After the premiere, the new, so-called super-Sunday Idol will each week begin with a major production number, before immediately revealing which cast members are in jeopardy of leaving. After the first break, a contestant will depart. The show will then return to its regular performer mode, with one major caveat: voting lines will now be open immediately, instead of after the show as in previous years.
Asked whether the Monday show was axed due to a lack of content, Tate bristles.
"It's not true. Monday sometimes even outrates Sunday," he says. "It's never been a struggle to fill it. We just felt it was time for a change. Everybody singing after the elimination has the reminder of what's at stake. These new super-Sunday shows are two hours long. While we are combining them on one night, it's not a significant reduction of our production in content."
Ironically, last week Sandilands was the most candid Idol team member regarding the Monday-night slots.
"We've never been big fans of the Monday," he said. "It was all padded out. It was really 10 minutes' worth of business to be taken care of that had to be stretched out over an hour. The Monday show does rate pretty well compared with some of the other stuff that's on TV. But we're happy it's all taken care of in one big super show, to tell you the truth."
With The Biggest Loser and MasterChef, Idol is one of Ten's flagship productions. Although expensive, its ability to generate revenue is traditionally built around a core group of six sponsors that fund the production for the year.
Eyebrows were raised in the advertising world earlier in the year when McDonald's, a sponsor from season one, dropped out. This came after Telstra and Procter & Gamble dropped out last year. Tate maintains the franchise has still secured a full complement of sponsors.
"There's been a lot of movement and incumbent sponsors haven't had the ability to return but their places have been taken very quickly," he says.
Helping Idol, too, is the blockbuster success of MasterChef. Tate declares that Ten is a significantly different place to work, thanks to it and Talkin' 'bout your Generation's prosperity. Remember that this time last year, Idol was being promoted via the flatlining final season of Big Brother.
The network has been galvanised by the public reaction to this year's promotional spots for Idol, which feature the contestants dressing as performers such as Prince and Michael Jackson. So positive has been the response, the contestants have recorded a full-length version of the song, Emotions, for commercial release. "We're a very different network now," Tate says. "MasterChef was an incredibly well-crafted program that struck a chord because everybody could identify with it. Our promos are reaching far more people."
Dickson, who is hoping to translate his improving ratings on Vega 91.5 FM to Idol, says the production cannot take MasterChef's success for granted.
"We're nervous we don't become too generic," he says. "Yes, it's such a well-oiled process, you've seen it before. But the thing is, you haven't seen the contestants."
Series seven of Australian Idol began last night on Channel Ten.
Asked whether the Monday show was axed due to a lack of content, Tate bristles."It's not true. Monday sometimes even outrates Sunday," he says. "It's never been a struggle to fill it. We just felt it was time for a change. Everybody singing after the elimination has the reminder of what's at stake. These new super-Sunday shows are two hours long. While we are combining them on one night, it's not a significant reduction of our production in content."
Ironically, last week Sandilands was the most candid Idol team member regarding the Monday-night slots.
"We've never been big fans of the Monday," he said. "It was all padded out. It was really 10 minutes' worth of business to be taken care of that had to be stretched out over an hour. The Monday show does rate pretty well compared with some of the other stuff that's on TV. But we're happy it's all taken care of in one big super show, to tell you the truth."
With The Biggest Loser and MasterChef, Idol is one of Ten's flagship productions. Although expensive, its ability to generate revenue is traditionally built around a core group of six sponsors that fund the production for the year.
Eyebrows were raised in the advertising world earlier in the year when McDonald's, a sponsor from season one, dropped out. This came after Telstra and Procter & Gamble dropped out last year. Tate maintains the franchise has still secured a full complement of sponsors.
"There's been a lot of movement and incumbent sponsors haven't had the ability to return but their places have been taken very quickly," he says.Helping Idol, too, is the blockbuster success of MasterChef. Tate declares that Ten is a significantly different place to work, thanks to it and Talkin' 'bout your Generation's prosperity. Remember that this time last year, Idol was being promoted via the flatlining final season of Big Brother.
The network has been galvanised by the public reaction to this year's promotional spots for Idol, which feature the contestants dressing as performers such as Prince and Michael Jackson. So positive has been the response, the contestants have recorded a full-length version of the song, Emotions, for commercial release. "We're a very different network now," Tate says. "MasterChef was an incredibly well-crafted program that struck a chord because everybody could identify with it. Our promos are reaching far more people."
Dickson, who is hoping to translate his improving ratings on Vega 91.5 FM to Idol, says the production cannot take MasterChef's success for granted.
"We're nervous we don't become too generic," he says. "Yes, it's such a well-oiled process, you've seen it before. But the thing is, you haven't seen the contestants."
Series seven of Australian Idol began last night on Channel Ten.
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