Game show repeats, Breakfast shows running overtime, “Coming Up” stories that never appear -here’s how networks employ all manner of tactics to keep you watching.
Networks have become expert at making the most of a challenging situation, in tactical ways designed to keep you watching, or stretch their dollars further.
Here are a few examples of the way programming, production and publicity make a little go a very long way…
Game Shows on repeat
Deal or No Deal runs new episodes on Mondays and Tuesdays, but from Wednesday onwards it is in repeat territory. Tipping Point runs repeat episodes on Fridays.
Big winners on Mondays
Game shows also like to schedule big giveaways early in the week, presumably to keep you watching for the rest of the week.
The Winner Announced
This has been an old ratings trick, separating an audience number for Winner Announced from a Reality TV grand final. Why? It’s usually higher so it sounds smashing in PR. Thankfully it is largely a thing of the past now.
Split ratings numbers
It’s one thing to run two or three episodes back to back and issue separate numbers for each. But it’s another altogether to divide one show into multiple numbers just to try and lift them. There’s less occurrence of this lately but SBS World News still splits a one hour broadcast into two figures. It still happens in morning TV too.
Ratings roadblocks
In recent years networks have been complicit in launching shows with a “roadblock” -the same programming across primary and multiple channels. This allows for a higher Total TV figure. Australian Survivor, Deal or No Deal, Family Feud, and even Reckless across SBS / NITV have all resorted to this one.
Sunrise / Today overruns
According to the EPG both Sunrise and Today are due to wrap at 9am, but it never happens, running overtime to as late as 9:14. That’s despite ACMA expecting accuracy in EPGs. A higher rating show, such as Sunrise or Today, spills audience numbers into the next show, which just happens to be full of advertorials. A Today spokesperson said, “As a live news and current affairs program, Today is inherently dynamic and responsive to the unfolding news cycle.” Seriously? Meanwhile Sunrise’s Natalie Barr suggested “I think it’s just a habit. ….we talk too much.” Yeah, nah.
ACA: “Coming Up”
This is a long-standing one. At about the 25 minute mark of A Current Affair Ally Langdon will tease a “Coming Up” story. But after a commercial break it’s only just a promo for the next night. Even Tracy Grimshaw was uncomfortable with this deception admitting if she was at home she’d probably “throw something at the telly.”
Pre-recorded news updates
News updates are not always Live but often recorded a few minutes in advance. Sometimes a nighttime news update has been filmed when the anchor was at the desk at 7pm. One network was once caught out when its update failed to include changes that had happened in the intervening time, explaining that the anchor went home some hours earlier. All hell broke loose in the publicity dept over that admission.
Multiple endings
Pre-recorded reality contests such as The Voice and MasterChef Australia film fake endings either because they want to avoid leaks, or add audience voting later. In most cases the first one filmed turns out to be the genuine winner, because you get a more “natural” reaction then the poor bugger faking smiles by the fourth take.
Hunted HQ
The team from Hunted may be locked onto working computers, but it’s in a studio set, not the supposed Collins St tower seen in the show. Just like a Zumbo’s Just Desserts exterior was Walka Water Works in Maitland and the studio was in Sydney.
Hunted’s mismatching Drone Shots
When contestants were on the run in Hunted, drone shots of Melbourne and Victoria were wildly exaggerated. There’s nowhere in Beechworth that you can see the Mt Dandenong TV Towers with the naked eye. And looking to the city from West Footscray puts the bay on right of frame, not left as suggested. Despite the network calling them accurate viewers called bullshit on social media.
Shark Tank’s lift
Not a lift.
Masked Singer microphones
Those headset mics on costumes for Orcas, Crash Test Dummys and Snow Foxes are just that. Costume. They ain’t picking up any vocal from the celebrity inside the costume.
Farmer fake farms
Not every farm seen on Farmer Wants a Wife belongs to the single farmer in question. Production attributed those changes to travel restrictions during the worst of the pandemic. But it helps the ones they used looked a whole lot more photogenic, right?
Secrets of SBS
SBS often retitles international shows as a way of giving them better local awareness in the EPG. But they just love to add the word “Secrets” to almost anything. The Secret Life of Death, Every Family Has a Secret, The Secret Life Of Princess Margaret, Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle, Secret Life of the Cruise Ship, Secrets of McDonalds: 50 Years of the Big Mac, Secrets of the Chocolate Factory: Inside Cadbury… Says SBS: “…it’s an alluring, provocative word that from our audience perspective creates this sense of ‘What is going on here? Am I going to learn something that I don’t know, is it something I can tell my friends?’”
Live news crosses for no apparent reason
If a road crash happened during the day, there’s a good chance you may see a news reporter on the scene in the 6pm bulletin in a Live cross. If only they had cameras there at the time.
NZ drama
New Zealand Dramas qualify as Australian content under the Free Trade Agreement, which is why you’ve particularly seen Rachel Griffiths in Madam and Rebecca Gibney in A Remarkable Place to Die on Nine. Acquisitions are way cheaper than commissioning local drama even if they do attract lower points.
“A spokesperson said”
Networks are often reluctant to put an actual name to a quote in a press release, and in this age of social media bullying who can blame them?
Shows announced, but never axings
Upfronts season invariably includes show announcements which just never eventuate. This one sits up there with networks saying “no decision” has been made on a show returning or axed. Similarly, streamers send out press releases for US shows that have been renewed…. they just don’t communicate when a show has also been axed.
Gogglebox reviews
Everyone in TV loves a getting a Gogglebox review. So much so they will hand over episodes to producers ahead of broadcast, just to get it in the show that week.
Postcards revisit favourite locations
Presenters going back to their favourite locations might be a chance to discover new things, or show what’s changed since last they visited. But that’s not possible when it’s actually just rerun stories.
Emmy winners
Over the years some broadcasters have congratulated Emmy winners following award ceremonies. Never mind they didn’t actually commission the shows.
Not so Live from the Red Carpet
7Bravo screens Live from the Red Carpet shows about 3 hours after the Live awards show wrapped on another broadcaster. Who’s your tip to win?
“Highly anticipated”
One of the most over-used phrases in industry press releases, always applied to an upcoming TV show. But other than the marketing department who is it really anticipated by?
Top 10s and Streaming Minutes
Streaming platforms, always reluctant to reveal actual viewer numbers often resort to saying a show was in their “Top 10” for the week / month. Or instead of disclosing average audiences like Free to Air does, they bamboozle us with “minutes streamed.” What does that even mean?
Live versus As Live
Is Live TV actually Live? Mostly, but not always. “As Live” refers to a pre-recorded show which tends to run without stopping or retakes and seeks a live “feel.” Sam Pang Tonight will film “As Live” so the studio audience has a consistent starting time and can be ticketed accordingly, given the broadcast time is a little flexible.
Teasers, Trailers and dripfeeding cast announcements
In 2025 getting your message out is an artform, or rather, a war-like campaign. You can manipulate multiple press stories if you’re super strategic. Your new show is coming up in three months time? First comes a sneak peek image, then a teaser video, then a trailer video. It’s the same info just cut up different ways. Some special events also love to drip feed a new cast name to media every week to generate more coverage. It’s marketing by stealth.
Total TV is premiere + repeats
This one isn’t a trick, given it’s allowed by OzTAM. When a network press release refers to the Total TV audience for any given show, it’s allowed to include the premiere, all the repeats and the BVOD numbers.