With an average audience of 524,000 DANCING WITH THE STARS didn’t exactly set the world on fire for Channel 10 in 2019, but it turned out to be the most successful new show for the network in the first quarter of the ratings year and now Channel 10 has renewed the Amanda Keller and Grant Denyer series.
2019 was meant to be 10’s shining year but the network has been relegated to fourth place behind the ABC after a string of flops. Sunday Night Takeaway and Changing Rooms were two of the biggest disappointments for the network (Changing Rooms was eventually bumped from the schedule and Sunday Night Takeaway is rumoured to have finished its run early), but DWTS offered some hope despite small numbers compared to other networks.
In fact most weeks Dancing With The Stars was beaten by Channel 7’s afternoon offering The Chase.
But when everything else is doing so bad, success takes on a different meaning.
The Herald Sun’s TV writer Colin Vickery recently asked on Twitter whether 10 would renew Dancing. My response was simple:
“I think it’s a given… it’s rated better than everything else they’ve thrown against the wall in Q1”
I think it's a given… it's rated better than everything else they've thrown against the wall in Q1
— Robert McKnight (@rob_mcknight) April 16, 2019
Despite the ratings, DWTS was a critical success. Warner Bros produced the series for BBC Studios and did a spectacular job. In fact there has been widespread praise for the production values of the series which was ultimately won by Samuel Johnson.
Now the team behind the scenes have been told to look for a new batch of celebrities as they work towards a Q1 launch in 2020.
Of course, Gogglebox was the highest rating show on the network in Q1, but that wasn’t a new launch.
It’s doubtful many shows from Q1, if any, will be renewed by the network, but here is the list of all shows currently waiting to find out their fate (my thoughts in brackets);
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The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds (possibly)
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Game of Games (dead)
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Blind Date (dead)
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Show Me the Movie (possibly)
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Chris & Julia’s Sunday Night Takeaway (dead)
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Bachelor in Paradise (likely)
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Hughesy, We Have a Problem (definitely)
*Additional reporting by Aaron Ryan & Kevin Perry
Co-Creator and Editor of the TV Blackbox website, Robert McKnight is highly regarded Australian Television Producer, he has worked at SEVEN, NINE and TEN, and is most well-known for creating and producing STUDIO 10. Currently Rob is the host and producer of the TV Blackbox, McKnight Tonight and Monsters Who Murder podcasts.
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