I recently read...

The below titled article:

TV networks asking ‘where have all the viewers gone’ as shows fail to break the one million viewer barrier

I read this and thought well the answer is simple and something I have written about countless times. Scrap the reality and start from day one again. The three major networks have completely lost their way, the ABC is always (well generally) ranked third behind Nine & Seven and Channel 10 just floats around aimlessly at fourth.

My main issue in the first part of the article is the "non ratings period", honey boo boo, first problem here, it might be Summer, it might be warmer (and Daylight light savings in some states) but seriously, in a 24/7 news cycle world their is NO room for a lazy two months of programming.

Radio is allowed to try out new announcers, ditch the chat and play a few additional tunes over Summer (well at least JJJ does the others will through on a few more adds and some best bits (or 2DAY FM's case - worst bits) segments which give Summer announcers time to race out and order an iced latte.

TV on the other hand this is not an excuse to through on Golden Girls, Two & a Half Men re runs and hope to god when the "ratings period" ends and 2015 kicks off (in most states this country comes back alive in February) people return to the networks that have treated them like brain dead corpses for the last two months,

As we are in opposite seasons to the USA and the UK these stations are firing at all cylinders with new programs and returning favourites. Gotham and The Flash are leading the way for the super hero shows whist The Walking Dead is continuing to score massive ratings. Unfortunately for Australia Revenge fans will have to wait until around Feb/Mar to see a show which is already onto it's 6th episode, the same goes for fans of Scandal who must be champing at the bit for her new show How to Get Away with Murder which is currently smashing it ratings wise.

Whilst Australia's wait for these shows to return/start we will have days of re runs, extended news bulletins and the shows held back from the regular season that were predicted failures ahead of screening.

The second part, of course Australia's are bored with what's on offer, new reality series, badly written dramas (Party Tricks - the first episode was dreadful) and American dramas which have already appeared on Foxtel or aired in the states a while ago. Even the US is struggling to launch new reality shows with the BIG budget series Utopia on Murdoch's Fox cancelled very early on in the piece.

The problem with reality TV is, it's getting boring, the casting is sloppy and every era of TV has a time to go (no Big Brother pun intended). The Golden Era of TV has said to be shows like The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Dexter, True Blood and surprise no reality shows make this list.

Drama is key for the three Aussie networks and not shit like Party Tricks cause let's face it when you look at Veep or House of Cards this is just a poor man's copy. Veep is funny, quick and smart, House of Cards is gripping, edge of the seat stuff, Party Tricks is neither of these. The ABC did well with the Code however it's ratings were not steady.

The third part US dramas, they all need to be fast tracked and put on at reasonable times. Not 9:09pm after a long and drawn out Dancing with the C grade Stars, 8:30pm on the dot and try not too load too many ad's in each break.

Getting over the magic million viewers, it will happen but you need to treat your viewers with respect. Leave shows not the same time each week, don't change your schedule, don't run your shows late, don't have a show on one week, have a week off and then resume. It's simple treat your viewers how you would like to be treated. You can read the full article here, but my point is the three networks have to change or stick to one thing:

Channel 7 - Bogan friendly reality giant station. Local content 100% reality.
Channel 9 - Your mans and conservative station. Lose Big Brother and other titles which don't suit the demographic ASAP.
Channel 10 - Drama for the youth (well 16-39). Channel Ten could be great but you need to lose The Biggest Loser, Masterchef, any ideas of ever bringing back Australian Idol, So You Think You Can Dance or any new reality junk, leave it to Seven, they do it better and their audience enjoys that shit.

Each stations currently like a Gemini has split personalities, they need to stick to the above and leave it, grow and once again develop and reward their audiences. Channel 7 could continue to be on top if they just aired wall to wall reality junk, Channel 9 would win some nights with it's sports broadcasts or more conservative dramas and Channel 10 may eventually beat ABC every night if they continue dramas locally like Offspring and Puberty Blues and international dramas that have some smarts and not the run of the mill shit which tends to get the axe one year in.

Channel 7, 9 & 10 programming and marketing departments WAKE UP you're stations are currently super shit, it's no wonder downloads are so high in Australia and the ABC and iView are institutions in a lot of folks homes.

Sorry to the major networks but the future looks bleak unless you embrace some change - ASAP.