In an interesting move by Channel 10, and one that would’ve gone largely unnoticed by the average viewer, the premiere date of rebooted series Gladiators Australia has been moved by one day..
Yes, you read that right. The network had originally announced at their Upfronts that the series would launch on Sunday 7th January 2024, however as revealed in a revised promo and on-screen watermark shown on Tuesday evening this week, the series will now be premiering on Monday 8th January instead.
Why would they do that, you ask? It’s an interesting question. We could speculate here that the revised premiere date could be to coincide with the launch of new 6pm gameshow Deal or No Deal, or 10’s new Afternoon & Late News for next year, however the real reason may reveal itself in the weeks ahead as more announcements are made about new and returning programming fo 2024.
Gladiators Australia was confirmed as returning to Australian television screens in August this year, when TV Blackbox broke the news that the reboot was in the works, and based on industry rumours would likely be airing on Channel 10 which was later confirmed by the network with Beau Ryan & Liz Ellis announced as the new hosts.
The rebooted series is part of the networks year round content strategy and aims to counter program the rival commercial channels summer of of live sports, with a flagship stripped series on-air from early January to launch the new year. For several years I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! headed up the new year, before the series was announced to be moving to April this year.
Subsequently The Bachelors was confirmed to be taking over the early January spot in 2023, with a revised format which would instead see 3 suitors looking for love in the reimagined series. Though the show likely didn’t do quite the numbers the network had hoped for in that slot, surprisingly it did manage to score another season commission and is set to now premiere on Sunday 3rd December in a new timeslot, which would mean 2 seasons of the show airing within the same year.
At a time when rebooted series are all the rage, and with several already confirmed for 10 in 2024 with Deal or No Deal, Ready Steady Cook and Wheel of Fortune, it remains to be seen whether Gladiators is enough of a drawcard with original and new fans of the 90’s nostalgia series and hoping they will tune in over multiple nights.
Gladiators Australia now premieres 7:30pm Monday 8th January 2023 on Channel 10 and 10 play.
loved this show when i was a kid when mike whiteney was the host.. wosh channel 10 would bring back mike whitney
Joseph Vecchio I wosh I had some Fush and chups 😝
There is a reason this keeps getting cancelled, it’s rubbish