Channel Seven axes popular TV shows despite massive ratings
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In a move that has shocked TV fans, Channel Seven has announced it will be axing some of its highest-rating shows in 2024.
The cancellations include the family favourite This Is Your Life, reality competitions Australia's Got Talent and Million Dollar Island, and satirical comedies Blow Up and We Interrupt This Broadcast.
The cancellation of This Is Your Life—which takes viewers on heartwarming trips down memory lane with Aussie celebrities—is particularly surprising, considering it was still performing exceptionally well in terms of viewership.
In particular, the episode focusing on Home and Away's Ray Meagher attracted a decent 595,000 viewers, while Rebecca Gibney pulled in 581,000 viewers. Its Tina Arena special was watched by 532,000.
During the episode, Melissa Doyle surprised Tina at the Australian Women in Music Awards held at the Tivoli Theatre in Brisbane, where Tina was the main guest of honour.
This episode even outperformed Seven's long-running soap opera, Home and Away, which had been doing well leading up to its season finale, drawing an audience of 447,000 in five major cities.
The episode focused on the life of the usually private star and featured appearances from special guests like Darren Hayes, Kate Miller-Heidke, Melissa George, Natalie Imbruglia, Ian 'Molly' Meldrum, Mary Coustas, Manu Feildel, and Matt Corby.
The show took viewers back to the beginnings of Tina Arena's career as 'Tiny Tina Arena' and included a heartfelt reunion of the cast of Young Talent Time, with Johnny Young and John Bowles.
It also featured touching stories and anecdotes from globally renowned theatre figures Sir Tim Rice and Anthony Lloyd Webber, as well as opera superstar Andrea Bocelli.
This news follows after it was reported that Channel Seven is bringing back a controversial X-rated show called Big Brother Uncut after it had been off the air for 17 years.
This show will be part of Channel Seven's lineup for the 2023/24 season, alongside a new season of the regular Big Brother.
The premiere is scheduled for November, as Seven revealed during its Upfronts event in Sydney. Sonia Kruger will host the show, and it will be available for streaming on their digital platform, 7plus.
The return of Uncut is quite unexpected because the show stirred up quite a bit of controversy during its initial run.
From 2001 to 2006, when it aired on Channel 10, Uncut—which later rebranded as Adults Only for its final season—featured explicit content, including scenes of housemates showering in the nude, engaging in intimate activities, and discussing sexual topics.
This content was clearly not suitable for early evening TV, so it was broadcast late at night, after 9:30 p.m.
Network Ten discontinued the program in June 2006, citing the mounting backlash as the reason. In the aftermath, the future of the regular Big Brother series was also in jeopardy when two male housemates were accused of sexually assaulting a female housemate.
She chose not to press charges, but the outrage over the incident was so intense that even then-Australian Prime Minister John Howard demanded that Ten cancel the show.
Members, how do you feel about these cancellations? Will you miss any of the shows being axed? Let us know in the comments below!
The cancellations include the family favourite This Is Your Life, reality competitions Australia's Got Talent and Million Dollar Island, and satirical comedies Blow Up and We Interrupt This Broadcast.
The cancellation of This Is Your Life—which takes viewers on heartwarming trips down memory lane with Aussie celebrities—is particularly surprising, considering it was still performing exceptionally well in terms of viewership.
In particular, the episode focusing on Home and Away's Ray Meagher attracted a decent 595,000 viewers, while Rebecca Gibney pulled in 581,000 viewers. Its Tina Arena special was watched by 532,000.
During the episode, Melissa Doyle surprised Tina at the Australian Women in Music Awards held at the Tivoli Theatre in Brisbane, where Tina was the main guest of honour.
This episode even outperformed Seven's long-running soap opera, Home and Away, which had been doing well leading up to its season finale, drawing an audience of 447,000 in five major cities.
The episode focused on the life of the usually private star and featured appearances from special guests like Darren Hayes, Kate Miller-Heidke, Melissa George, Natalie Imbruglia, Ian 'Molly' Meldrum, Mary Coustas, Manu Feildel, and Matt Corby.
The show took viewers back to the beginnings of Tina Arena's career as 'Tiny Tina Arena' and included a heartfelt reunion of the cast of Young Talent Time, with Johnny Young and John Bowles.
It also featured touching stories and anecdotes from globally renowned theatre figures Sir Tim Rice and Anthony Lloyd Webber, as well as opera superstar Andrea Bocelli.
This news follows after it was reported that Channel Seven is bringing back a controversial X-rated show called Big Brother Uncut after it had been off the air for 17 years.
This show will be part of Channel Seven's lineup for the 2023/24 season, alongside a new season of the regular Big Brother.
The premiere is scheduled for November, as Seven revealed during its Upfronts event in Sydney. Sonia Kruger will host the show, and it will be available for streaming on their digital platform, 7plus.
The return of Uncut is quite unexpected because the show stirred up quite a bit of controversy during its initial run.
From 2001 to 2006, when it aired on Channel 10, Uncut—which later rebranded as Adults Only for its final season—featured explicit content, including scenes of housemates showering in the nude, engaging in intimate activities, and discussing sexual topics.
This content was clearly not suitable for early evening TV, so it was broadcast late at night, after 9:30 p.m.
Network Ten discontinued the program in June 2006, citing the mounting backlash as the reason. In the aftermath, the future of the regular Big Brother series was also in jeopardy when two male housemates were accused of sexually assaulting a female housemate.
She chose not to press charges, but the outrage over the incident was so intense that even then-Australian Prime Minister John Howard demanded that Ten cancel the show.
Key Takeaways
- Channel Seven has reportedly decided to discontinue some of its major shows in 2024, including This is Your Life, despite its strong ratings.
- The reality shows Australia's Got Talent and Million Dollar Island will also be axed. The current programs Blow Up and We Interrupt This Broadcast are also reportedly set to end in 2024.
- This is Your Life garnered decent ratings, with an episode featuring Tina Arena attracting about 532,000 metro viewers.
- The announcement follows reports of Channel Seven bringing back a controversial show that had been off the air for 17 years.
Members, how do you feel about these cancellations? Will you miss any of the shows being axed? Let us know in the comments below!