(CAUTION: As Yahoo7 are yet to set up a website for The Ev3nt in AU, the link following is to the NBC site in the US - it will contain spoilers of episodes not seen yet in AU).
The Ev3nt is the latest big-ticket, blockbusting script & timeline bending must-watch show from the US to be aired on Channel 7. Well, at least I hope it will be.
A lukewarm reception to this new series in the US doesn’t bode well, and the obvious comparisons to Lost & FlashForward. Both of those series I was a big fan of but then I really enjoy drama with an intriguing/quirky twist. When we saw the first promo, both @LovelyWife and I were excited to see another show we could bond over, discuss at our own water-cooler, & dissect ad nausea. We’re looking forward to seeing it.
Channel 7 will be banking on it to succeed. An 8:30pm slot is a big investment for a network – they are giving it a big lead in by having it follow their $25 million juggernaut The X Factor – and both the 7:30pm & 8:30pm slots are critical for ratings (& therefore advertising) success. I’m sure there’ll be a nervous programmer watching for the OzTam ratings results tomorrow, that’s for sure.
One of the benefits of the new television landscape the networks have is their ability to use their digital mult-channels to cross promote/finish/bury shows that they don’t believe will survive on their “main” channel. Now that both 7Two, Go! & OneHD are entrenched, we can expect a different approach from the networks in utilising these channels and their new digital-multis 7Mate, GEM & Eleven. There are new series showing exclusively on these alternate channels, away from the parent. There are series popping up on the alternate channels that vanished from the main channels a long time ago. You can expect that more and more of your viewing time will be spread across a network’s digital-multis as they seek to build their identity and show that they (the networks) can cater for everyone. Everyone.
Will The Ev3nt be the show-stopper Channel 7 want it to be? We’ll find out soon enough.
It’s certain that, with programming changes made on the strength of the next day’s ratings, there are very few shows that will get to see the end of their series in their originally scheduled timeslot or on their originally scheduled channel if they under-perform. Unless they have significant coin dropped on them by the network itself.
The Ev3nt, 8:30pm Mondays (for now), 7 Network.
The X Factor, 7:30pm Sundays & Mondays, 7 Network.