Kyle Sandilands' departure isn't the only major shake-up for Ten's flagship show. By Andrew Murfett.
THE mantra that all publicity is good publicity will be seriously tested on Sunday with the seventh-season premiere of Australian Idol.
The veteran reality series, which began in 2002, is undergoing its most dramatic programming and personnel changes, the latest of which is the dumping of judge Kyle Sandilands following last week's outcry over the incident on the Sydney radio show he co-hosts with Jackie O'Neil Henderson.
During its early, halcyon days, Idol was scheduled three nights a week on Channel Ten. But this year, the dreaded Monday-night results episode is gone and the series is reduced to a single, two-hour weekly event.
Tellingly, it is being programmed in the family-friendly 6.30pm Sunday slot.
The move is a calculated gamble aimed at rejuvenating what even several of the show's key players concede is a tired format. The show's ratings have been on the slide in the past three years. Last year, Idol averaged 1.16 million total capital-city viewers, down from 1.3 million in 2007 and 1.56 million in 2006.
It is among those aged 18 to 49, Ten's target market, where Idol's fortunes hinge most. The program's share last year dropped from 33.1 per cent to 29.5 per cent. Among 16 to 39s, it fell from 36 per cent to 31.9 per cent.
The show's prodigal son and flamboyant judge, Ian "Dicko" Dickson, who quit in 2004 but returned three years later, is blunt about its status.
"You look at the trajectory of the show and it's clearly plateaued," he says. "I don't know if we can develop, in a ratings sense, any further. When I moved to Australia, a successful show was 1.5 million-plus; now, it's a million-plus."
The Monday-night edition, in particular, struggled last year, regularly falling below the benchmark 1 million viewers nationally. At its lowest ebb, late in the season on October 13 last year, it recorded an alarming 783,000 viewers.
"It did need to be tweaked," Dickson admits. "It's bizarre, really. We were considered upstarts seven years ago but now, it's almost like we're establishment television. We're suddenly at the more conservative end of the television market."
If the change of format was not enough of a gamble, the impact of Sandilands' sacking is unknown. The former judge will appear in the three audition episodes, which were filmed in May and June, but nothing recorded after this week. Ten is already hunting a "fresh new talent" to replace him.
The vitriol directed at Sandilands through blogs, forums, talkback radio and letters to the editor undoubtedly forced the network's hand and Ten believes it has made the right move.
Nevertheless, there was plenty of internal agonising over the decision, prompted by Sandilands' influential position as co-host of Sydney's highest-rating FM breakfast show. When contacted by Green Guide late last week, Sandilands was unrepentant. "People watch Idol for the singers, not picking and choosing judges," he said.
THE mantra that all publicity is good publicity will be seriously tested on Sunday with the seventh-season premiere of Australian Idol.The veteran reality series, which began in 2002, is undergoing its most dramatic programming and personnel changes, the latest of which is the dumping of judge Kyle Sandilands following last week's outcry over the incident on the Sydney radio show he co-hosts with Jackie O'Neil Henderson.
During its early, halcyon days, Idol was scheduled three nights a week on Channel Ten. But this year, the dreaded Monday-night results episode is gone and the series is reduced to a single, two-hour weekly event.
Tellingly, it is being programmed in the family-friendly 6.30pm Sunday slot.
The move is a calculated gamble aimed at rejuvenating what even several of the show's key players concede is a tired format. The show's ratings have been on the slide in the past three years. Last year, Idol averaged 1.16 million total capital-city viewers, down from 1.3 million in 2007 and 1.56 million in 2006.
It is among those aged 18 to 49, Ten's target market, where Idol's fortunes hinge most. The program's share last year dropped from 33.1 per cent to 29.5 per cent. Among 16 to 39s, it fell from 36 per cent to 31.9 per cent.
The show's prodigal son and flamboyant judge, Ian "Dicko" Dickson, who quit in 2004 but returned three years later, is blunt about its status.
"You look at the trajectory of the show and it's clearly plateaued," he says. "I don't know if we can develop, in a ratings sense, any further. When I moved to Australia, a successful show was 1.5 million-plus; now, it's a million-plus."
The Monday-night edition, in particular, struggled last year, regularly falling below the benchmark 1 million viewers nationally. At its lowest ebb, late in the season on October 13 last year, it recorded an alarming 783,000 viewers.
"It did need to be tweaked," Dickson admits. "It's bizarre, really. We were considered upstarts seven years ago but now, it's almost like we're establishment television. We're suddenly at the more conservative end of the television market."If the change of format was not enough of a gamble, the impact of Sandilands' sacking is unknown. The former judge will appear in the three audition episodes, which were filmed in May and June, but nothing recorded after this week. Ten is already hunting a "fresh new talent" to replace him.
The vitriol directed at Sandilands through blogs, forums, talkback radio and letters to the editor undoubtedly forced the network's hand and Ten believes it has made the right move.
Nevertheless, there was plenty of internal agonising over the decision, prompted by Sandilands' influential position as co-host of Sydney's highest-rating FM breakfast show. When contacted by Green Guide late last week, Sandilands was unrepentant. "People watch Idol for the singers, not picking and choosing judges," he said.
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