Channel 10 boss Beverley McGarvey under pressure to quit

Channel 10 boss Beverley McGarvey is under increasing pressure to quit as disgruntled staff bemoaned dismal ratings and a PR disaster.

The network is a distant third in the rankings behind Nine and Seven and its previous marquee shows like The Bachelor and The Project being on life support.

The new programs didn’t go any better and his attempt at breakfast a la Sunrise drew just 44 viewers in Sydney for his second run.

But staff say McGarvey’s approach – despite a failed roller-coaster and some heavy internal conflict – has doubled down instead of showing humility.

Beverley McGarvey has overseen some fortunes at Ten and is now executive vice president for ViacomCBS Australia

Longtime employees feared the situation might be terminal, and unfavorably compared his tenure with his predecessor David Mott.

They remember that fateful day in 2012 when then-programming boss Mott told his squad he was stepping down after nearly 16 years.

Despite having overseen the debut of the network’s most successful and lucrative program in 2009 – MasterChef all-over and still worthy – Mott was also behind the wheel for some spectacular surprises.

Nothing fits that description better than The Renovators – a desperate clone of Nine’s big hit, The Block but with a MasterChef twist – the expensive home DIY show never found an audience when it launched in 2011.

Somewhat foreboding, Mott announced to reporters on the eve of The Renovator’s launch that the network’s fortunes depended essentially on the success of the show and that there was ‘no plan B’ if major productions failed.

The Renovators was a categorical disaster for Ten in 2011 and cost the then programming boss, David Mott, his job

Mott (center) told staff ‘you are only as good as your number’ before stepping down in 2012

True to his word, Mott fell on his sword the following year and in his departure speech to the staff made a very frank confession.

‘You’re only as good as your number,’ said Mott to the employees who had gathered to bid him farewell in the Pyrmont office on his last day.

He admits that based on his track record of the previous year, he may have even surpassed his remarks: ‘I may last longer than I deserve.’

McGarvey, on the other hand, stubbornly persisted despite an arguably worse decade-long decline in his job.

Installed as head of programming following Mott’s death, McGarvey went on to become executive vice president of Paramount Australia and New Zealand in 2020, also making him Ten’s chief content officer.

He made some polarizing promises that some staff said started ringing in the bud.

Still a solid performer for Ten, MasterChef is in the minority and far from his glory rankings

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McGarvey in 2015 appointed his executive assistant, Daniel Monaghan, to head of programming, causing serious outrage among senior (and arguably more qualified) candidates.

‘That one turned his head,’ one of Ten’s senior staff told Daily Mail Australia, adding that Monaghan’s habit of bringing a copy of TV Week to programming meetings as a rival network’s whiteboard notes caused ‘some confused looks’.

‘There’s a feeling that maybe we’re not in the most capable hands.’

The acquisition of a high-profile ten by CBS in 2017 brought much-needed security to staff at Pyrmont headquarters in a time of financial stress.

However, with the exception of MasterChef, there is still not much to draw from the rankings.

The expensive arrival of Lisa Wilkinson from Nine failed to spark renewed interest for The Project and started a rating spiral.

Usually reliable shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Australian Survivor, and The Masked Singer (which McGarvey loves) all kick off big slides, and expensive newcomer, Making It Australia, heavily bombed. .

Bachelorette’s rankings have fallen since 2017 highs and were recently cancelled

Conversation among staff about changes at the executive level began to increase.

‘That’s when, well, how bad do things have to be before someone starts making tough calls?’ said one of the senior staff.

‘The people on the ground have to take leeway. Budget cuts hit, people pick up redundancy but what about the folks at the top?’

According to one veteran media buyer, Ten’s missteps were also glaring for the entire industry.

“What’s really needed is an old-fashion sports rights contract like the NRL or racing that it can challenge,” said Ian Warner, director of purchasing agency Moonlighting.

‘Another problem that Ten has is monetizing his personality which is something Nine and Seven do really well.

‘Ten needs to get the big names out there and get them to sell the network.

‘Look at the MasterChef guys… the audience loves them, but once the show is over you won’t see them again.

‘Whereas Nine and Seven have their big names and work. Even the RSL morning tea they did with the news crew… I’m sure it hurts the talent, but passengers, and viewers, love that sort of thing.’

Major PR disasters like Lisa Wilkinson’s Logies speech that saw Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape trial postponed don’t help the situation

Journalist Tegan George (left) infamous lawsuit against his news boss Peter Van Onselen (right) is another ongoing nuisance that a beleaguered network cannot afford.

Major public relations disasters like Logies Wilkinson’s speech saw the trial of Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape postponed and the ongoing legal saga between journalists Tegan George and Peter Van Onselen is an added distraction.

And then, like some limp cherries on an old cake, the new breakfast news show Ten News First: Last week’s breakfast drew just 44 viewers at Sydney’s metro market on its second day on air.

This is the worst result of any show in TV history, however – as source Ten notes – the network’s response has been to play it as something positive.

‘You have a broadcast news boss saying ‘oh that’s okay, up 13 percent everything’s fine,’ the Inside Ten laughed.

New breakfast news show Ten 10 News First: Last week’s breakfast drew just 44 viewers at Sydney’s metro market on its second day

‘That’s when you realize we have not only a programming problem or an executive problem but an accountability issue as well.’

Ten declined to comment to Daily Mail Australia on McGarvey’s future.

Meanwhile, the network last week re-established its position as a distant third behind Seven and Nine in its mid-year viewer share snapshot.

Seven has the largest metropolitan commercial network share at 38.9 percent at the end of the 27th week of 2022 with Nine behind it with 38.5 percent and Ten well below its competitors with a 22.6 percent share.

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