Networks « very concerned » over too many Celebrity shows.

2021 may go down as the year with the most Celebrity TV casts on record, but their time may be up.

Networks faced challenges in getting productions made, bringing Australians across borders, at the same time as stars were available without work. So it resulted in a flurry of Celebrity shows.

But ratings for some are sliding as a result while shows with ‘unknowns’ have defied the odds: The Voice, Farmer Wants a Wife, Lego Masters, Australian Survivor were largely without celebrities and did good business.

Big Brother: VIP producers acknowledged they cast the show to attract headlines, which Gogglebox this week described as “a content farm for the internet.”

Nine’s Director of 9Now and Programming Hamish Turner agrees the time for Celebrity shows is at a premium.

“You can have clickbait but you also want to have nuance in there as well,” he told TV Tonight.

“In Celebrity Apprentice, there are probably people from the outset, who aren’t household names. But actually, they’ve been cast for character as part of a mix.

“I think the broader question is the sustainability of Celebrity shows. Let’s go through them: I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Celebrity Apprentice, SAS Australia, Celebrity MasterChef… shall I keep going?

“We only have one show that sits in that space. Lego Masters, Love Island, Beauty & the Geek -they are all (non-celebrities).

“Even when we’re looking at commissioning, we are very concerned and conscious of shows the come in pitching celebrities as part of it, because you think, ‘How sustainable is this?’