In Tuesday’s Mediaweek Morning Report (29 July 2014), Editor and Publisher James Manning wrote the following about Network Ten’s overnight ratings performance:
“If you’d just arrived in the country today and read about Network Ten’s 20% share of the ad market and then looked at last night’s ratings you’d be puzzled. Thanks to the end of MasterChef 2014 the channel had a winning 25.7% metro network share and a combined channel share of 35.2%.”
It is perfect timing then that Ten is celebrating its 50th birthday this week given that it has had one of its best network ratings share (i.e. across its three channels) in recent memory. This is primarily thanks to the Masterchef finale on Ten and early evening Commonwealth Games action on ONE. Also, the newly launched Family Feud has been a good lead-in for the Project.
Network Ten is celebrating its 50 years of broadcasting with a 50 Years Young TV special to be broadcast on Ten on Sunday August 3 at 6:30pm (a shout out goes to TV Tonight’s David Knox for seemingly convincing Ten to move the special from a Friday night slot to Sunday night primetime – read more here). The TV special will be hosted by the Project’s Carrie Bickmore and Peter Helliar.
In the lead up to the special, tenplay has been asking viewers to vote on their favourite home-grown Ten shows, with the likes of Number 96, Neighbours, Offspring, Rove Live and Kennedy Miller Mitchell classics such as Bangkok Hilton, Vietnam, Bodyline and The Dismissal in contention to be the favourite Ten show of the past 50 years. The number one show will be revealed during the TV special.
The TV special will also include a galaxy of television stars, including Rove McManus, Bert Newton, Dr Chris Brown, Sandra Sully, Johnny Young, Chrissie Swann, Denise Drysdale, Claudia Karvan, Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald, Samuel Johnson, Osher Gunsberg, Jennifer Hansen, Jo Stanley, Steve Vizard, Dave Hughes, Bruce Mansfield, Terence Donovan, Ian “Dicko” Dickson, Toni Pearen, Ed Phillips, the cast of Neighbours and many more.
While Ten may have struggled in recent years, over its history it has broadcast some of the most memorable shows and set the trend for other commercial networks (think stripped reality shows like Big Brother and Masterchef).
Make sure you tune into Ten on Sunday night at 6:30pm to celebrate 50 years of Network Ten.
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