Andrew Mercado signs off: Final column looks at 10 and programming that saved it from bankruptcy

Network 10 turned 60 yesterday – a diamond anniversary. 1 August 1964, was the day that ATV-0 began in Melbourne. Its first show was a variety special called This Is It, which was considered “bold” because it sent up sacred cows like the RSL and Aussie Rules football. Being bold would be what would always set 10 apart from its competitors.

10 really struggled in its first decade against the more established Seven, Nine, and the ABC. On the verge of bankruptcy, they gambled everything on Number 96 and they hit the jackpot. Emboldened by its success, they decided to double down.

10’s best ratings number in the 70s: 96

The Box was filmed at the Nunawading studios of ATV-0. Set in a TV station, it was the second most popular series of 1974 behind Number 96. These two dramas took 10 to the top of the ratings for the first time in their history. 

Flushed with success, industry advertisements portrayed 10’s sales executives as dirty old men opening their raincoats to show off pics of naked women emblazoned with the logos of Number 96 and The Box. Seriously. By 1975, 10 had TV’s new top-rating show, The Six Million Dollar Man, but the second highest-rated show was repeats of Bewitched, a show that 10 had let go for Seven to repeat in colour.

As advertising revenue poured in, Number 96 creator David Sale wrote in his autobiography that 10’s first priority was to “turn the first-floor executive offices at 10’s studio complex into the kind of panelled, deep-carpeted luxury suites occupied by Hollywood moguls”. 

10’s other big 1970s hit: The Box

Meanwhile, the actors making The Box were relegated to a downstairs dressing room at ATV-0 that had no outside light or phone. Fred Betts, who played TV station owner Sir Henry Usher in the series, quit the show in 1977 saying he was sick of being “treated like dirt”.

When The Box finished up later that year, ATV-0 ignored the show that had taken them to the top, burying the final episode in an 11:45pm timeslot. The bunker dressing room was re-purposed for the cast of Prisoner, which continued to complain about its conditions well into the 80s. Only the success of Neighbours saw an upgrade in facilities.

The poster for The Box movie

I am currently trawling through all 445 hours of The Box to make a new documentary and one thing is very clear – there is no way to ever reboot the show. For starters, it’s about an era that doesn’t exist anymore because networks aren’t hives of activities anymore with hundreds of staff working on variety shows, cop dramas, or kids’ programming. 

Any romantic relationship between bosses and staff would also be off-limits today. In The Box, program manger Nick Manning (John Stanton) was portrayed as being one of the good guys even though he was always sleeping with female staff members. Outrageously, Nick even impregnated his secretary on the day of the funeral for his pregnant wife and disabled son. 

Although many TV series of this era are dripping with chauvinism and entitlement, 10 did manage to shatter other taboos, particularly when it came to LGBTQ+ representation. They were multicultural and woke before either term was invented. Happy Birthday 10, although who gets the diamonds these days?

Mediaweek’s James Manning and Andrew Mercado: Stay in touch on TV Gold

After a decade, this is my last regular Mediaweek weekly column but James Manning and I will continue doing our TV Gold podcast. Check out our new online home here.

The abovementioned doco about The Box will be included on the 14th and final volume out through Crawfords DVDs later this year. And if you love Aussie TV history, keep an eye on the new free streaming service Brollie.
Thanks for reading.