The Ground Rules:
Our focus, in Content Survey Live traditionally has been monitoring Ten’s five capital city news services (a benefit of technological change, now allowing us to watch interstate bulletins on delay), in order of their ratings position within the network (with each market covered once) over a week, using the same criteria we used in the “Great Local News Study” from Kuttsy's Pitch XI in August, 2019.
-Locally sourced stories: that is stories reported by local journos. Really big local market stories with national impacts, also fit here. Voiced over local stories are counted separately.
-Live crosses: stuff that is used to embellish a story.
-Weather is not counted.
-Sport is not counted if it’s done by obviously freelance journos, or voiced over pieces: you gotta have dedicated reporters there, with their mug on air reporting a sports story for it to count.
-And finally: Ten Brisbane will have it’s Gold Coast content tracked again during it’s nights: something that has become a tradition in itself.
However in 2022, we have expanded to a two week format, with a entirely new way to rank bulletins
The first week, will seed bulletins based on comparisons with 2021 figures.
The second week, will seed bulletins based on comparisons with pre-pandemic and pre-centralization figures sourced from 2019.
A reminder now of this week's seedings:
Monday (22/8) Adelaide.
Tuesday (23/8) Brisbane.
Wednesday (24/8) Perth (which will also mark a significant milestone for Kuttsywood's Couch).
Thursday (25/8) Melbourne.
Friday (26/8) Sydney.
Now, let's begin today's heaping bowl of broadcast news mediocrity.
And, a reminder: to purchase merchandise related to Content Survey Live 2022, head on over to our shop over at Redbubble.
We kick off the bulletin, at 5pm with something that was lacking in 2021: immediacy. We have a live cross, that looks like it was done in a Melbourne commercial break (judging by a visible "17:32" in the background of the newsroom. This live cross is again done (almost word for word) at 6:02, with a visible "18:33" in the background of the newsroom. The first segment when that live cross ended, however turned into a parade of court stories: criminal neglect, a social worker assaulted in prison on the previous day (culprit going to court), a story on a taxi smash that finally made it to a courtroom, and a coronial inquest kicking off. In fact, the only story that wasn't a courtroom piece in that first segment, was talking about boosting numbers in a 000 call centre. It all culminated in a Adelaide-specific rundown for 5:45... which is about to air in Melbourne anyway.
That, is when it began to go downhill. Once segment two started, we wouldn't even see a skerrick of Adelaide news until the delayed 5:45, talking with a Power player set to hit free agency. Delayed news from Melbourne is the bain-marie of watching 10's Adelaide news service, and most likely makes a viewer flick the dial to a live and kicking news bulletin on Nine. In addition, the fillers for where Melbourne has traffic updates still exist: viewer photos, speed camera locations, even the sports quiz is duplicated: with the answer in the 6pm segment.
And, then we reach 6pm, with one fresh V/O'd story, some rerun material from segment 1 inc. one as a v/o'd piece, while the post 6pm sport actually has a piece (no reporter's mug though) on Crows/Power free agency... with very little mention of this past weekend's Showdown local derby that ended the home and away season, but yet mentions the All Australian longlist.
Overall, it's a news bulletin that had more local stories than last year: but still is topheavy on delayed content for nearly a third of the bulletin.
The scores:
Five local stories (four rerun in some fashion post-6pm)
One live cross duplicated first at five, then after 6.
Two V/O'd pieces: both after 6pm
Post-6pm sports section far more relevant than delayed 5:45, but no local mug on screen.
In 2021, Adelaide got a 3/10.
The first of two surveys this year, Adelaide got a 2.75/10.
Ratings figures for 10's news are outside the 5-City Metro top 20 on Monday, thus no access to ratings figures.
Tomorrow: is our home bulletin, Brisbane. But before we swing over there, let's take a gander at a theme this year for our closing videos. Local advertising that was too extravagant for it's own good.
It all begins, with John Farnham's attempt to sell Rundle Mall as "The Biggest Variety Show in Town": which fittingly ends, outside John Martins on the mall itself.
(But, on a serious note now: Farnsey, we are thinking of you at this time. The Voice needs to play to win this cancer fight: and we are all standing with you.)
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