Behind the great stuff-up of 2004 in ABC programming…

History Detectives was meant to be one of the ABC’s biggest new programs of 2004 – going head to head with 60 Minutes on Sunday nights – but to a growing group of amazed television people inside the ABC and
outside, it became known as the “History Defectives” towards the end of
its short and inglorious history as an idea.

But even then the original idea, was, well unoriginal. There is a highly
regarded program with the same name on the Public Broadcasting System in
the US that is actually on air and has been for a while – more here.

But with a budget of $8 million, one of the biggest for an ABC ‘factual’
program, it was a program idea that a lot of people had put a lot of
personal prestige and effort into bring to fruition – production staff,
reporters, producers and the executives of the ABC.

And this week it all came to naught when it was shuffled off into
ignominious history, renamed and then lost its high profile presenter
who knows a turkey when she sees one. After a year and three executive
producers, the head of ABC Television, Sandra Levy pulled the plug on
the (un)original idea and tried RR to save the remaining ideas and not
force a total write-off of the millions already spent.

And left a lot of egg and other stuff on various faces and reputations
around the ABC. That about summed up the whole sorry affair of a program that
promised much when commissioned just over a year ago by Daryl Karp, the
former head of ABC Television Factual programming. The spiel on the ABC website gives you an
idea of the size of the promise and the conceit behind the concept.

Daryl Karp has since departed the ABC, his decision made about the time
when Sandra Levy made her first swinging changes to History Detectives
back in April.

In the end the reality fell far short of the promise and a program
called Rewind was born. But this new ABC program called Rewind, was really History
Detectives.
The name change was a desperate attempt to keep the idea alive and
fronting it was to be Jennifer Byrne, a good talent, late of 60
Minutes, Sunday and various ABC radio and television gigs.

But in the end the indecision, format changes, dodgy ideas and changes
of producing personnel proved to much for Byrne.
With the final score being the name change to Rewind and the move away
from the 7.30 pm, take on 60 Minutes slot on Sunday nights, to the near
Sunday night graveyard slot of 9.30 pm, just before Compass.

This is how the ABC spun the name change and presenter switch:

“Jennifer Byrne has made the decision to withdraw as presenter of
Rewind which premieres on ABC TV at 9.30pm on Sunday August 1. After discussions with the producers Jennifer feels that her ideas for
the program and the way the program has evolved make the role of presenter
more appropriate for an historian.

“Research showed that people wanted more of her. For her to be more
involved in the story-telling process and not just presenting. Jennifer
did not have the time to be out on the road telling the stories the way
she would like to have done.

“The program will now be presented by Michael Cathcart – historian,
published author and broadcaster. He’s a man with a passion for
Australian history
and relishes the opportunity to take on the dual roles of presenter and
on-the-road reporter.”

A pretty average effort and wouldn’t have taken one of Warnie’s 527 test
wickets, let alone 528 and the new world record.

But what didn’t the statement say.
No where did this appalling effort mention that Rewind is actually
History Detectives. That’s how the ABC revealed the name switch and
timeslot switch.
It was a PR statement worthy of the best from Nine, Ten or Seven.

And left unsaid was that Rewind was the third name after History
Detectives was junked. Untold Stories was suggested, along with
Backtrack. There was some quick ‘ backtracing” on those two names.

Both were rejected, and then for some obscure ABC internal reason,
the new name had to be thought up quickly and committed to. Apparently
Jennifer Byrne decided to withdraw after it became known that the name
was changing because the reality fell far short of the original idea
and because of the switch in timeslot to 9.30 pm on Sunday nights.

Now Ten can do well at that time with new episodes of NCIS, and Nine can
do okay with movies and Seven does so so numbers with its fare.
But for the ABC there’s a mid-evening turnoff after the programs from
7.30 to 9.30 or thereabouts. The current Agatha Christie made for TV
movies do very well at 8.30, but fade from 9.30 pm onwards. And when
programs finish at 9.30 pm on the ABC, there’s quite a noticeable turn-off.

And why? Because of the ABC’s older audience of 40 to 50 years and
above. They like an early bed on Sundays because of work commitments the
next day and age!

So a talent like Jennifer Byrne could be expected not to want to front a
program that had been sold to her last year on a “prime time go up
against 60 Minutes” angle, only to find it was really a “late Sunday
evening” effort that didn’t reflect the original ideas.

With its multi-million dollar budget representing around half of 60
Minutes annual budget, making it an expensive and big budget local
production for the ABC, it was to be one of the Corporation’s jewels in
the second half of 2004.
It was to start in August and would run, despite the power of the Olympics.
That was after it missed on air dates suggested for earlier in 2004.

The first Executive Producer, documentary maker, Stefan Moore was in
charge of setting the course of the program. But by early this year
reports started flowing out of the ABC of delays, constant recutting of
segments, story ideas failing to stand up (such as a rumoured yarn on
Don Bradman’s ‘love child’ and a DNA test on Ned Kelly’s death mask or
other items of the bushranger to see if he was really executed. So the
rumours went).

Finally in April, with production hitting a logjam and problems meeting
deadlines, Sandra Levy acted, cutting back the number of episodes,
fixing August as the definite on air date and forcing a change in EP.

The very experienced former ABC and Nine Network producer, Allen Hogan,
who had been working on the program, was briefly in charge, but Levy
replaced him with veteran ABC reporter and sometime producer, Peter
George who was left to push the ABC’s biggest “factual production of
2004 program” towards its on air date.

But more problems with stories have emerged and concerns about the
strength of the content and whether the program could still claim to be
“history detectives”.

Jennifer Byrne can be excused for fleeing the program, even at this last
minute, given the way she’s been treated by ABC management in the past
year or so. She was squeezed out of her established gig of hosting
Foreign Correspondent by management, including the departed Max
Uechtritz, who is now at the Nine Network.

And the producers on the program, and the new host face a lot of fiddly
work re-voicing scripts and re-shooting pieces to camera before
recutting the already completed segments to take account of the name
change.
That’s more money and a lot of needless effort.

There’s also that irony in the name. Besides the PBS program in the US,
there are at least two other websites where the idea of History
Detectives is made abundantly clear. There’s a teaching program in the UK
with a similar name – more here. And there is this website from the UK as well – here.

What a way to make television programs. ABC insiders may sneer at
Australia’s commercial channels for licensing foreign-owned formats such
as Big Brother,Ground Force, Wheel of Fortune and the like. But
at least the commercials get those programs made, to air and within budget.