Home and Away won't screen during the Olympics (in Australia)
This is more for Australian Forum members, but below is a general article in the Daily Telegraph yesterday regarding TV programming during the Olympics. However it mentions that Channel 7 is devoting all of it's channels, except 7Flix, to wall-to-wall coverage of the games, meaning Home and Away etc won't screen between August 6 and 22 (in Australia).
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ent...242a887b8ff497
"Rio Olympics 2016: What to watch on Foxtel, Netflix, free to air if you don’t love your wall-to-wall sport"
FOXTEL, streaming services and the digital channels could be the big winners during the Rio Olympics as viewers look for alternatives to wall-to-wall sport.
The reality show juggernauts will be off air and the commercial channels have few big premieres scheduled, but media analyst Nathan Cook predicts 60 per cent of the nightly audience will still be up for grabs.
While the 900 hours of Olympic coverage will dominate, the time difference with Rio means major events won’t screen in prime time.
“This year they won’t have live content (in prime time), whereas with Beijing and London there was a lot of new and compelling content,” said Cook, trading director at Maxus. “When you have a lack of premium content people will probably go hunting around.”
Rio is the first Olympics where the networks have faced competition from on demand video services. Presto is fast-tracking new episodes of Mr Robot and Aquarius.
“We believe audiences will be turning to streaming services for alternative viewing options during the Olympics period,” said spokesman Michael Morcos.
Netflix is releasing Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down and Winona Ryder’s Stranger Things. During the 2012 Olympics Netflix’s audience numbers actually increased in the US.
Foxtel is screening buzzy new HBO miniseries The Night Of, Outcast, Hell on Wheels, The Recruit, The Musketeers and plenty more.
While viewers face more limited choices on free to air networks during August, it won’t be the programming black hole of some Olympics. Seven is devoting all of its channels, except 7Flix, to wall to wall coverage meaning favourites including Home and Away, Winners and Losers and Sunday Night won’t screen between August 6 and August 22.
The reality show franchises that dominate viewing have either finished or will wind up soon: the House Rules finale was on Sunday, The Voice finishes this Sunday and the 2016 MasterChef winner will be crowned in late July.
Rake’s final episode is tonight and neither Offspring or Love Child is expected to screen during the Games.
But a resurgent Ten said it was determined to take the fight to Seven and will keep many of its popular shows on air in first run episodes.
“Australians love sport, but we think it’s important to give them an alternative in the form of first-run Australian content, plus first-run movies and some of our most popular US series,”
said Beverley McGarvey, Chief Programming Officer, Network Ten.
The Great Australian Spelling Bee’s Facebook page confirms it will return on July 17. The Bachelor Australia is being heavily promoted but Ten won’t confirm if it will go up against the Olympics. But does it make sense to advertise The Bachelor now as “coming soon” if they’re not going to screen it until the end of August?
Gruen is tipped to return on the ABC along with new seasons of niche comedies Soul Brothers and The Katering Show. SBS is running a season of documentaries, dramas and movies around the theme ‘Making History’
Nine said its yet to finalise its line up. It will launch a new season of The Block afterwards, with contestants renovating a former soap factory in Port Melbourne, “the most challenging building our contestants have ever faced.”
Media analyst Steve Allen from Fusion Strategy said the Games will dominate and suck up 70 of ad revenue, but the competing networks are not “running dead” this time. “The networks have thought this out pretty carefully and they’re being cautiously optimistic, but they’re not gambling with a full schedule of their best properties,” he said. Allen said streaming services and Foxtel could fill the gap.
The commercial networks will launch a raft of big shows after the Olympics, with Seven expected to have the advantage.
“The Olympics is the best program launch platform on Earth,” said Seven’s Director of Network Programming, Angus Ross pointing to the success of Packed to the Rafters in 2008 and Dancing with the Stars in 2004.
“We’re really excited about introducing the audience to Zumbo’s Just Desserts, The Big Music Quiz, The Durrells, Selling Houses Australia and The Secret Daughter.”
800 Words and The X-Factor will also return.
