Channel 10 Insiders Reveal The Project Could Be Replaced With Game Show Revival
Ratings-starved The Project on Channel 10 could be heading to a late-night timeslot.
The struggling current affairs show could be supplanted from its early evening position by a revamped version of the one-time hit game show Deal or No Deal.
Insiders leaked information to Women’s Day this week, this 10 hopes to move The Project from its current 6:30 p.m. position in the schedule to 9:30 p.m.
A reboot of Deal or No Deal, which originally aired on Channel Seven and was axed in 2014, would occupy The Project’s teatime slot.
10 is also said to be willing to remove half an hour from its 5 p.m. 90 minute news bulletin in favor of a new Deal or No Deal.
Channel 10 insiders have leaked reports that struggling current affairs show The Project may be postponed to a later timeslot. Pictured: Project facilitator Sarah Harris
However, Channel 10 responded to the rumors with a statement suggesting that for now, it’s business as usual.
A spokesperson told Women’s Day that: “The project will continue in its current time slot of 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sunday to Friday.”
Speculation among insiders is that a later timeslot for The Project might actually help the series, which has been struggling in ratings for nearly three years.
Once Channel 10’s flagship current affairs show, audiences have steadily fallen over the 2022-2023 period, losing a third of its viewers compared to its national audience over the past 18 months.
Women’s Day reports this week that 10 hopes to move the audience-starved show from its current 6:30 p.m. position in the schedule to 9:30 p.m.
The project could be pushed from its early evening position by a revamped version of the one-time hit game show Deal or No Deal. Pictured: Waleed Ally with Sarah Harris
The audience decline coincides with growing criticism of The Project’s left-wing bias and the recent departures of several high-profile hosts, including Carrie Bickmore, Peter Helliar and Lisa Wilkinson.
This year the show was relaunched with a new panel including Sarah Harris, Sam Taunton, Michael Hing and long-time presenter Waleed Aly.
Last year, OzTAM ratings revealed that the program had lost almost a third of its audience since 2011.
The struggling show saw its metro ratings plummet to an all-time low of just 367,000 last year.
This represents a 30 percent drop from its audience of 538,000 people in five cities ten years earlier.
A reboot of Deal or No Deal, which originally aired on Channel Seven and was axed in 2014, would occupy The Project’s teatime slot. Pictured: DOND host Andrew O’Keefe
Meanwhile, a return of Deal or No Deal would see the return of a tried-and-true scoring formula.
Launched in 2003, the show was hosted by Andrew O’Keefe, becoming a staple of Australian television for over a decade.
O’Keefe has become a celebrity, notably hosting Seven’s Weekend Sunrise, but is unlikely to return to the show following his recent court appearances.
At its peak in 2007-2008, the guessing game regularly attracted 900,000 viewers.
Launched in 2003, DOND was hosted by Andrew O’Keefe (pictured), but the 51-year-old is unlikely to return to the unique audience blockbuster.
