The 7PM Project
Encyclopedia
The Project is an Australian talk show television program airing weeknights across Australia on Network Ten
. The formerly half hour long show premiered on 20 July 2009, and is hosted by Charlie Pickering
, Carrie Bickmore
and Dave Hughes
, with a rotating daily guest panelist. It airs live on the East Coast with delays in other states (as well as Queensland during daylight saving).
Describing itself as an infotainment
program, The Project draws its content and comedy from recent news stories. It runs for 50 weeks of the year, taking brief breaks during the Christmas/New Year period.
On 19 October 2011, Network Ten announced that it was to axe 6.30 with George Negus
and was to move The 7PM Project to the timeslot; extend it to an hour, and retitle it as The Project. These changes came into effect on 31 October 2011, the show's 575th episode.
and Charlie Pickering
with Carrie Bickmore
presenting news stories. Regular guest panellists appearing during the week include Jennifer Byrne
, Kris Smith, John Hewson
, Tom Gleeson
, Steve Price
, Tracey Curro
, Steve Vizard
, Waleed Aly
, Meshel Laurie
, Lehmo
, Dr. Andrew Rochford
, Tom Elliott
, Dr. Chris Brown
, Dave Thornton
and Chrissie Swan
. The hosts are also often joined by several special guests during the course of an episode.
The main content of the show revolves around Bickmore, Pickering and Hughes at the desk discussing some of the news events of the day as reported by Bickmore. This discussion may involve live crosses to reporters in the field or guests via satellite or Skype
, as well as in the studio. In addition, the show also features pre-recorded interviews with celebrities, as well as feature stories by the cast.
The Friday episode ends with a Metro Whip Around of upcoming weekend events for the cities of Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, and Brisbane.
Fill-ins for Carrie Bickmore: Nicole Livingstone
, Gorgi Coghlan
, Tracey Curro
, Kathryn Robinson
, Sarah Murdoch
, Sarah Wilson
, Kim Watkins
& Angela Bishop
Fill-ins for Charlie Pickering: Andrew Rochford
, Waleed Aly
, Dr. Chris Brown
, Sam Mac
& Hugh Riminton
Fill-ins for Dave Hughes: Lehmo
, Dave Thornton
, Tom Gleeson
, Julian Schiller & Denise Scott
Recurring panellists are subject to change.
Eye on Tuesday: Kitty Flanagan
Resident expert: Tom Ballard
Entertainment: Hyla
UK correspondent: Lucy McDonald
US correspondent: Andrew Günsberg
, the production company owned by Rove McManus
and producers of Rove, Before the Game
and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
produces the series. The promos of the show used musical samples of Hello
from The Cat Empire
.
The premiere episode featured MasterChef Australia
season one winner Julie Goodwin
and an interview with Sienna Miller
and Rachel Nichols
. During the first season Ruby Rose and James Mathison
were credited as part of the main cast, though their contributions were often limited to guest appearances and pre-recorded interviews.
During the 2009 summer, in order to increase the profile of the show, Monday and Friday episodes were extended to an hour, and the program was repeated in a late night (11 pm) timeslot to garner late night viewers who may have missed the show earlier in the night. In addition, from 30 November 2009, the show underwent a small visual revamp. With the lights getting brighter, the set was changed to accommodate a more summery feel with the background displaying a blue sky and the foreground featuring more orange and brown lighting, skewing away from the dark, night-time feel from the start of the show. New titles were also added to fit the feel. As of 8 February 2010, Channel 10 cancelled the late night repeat of the show. Ten's summer late night repeats of 7PM were always a part of its strategy to win more followers for the show, and it will be hoping it has picked some up, who can now be channelled into the single broadcast once official ratings resume.
In 2010, Carrie Bickmore and Charlie Pickering were nominated for the Logie
of Most Popular New Female and Most Popular Male Talent respectively. Ten announced in June 2010 that the series had been renewed for another year.
On 20 July 2010, the show celebrated its first year on air with regulars Kitty Flanagan
and Steve Price
and MasterChef
evictee, Alvin Quah. The celebratory show commenced with a look back at the shows first moments on air a year beforehand.
For the week starting 27 December 2010, the show went into a summer series entitled The Holiday Project. It lasted for five episodes (as this was the length of time the show took a break) and featured Charlie Pickering and Dave Hughes sitting in front of the set reviewing some of the more popular segments, news stories and events of the show in 2010 while infrequently crossing to the Ten News room for the day's headlines. Carrie Bickmore and all other guest presenters did not feature in the series.
's husband, guest presenters replaced her during January. Bickmore returned on Monday 14 February 2011. George Negus
effectively finished his stint as a regular guest panelist on the show in January 2011 when he began to host his new current affairs program, 6PM with George Negus (later 6.30 with George Negus).
On 10 March 2011 it was revealed the show scored an exclusive interview with embattled actor Charlie Sheen
to be hosted by Nova personality and 7PM Project regular Scott Dooley
. It was the only Australian interview with the star and also tentatively the last interview to be conducted with Sheen in light of his supposed breakdown after having his Two and a Half Men
contract terminated.
The interview was shown on the show as an exclusive on 11 March 2011 with Dooley interviewed personally on the show the night before. The airing of the exclusive interview coincidentally occurred while Sheen's house was raided by police.
In light of the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
, Ten aired a special wedding coverage special of The 7PM Project titled The Wedding Project that ran for an hour on Friday, 29 April 2011. It aired to lacklustre ratings.
On June 9, 2011, 'St Kilda Schoolgirl' Kim Duthie who infamously told media that she had 'slept' with AFL player agent Ricky Nixon
, appeared on the program in a pre-recorded interview where she explained comments she made earlier in the day when she told media that she was 'lying' about her accusations. The interview made headlines when an off air comment by Duthie stating that, "everything [she] said, [she] lied about", referring to her interview with the show, was shown live during the episode after the airing of the interview. The move received mixed reviews on Twitter
however it is expected Duthie's comments will further complicate the police investigation currently employed in the matter.
Approaching its second birthday, the program scheduled numerous special episodes which are also rumoured to have been scheduled to combat a drop in ratings due to strong competition. From 11 July 2011 and running for a week, various Australian politicians joined the panel and co-hosted an entire episode. Politicians included Prime Minister
Julia Gillard
, MP Bob Katter
and Green politician Adam Bandt
.
For the week starting 18 July 2011, the program also invited members of the general public, who have strong opinions on various current events, to join the panel.
On 18 July 2011, the program celebrated its 500th episode. It featured 'Your Chair' panellist Louise Benjamin, Jennifer Byrne
and all three regular panellists. Two days later, on 20 July 2011, the program celebrated its second year on air with 'Your Chair' panellist Kim Forrester, Andrew Rochford
, and all three regular panellists.
The show commemorated the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks with a series of stories detailing how people affected by the event have coped over the past ten years.
Regular guest Tom Ballard
was given a regular Thursday segment entitled 'Resident Expert' in September 2011. It is similar in style to Kitty Flanagan's Tuesday segment in which Ballard discusses a news story, based on a recent scientific, statistical, social or medical study, in humour.
On 19 October 2011, Network Ten announced the program would be moved from 7 pm to 6:30 pm (replacing the axed 6.30 with George Negus
), extended to one-hour and renamed The Project. The first edition of the new hour-long program aired on Monday, 31 October 2011.
.
A one-hour special entitled The Election Project, airing on Saturday, 21 August 2010, was the first time the show has on a weekend. It aired to cover the 2010 National Election. Guests included Hugh Riminton
and George Negus
. The show got 459,000 viewers, ranking 11th for the night.
While Channel Ten showed an hour's worth of the show in the majority of states, Adelaide was only shown 30 minutes due to football commitments. This may have altered the overall ratings for the show.
This was the first time since the mid 1990s that Ten devoted coverage to a national election; usually the network opted to air alternative programming.
The Games Project featured guests including Nicole Livingstone
and again ran for an hour with a half hour airing in Adelaide with none of the show aired in Perth and Brisbane. The show aired immediately before the Opening Ceremony and garnered 301,000 viewers.
A third special episode, The Wedding Project aired on 29 April 2011 as an extension of its regular Friday episode for that night. The show aired for an hour in all metropolitan centres, focussing on that days royal wedding. It will be hosted as usual by Hughes and Pickering with Bickmore along with Lucy McDonald, Hamish MacDonald and others reporting on events from the UK.
Regular Guests Hamish Blake
and Andy Lee
, formerly of Rove Live
, have appeared to present segments as a visual connection to the activities that they undertake on their weekly radio program, The Hamish and Andy Show
, segments presented have included See No Evil Hear No Evil and Hungry Hungry Heroes.
TV Tonight, an Australian television blog, commented that The 7PM Project would not be axed as they believed that the show has not had enough time to "[develop] its format."
After dropping in ratings, The 7PM Project stabilised around the 700,000–750,000 mark, occasionally dropping below 690,000.
The series took until late May to reach a national metropolitan audience exceeding one million for the first time in 2010.
On its first broadcast out of the ratings year, The 7PM Project sustained an audience of 826,000, a substantially higher viewership than in recent episodes that averaged around 650,000.
of The Biggest Loser which was also building a viewership. The end of daylight savings in some states was also attributed to its rising ratings (the practice has proved to be detrimental to the performance of early evening programs such as The 7PM Project). The program saw an even greater rise in viewership when the network's flagship reality juggernaut MasterChef Australia
returned.
On 3 June 2010, The 7PM Project had a viewing audience of just under 1.1 million viewers. It was the first time the show rose above the million (albeit that same week's Monday episode, which also hit the million mark in adjusted figures) since the launch and managed to win in all key demographics and more importantly, in total people.
Its first year birthday special, airing on 20 July 2010, gained 1,207,000 viewers, winning its timeslot and becoming the highest rated episode of the show since its debut.
, rival networks extended news coverage which pushed comparable current affair shows such as Today Tonight
which airs on the Seven Network
and A Current Affair which airs on the Nine Network
to be pushed from their usual timeslot of 6.30 into direct competition with The 7PM Project. Despite the heavy news week, the added competition from the higher rating current affair programs pushed viewer ship down to a low of 496,000 on Friday with episodes across the week also down. The 7PM Project came in 36th for the week, averaging out 657,000.
The show averaged just under 1.1 million viewers on 2 May 2011; the first (and only) time the show rose above a million in 2011.
Despite averaging, on the whole, lower ratings than in 2010, the show has stabilised to around 750,000–800,000 per night with episodes rarely achieving above 850,000 and below 600,000.
In its first outing at 6.30, The Project scored 571,000; fourth in its slot and the third highest rating show on TEN for that night.
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
. The formerly half hour long show premiered on 20 July 2009, and is hosted by Charlie Pickering
Charlie Pickering
Charlie Pickering he grew up in Melbourne, Australia and attended an Independent Anglican Boys' School; Brighton Grammar...
, Carrie Bickmore
Carrie Bickmore
Carrie Bickmore is an Australian radio news presenter and television presenter. Currently she is a presenter on The Project which airs on weeknights on Network Ten.-Personal life:...
and Dave Hughes
Dave Hughes
David William "Hughesy" Hughes is an Australian stand-up comedian, radio and television presenter. He is currently co-host on the Network Ten's The Project and Before the Game as well as the breakfast radio show Hughesy and Kate.-Television:Hughes co-hosted the ABC comedy talk show The Glass House...
, with a rotating daily guest panelist. It airs live on the East Coast with delays in other states (as well as Queensland during daylight saving).
Describing itself as an infotainment
Infotainment
Infotainment is "information-based media content or programming that also includes entertainment content in an effort to enhance popularity with audiences and consumers." It is a neologistic portmanteau of information and entertainment, referring to a type of media which provides a combination of...
program, The Project draws its content and comedy from recent news stories. It runs for 50 weeks of the year, taking brief breaks during the Christmas/New Year period.
On 19 October 2011, Network Ten announced that it was to axe 6.30 with George Negus
6.30 with George Negus
6.30 with George Negus is an Australian television current affairs program broadcast on Network Ten. It airs at 6:30pm from Monday to Friday and is presented by George Negus and Hugh Riminton or Hamish Macdonald from the TEN studios in Pyrmont, Sydney.It premiered at 6pm on 24 January 2011...
and was to move The 7PM Project to the timeslot; extend it to an hour, and retitle it as The Project. These changes came into effect on 31 October 2011, the show's 575th episode.
Format
The series is hosted by comedians Dave HughesDave Hughes
David William "Hughesy" Hughes is an Australian stand-up comedian, radio and television presenter. He is currently co-host on the Network Ten's The Project and Before the Game as well as the breakfast radio show Hughesy and Kate.-Television:Hughes co-hosted the ABC comedy talk show The Glass House...
and Charlie Pickering
Charlie Pickering
Charlie Pickering he grew up in Melbourne, Australia and attended an Independent Anglican Boys' School; Brighton Grammar...
with Carrie Bickmore
Carrie Bickmore
Carrie Bickmore is an Australian radio news presenter and television presenter. Currently she is a presenter on The Project which airs on weeknights on Network Ten.-Personal life:...
presenting news stories. Regular guest panellists appearing during the week include Jennifer Byrne
Jennifer Byrne
-Early life:Byrne attended St Margaret's School, Melbourne as a boarding student, and began her career in journalism at age 16 as a cadet at Melbourne's The Age newspaper. At age 23 she became the paper's San Francisco correspondent, and later a feature writer....
, Kris Smith, John Hewson
John Hewson
John Robert Hewson AM is an Australian economist, company director and a former politician. He was federal leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 1990 to 1994 and led the party to defeat at the 1993 federal election.-Early life:...
, Tom Gleeson
Tom Gleeson
Tom Gleeson is an Australian stand-up comedian and radio presenter.Gleeson was born in Gunnedah, New South Wales before moving to Sydney at a young age. He attended St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, graduating from the Catholic GPS school in 1991...
, Steve Price
Steve Price (broadcaster)
Steve Price is a radio broadcaster currently working as program director and breakfast presenter on Melbourne talkback radio station MTR 1377...
, Tracey Curro
Tracey Curro
Tracey Ilana Curro is an Australian journalist who was a newsreader for TV stations GMV-6, QTQ-9 and ATV-10 before reporting for the Seven Network's Beyond 2000, a science-technology show, and then 60 Minutes, the Australian version of the current affairs show...
, Steve Vizard
Steve Vizard
Stephen William Vizard, born 6 March 1956 in Richmond, Victoria, is an Australian media personality, comedian, businessman and writer.-Early life:...
, Waleed Aly
Waleed Aly
Waleed Aly is an Australian lawyer, academic and rock musician. He has been a member of the executive committee of the Islamic Council of Victoria and has served as the council's head of public affairs. He is a frequent commentator on Australian Muslim affairs. In 2008 he was selected to...
, Meshel Laurie
Meshel Laurie
Meshel Laurie is an Australian comedian and radio-television personality. She was born in Toowoomba, Queensland.Laurie moved to Melbourne early in her career as a stand-up comic to take advantage of its strong comedy industry/community. Her first Melbourne International Comedy Festival show was...
, Lehmo
Lehmo
Anthony Lehmann, better known by his nickname Lehmo, is an Australian comedian, radio personality, television personality and movie actor. He is probably best known as co-hosting Before the Game for Channel Ten, and co-hosting Triple M's drive time show with Wil Anderson...
, Dr. Andrew Rochford
Andrew Rochford
Dr. Andrew Rochford is an Australian television personality who is best known for his part in presenting the Australian health show What's Good For You. He first came to public attention as the winner of the second series of the television reality show called The Block. He is currently a regular...
, Tom Elliott
Tom Elliott
Tom Elliott MLA is a Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist MLA and the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and former UDR member...
, Dr. Chris Brown
Chris Brown (veterinarian)
Chris Brown is an Australian veterinarian, television personality and author. He is best known for his television series Bondi Vet which began screening in 2009. He is also a regular guest panellist on The Project....
, Dave Thornton
Dave Thornton
Dave Thornton is a stand-up comedian, actor and radio and TV presenter. He has performed Stand-up comedy throughout Australia, in Edinburgh, Singapore and New York. He has also appeared on Australian Television and Radio....
and Chrissie Swan
Chrissie Swan
Chrissie Swan is an Australian radio and television personality. In 2003, she gained fame in her country as the runner-up of Big Brother Australia on Network Ten...
. The hosts are also often joined by several special guests during the course of an episode.
The main content of the show revolves around Bickmore, Pickering and Hughes at the desk discussing some of the news events of the day as reported by Bickmore. This discussion may involve live crosses to reporters in the field or guests via satellite or Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
, as well as in the studio. In addition, the show also features pre-recorded interviews with celebrities, as well as feature stories by the cast.
The Friday episode ends with a Metro Whip Around of upcoming weekend events for the cities of Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, and Brisbane.
Regular panellists
| Presenter | Role | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Carrie Bickmore Carrie Bickmore Carrie Bickmore is an Australian radio news presenter and television presenter. Currently she is a presenter on The Project which airs on weeknights on Network Ten.-Personal life:... |
Co-host and news presenter | 2009– |
| Charlie Pickering Charlie Pickering Charlie Pickering he grew up in Melbourne, Australia and attended an Independent Anglican Boys' School; Brighton Grammar... |
Co-host | 2009– |
| Dave Hughes Dave Hughes David William "Hughesy" Hughes is an Australian stand-up comedian, radio and television presenter. He is currently co-host on the Network Ten's The Project and Before the Game as well as the breakfast radio show Hughesy and Kate.-Television:Hughes co-hosted the ABC comedy talk show The Glass House... |
Co-host (absent Fridays) | 2009– |
Fill-ins for Carrie Bickmore: Nicole Livingstone
Nicole Livingstone
Nicole Dawn Livingstone OAM is a retired Australian Olympic swimmer and a television sports commentator and radio presenter. Livingstone competed for Australia in three summer Olympics - 1988, 1992, and 1996 - winning both individual and team medals...
, Gorgi Coghlan
Gorgi Coghlan
Gorgi Coghlan is an Australian television presenter, best known as co-host of Network Ten's morning show The Circle.-Personal Life:...
, Tracey Curro
Tracey Curro
Tracey Ilana Curro is an Australian journalist who was a newsreader for TV stations GMV-6, QTQ-9 and ATV-10 before reporting for the Seven Network's Beyond 2000, a science-technology show, and then 60 Minutes, the Australian version of the current affairs show...
, Kathryn Robinson
Kathryn Robinson
Kathryn Robinson is an Australian journalist with Australia's Network Ten.Robinson is currently the Finance presenter on Ten Early News and a regular fill in presenter for Sydney's Ten News at Five, Ten Morning News and Ten News at Five: Weekend...
, Sarah Murdoch
Sarah Murdoch
Sarah Murdoch is an Australian model and actress.-Career:Brought up in Sydney, Australia, Murdoch attended The McDonald College of the Performing Arts, a performing arts school in Sydney, where she studied ballet...
, Sarah Wilson
Sarah Wilson
Sarah Wilson was an English impostor who took a role of nonexistent sister of Queen Charlotte. How much of the tale is true is unclear.Sarah Wilson was born in Staffordshire and at the age of 16 moved to London...
, Kim Watkins
Kim Watkins
Kim Watkins was the co-host of Network Ten's morning show 9am with David and Kim which aired until 11 December 2009 and was replaced by The Circle...
& Angela Bishop
Fill-ins for Charlie Pickering: Andrew Rochford
Andrew Rochford
Dr. Andrew Rochford is an Australian television personality who is best known for his part in presenting the Australian health show What's Good For You. He first came to public attention as the winner of the second series of the television reality show called The Block. He is currently a regular...
, Waleed Aly
Waleed Aly
Waleed Aly is an Australian lawyer, academic and rock musician. He has been a member of the executive committee of the Islamic Council of Victoria and has served as the council's head of public affairs. He is a frequent commentator on Australian Muslim affairs. In 2008 he was selected to...
, Dr. Chris Brown
Chris Brown (veterinarian)
Chris Brown is an Australian veterinarian, television personality and author. He is best known for his television series Bondi Vet which began screening in 2009. He is also a regular guest panellist on The Project....
, Sam Mac
Sam Mac
Sam "Sam Mac" McMillan is an Australian radio and television personality.-Career:After starting at local Adelaide radio station, Fresh FM, McMillan scored a job doing swing announcing on SAFM/TripleM Adelaide. In December 2002, he began hosting the evening shift on SAFM. In April 2003 he was moved...
& Hugh Riminton
Hugh Riminton
Hugh Riminton is a journalist, foreign correspondent and television news presenter.Raised in New Zealand, he began work as a cadet reporter, aged 17 in Christchurch before moving to Australia in 1983 to work for the Macquarie Radio Network in Perth and Melbourne. In 1989, he joined the Australian...
Fill-ins for Dave Hughes: Lehmo
Lehmo
Anthony Lehmann, better known by his nickname Lehmo, is an Australian comedian, radio personality, television personality and movie actor. He is probably best known as co-hosting Before the Game for Channel Ten, and co-hosting Triple M's drive time show with Wil Anderson...
, Dave Thornton
Dave Thornton
Dave Thornton is a stand-up comedian, actor and radio and TV presenter. He has performed Stand-up comedy throughout Australia, in Edinburgh, Singapore and New York. He has also appeared on Australian Television and Radio....
, Tom Gleeson
Tom Gleeson
Tom Gleeson is an Australian stand-up comedian and radio presenter.Gleeson was born in Gunnedah, New South Wales before moving to Sydney at a young age. He attended St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, graduating from the Catholic GPS school in 1991...
, Julian Schiller & Denise Scott
Denise Scott
Denise Margaret Adelaide Scott is a Melbourne-based stand-up comedian, actor and radio personality.-Career:She has appeared frequently on Australian television since her regular slot on ABC TV's The Big Gig in 1990, and a weekly segment on Tonight Live with Steve Vizard...
Weekly recurring panellists
- Monday: George NegusGeorge NegusGeorge Edward Negus is an Australian author, journalist, and television presenter. He previously presented 6:30 with George Negus on Network Ten, until it was axed by the Network on 19 October 2011.-Education:...
- Tuesday: Steve PriceSteve Price (broadcaster)Steve Price is a radio broadcaster currently working as program director and breakfast presenter on Melbourne talkback radio station MTR 1377...
- Wednesday: Dr. Andrew RochfordAndrew RochfordDr. Andrew Rochford is an Australian television personality who is best known for his part in presenting the Australian health show What's Good For You. He first came to public attention as the winner of the second series of the television reality show called The Block. He is currently a regular...
- Thursday: Dr. Chris BrownChris Brown (veterinarian)Chris Brown is an Australian veterinarian, television personality and author. He is best known for his television series Bondi Vet which began screening in 2009. He is also a regular guest panellist on The Project....
, Meshel LaurieMeshel LaurieMeshel Laurie is an Australian comedian and radio-television personality. She was born in Toowoomba, Queensland.Laurie moved to Melbourne early in her career as a stand-up comic to take advantage of its strong comedy industry/community. Her first Melbourne International Comedy Festival show was... - Friday: LehmoLehmoAnthony Lehmann, better known by his nickname Lehmo, is an Australian comedian, radio personality, television personality and movie actor. He is probably best known as co-hosting Before the Game for Channel Ten, and co-hosting Triple M's drive time show with Wil Anderson...
and Kris Smith
Recurring panellists are subject to change.
Eye on Tuesday: Kitty Flanagan
Kitty Flanagan
Kitty Flanagan is an Australian comedian.She is best known in Australia for her work on the television series Full Frontal and in the United Kingdom for her work on The Sketch Show. Before getting a job at Full Frontal, Kitty spent 5 years masquerading as a copywriter before moving into stand-ups...
Resident expert: Tom Ballard
Tom Ballard
Tom Ballard is a tall, blond, fast-talking, openly gay, Australian radio presenter and comedian.-Early life:Thomas Colin Ballard grew up in Warrnambool, Victoria and attended Brauer College Warrnambool, graduating in 2007 where he was dux with an ENTER of 99.80, and was consequently named as the...
Entertainment: Hyla
UK correspondent: Lucy McDonald
US correspondent: Andrew Günsberg
Former recurring panellists
- Ruby Rose – Entertainment reporter and panelist (2009)
- James MathisonJames MathisonJames Mathison is an Australian television presenter.-Early life:Mathison was born in Sydney, New South Wales He grew up in Frenchs Forest and attended St...
– Reporter and panellist (2009–2010) - Scott PapeScott PapeScott Pape is an investment advisor, author and radio commentator who lives in Melbourne, Australia.-Career:Scott Pape grew up in Ouyen, Victoria, where he held odd jobs - once being paid by his father with a single BHP share...
– Money shot (2009–2010) - Rove McManusRove McManusJohn Henry Michael "Rove" McManus is an Australian comedian, television presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the self-titled variety show Rove, and is the owner of the production company Roving Enterprises...
- Roving reporter (2009–2010)
2009 (season one)
The series premiered on 20 July 2009 and aired as a live broadcast on weeknights from 7:00 to 7:30 pm. Roving EnterprisesRoving Enterprises
Roving Enterprises is an Australian television production company, run by comedian Rove McManus. The company is responsible for producing many shows and events, mainly for Network Ten...
, the production company owned by Rove McManus
Rove McManus
John Henry Michael "Rove" McManus is an Australian comedian, television presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the self-titled variety show Rove, and is the owner of the production company Roving Enterprises...
and producers of Rove, Before the Game
Before the Game
Before The Game is an Australian rules football/comedy television show in Australia on Network Ten. The show is hosted by Andrew Maher, with regular panelists including Mick Molloy, Dave Hughes, Sam Lane, and Lehmo. The format of the show is a light-hearted discussion of issues relating to the...
and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Australian game show)
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? is an Australian quiz show produced by Roving Enterprises that debuted on Network Ten on 26 September 2007. It is hosted by popular TV personality Rove McManus...
produces the series. The promos of the show used musical samples of Hello
Hello (Cat Empire song)
"Hello" was the first single taken from The Cat Empire's 2003 debut album. It was only released as a CD single in New Zealand, where it peaked at #12 in the singles chart. It is considered by many to have been the break-through single for the band, although the song never saw commercial release in...
from The Cat Empire
The Cat Empire
The Cat Empire are an Australian ska and jazz band formed in 1999. Core members are Harry James Angus , Will Hull-Brown , Jamshid "Jumps" Khadiwhala , Ollie McGill , Ryan Monro and Felix Riebl...
.
The premiere episode featured MasterChef Australia
Masterchef Australia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as...
season one winner Julie Goodwin
Julie Goodwin
Julie Goodwin is an Australian cook and singer who came to public attention when she won the inaugural season of MasterChef Australia in 2009, defeating artist Poh Ling Yeow in the final.- MasterChef Australia :...
and an interview with Sienna Miller
Sienna Miller
Sienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview...
and Rachel Nichols
Rachel Nichols (actress)
Rachel Emily Nichols is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s...
. During the first season Ruby Rose and James Mathison
James Mathison
James Mathison is an Australian television presenter.-Early life:Mathison was born in Sydney, New South Wales He grew up in Frenchs Forest and attended St...
were credited as part of the main cast, though their contributions were often limited to guest appearances and pre-recorded interviews.
During the 2009 summer, in order to increase the profile of the show, Monday and Friday episodes were extended to an hour, and the program was repeated in a late night (11 pm) timeslot to garner late night viewers who may have missed the show earlier in the night. In addition, from 30 November 2009, the show underwent a small visual revamp. With the lights getting brighter, the set was changed to accommodate a more summery feel with the background displaying a blue sky and the foreground featuring more orange and brown lighting, skewing away from the dark, night-time feel from the start of the show. New titles were also added to fit the feel. As of 8 February 2010, Channel 10 cancelled the late night repeat of the show. Ten's summer late night repeats of 7PM were always a part of its strategy to win more followers for the show, and it will be hoping it has picked some up, who can now be channelled into the single broadcast once official ratings resume.
2010 (season two)
For 2010's non-daylight savings period, the visuals reverted to display a more night time feel, however not to the extent as was seen in 2009 with orange and brown lighting still accompanying the set. A large screen was also added to the background.In 2010, Carrie Bickmore and Charlie Pickering were nominated for the Logie
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
of Most Popular New Female and Most Popular Male Talent respectively. Ten announced in June 2010 that the series had been renewed for another year.
On 20 July 2010, the show celebrated its first year on air with regulars Kitty Flanagan
Kitty Flanagan
Kitty Flanagan is an Australian comedian.She is best known in Australia for her work on the television series Full Frontal and in the United Kingdom for her work on The Sketch Show. Before getting a job at Full Frontal, Kitty spent 5 years masquerading as a copywriter before moving into stand-ups...
and Steve Price
Steve Price (broadcaster)
Steve Price is a radio broadcaster currently working as program director and breakfast presenter on Melbourne talkback radio station MTR 1377...
and MasterChef
MasterChef Australia (season 2)
Season 2 of the Australian cookery game show MasterChef Australia premiered on 19 April 2010 on Network Ten, concluding on 25 July 2010 when Adam Liaw was named the winner....
evictee, Alvin Quah. The celebratory show commenced with a look back at the shows first moments on air a year beforehand.
For the week starting 27 December 2010, the show went into a summer series entitled The Holiday Project. It lasted for five episodes (as this was the length of time the show took a break) and featured Charlie Pickering and Dave Hughes sitting in front of the set reviewing some of the more popular segments, news stories and events of the show in 2010 while infrequently crossing to the Ten News room for the day's headlines. Carrie Bickmore and all other guest presenters did not feature in the series.
2011 (season three)
The show returned on Monday, 3 January 2011. However due to the death of Carrie BickmoreCarrie Bickmore
Carrie Bickmore is an Australian radio news presenter and television presenter. Currently she is a presenter on The Project which airs on weeknights on Network Ten.-Personal life:...
's husband, guest presenters replaced her during January. Bickmore returned on Monday 14 February 2011. George Negus
George Negus
George Edward Negus is an Australian author, journalist, and television presenter. He previously presented 6:30 with George Negus on Network Ten, until it was axed by the Network on 19 October 2011.-Education:...
effectively finished his stint as a regular guest panelist on the show in January 2011 when he began to host his new current affairs program, 6PM with George Negus (later 6.30 with George Negus).
On 10 March 2011 it was revealed the show scored an exclusive interview with embattled actor Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
to be hosted by Nova personality and 7PM Project regular Scott Dooley
Scott Dooley
Scott "Dools" Dooley is an Australian comedian and radio announcer best known for his tenure with state-owned national youth network, Triple J...
. It was the only Australian interview with the star and also tentatively the last interview to be conducted with Sheen in light of his supposed breakdown after having his Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
contract terminated.
The interview was shown on the show as an exclusive on 11 March 2011 with Dooley interviewed personally on the show the night before. The airing of the exclusive interview coincidentally occurred while Sheen's house was raided by police.
In light of the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
The wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton took place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London. Prince William, the eldest son of Charles, Prince of Wales, first met Catherine Middleton in 2001, when both were studying at the University of St Andrews. Their...
, Ten aired a special wedding coverage special of The 7PM Project titled The Wedding Project that ran for an hour on Friday, 29 April 2011. It aired to lacklustre ratings.
On June 9, 2011, 'St Kilda Schoolgirl' Kim Duthie who infamously told media that she had 'slept' with AFL player agent Ricky Nixon
Ricky Nixon
Ricky L. Nixon is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL and now a high profile Australian sports agent. He is currently serving a two year suspension following an investigation by the AFL Players Association Accreditation Board.-Football career:Recruited from Golden Square in the...
, appeared on the program in a pre-recorded interview where she explained comments she made earlier in the day when she told media that she was 'lying' about her accusations. The interview made headlines when an off air comment by Duthie stating that, "everything [she] said, [she] lied about", referring to her interview with the show, was shown live during the episode after the airing of the interview. The move received mixed reviews on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
however it is expected Duthie's comments will further complicate the police investigation currently employed in the matter.
Approaching its second birthday, the program scheduled numerous special episodes which are also rumoured to have been scheduled to combat a drop in ratings due to strong competition. From 11 July 2011 and running for a week, various Australian politicians joined the panel and co-hosted an entire episode. Politicians included Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
, MP Bob Katter
Bob Katter
Robert Carl "Bob" Katter is an Australian federal politician, a member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993 for the Division of Kennedy, and the leader of Katter's Australian Party...
and Green politician Adam Bandt
Adam Bandt
Adam Paul Bandt is an Australian politician and former industrial lawyer. Bandt was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in the 2010 Australian federal election for the Division of Melbourne...
.
For the week starting 18 July 2011, the program also invited members of the general public, who have strong opinions on various current events, to join the panel.
On 18 July 2011, the program celebrated its 500th episode. It featured 'Your Chair' panellist Louise Benjamin, Jennifer Byrne
Jennifer Byrne
-Early life:Byrne attended St Margaret's School, Melbourne as a boarding student, and began her career in journalism at age 16 as a cadet at Melbourne's The Age newspaper. At age 23 she became the paper's San Francisco correspondent, and later a feature writer....
and all three regular panellists. Two days later, on 20 July 2011, the program celebrated its second year on air with 'Your Chair' panellist Kim Forrester, Andrew Rochford
Andrew Rochford
Dr. Andrew Rochford is an Australian television personality who is best known for his part in presenting the Australian health show What's Good For You. He first came to public attention as the winner of the second series of the television reality show called The Block. He is currently a regular...
, and all three regular panellists.
The show commemorated the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks with a series of stories detailing how people affected by the event have coped over the past ten years.
Regular guest Tom Ballard
Tom Ballard
Tom Ballard is a tall, blond, fast-talking, openly gay, Australian radio presenter and comedian.-Early life:Thomas Colin Ballard grew up in Warrnambool, Victoria and attended Brauer College Warrnambool, graduating in 2007 where he was dux with an ENTER of 99.80, and was consequently named as the...
was given a regular Thursday segment entitled 'Resident Expert' in September 2011. It is similar in style to Kitty Flanagan's Tuesday segment in which Ballard discusses a news story, based on a recent scientific, statistical, social or medical study, in humour.
On 19 October 2011, Network Ten announced the program would be moved from 7 pm to 6:30 pm (replacing the axed 6.30 with George Negus
6.30 with George Negus
6.30 with George Negus is an Australian television current affairs program broadcast on Network Ten. It airs at 6:30pm from Monday to Friday and is presented by George Negus and Hugh Riminton or Hamish Macdonald from the TEN studios in Pyrmont, Sydney.It premiered at 6pm on 24 January 2011...
), extended to one-hour and renamed The Project. The first edition of the new hour-long program aired on Monday, 31 October 2011.
Special episodes
Since its inception, two special episodes of The 7PM Project have aired. The first of which, The Election Project took a look at the 2010 Federal Election during the count while a second entitled The Games Project, looked at the 2010 Commonwealth Games2010 Commonwealth Games
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games till date...
.
A one-hour special entitled The Election Project, airing on Saturday, 21 August 2010, was the first time the show has on a weekend. It aired to cover the 2010 National Election. Guests included Hugh Riminton
Hugh Riminton
Hugh Riminton is a journalist, foreign correspondent and television news presenter.Raised in New Zealand, he began work as a cadet reporter, aged 17 in Christchurch before moving to Australia in 1983 to work for the Macquarie Radio Network in Perth and Melbourne. In 1989, he joined the Australian...
and George Negus
George Negus
George Edward Negus is an Australian author, journalist, and television presenter. He previously presented 6:30 with George Negus on Network Ten, until it was axed by the Network on 19 October 2011.-Education:...
. The show got 459,000 viewers, ranking 11th for the night.
While Channel Ten showed an hour's worth of the show in the majority of states, Adelaide was only shown 30 minutes due to football commitments. This may have altered the overall ratings for the show.
This was the first time since the mid 1990s that Ten devoted coverage to a national election; usually the network opted to air alternative programming.
The Games Project featured guests including Nicole Livingstone
Nicole Livingstone
Nicole Dawn Livingstone OAM is a retired Australian Olympic swimmer and a television sports commentator and radio presenter. Livingstone competed for Australia in three summer Olympics - 1988, 1992, and 1996 - winning both individual and team medals...
and again ran for an hour with a half hour airing in Adelaide with none of the show aired in Perth and Brisbane. The show aired immediately before the Opening Ceremony and garnered 301,000 viewers.
A third special episode, The Wedding Project aired on 29 April 2011 as an extension of its regular Friday episode for that night. The show aired for an hour in all metropolitan centres, focussing on that days royal wedding. It will be hosted as usual by Hughes and Pickering with Bickmore along with Lucy McDonald, Hamish MacDonald and others reporting on events from the UK.
Regular Guests Hamish Blake
Hamish Blake
Hamish Donald Blake is an Australian comedian, actor, author and bodybuilder from Melbourne, Australia. Since 2003, he has worked with Andy Lee as part of the comedy duo Hamish and Andy. The pair have performed live and on television and radio, most notably with their drive-time radio program...
and Andy Lee
Andy Lee
Andy Lee is the name of:* Andy Lee , Australian comedian* Andy Lee , American football player* Andy Lee , Irish boxer* Andy Lee , South Korean singer and actor...
, formerly of Rove Live
Rove Live
Rove, formerly Rove Live, was an Australian television talk show which premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, before moving to Network Ten which aired the program from 2000 until November, 2009. The show was hosted by comedian Rove McManus, and featured an ensemble cast, who presented...
, have appeared to present segments as a visual connection to the activities that they undertake on their weekly radio program, The Hamish and Andy Show
Hamish & Andy (radio show)
The Hamish & Andy Show , is an Australian radio show created by and starring comedic duo Hamish Blake & Andy Lee. It was broadcast on the Today Network to every state in Australia as well as the ACT for two hours in the key weekday afternoon drivetime slot. Since December 3, 2010, it has moved to...
, segments presented have included See No Evil Hear No Evil and Hungry Hungry Heroes.
2009 ratings
The 7PM Project drew 1.285 million viewers for its premiere episode. Ratings dropped across subsequent episodes. Averaged over its opening week, The 7PM Project had 0.938 million viewers per episode. The average viewers for the second week dropped to 0.7392 million viewers per episode.TV Tonight, an Australian television blog, commented that The 7PM Project would not be axed as they believed that the show has not had enough time to "[develop] its format."
After dropping in ratings, The 7PM Project stabilised around the 700,000–750,000 mark, occasionally dropping below 690,000.
The series took until late May to reach a national metropolitan audience exceeding one million for the first time in 2010.
On its first broadcast out of the ratings year, The 7PM Project sustained an audience of 826,000, a substantially higher viewership than in recent episodes that averaged around 650,000.
2010 ratings
Ratings were still low at the beginning of the year however started to build from late March. The show started to regularly achieve an audience above 700,000 by the end of the fifth seasonThe Biggest Loser Australia: Couples 2
The Biggest Loser Australia: Couples 2 is the fifth season of the Australian version of the original NBC American reality television series The Biggest Loser....
of The Biggest Loser which was also building a viewership. The end of daylight savings in some states was also attributed to its rising ratings (the practice has proved to be detrimental to the performance of early evening programs such as The 7PM Project). The program saw an even greater rise in viewership when the network's flagship reality juggernaut MasterChef Australia
Masterchef Australia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as...
returned.
On 3 June 2010, The 7PM Project had a viewing audience of just under 1.1 million viewers. It was the first time the show rose above the million (albeit that same week's Monday episode, which also hit the million mark in adjusted figures) since the launch and managed to win in all key demographics and more importantly, in total people.
Its first year birthday special, airing on 20 July 2010, gained 1,207,000 viewers, winning its timeslot and becoming the highest rated episode of the show since its debut.
2011 ratings
The 7PM Project returned on January 3 for the first time in 2011. After a generally low rating summer series, the show achieved 680,000. A week later, due to the 2010–2011 Queensland floods2010–2011 Queensland floods
A series of floods hit Australia, beginning in December 2010, primarily in the state of Queensland including its capital city, Brisbane. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities. At least seventy towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was...
, rival networks extended news coverage which pushed comparable current affair shows such as Today Tonight
Today Tonight
Today Tonight is a controversial Australian News and Current Affairs program, produced by the Seven Network and shown weeknightly at in direct competition with rival Nine Network program A Current Affair....
which airs on the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
and A Current Affair which airs on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
to be pushed from their usual timeslot of 6.30 into direct competition with The 7PM Project. Despite the heavy news week, the added competition from the higher rating current affair programs pushed viewer ship down to a low of 496,000 on Friday with episodes across the week also down. The 7PM Project came in 36th for the week, averaging out 657,000.
The show averaged just under 1.1 million viewers on 2 May 2011; the first (and only) time the show rose above a million in 2011.
Despite averaging, on the whole, lower ratings than in 2010, the show has stabilised to around 750,000–800,000 per night with episodes rarely achieving above 850,000 and below 600,000.
In its first outing at 6.30, The Project scored 571,000; fourth in its slot and the third highest rating show on TEN for that night.
Awards
Bickmore won a Logie Award in the category of Most Popular New Female Talent for her work on the show. Pickering was nominated for a Logie Award in the category of Most Popular New Male Talent for his work on the show.| Year | Nominee | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 Logie Awards of 2010 The 52nd Annual TV WEEK Logie Awards were held on Sunday 2 May 2010 at the Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne, and was once again televised on the Nine Network... |
Carrie Bickmore Carrie Bickmore Carrie Bickmore is an Australian radio news presenter and television presenter. Currently she is a presenter on The Project which airs on weeknights on Network Ten.-Personal life:... |
Most Popular New Female Talent | Won |
| Charlie Pickering Charlie Pickering Charlie Pickering he grew up in Melbourne, Australia and attended an Independent Anglican Boys' School; Brighton Grammar... |
Most Popular New Male Talent | Nominated |
See also
- Ten NewsTen NewsTen News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
- 6.30 with George Negus6.30 with George Negus6.30 with George Negus is an Australian television current affairs program broadcast on Network Ten. It airs at 6:30pm from Monday to Friday and is presented by George Negus and Hugh Riminton or Hamish Macdonald from the TEN studios in Pyrmont, Sydney.It premiered at 6pm on 24 January 2011...
- The Panel
External links
- The Project – Official site
- Official Twitter
- http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/06/3085975.htm – Backlash to McDonald's endorsment