Americanized English

Saturday 2 May 2009
Anyone lamenting the inevitable Americanization of Australian culture can always take heart in the British hegemony going on with Saturday night television. New Tricks, Billy Connolly, The Bill, The Vicar of Dibley - these are the most popular things to watch on Saturday night.

Of course in the background is a much more ominous sign of Americanization - the low viewer numbers, the low turnout on the commercial nets indicates a fragmented audience doing something other than watching broadcast television.

I would love to see the Foxtel viewer numbers on Fridays and Saturdays, When you take out all the people going out on Saturday nights that still leaves a lot of people who are turning to cable, DVDs, Video Games and the internet for entertaining alternatives to a pretty lacklustre television lineup.

It could be worse - Satuday 13 December 2008

How many times has The Santa Clause been rerun now? I’ve lost count – it used to be every Christmas Seven would haul out that extra-long Dudley Moore movie where he plays an elf, well now Tim Allen is their go-to guy with this movie continuing to rake in the punters time after time.

Given the Seven has a deal with Disney I expect them to have the most clout over the holiday season.

With The Bill keeping all the elderly glued to ABC1, it’s like no-one else showed up to the party.

McLeod’s Daughters is having a horror run on it’s way out the door. This brings up the question, why on earth did Nine loudly announce in 2007 that the 2008 season would be McLeod’s last? I can see announcing that sort of thing mid-way through a season, but before the next one – it’s just madness – what they’ve done is given hordes of the show’s fans an excuse to kick the habit and they kicked the remaining fans in the teeth by their inane scheduling, kudos Nine for fucking up what was once an excellent performer.

Of course it could be worse, just look at Canal Road…

Kicking and Screaming but no-one's paying attention - Saturday 8 November 2008

Well, another Saturday another viewing low. This time all and sundry found themselves just about trounced by the ABC.

Ten would have been kicking and screaming that nothing they try in these movie slots seems to work, although their Saturday viewership is marginally better than their Friday figures - that's two consecutive night's where vieweing levels sit below 700,000. While Seven and Nine attracted the kids in the 6.30 - 8.30 period, the ABC kept the old school enthralled with The Bill a British cop show which has been around since colonial times.

I have included some Sydney & Melbourne Charts for comparison seeing that Nine again split their schedule for the Rugby League World Cup - a competition that is proving less than attractive for viewers in the heartland of League.