After dismal ratings and a fake review scandal, Rove McManus’ latest project Saturday Night Rove has been pulled from airwaves.
According to Rove who spoke to TV Tonight, it was a mutual decision between Channel Ten and the comedian to pull the plug after the variety show dropped to just 138,000 viewers in its second week.
The show had debuted to an audience of 244,000 one week prior.
“It was clear looking at the numbers that the audience we hoped would find a free-wheeling live show on a Saturday night just weren’t there. We spoke with 10 today and we both called it,” Rove told TV Tonight in a statement.
“The opportunity to play live in front of Australia again was fun, no matter how brief, and I would like to thank my amazing co-stars, the behind the scenes team and everyone at 10 who got behind Saturday Night Rove.”
A Channel Ten spokesperson added: “Unfortunately Saturday Night Rove hasn’t resonated with viewers the way we had hoped, so Rove and 10 have made the decision to remove it from the schedule. Rove is a sensational entertainer and a close friend of 10, and we thank him for all his hard work, and all the laughs, on Saturday Night Rove.”
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The plug has been pulled on Saturday Night Rove.
(Image: @rovemcmanus/ Instagram)It comes after the show was embroiled in scandal when it came to light the Twitter reviews used in its promos had been edited to seem more positive than they actually were.
Among the tweets discovered by TV Blackbox, was one that read “Amazing…Funny!”
However, the original source tweet actually read: “#SaturdayNightRove Soo I kinda liked it, it’s not amazing but it’s funny and can we get some musical performances please?”
Awkward!
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Rove (right) pictured with former prime minister Kevin Rudd (left) on the show.
(Image: @rovemcmanus/ Instagram)While several of Rove’s recent projects including a radio stint with Home and Away star Sam Frost have been ill-fated, the Gold Logie winner once dominated the airwaves with his talk show Rove Live.
Here’s hoping a comeback is on the cards!
WATCH: Remember this? Take a look back at Rove’s radio show with Sam Frost
