Networks axe shows for ad cash

The three main free-to-air commercial networks have changed program schedules at unprecedented rates this year.

The decisions leave hundreds of thousands of frustrated viewers turning on their TV and finding a different show airing to the one listed in their TV guide, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The latest victims were Channel 10`s new Australian programs Bondi Rescue: Bali and Kenny`s World which Ten dumped from its Wednesday night slots due to soft ratings.

Both observational documentary programs were heralded by Ten, but dumped after a few weeks in the 7.30pm-8.30pm slot with an average 650,00 national viewers last week.

They were replaced this week by cooking show Jamie`s Ministry Of Food, which drew an audience of 764,000 - a paltry improvement which denied fans of the latest local shows.

In some cases shows have been dumped after one or two episodes, or shifted to obscure timeslots.

"It has been much worse this year than ever before," media analyst Steve Allen said.

"There has been a higher than normal failure of shows rate this year."

The impetus is the $4 billion a year spent on commercial TV advertising. Programmers have to drop bad performers or lose revenue.

Channel 9 and 10 have dumped or moved the most programs this year, but leading network Seven has been guilty of practice - especially with Ugly Betty, Prison Break and Lost.

"The aim of our game is to try to please most of the people most of the time and it`s a very tricky equation," Seven programmer Tim Worner said yesterday.

Ten`s Australian shows were dropped in the hope the replacement would do better for the new series of the following House, which has less than half its 1.6 million 2007 audience - due to the failure of its preceding programs.