Today news broke that Network Ten has been placed into voluntary administration. No doubt you’ve got a lot of questions about what this means for your favourite shows. Hopefully these answers can put your minds at ease.
1. Will the station be taken off air?
No, the network will continue to air as normal.
2. How can it be in trouble?
The network currently has a number of hit shows with this season of MasterChef performing consistently well in the ratings.
However, in recent years the network has struggled to bring in enough advertising revenue, which has meant it’s been running at a loss, hence why the company has had to go into voluntary administration.
3. What does voluntary administration actually mean?
Voluntary administration is a process that begins when a company is in a financially troubled position, such as not having enough money to pay its debts.
The board hands the company to an independent third party, in this case KordaMentha, to explore the best outcomes for the owners (shareholders) and creditors (banks) of the company.
4. What will KordaMentha’s role be?
KordaMentha’s role is to help the business find a solution to their financial problems.
They work with both the company and the businesses the company owes money to help find the best solution that works for everyone involved.
Family Feud will continue as normal.
5. Will programming change immediately?
We reached out to Network Ten to confirm that your favourite TV shows will continue to air as normal. “Today’s announcement has no impact on TEN’s programming schedule,” a spokesperson told TV WEEK. “It is business as usual for production and programming.”
6. What about Offspring?
For now, it’s business as usual. The Proudmans will be back on our screens for the highly anticipated season seven on June 28.
We’re looking forward to seeing Matty J on The Bachelor.
7. What does this mean for The Bachelor and The Bachelorette?
Fear not, Matty J’s season of The Bachelor will go to air shortly.
Sophie Monk’s upcoming season is also a done deal with filming about to begin.
The former Bardot singer should be gracing our screens in a few months.
8. What about Australian content in general?
At this stage all scheduled local content will air as per usual. Which means fan favourites such as Family Feud, MasterChef Australia, Have You Been Paying Attention and The Project will continue.
Jonathan Paglia will be hosting season two of Australian Survivor.
9. What about season two of Australian Survivor and The Wrong Girl?
Australian Survivor, hosted by Jonathan LaPaglia, and The Wrong Girl, starring Jessica Marais, were both big success stories for the network last year.
The second season of both series will go to air later this year. A premiere date for either show hasn’t been released at this stage.
10. What about overseas content?
In order to save on costs, the Network has been in negotiations with its US studio partners Fox and CBS.
“In relation to the renegotiation of programming contracts, the company has agreed in principle the vast majority of the commercial terms of replacement volume content supply agreements with its US studio partners, Fox and CBS, although final terms have not yet been formally agreed,” Ten said.
This means that while some changes may occur with overseas content down the track, nothing has been finalised at this stage. However, the re-working of contracts will still allow “Ten access to the best productions of those studios over the medium term.”
