For Sale: Fountain Lakes?

It's a move that would arguably see Kath have it up to here with pussy's bow.

The 'Fountain Lakes' house that double's as Kath and Kim's house could be up for sale.

The house in Lagoon Court, Patterson Lakes, is rented by the production for around 3 months each season, but the owners are considering a move to Queensland. Have they been watching too much Neighbours?

Producer Rick McKenna has said that if the house was unavailable they would write storylines around the predicament. Kath was seen using her auctioneer skills recently, and eying off the house next door. Could art imitate life?

Source: Herald-Sun.
Read more...

Tim Campbell quits the Bay.

Tim Campbell is leaving Home and Away.

His departure follows a similar announcement from Kate Ritchie.

Campbell will stay with the Seven Network as host of The National Bingo Night airing soon. He will also appear in stage productions on 'Rent' and 'Shout' in Perth and Melbourne, respectively.

He will remain on screen with the soap until early next year.

Source: Herald-Sun.
Read more...

Chaser charges may drop

The case against The Chaser crew's now-infamous APEC stunt will be postponed until December, with speculation that the charges may be dropped altogether.

The 11 cast and crew were charged with breaching security when filming a segment during the APEC Conference.

Meanwhile, there is increasing talk that the hit comedy may be lured to a commercial network for 2008, with Seven believed to be in the front seat.

"It would be fair to say that The Chaser has seen what Kath & Kim have done in moving across to Seven and maintaining the integrity of the program and the fact that a program can successfully migrate from the ABC to a commercial network.", a source told the Daily Telegraph.

Additional source: Sydney Morning Herald. Read more...

Goals all round.

It was the week when PBL boss Ian Law conceded what we have known for some time, that Nine has lost the ratings year to Seven. "The reality is that Nine was the market leader in terms of audience, not in profit, and now it's not the market leader," Mr Law told the Herald-Sun.

This week was no different with Seven winning the week comfortably, 30.0% to Nine's 26.8%, TEN's, 21.7%, the ABC's 16.2% and SBS' 5.3%. Seven won all cities.

There were a number of bumper audiences this week, but despite attracting the biggest audience all year (2.57m for the 2007 AFL Grand Final) TEN missed out on the event contributing to their weekly share. The game is out of prime time.

Kath and Kim was Seven's strongest show, ahead of perennial favourite Dancing with the Stars. Next was Border Security, Seven News, Today Tonight, Home and Away, The Brownlow Medal, Better Homes and Gardens, My Name is Earl and RSPCA Animal Rescue. Moved to Wednesdays, RSPCA and Medical Emergency suffered signficant drops. The return of Prison Break was also incarcerated by the ABC's Summer Heights High in an increasingly competitive timeslot.

Smothered by noisy competition, Nine had few shows attracting big audiences this week and was relegated to remaining a quiet achiever. Sunday's News was its best performer, followed by Burke's Backyard Spring Special, CSI, 60 Minutes, The Footy Show, Getaway and A Current Affair. Don Burke's Special, boosted on the back of an NRL match, defeated Seven's Jamie Durie show. Surprise Surprise Gotcha was whacked by Daryl and Sonia, but did pick up from the previous week. Mondays continue to remain a headache with lousy returns for Commercial Breakdown, Just for Laughs and 1 vs 100 the show it will now rest.

TEN did terrific business with the biggest audience of 2007 for the 2007 AFL Grand Final. TEN smartly divided it into other segments which will help it boom in the top ten shows of the week: Wrap Up and Pre-Match. The final of Thank God You're Here was huge, followed by Australian Idol, the premiere of Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader, The Simpsons and Rove.

ABC is still going great guns on Wednesday nights with The Chaser, Summer Heights High and Spicks and Specks its strongest shows. Also booming was New Tricks on Friday night. Next was ABC News, Australian Story and Wire in the Blood.

SBS had its biggest share on Monday, but Sunday wasn't far behind.

Week 39 Ratings. Read more...

AFL Grand Final hits 2.5m

The 2007 AFL Grand Final has snared the biggest television audience of the year with 2.57m viewers.

But the Geelong vs Port Adelaide match was down on previous years of 2005 (3.39m), 2006 (3.15m), 2003 (2.96m), 2004 (2.80m). It was the lowest crowd in seven years.

The Grand Final traditionally nets a bigger viewing audience when non-Victorian teams play, because Melbourne fans watch the game regardless.

1.21m viewers watched in Melbourne alone, with 386,000 viewers in Perth, 378,000 in Adelaide, 321,000 in Sydney and 272,000 in Brissy. The peak audience was 2.88m.

Nevertheless the figure is a huge win for TEN, who will take out the top show of the week.

The 2.57m figure is just ahead of the premiere episode of Kath and Kim on 2.52m. Both figures are averages, the industry-standard.

Unfortunately for TEN the airing is out of prime-time, meaning in will not boost TEN's weekly share. It is part of the reason the broadcaster had lobbied for an evening final, which Nine has tonight with the 2007 NRL Grand Final.

Week 39 Ratings.
Read more...