Channel Seven And Nine Call Truce In Copycat Show Debacle

Channel Seven And Nine Call Truce In Copycat Show Debacle
B&T Magazine
By B&T Magazine



Channel Seven and Channel Nine heads of programming Angus Ross (Seven) and Andrew Backwell (Nine) have called a cease-fire over the rival network’s copycat TV show war.

Ross and Backwell have promised viewers the networks won’t be bickering in 2016, instead they will focus on the rise of Netflix, Stan and other streaming services.

This year, Seven lodged a case against Nine and its new reality cooking show The Hotplate, claiming the show was a rip-off of Seven’s My Kitchen Rules. The networks went to court this week where Seven argued to have The Hotplate taken off-air.

The list of copycat TV shows includes: Nine Reno Rumble, from the makers of Nine’s The Block was created as a rival to Seven’s House Rules. In 2014, Seven launched talent show The X Factor against Nine’s Australia’s Got Talent. Back in 2009, Seven launched current affairs show Sunday Night to battle against Nine’s 60 Minutes. 

Ross and Backwell told a News Corp publication that the battle must stop: “I don’t think the genre matching that has occurred this year has helped anyone — it has been a disappointing year,” Ross said.

“As a programmer you want to offer alternatives and that was always the intention this year. It didn’t work out that way. They (Nine) rolled out Reno Rumble (against House Rules) and that is when the genre matching began — and the rest is history.

“I’m not going to do it again.”

“We have to get to a situation as an industry where we stop fighting each other,” Backwell said.

“Seven and Nine are not enemies. Our main challenge is to stop the audience fragmentation. We should make free to air TV the best product possible so we stop viewers drifting to pay TV, online and to the streaming services.

“While I’m not suggesting we should collaborate, we should not constantly work against each other. This constant head-to-head programming is damaging for all the networks. There are no winners out of it. I’d like to see it over.

“We certainly have plans next year to avoid this situation, and in the end, the viewers will be the big winners.”




Please login with linkedin to comment

Failure Fast Ed Gen Ys sgk

Latest News

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
  • Media

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm

Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
  • Advertising

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth

The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA  Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]