Why Seven Executives are calling time on the singing show, and Netflix faces serious allegations.
In this edition of Media McKnight:
- Netflix Accused of ‘TOXIC’ Treatment of Aussie Crew
- The Voice AXED On Seven
- Today Extra’s Woke Problem
- TV Viewing Habits
You can watch the video edition of MEDIA McKNIGHT in the YouTube player below:
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SEVEN LOSES ITS VOICE
It looks like this will be the last season of The Voice on Channel 7.
Sources tell me the budget for the show is going to be used to fund I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here in 2027.
This was actually something I predicted recently in The Daily Mail:
Reality shows cost about $20 million per season, give or take, and no Australian TV station has a spare $20 million lying around.
That means something has to go to make way for the new purchase.
Inside Mail has already revealed that My Reno Rules won’t be back next year, but that show was fully funded by Adrian Portelli and didn’t cost Seven anything.
So, how will it pay for I’m a Celeb? With two music competition shows on its roster, all eyes have turned to The Voice and Australian Idol.
Well, the decision has been made, and it looks like Seven’s executive team is not turning its chairs for The Voice.
On Friday, Kyle Sandilands announced he would not be returning for the next season of Australian Idol. Whether that was his decision or Channel 7’s remains a topic of gossip within the industry.
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Now, I have to be honest and declare I thought Idol might be the one to get the chop so that Seven could avoid a PR nightmare by dropping Kyle.
The Mad Witches were threatening to target Idol because of his involvement, and the revenue losses would not have been sustainable.
Idol is doing strong business against the juggernaut that is Married At First Sight, so when choosing between two music shows, it makes sense for Seven to ditch THE VOICE.
And, on a programming note, Kyle will be joining me on Thursday’s edition of McKnight Tonight for an in-depth interview covering just about everything.
You can watch the show live at YouTube.com/@mcknighttonight at 8pm or catch up any time.
*Kyle’s appearance was previously promoted for Wednesday, but the date has been changed to Thursday.
AUSSIE PRODUCTION TEAMS SAY NETFLIX ‘TOXIC’
Serious allegations are being raised by the Australian production team who worked on the new Netflix reality TV series – Wonka’s The Golden Ticket, which was shot at Warner Brothers Movie World on the Gold Coast.
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The show, which is based on the original Willy Wonka movie, looks AMAZING.
Wonka’s Golden Ticket is coming to NETFLIX
In the game, players must navigate a series of Wonka’s temptations and challenges, which are designed to push them physically, mentally, and morally.
According to the blurb:
“Players will journey through the factory’s wondrous and unpredictable landscape, while proving they have the instincts, resilience, and character to thrive in chaos. And, yes, they might even bump into an Oompa Loompa or two.
In the end, only one contestant will earn Wonka’s life-changing prize in this high-stakes social experiment inspired by one of the most iconic worlds in cinematic history.
Wonka’s The Golden Ticket will premiere on Sept. 23, with a two-part finale on Sept. 30.
But just like the film, apparently things were very different behind the scenes than what we see on the screen.
Sources have been reaching out to share their horror stories of working on the show, alleging:
- Some crew were put up in second-rate hotels
- Last-minute changes by Netflix executives created chaos as production teams tried to meet their demands
- Technical set-ups weeks in the planning had to be redone because of changes made by senior creatives
- Workers were hitting their allotted 60-hour weeks by mid-week and told to take time off, only to be called to come back in to arrange new set-ups…
- And Reputations were left in ruins because of demands that couldn’t be met within the allotted time and budget.
Basically, it sounds like crew were overworked and Netflix execs were changing things at 11th hour, leading to many workers getting sick and just wanting the thing to be over.
Netflix was approached for comment but did not respond.
You have to wonder whether crews in the U-S would have been treated in such a way, if the series had been shot there.
Workers in Hollywood have strict unions who make sure workers are treated fairly and paid fairly.
There’s none of that here in Australia.
So, Netflix gets tax offsets, their American dollar goes further thanks to the exchange rate and they can treat our workers like crap.
For an American comp-any who brought out around 30 executives to oversee the production, you’d have thought they could plan better and treat workers better.
Hopefully they learn some lessons for next time.
You’ve heard the old saying – ‘Go woke go broke’.
Channel 10’s The Project learned that lesson when it started skewing so far to the left that viewers deserted the show in droves, leading to its eventual cancellation.
Well, the folks at TODAY EXTRA don’t seem to have learned that lesson with presenters David Campbell and Belinda Russell sprouting anti-Pauline Hanson views, despite her strong poll numbers.
During a hot topics discussion with Jane Caro and Brendan Jones recently, Jones referred to the possibility of Pauline Hanson or Barnaby Joyce running the country.
“Give us some better options”, Russell chimed in, to much laughter.
While it’s refreshing to hear some actual opinions during a hot topics segment, Russell’s dismissive references to One Nation put her at odds with many voters who are seriously looking to the party as an alternative to Labor and the Coalition.
And this is why casting these segments is extremely important.
Everyone on the panel that day is left-leaning – there was no alternative viewpoint.
That means no-one was representing the centrist – or right-leaning views – of the majority of Australians.
That’s become a concern behind the scenes of the second-placed morning show with a team of young producers who all hold left-wing views. Sources reveal editorial choices mostly reflect a shared viewpoint of those working on the show.
It has led to a clear left-wing narrative that doesn’t connect with voters (and viewers).
That’s not to say there isn’t room for left-leaning commentary, but this panel was stacked with those voices.
There’s no doubt the producers on the show are overworked and underpaid, but more thought needs to be given to who is booked during discussion – it’s not the smartest idea to have a panel full of people show share the shame political views.
Most Australians are centre-right, so skewing a morning show too far to the left is dangerous. Seven’s The Morning Show avoids politics and has found a lot of success by simply being entertaining.
That’s not to say you can’t be political; you just need to find the right balance so that all Australians feel as they are being heard.
While a show like TODAY EXTRA makes good money thanks to the advertorials, they need to be careful about becoming too woke, otherwise they might just go broke!
CUTTING THROUGH TV VIEWING SPIN
OzTAM released its Streamscape data for the second quarter of 2026 this week.
The data claims to provide a comprehensive view of how Australians consume video across broadcast TV, broadcaster video on demand (BVOD) and all other streaming.
TV ratings are actually pretty strong at the moment, so don’t listen to anyone who says no-one watches TV any more.
The biggest problem for TV networks is advertisers spending doesn’t match the share of the pie commercial television has in the marketplace.
For whatever reason, buyers are choosing to go with other mediums when spending their advertising dollar.
But let’s look at the data, noting this report only focuses on viewing through a smart TV, not mobile devices.
The chart on the left shows video viewing on all devices in the home, with TV sets claiming 85.1%, followed by smartphones on 7.4%, computers on 4.7% and Tablets on 2.8%.
Looking through the disclaimer at the bottom, that figure does not seem to include video viewing through social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
I don’t know about you, but a LOT of my video experience is through those platforms, so these figures seem to be a bit skewed, because if social media was included, I think that would be a very different result.
In fact, smartphones were used by 98% of Australians 14+ to access the internet in February, so reach is near-universal even if OzTAM’s in-home minutes look modest.
Having said that, YouTube is included in the figures, with the chart on the right showing it, Netflix and other streaming services accounting for 39.6% of video viewing on a TV set in the home.
Broadcast video accounts for 49.7% and BVOD 10.7.
All up, under this metric, traditional TV networks account for a commanding 60.4% of viewing on TV sets.
The problem with data like this is consumers watch video in a variety of ways.
Yes, I watch some shows with my family, but it’s not uncommon for my kids to be watching the streaming services on their laptops – and I think that’s where this report starts to fall apart.
It’s old thinking limiting video watching to a big, shared TV… and so much content is now available on social media.
While this show is uploaded to YouTube, clips go out on other platforms, and the content is consumed in a variety of ways.
There are some good stories to tell when it comes to free to air TV, but the people behind these reports need to be careful it doesn’t all come across as bullshit when you start to drill down beyond the headlines.
Media McKnight is published on YouTube every Tuesday at 8pm AEST at YouTube.com/@McKnightTonight.
The article goes live on the TV Blackbox website every Wednesday morning.
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