Television

Will Moonface survive his Sunset timeslot?   Author: eNews staff and agencies | Feb 24, 2006, 10:23

How big are your ratings, Bert?

Ok. Nine staffers know it, so do their counterparts at Ten, Seven, the ABC and throughout adland.

It's the talking point that no one is willing to raise publicly.

So here goes. Bert Newton's Family Feud is a walking stiff: dead, but Nine won't or can’t kill it off.

If there was anything that confirmed its passing it was last night, audience average, 431,000, the lowest since debuting at the start of last week when rating kicked off.

Last night's level was half the 869,000 average for Deal or No Deal on Seven at 5.30 pm. Ten news beat Bert, as did Seven’s Wheel of Fortune at 5 pm with 490,000 people.

Now Nine people say Bert is being held back by being shown in Brisbane at 5 pm because of Brisbane Extra at 5.30 pm. Brisbane Extra is being done by Deal or No Deal and there's a move to get it cut or flicked and put Bert into 5.30 pm.

But one reason why Nine News still whips Seven News in Brisbane is the solid lead-in given by Extra.

Deal or No Deal's bigger audiences in Brisbane have helped Seven, Extra is helping Nine. Bert won't because the show is dead and viewers know it. Nine had the chance to make the change at the start of ratings and it didn't for good reason.

Melbourne though is where the other problem has quickly emerged.

Seven News has caught and is in the process of passing the one mighty Nine News.

Seven has won three nights in a row this week and will win the week for the second week in a row.

It's what happened in Sydney in late 2004.

The hacking and slashing at Nine in Melbourne last year has taken its toll on morale and the willingness of people to go the hard yards, even with Eddie McGuire in the chair in Sydney.

Temptation is another Melbourne based show (like Bert's Feud) to under-perform: 920,000 Thursday night. It still hasn't reached the million viewer mark yet this year.

Dangerous times for Nine and this profits before ratings approach coming from Park Street.

What happens if there are poor ratings and no profits what do you do then? Can the show?

Well, Bert’s Family Feud is the test. It’s time to put up or shut up JP and JA!

But killing it off is the easy part. What do you do to fill the gap is the hard stuff that Park Street delegates quickly to others.

The replacement costs money and new capital and there's only the expectation that it will do well and generate profits.

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