FTA-TV Australian Ninja Warrior

[troybe]

My sister's best friends sons are on tonight.

 

[Sterge]

the bloke who did it in 1:30 was insane

 

[Andronicus]

Not even Bec Maddern could get me to watch this absolute slop.
..And Id happily watch her darn socks.

I question your taste then.

She is so tedious. Not sure if listening to Maddern or Underwood. Tries so hard to sound like a guy and she is so patronising. Offering advice to people doing things that she wouldn't have a chance in hell doing herself.

 

[Keys]

sup h8erz

1.75 million watched my ep last night

best non-news ratings for the year

Like the show due to the insane athleticism of the contestants but parts of it can be tedious - mainly the time spent on background stories

Couple of questions - who decides on which contestants to focus on and how is that determined. Some are obvious like that girl with a titanium spine as it's an interesting story, others less so

Also there's instances where contestants have completed the course in good time but we don't even get to see so much of highlight of their effort, just their name on the leaderboard. Why don't they get shown at all yet we see some relatively uninteresting people fail unspectacularly

 

[DapperJong]

Like the show due to the insane athleticism of the contestants but parts of it can be tedious - mainly the time spent on background stories

Couple of questions - who decides on which contestants to focus on and how is that determined. Some are obvious like that girl with a titanium spine as it's an interesting story, others less so

Also there's instances where contestants have completed the course in good time but we don't even get to see so much of highlight of their effort, just their name on the leaderboard. Why don't they get shown at all yet we see some relatively uninteresting people fail unspectacularly

Awesome questions.

The runs are usually chosen by my producer, their supervisor and myself - even though I'm mostly just there to make it look/sound nice.

Overall, you have to have a balance of competitors. Mainly it's a balance of men/women but also guns/characters.

Because if you have a whole episode of dudes who are awesome athletes with no character, it gets boring. If you have a whole episode of characters who are s**t at the course, its unfulfilling. You want a mixture of the best backstories and the best runs. If you have contestants that have both - then great! But it doesn't always work out that way.

What the audience will never see is how boring some of the runs are. Some of the guys just get through it with no real drama so it's like you're watching them exercise. Not great television.

On the flip side - back stories. I get that a lot of people hate them, but a lot of people aren't going to sit through a run without them. This is where the show crosses over into basically being a soap opera. There are many people who haven't exercised a day in their life who won't connect with a guy who has don it is whole life, so in order to get them to watch you need to introduce those "normal, everyday" people. I totally get the hate for it, but sob stories work.

It's worked perfectly here, because it's managed to appeal to many demographics.

I was actually skeptical because the eps are so long!

I hope that answers your questions!

 

[Percel]

Thanks DapperJong great insight into the background of the show.

 

[GreekLunatic]

All we need is a Tania zaetta and mike Whitney Bec tries way too hard

 

[Boomerfan99]

How good was that last guy William. Absolute gun.

 

[Paulkanga2000]

William was good but how about the 21 yr old guy? Wow! 4 of the 7 finalists completed the course tonight. How was the obstacle with the rings! Ouch

 

[Sterge]

DapperJong will the winners be going to Mount Midoriyama to compete in the proper Ninja Warrior, or will this be another Australian Survivor where they do a hack job of the end?

 

[DapperJong]

DapperJong will the winners be going to Mount Midoriyama to compete in the proper Ninja Warrior, or will this be another Australian Survivor where they do a hack job of the end?

Oh no mount mid is just what our last obstacle is. Ah well...

 

[Paulkanga2000]

If you wondering like me who the guy was who finished fifth but was never shown last night:

he was the stuntman that died in Jan whilst shooting a Bliss and Esso music video.

http://www.mamamia.com.au/australian-ninja-warrior-death/

 

[Andronicus]

DapperJong You had the chance to edit out Maddern's voice and you kept it in?

Not sure that can ever be forgiven.

 

[DapperJong]

DapperJong You had the chance to edit out Maddern's voice and you kept it in?

Not sure that can ever be forgiven.

hehe

would have had to fire her before shooting

 

[Bostonian]

Because if you have a whole episode of dudes who are awesome athletes with no character, it gets boring.

No that would be much better.

Wasting 5 minutes on the back story of someone who has no hope of getting through and then cuts to their family is the personification of boring filler.

These people are only there for the wipe out factor.

 

[DapperJong]

No that would be much better.

Wasting 5 minutes on the back story of someone who has no hope of getting through and then cuts to their family is the personification of boring filler.

These people are only there for the wipe out factor.

You didn't read/comprehend my whole post.

Who are you to say that Betty, 53 years old, who enjoys knitting, likes the supreme athletes of the show better than say, an older competitor defying the odds to even get on the show?

It may not be boring to you, but if you want good ratings you have to cater to as many people as you can.

Geddit?

And trust me, 90 minutes of basically the same run 15 times in a row is ******* boring to most people.

 

[Bostonian]

You didn't read/comprehend my whole post.

Who are you to say that Betty, 53 years old, who enjoys knitting, likes the supreme athletes of the show better than say, an older competitor defying the odds to even get on the show?

It may not be boring to you, but if you want good ratings you have to cater to as many people as you can.

Geddit?

And trust me, 90 minutes of basically the same run 15 times in a row is ******* boring to most people.

I'm saying 5 people who started watching it stopped watching it because of all that filler crap.

Show doesn't need to be 90 minutes. Show is inferior to it's OS counterparts.

 

[DapperJong]

I'm saying 5 people who started watching it stopped watching it because of all that filler crap.

Show doesn't need to be 90 minutes. Show is inferior to it's OS counterparts.

All of your points may be correct, but we will take 5 people switching off as opposed to 30. You don't represent the majority.

I mean, ratings don't lie.

And of course it's inferior to the OS shows who have been doing to for many many years. That's like rubbishing a first year player for being shitter than a 250 gamer.

 

[Bostonian]

All of your points may be correct, but we will take 5 people switching off as opposed to 30. You don't represent the majority.

Of course. Commercial TV does appeal to the lowest common denominator after all, that's the target market for most Aussie TV.

If you want to watch quality TV you watch the likes of HBO and AMC. Not the garbage produced by Australian TV.

I mean, ratings don't lie.

Sure they do. They don't factor in what people are downloading to watch.

And of course it's inferior to the OS shows who have been doing to for many many years. That's like rubbishing a first year player for being shitter than a 250 gamer.

That should make it easier to create a better product by having a template to work off and not make the same mistakes.

 

[DapperJong]

Of course. Commercial TV does appeal to the lowest common denominator after all, that's the target market for most Aussie TV.

If you want to watch quality TV you watch the likes of HBO and AMC. Not the garbage produced by Australian TV.

Sure they do. They don't factor in what people are downloading to watch.

You're not factoring in that a shitload of Australian's don't download stuff/have access to HBO etc.

You have a point in a way, because free to air wouldn't exist if everyone was that tech savvy, but they aren't.

Sure they do. They don't factor in what people are downloading to watch.

Quoting this again because it makes no sense. TV channels are in competition with other channels first and foremost. Not Downloads.

That should make it easier to create a better product by having a template to work off and not make the same mistakes.

A crew working on a new format will never be able to match the efforts of a crew who has made a show for 8 seasons. And yes, we copied the American version, and yes, they have long backstories. Go set your timer and time them.

And if you're going to compare AUS television with the "good US" television, here's something else you haven't factored in: budget. US gets so much more money to make shows with.

Please accept you aren't well educated in this field. You seem to have a pretty big chip on your shoulder for some reason.

 

[Bostonian]

You're not factoring in that a shitload of Australian's don't download stuff/have access to HBO etc.

You have a point in a way, because free to air wouldn't exist if everyone was that tech savvy, but they aren't.

Quoting this again because it makes no sense. TV channels are in competition with other channels first and foremost. Not Downloads.

Take my group of friends as an example of the changing face of TV. None of us watch Australian commercial TV bar a few sporting events etc because the content is so poor. We are lost customers to advertisers.

People downloading equals less people being reached through advertising. So TV channels are in competition with downloads as every person who watches any show regardless of formate is a potential customer.

A crew working on a new format will never be able to match the efforts of a crew who has made a show for 8 seasons. And yes, we copied the American version, and yes, they have long backstories. Go set your timer and time them.

I've always downloaded US American ninja. Zero ads or filler. Wonderful.

And if you're going to compare AUS television with the "good US" television, here's something else you haven't factored in: budget. US gets so much more money to make shows with.

Sure budget can have it's constraints but if a concept and storyline are good, budget won't matter.

If they can find money to fund s**t like Yummy Mummies, The Batchelor and all those crap reality shows then they'd find money to produce a decent concept or show.

Please accept you aren't well educated in this field. You seem to have a pretty big chip on your shoulder for some reason.

I accept I can critique a show however I please. If I think a show is s**t I don't watch it.

Such as this show, thought it had promise but the drawn out filler crap makes it unwatchable. Condense it down to a shorter time and less irrelevant shots of family on the sideline and it might become more watchable.

 

[Sterge]

Sure budget can have it's constraints but if a concept and storyline are good, budget won't matter.

If they can find money to fund s**t like Yummy Mummies, The Batchelor and all those crap reality shows then they'd find money to produce a decent concept or show.

They make reality TV because it's cheap, you mentioned HBO before. They pay just Dinklage 2.4mil an episode Aus TV wouldn't be paying 2.4 mil for every reality tv show combined.

 

[DapperJong]

I accept I can critique a show however I please. If I think a show is s**t I don't watch it.

Yep totally. Just don't assume you speak for the majority.



And your points on the changing face of TV, mate I agree that it should be happening that way, but the numbers are slow in Australia. TV audiences are still big enough that advertising still does for it. It'll obviously change, but it's a few years away in AUS.

 

[DapperJong]

They make reality TV because it's cheap, you mentioned HBO before. They pay just Dinklage 2.4mil an episode Aus TV wouldn't be paying 2.4 mil for every reality tv show combined.

Oh yeah, this.

Comparing ANY reality show to a drama is just incorrect.

 

[Bostonian]

They make reality TV because it's cheap, you mentioned HBO before. They pay just Dinklage 2.4mil an episode Aus TV wouldn't be paying 2.4 mil for every reality tv show combined.

You can make great TV on the cheap. You think Kath and Kim cost a fortune to make in the context of costings?

If making s**t TV was the way to go to make money Channel 10 would be a success story.

I'm also betting Dinklage wasn't getting that kind of money to begin with. It's the huge success of that show that allows for that kind of money to be paid per ep.