Channel 10 declares war on critics

Australia’s 3rd ranked commercial network is setting its sights on anyone who dares question its performance – and media writers have had enough.

For some time now channel 10 has been developing a reputation as having a glass jaw. Writers for various publications who cover media will often joke about being in ten’s bad books “again” and how they will punish those who criticise.

As a media writer for one of Australia’s biggest news websites told me:

“What you’ve heard is true: they freeze people out for doing stories they don’t like. They won’t reply to emails or even send press releases. They block you from the screening room.”

It’s a move designed to intimidate writers who want access to stories, talent for interviews and previews of TV shows.

The people who TV Blackbox spoke to did so on strict condition of anonymity over fears of retribution.

One of those, a veteran media writer for a major paper, didn’t hold back:

“10 is quite malicious

But this person’s criticism is not levelled at 10’s PR team, who are quite good to deal with, it’s the executives above them:

“(they have) a very thin skin. They can dish it out but can’t take it”

Unfortunately for 10 this tactic only serves to draw further criticism because those writers feel they have nothing to lose.

As a well-known reporter tells me:

“They fail to understand the basic principals – if they keep you in the tent they have some level of control, once they kick you out all bets are off.”

You might think it’s fair enough for 10 to cut off access, but this is a network that is struggling to find its place in a cluttered market and needs positive stories.

As the writer for a major news website says:

“You move on and get over it. There are some amazing TV publicists out there who get how digital media works; I love working with them.”

That means those publicists are more likely to get good angles around their products while the negative stories keep rolling in regarding 10.

All’s fair in love and war, I guess.

So juvenile and unprofessional, that network needs new leadership.

— Mibenge Nsenduluka (@MibengeNsendul1) July 25, 2021

That’s not to say Seven and Nine don’t yell and scream if they believe you have done the wrong thing by them but, in my experience, you can usually agree to disagree or make adjustments if you believe they have a point.

Nine and Seven have never blocked access to their resources since this publication launched.

Unsurprisingly, TV Blackbox is facing 10’s wrath (again) after we tested their claims of being Under 50s. Undisputed.

In a lengthy piece, I looked at the data to see if their claims of dominance in the Under 50s demo was accurate – it was not.

Recently, the network sought to differentiate itself from Nine and Seven by branding itself the ‘network with integrity’. When a company boasts about its integrity and then goes on to deceive the market with false claims, it is a worthy story in my view.

Although I knew the claim to be false in their free-to-air ratings, I was happy to give 10 the benefit of the doubt when they told me their claim was based on all of the brands under the 10 ViacomCBS umbrella.

Unfortunately, that also turned out to be a lie.

As my story shows, even when you add in all of the other brands like MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr etc the claims still don’t stack up.

Shortly after publishing that story 10 cut us off from all press releases, guide information and website access.

It was not unexpected.

As David Knox from TV Tonight said in his most recent newsletter regarding bans:

“Culling other key media from access to previews isn’t a great strategy when Free to Air needs all the eyeballs it can get. I know the feeling.”

David has also been a victim of pettiness over the years.

Despite many glowing articles or comments about 10, we have found that as soon as we ‘step out of line’, in their eyes, 10 is very quick to withdraw access. We have faced legal threats on top of the usual e-mails and phone calls with PR, even when their legal complaints have no basis of merit whatsoever.

There’s no doubt the management team at 10 is under pressure. As stated above, the network is even coming third in its chosen demo of under 50s and is the only commercial network to decline Year on Year in that demo.

None of its shows have fired this year, including MasterChef which dropped significantly from last year. The Bachelor had its lowest launch ever last week and on Saturday the primary channel recorded its lowest share ever with just 3.3%.

What parent company ViacomCBS makes of 10’s struggles is anyone’s guess. In August we should get some indication of how 10 is performing financially when ViacomCBS releases its financials to the market.

Last year it was revealed 10 lost $226m in 2019 but a senior figure at the network claims the company is now in profit, but no figures were revealed to TV Blackbox.

What seems to be lacking is a clear strategy for moving forward. When false claims are being made to advertisers about under 50s dominance it reeks of desperation – especially when advertiser buyers can see right through it.

The people at TV Blackbox are a varied lot with their own opinions, but we do call things out when we see them – both negative and positive.

In the same week I took them to task over the Under 50s claims, I also praised the commissioning of The Cheap Seats. Our team has given glowing reviews over the production values of Survivor and congratulated the team publicly on strong ratings results like the finale of MasterChef.

But none of that is taken into account.

So, we will continue to report on 10 ViacomCBS without fear or favour. We will praise them when they do well but we will also comment when they don’t.

One thing TV Blackbox will not do is be intimidated by bullies. We do not rely on ‘drops’ from 10 for stories, we have sources inside the industry so nothing will really change from our point of view.

The only thing that will change is 10’s promotion of its products will be very limited in the monthly 1.6m page views we deliver.

You would think they would take all the promotion they could get.. but apparently not.

Good luck Channel 10… with this kind of strategy, you’re going to need it.