60s there were four or five westerns living
happily together in the top 10 - shows like Maverick,
Rawhide, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, The Big Valley,"
Stephens recalls. "Then in the '70s, you had all
the Australian cop shows - Homicide first, then Division
4, Cop Shop, Matlock Police. In the '80s you had the
glossy soaps, Dallas and Dynasty, then Knots Landing,
Falcon Crest, The Colbys."
What's changed then is the attention span of viewers.
In those days, networks could get away with generating
blatant clones of hits for eight years or more. Now,
they're lucky if a fad lasts three years.
As Stephens puts it: "We're all scared of overcooking
the goose."
This decade, the gloss has already come off the reality
fad, which began with Big Brother and Survivor and fizzled
last year with The Resort and The Hothouse; and the
home-improvement fad, which peaked in 2002 when Backyard
Blitz, Renovation Rescue and Location Location attracted
audiences of 2 million, but was nailed into its coffin
at the beginning of this year when Nine's Renovate or
Detonate was pulled.
The police procedural fad built slowly but really took
off in 2003 when CSI: Miami joined CSI on Nine and Ten
was showing three versions of Law & Order. With
the market now saturated by Cold Case, Without a Trace,
CSI: NY and yet another Law & Order, the fad probably
has only another year or so left in it.
The talent quest fad that began with Popstars and peaked
last year with Australian Idol now seems to be in terminal
condition. StarStruck has been a disappointment for
Nine, failing to work in two timeslots, and The X Factor
has been drawing half a million fewer viewers than Idol
on its worst day.
As David Castran, director of the research firm Audience
Development Australia, puts it: "Viewers have become
more discerning and more impatient, and they have a
lot more choices outside of television. If you're a
programmer, you have to jump on the bus early, because
it's going to be a very short ride.
"Simple copycatting doesn't work any more. You
can't just say, 'Look, they've got a hit show. We need
one like that'. You have to identify the underlying
attitudinal need met by the original show and create
something different that satisfies the same demand."
David Mott, program director with Channel Ten, knows
exactly what Castran means. Asked if he would consider
doing a ballroom dancing show, since Seven and the ABC
are doing so well with that genre, Mott says: "I'm
not sure that format is right for our demographic. Dancing
with the Stars skews very old - over 55, in fact. But
maybe there's something we can take from it for our
audience [viewers under 40]. Obviously, there's curiosity
about celebrities doing different things. Celebrity
shows are big in England at the moment. I could see
some future for the fish-out-of-water idea."
But if Ten jumps on that bandwagon (as Nine did with
Celebrity Overhaul), it will need a very different vehicle.
"Our audience is quick to smell a rat," Mott
says. "They can spot a me-too show right away,
and they've got better things to do with their time."
So why did Ten risk overcooking the goose with The
X Factor, which looks alarmingly like Australian Idol?
"We were forced into that, to be honest,"
Mott says. "The format was on the market and someone
in Australia was going to buy The X Factor. We decided
we had to control it, or someone else would have put
it up against Idol."
Mott thinks Australian Idol has established an enduring
identity, but the wave of talent quests has broken.
"I don't think there's anywhere else to go with
that genre," he says.
Mott says a certain amount of copycatting is inevitable
in television because programming is a percentage game.
"For every three or four shows you put on, only
one will stick - and you can't tell in advance which
one that will be." When one network gets a breakout
hit, that gives the other networks information that
could increase their own odds of success - if they can
work fast enough and if they can make their clone different
enough to avoid viewer fatigue.
All the programmers agree that the next big fad will
be quirky thrillers. "I'm encouraged that the US
studios are now promising more scripted dramas, because
it had just become ridiculous with all the reality
shows," Mott says.
Ten and Nine envy the luck of Seven, which gained the
two biggest US hits of the moment through an ancient
deal with Buena Vista that had delivered nothing of
interest since the sitcom Home Improvement in the early
'90s.
The Australian networks say they don't have the budgets
to attempt local clones of Desperate Housewives and
Lost (the latter costs up to $5 million an episode).
They just hope that their US partners can generate imitations
fast enough to reach Australia before the market is
saturated.
But Castran says there is much to be learned about
"underlying needs" from the success of the
new US dramas. "When we talk to viewers, they say
they are disappointed with Australian dramas because
they can tell halfway through what the end is going
to be, while these American shows are full of twists
and surprises, and humour.
"To hold an audience, a show needs moments that
make you sit forward in your seat, moments that engage
you. That doesn't have to just be an opportunity to
send a text-message and throw out a contestant. They
can be classic dramatic moments.
"If the makers of Australian dramas took that
on board, it wouldn't be copycatting. It would be using
the inspiration of the new American dramas to recognise
the way television can keep the audience involved."
NEWS from X-Factor is that Mark Holden has been throwing
his weight around in a bid to protect his proteges Random.
Seems Holden was none too happy when wardrobe took
it upon themselves to dress the five-boy group in some
fancy suits for a catwalk-style promo.
A source on the show told us Holden was furious that
the boys had been dressed to "look like they were
going to church" and ordered them to go back to
the hotel and change into their signature street wear
clothes.
We hear there was even a little stand-off between Holden
and the show's director.
But marketing experts will tell you Holden was on the
ball with his thoughts because image branding and consistency
are everything in the music world.
