Local channels are required to show 55 percent local content between 6am to midnight on their primary channel.

What’s the cheapest content you can make? Reality television. Great bang for buck there. Practically writes itself, and plenty of fools will go on it for free for the slim chance of a prize at the end. Just provide a few locations/sets, some alcohol to get the drama going, and Bob’s yer uncle.

Hence we have:

MAFS - seriously, how many times can you repeat an ‘experiment’ before you deem it a failure? Every season all I see is the miserable failure of alleged ‘experts’ in matching people.

SURVIVAHHH - JAW DROPPING CHALLENGES AWAIT OUR CONTESTANTS AND OMG BACKSTABBING, EVERY WEEK.

I’M A D-LIST CELEBRITY GET ME OUT OF HERE - As above. Less backstabbing though, that’s nice.

This is closely followed by game shows, so we also have:

DEAL-OR-NO-DEAL

TIPPPPING POIIIINT

THE CHASAAH

Finally, news and “current affairs” can then be used to plug the gap.

So we now we can run:

• 6-9am with a couple of hosts doing some morning television waffling on about nothing in particular.
• have a repeat of last night’s “prime time” shows from 10-12.
• squeeze in some overseas content like Days Of Our Lives in the afternoon.
• have a bit of gap-filler at NEWS, FIRST AT 5, WAIT 4.
• and then we can show the “real” news at 6. 30.
• Add in THAH PROJECT, or A CURRENT AFFAIYAAH, where we can talk for eight minutes , cut to two minutes of ads, cut back to the desk for another “coming up next” and then cut back to another two minutes of ads before we have to worry about actual content.
• Finally we can show our prime-time content (MAFS et al), which we’ve teased all day with ads sprinkled between everything else.
• After that, who cares? We’ve reached our local quota. Stick a movie or two on until midnight.

I used to think that ABC/SBS were a little dull. But now I’m glad of them.