Media Expert Reveals Signs of The Project’s Cancellation as Ten Confirms New Investigative Show

The Project viewers were left stunned this week when Network Ten announced on Monday that their flagship show was getting the axe in three weeks.

But leading media analyst Steve Allen, from Pearman Media, has revealed to Daily Mail Australia the signs of the news program’s demise have been evident for years.

The TV expert said on Tuesday that The Project landed on the chopping block the moment it started losing star power hosts like Carrie Bickmore. 

‘They lost some of those well-liked, well-admired names,’ Allen said.

‘The trio who first started The Project, Carrie Bickmore being one of them. They were known quantities then.’

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The Project, which will air its last episode on June 27, launched as The 7PM Project in July 2009 with Carrie Bickmore and comedians Charlie Pickering and Dave Hughes at the helm.

The show then saw a star-studded, rotating panel over the course of its nearly 16-year span, which included the likes of Peter Helliar, Rove McManus, Lisa Wilkinson and Tommy Little, among others.

In its heyday, The Project won several accolades including 11 Logie Awards – two of which were viewer-voted Gold Logies won by hosts Waleed Aly and Bickmore. 

Many stars have since left the program, leaving behind Aly, Sarah Harris, Sam Taunton, Hamish MacDonald, Georgie Tunny, Susie Youssef and Steve Price. 

Allen said while the current line-up is plenty talented, they don’t have the same ‘public appeal’ as the prior panels. 

‘What Ten have tried to do in the last decade with the personalities who have gone in and out of the show, they have tried to reinvent it and it just hasn’t been successful,’ he said.

‘Waleed Aly, in particular, a few years ago generated a lot of publicity. 

‘He is very good at what he does, but he didn’t have other people around him that were sufficiently different with their own appeal to the public to regain some numbers.’

‘That was the problem. He was nearly last man standing,’ Allen added.

The Project exceeded more than a million metro viewers at the height of its success.

It first began as a half-hour program but soon transitioned into one-hour episodes as its popularity increased.

Shot mostly at Network Ten’s studios in The Como Centre in South Yarra, Melbourne, The Project was known for reporting on current affairs with a comedic spin.

The show also featured all kinds of international superstar guests, giving a seat to any and all artists, actors and musicians who were on tour in Australia.  

‘The other unique thing The Project has had to this day, and will have until it goes off air, is for any celebrity who comes to Australia – Seven and Nine wouldn’t give them much long-form interview space, but The Project would,’ Allen said.

‘They had something different going for them.’ 

However, audiences began to dwindle in recent years following the loss of stars like Bickmore, Hughes and Wilson – and no amount of famous guests could help The Project recover. 

Just last week, The Project only attracted between 238,000 and 357,000 viewers nationally.

This is in stark contrast to The Project’s competitors – Seven and Nine News – which routinely attracted more than 2 million viewers to their 6pm bulletins.

However, it seems Ten is preparing to come back bigger and better than ever as the network has already announced an exciting new show to take The Project’s place. 

After announcing The Project was ending, Ten released another statement announcing a different news program will be filling the evening time slot.

‘Network 10 will be introducing a revised early evening program schedule later this month,’ a spokesperson said.

‘At the core of the changes will be an expansion of Network 10’s successful news coverage, with the launch of a new national one-hour 6pm news, current affairs and insights program six days a week to complement 10’s one-hour 5pm local news bulletins.

‘This reflects the successful growth in audiences to Network 10 local news bulletins and coverage. 

‘Our focus continues to be on serving our free-to-air audiences with more of the content they are increasingly watching.’

‘Deal or No Deal will move to the new time of 7pm,’ the statement finished.

Recently poached Seven journalists Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace are expected to host the new evening program.

The new show will be overseen by broadcast news vice president Martin White, with the title and official launch date expected to be announced within the next week.

Daily Mail Australia previously reported Ten poached several high-profile journalists from Channel Seven to create a ‘crack team’ for a new investigative unit.

Veteran reporter Hitchcock, 7News Sydney’s Bill Hogan, and award-winning former foreign correspondent Brace are those said to be at the helm of the new program.

Brace and Hitchcock left Seven’s Sydney newsroom within hours of quitting and began work at Ten last Monday. Hogan is expected to start in another two weeks.

The departures fuelled speculation Ten is preparing to launch a prime-time news magazine show to take on Nine’s 60 Minutes, Seven’s Spotlight, and ABC’s Four Corners.

A Ten spokesperson has since confirmed the shake-up to Daily Mail Australia, saying: ‘Following the continued growth and success of our news brand, 10 News, we are investing in an investigative unit that will work on long-form stories.’