Kotaku Australia can confirm that Stephanie “Hex” Bendixsen and Nich “Nichboy” Richardson will be starting up a new gaming TV show for Channel 7.
The details were first posted by Junkee, and adds that the decision to cancel Good Game was taken by ABC director of television Richard Finlayson. It was also understood that the show’s ratings had declined, although Hex posted on Twitter that this was not uncommon for other shows at the ABC and that Good Game was not an outlier.
Very little is known about the show at this stage. Kotaku Australia understands that Nichboy, however, is the showrunner. No specifics have been revealed or confirmed by Channel Seven.
We also know that the split between Hex, Nichboy and the ABC was amicable, and that the decision to cancel the show was taken after their departure. Hex reiterated to fans on Twitter that she was not involved in the show’s cancellation, and Nichboy criticised the ABC over the decision.
We’ll keep you updated as more information comes to light. You can also read more details about the email sent around to ABC staff in Junkee’s report.
Comments
154 responses to “Good Game Hosts Hex And Nichboy Hosting New Show On Channel 7”
So these are the two hosts that leaving caused the cancellation then?
It was a mixture of stuff. Huge funding cuts thanks to Abbott and co, Lower rating accross the board for FTA TV networks.
If this was true then why are they keeping Spawn Point around? It costs a little bit more than GG to produce, yet they’re keeping it and cancelling the cheaper alternative? Illogical.
GG-SP had better ratings, that makes it the logical choice to keep, although I personally would have kept both.
As it has been stated previously, the older audience of GG are getting their gaming news and info elsewhere, where the GG-SP audience are still tuning into the ABC.
Logic Provided
As Spawn Point is a show aimed at kids, it comes from a different pool of money. NichBoy was talking about this last night in his stream
So was I but it got me moderated out of the discussion here at Kotaku.
Can you explain why that is Alex?
LOL. I see what you did there, nice little Spawn Point Easter egg.
Spawn Point has a different audience to regular GG, and I assume won’t compete directly with the new Channel 7 show (which I give a year).
It’s crazy that people didn’t think think that ABC would axe GG to not compete, especially when the show has started to tank and they make more from Spawn Point anyway.
Make more what?
GGSP would actually be less to make since most of the content is done in house and they rarely do more expensive stuff like E3 and convention coverage and other external stuff such as covering dev and indie interviews
On top of that GGSP rolls in in the usual 1 of cstegories ABC tends to target – childens programming the middle adult demographic have rarely been targeted by ABC
I’m guessing it’s also just ABC not wanting to take the risk of replacing hosts (again) on a show they consider to be losing ratings already.
If the ABC’s attempt to hide behind the efficiency review cuts are anything to go by, they don’t need funding pressure to axe shows.
It’s rich that the slogan is “It’s your ABC” implies it is ours, the Australian public, yet the network is run in the same manner as commercial networks to benefit the higher execs.
Let’s not try and engineer cheap and unfounded political statements and keep to the topic at hand.
The ABC is being made to look like a bad guy, when the reality is the hosts were poached (or approached) by an commercial network to great an identical show. The fact that the exact same hosts are both moving to a commercial network and the news of this happening 2 days after the shows ‘cancellation’ should be enough of a link to show this whole thing has been orchestrated to make the ABC look bad.
TL;DR The hosts sold out to a commercial network, ABC being the fall guy for ‘cancelling’ the show
*create not great
Sold out? You’re joking right? I’m guessing like you or I, if we were offered more money to do pretty much the exact same thing with more exposure in the field you’re working in…….we’d do it to.
How is that selling out?
I think the point was more the ABC being painted as the bad guys bit.
Did Stephanie and Nich sell out? No, not really. 7 probably offered them money well in excess of what they were getting from Auntie, with a chance to reboot and maybe take things in a slightly different direction. Of course you’re going to do that, especially when you’ve been in your current gig for years and no doubt feel like you’re basically just treading water.
But should the ABC have fingers pointed at them for ending it? I don’t think so. You have both your current hosts, almost literally the face of your show leave, one of them to go and start a show in competition funded by commercial-station money. The nature of the move means they have near limitless opportunities for product placement and ad revenue. Your show has stagnated with mediocre ratings and a fun but middling feeling of ‘status quo’, and while it still has a loyal audience it’s not likely to make further inroads in terms of audience as it stands.
This happens in the context of corporation wide face-melting about cuts and efficiencies that are in large part out of your control. I can totally understand why you might want to can it rather than go through all the work of repackaging the show when it might fail anyway. Especially when you can double down on Spawn Point which might still have a niche compared to whatever 7 produces. I suspect (but don’t know) it also takes its money separately to GG, out of whatever pot the ABC3 in-house programming draws on, which might win some love from a bean counter upstairs.
I don’t think this story has a big bad wolf. This is just the nature of broadcast media, particularly as it stands today.
Well, it is looking out for themselves as you say, and it is ‘just business’ as the saying goes. But there are people out there who make take the choice of staying at a place to work together with their fellow workers who thy’ve formed relationships to keep something going, over receiving a bigger cheque elsewhere.
I’ll qualify that by saying that I don’t necessarily believe that Nich and Hex have ‘sold out’, I do’t know them personally so I couldn;t possibly know that. I was merely responding to your suggestion that all people would automatically move jobs if it meant more money and more exposure.
There is no evidence of budget cuts. All evidence of a disrupted 10 year old show with declining viewer numbers.
But I’m moderated out for noting facts.
Noting facts? I assume you have documented evidence to back up those claims then?
FYI, People get auto moderated when their comments get reported by the community a lot. So perhaps think about what you post.
More than “it was Tony Abbotts ABC cuts fault”.
But thanks for your advice, I’ll make sure I post whatever you want hear in future.
By all means post it here. Meanwhile: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-19/abc-funding-cuts-announced-by-malcolm-turnbull/5902774
FYI, No where did i say it was solely the fault of that, Only that it may have contributed. ABC have been cutting back on stuff accross the board.
It’s a long running issue that doesn’t look like it will be fixed anytime soon. It basically works on faith and people will downvote and report posts that require moderation.
Unfortunately it has been easily hijacked and used as a means to censor posts that are deemed unpopular regardless how factual they are.
It’s also why when some users continue to make false claims about me I only set the record straight the first few times and walk away.
If I continued it would take up my time and the volume of posts would give more surface area to falsely moderate me.
To avoid moderation (as it is nothing like the diligence that was back in the early days) just set the record straight and if the posters continue just walk away as they are beyond reasoning with.
Ha ha ha ha, those two just followed the money trail, oink oink!
As soon as ABC found there was going to be a competitor on F2A TV, it pulled the plug. Then Hex and Nichboy whinged because they didn’t want to be seen as the cause of the cancellation (which they wouldn’t have been if ABC had instituted its succession plan). This is rich!
Exactly! Its pretty bad they’re making out the ABC to be the ‘bad guy’ when they’ve given the show a 10 year run and a spin-off show.
Lets see how much freedom and support they get from a commercial network
You can’t really blame them for wanting to switch jobs, for presumably more $$. Everyone does that.
I don’t think they knew that the show would be canned without them, nor should it have been.
Not everyone does that. When your responsibilities are greater than just to yourself, as it was in this case, you need to be loyal. If ABC were treating them like shit and paying them peanuts, then yeah, but if you’ve checked out Hex’s Instagram in particular you’ll see that she’s living quite a nice life. No doubt Seven made the approach and waved ‘bigger opportunities’ and ‘more money’ in their faces, but the, at least ostensibly, sheer mercenary attitude of Hex and Nichboy struck a blow to the heart of the show. Doubly so, because not only were two key hosts leaving, but they were going to actively compete against the show.
Anyone working at Good Game would naturally feel horribly betrayed, and rightly so.
Again, I’m assuming that Hex and Nichboy were being well-treated at the ABC.
I feel Good Game could have survived host changes and even a little competition.
It easily could have. There were plenty of other hosts on the show they could have used as replacements. But screw that! Let’s cancel the show because 2 (possibly 3) people left to sell out to Channel 7 instead.
I feel like blaming the hosts for the cancelling is just scapegoating a bit, tbh. Everyone is entitled to change their jobs, seek new challenges, and all that good stuff. I don’t think that’s selling out at all. 🙂
Seems like ABC took the nuclear option with a problem that could have been managed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
All this is just speculation, though. So, I’ll pipe down now. Haha!
(Though I hope this new show is given the chance to create its own good culture without network meddling.)
Don’t hold your breath. All networks, including the ABC, have their own interests first; publicly funded or otherwise.
The ABC’s antics have been questionable at best for the past 10 years and this is just the latest in a long series.
Yeah good game could have probably still succeeded with new hosts, even with competition, but when the competition is the old hosts on another channel? I dunno. The decision from ABC management makes more sense to me now.
It’s all very Top Gear-esque.
Wonder whether it was Hex or Nichboy that punched the producer … 😉
They probably remember what happened when Margaret and David moved to the ABC and they tried to keep The Movie Show going on SBS. You’ve only got time to get new hosts into the swing of things if the old hosts aren’t around to be compared to.
Still, it’s Channel 7, so I give it a season.
True but ABC still has Bajo and Goose like seriously who is Nichboy compared to those two?
I think it could have but from a business PoV, if it was already losing ratings, it probably just wasn’t worth taking the risk of finding/hiring new hosts to compete against some of the old hosts.
It’s publicly funded though. What you said only makes sense if the ABC is a commercial network like Channel 9, et. al.
What we saw is basically the ABC taking advantage (yet again) of being public funded yet run like a commercial network.
People think being public funded means it doesn’t run like a business. There is still significant budget pressure even from government funds.
Sometimes, its even easier in a commercial environment because at least there, you have proper metrics (viewships, advertising costs etc). For government-funded projects, there’s a lot of abstracts project “visions” and politcal mandates to align with.
Exactly, regardless of where the money comes from, there’s still only a limited amount of it and that has to be budgeted somehow. Any money saved here (by cancelling GG and essentially firing cast/crew) means more money to spend elsewhere.
It was popular enough IMO. No reason to cancel it. Just look at what there youtube channel became.
I haven’t worked in TV, but I’m currently in a job that looks through alot of centralised/public funding….sometimes plugs get pulled for alot of reasons.
Maybe general funding was shrinking and another show that was deemed more important to management regardless of popularity (maybe current affairs or news). SOMetimes, you’re just in the firing line because you’re not a superstar, even if you’re meeting all your required performance metrics…(and gaming was never a superstar in a corporate entertainment world)
Yup its all about that corporate entertainment lol. Just look at all the annoying news bulletins about sport and that grandstand show on ABC News 24. Can’t abc cut grandstand already.
I’m sure they will get a mass backlash from various sports talking heads whining about how the ABC is no longer providing an avenue for promoting sport in the community.
Try listening to some peaceful classical music then bam a depressing news headline that consists of news about the UK, USA and Australia plus a bulletin about some pathetic sports politics debate.
Show was cancelled, anything else outside the official statement is a guess, that includes cuts and questionable practices.
So stop towing the party line, please.
Not towing any party line; like others you are engineering a political statement. As my post attest, I don’t side with the Coalition nor Labor and have even demonstrated as such now in my posts in this thread alone.
Any implication otherwise is fiction and this line of discussion is over.
If you don’t like me making a plan as day assessment of ABC’s own underhanded tactics independent of our government of the day then just ignore me instead of pushing false implications that I have a political bias.
Oh my, harrumph!
You toe lines, ya pair of numbnuts.
Who are you kidding wisehacker. You so have political bias and you really dont know much about the ABC. They have succesfully destroyed the ABC over consecutive liberal governments. Michelle Guthrie c’mon…. ex Murdoch employee, channel seven. Your not very wise and sound like an IPA stooge.Remember the reason for which we are getting a severely gimped NBN. FYI the ABC over the last few years have become cringeful to watch as they have to bend backwards trying to show both sides or show non bias, its ridiculous. How about we have the commercial networks with vested interests have to by law show non bias. your either a paid government poster or not very wise. Im pretty sure This is linked to the cuts that michelle is implementing and part of the government getting people to disengage from the ABC. Saying that I wish both Hex and Nichboy the best.
Not kidding and am a self employed programmer with no bias other than what you and those cut from the same cloth invent.
Yes, because it was a Labor idea and be damned if Turn(coat)bull will admit it. Contrary to popular rhetoric it was not gimped to protect Foxtel.
Don’t like the statement of the facts I’m giving? Then just ignore what I post. Because I’m never gonna show bias outside what you and others invent.
BTW; The wise is short for wisecracking but, especially as the case here, it is also apt in terms of intelligence. Discussion over.
Thanks for the reply. You still dont know very much about the ABC and what they are doing there. You are not really neutral. Someone who actually watched the ABC for a considerable period would know what has happened to Auntie. Your totally just spewing the party line. Im not going to let it slide when you put such Furphys out there. It has been shown time and again by multiple independant studies that the ABC does not show bias and if anything to the right. Its painful to watch now.Fun fact: one of the first things the libs did when they got back in was give old rupe over nine hundred million dollars in disputed tax back that had been in the courts for years and then a further 400-500 mill 6 months later. Do you want to buy a bridge?
Wisehacker not trying to troll you but you should really keep your eyes open. The dismantling of the ABC by a dishonest and non transparent government continues….https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/feb/10/dose-of-reality-with-a-new-hire-from-foxtel-the-abc-may-be-looking-to-boost-ratings
Yet to see any mention of either side of politics unless you are referring to internal ABC politics which would be completely appropriate for this article.
No, that user is implying I’m towing the Coalition line.
When one is critical of the ABC, many assume one is entrenched on the Coalition side. Even if it is a commentary of the ABCs own actions and obvious imbalance.
I’m just hoping it won’t be anywhere near as cringe worthy as goodgame was
“F**king Sick Game C*nt” is what it’ll be called in 6 months when its moved to 7mate (that channel still around?)
Ha, it is……
MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!
I laughed … then cried because I think you’re right …
If its on Mate is will have to include some kind of Retro Game Picking/Pawn/Storage element.
Probably gonna call it Pwnage or something cringey like that.
Appropriate cos those two always make me cringe.
So they got poached?
So the Channel 7 show will be on 7Mate and moved around in time slot.
Starting at 2am, then 3am, then 4am… Then cancelled
Hex and that other guy? Do not want. And On 7 mate? Dear god. It’ll be a merry-go-round of COD & FIFA specials. Fully sick moite!
Good luck Bajo, Goose, Rad et al!
That other guy is Nich and he kills it. I prefer him to Bajo- check out some pocket https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvVu_zeLlknVqvcuCzOjs0w
If I remember right, 7Mate used to be TV4ME and it too ran a similar show to Good Game.
No joke the format was so similar it was basically a plagiaristic rip off.
So if I am remembering this right, they might be safe; they now have some of the key staff they tried to rip off.
TV4me was something different
Tv4me was the community channel. I assume you’re talking about Level 3? =P
That was really more of an indie/community funded show was rough around the edges but watchable. They got a but to hispter/elitist at times tho XD
I honestly cannot remember the name. Makes me wish I kept that recording. Really regret deleting it now.
Why oh why does this not surprise me? Channel 7 won’t keep it for more than 6 months at most.
Greed I guess. Oh well hope they enjoy their move.
How is it greed , nobody stays in the same job forever any more and if you were offered better money for doing a job you love doing wouldnt you take it ?
it will be so wacky and zany. Ugh.
Short sighted by Hex and Nich, show will launch, not rate and be cancelled.
You sir are a wise man, a prophet, a good man in our community and just great all round.
Unless Hex is willing to go topless I see your prediction being 100% accurate.
DO I smell a cross over special with Blokes World? Ha.
More like Duck Hunters Archery. Or Pawn Stars Archery. Or, uh, A Football Life… with Archery.
Not sure if you’re familiar with blokes world, it features many topless ladies lol.
I really really hope you’re wrong but think you’ll probably end up being right 🙁
Michelle Guthrie is the current CEO of the ABC. She has been criticised for her lack of understanding of public broadcasting and journalism by insiders. She also once worked for Murdoch as CEO of STAR TV so who knows what is in-store for the ABC now.
The evil M word. He who shall not be named. Who even giving up citizenship still attempts to manipulate our political system.
I’m happy to mention Murdoch, the Australian-born US citizen (his actions do not change his birth identity) who has little to no influence in our system as it actually implies Labor and the Coalition are worth something.
Honestly, does the transition have to be marred by petty attempts at trying to make conspiracy driven political statements?
He renounced his citizenship to buy US newspapers, so they can have him. That sounds totally like the move of a patriot.
It’s weird how the liberals changed australian media ownership laws to allow foreigners to own huge slices of local media just before he did though. Since he has no influence on the system it’s all just a happy co-inkydink.
Attempts?
I have to speak to Murdoch drones every day as they try spouting the same headlines they just read earlier as original talking points.
They fall to pieces when you question them or add additional
Information and logic.
Meanwhile you spout the same headlines you agree with…. but you’re not a drone.
What headlines, and how have I repeated them?
Theres agreeing with a story, then there’s repeating the headline word perfect as an original idea without even reading the article or challenging your own world view through personal research.
In your opinion. There are more than your way of thinking on things. People are also allowed to to agree on opinions that aren’t your own. This does not make them a “drone”.
I may be wrong, but I get the impression you think I’m calling people drones for having different opinions, I assure you that’s not the case.
It’s also not so much about different ways of thinking, but thinking and not thinking.
For example, If you state an opinion, I would assume you could explain why it is you have that opinion, because it was formed in thought.
The people I’m speaking of substitute headlines as formed opinions.
Because it’s little more than parroted phrases, they shut down without any actual thoughts to share.
No thinking, just driven like a drone.
These people can be found everywhere and it’s not always headlines, but the Murdoch share were the focus of my original comment.
Didn’t see that; considering how the ABC spends a lot of the time on the left side of the media (and sometimes on the right).
But this tidbit clearly shows why the network continues to not be in the middle anymore. Hasn’t been that way since before Labor got in in 2007.
Tired old claims of political bias in the ABC. Numerous internal and independent audits have found no bias in either direction.
I thought research showed that ABC staff were more aligned with the Greens than anything else? I remember the study being done to dispel a very specific claim that ABC was pro-Labor?
Research and ABCs own actions have shown that they do have bias. Often it is of the left but if it improves their ratings they go to the right.
What is key here is the ABC has long turned its back on balance and acts no different to any other media including News Corp.
It provides what it thinks it demographic wants to keep itself alive rather than keep a balance which is its long abandoned duty.
The worst part is, many feel that the ABC, despite being a shadow what is was, needs to be protected and anyone pointing out fault with the ABC is aligned somewhere in one of the many made up conspiracies.
Considering your rabid attacks of the ABC on this thread, I’m finding it IMPOSSIBLE to believe you don’t have a bias against them, regardless of the fact you want to believe you don’t.
Anything not aligning with your thoughts is “rabid”. Please.
Sure, show us the Australian Press Council reports showing ABC leftie bias.
I’ll even give you a hand, here’s a link to their adjudications page.
http://www.presscouncil.org.au/adjudications-other-outcomes/
Yup, a study from 2012 observed that 41% of ABC journalists who declared their voting intentions (n=34) would vote for the Greens. The majority of News Limited respondents (46.5%) favoured Labor, but we don’t see widespread accusations of a bias towards Labor in their reporting. The important thing about this study was that it measured political leanings of journalists, not the political leanings or their establishments.
That’s the one! Thanks!
Here comes the tinfoil hat brigade….
Anyone remember “Good News Week”?
Was an awesome show poached off the ABC by Seven (maybe it was Ten), and then it died, a slow, agonizing death……
It will be a pure shame to see GG go the same route
That was Ten.
Same thing also happened to The Glass House iirc
No, the Glass House didn’t continue anywhere else. It was cancelled, and there was accusations of trying to stamp out bias. It was actually pretty funny: then Prime Minister John Howard had to defend that he didn’t personally call for the show to be axed!
Guess I didn’t recall correctly then!
Good News Week was incredible. I don’t think I’ve laughed harder at a TV show.
Why did Ten cancel it?
Probably due to falling viewership.
The average Ten viewers comprehension level peaks at the quality that is Home and Away, therefore, they most likely didn’t understand what made GNW so awesome!
‘Good Game EZ’
Join your hosts Hax and Nichboiiiiiiiiiiiii as they bring you all the latest in gaming, from COD to COD Infinite Warfare. Starting next Wednesday, 2am only on 7mate.
Git gud plx or I feed
My only hope is that they don’t try some sort of tongue in cheek cross-over episode and get Bruce McAvaney or the like to check out eSports in an attempt to legitimise it in the eyes of more traditional sports fans.
What a delicious DLC.
Fuck channel 7 and fuck their new show.
Sellouts.
/bringing controllers back in.
So will everyone who was hating on the ABC now be redirecting their anger to the two hosts who have sold out to a higher paying/profile bidder on the back of the success derived from the ABC supporting a gaming show when the mainstream channels wouldn’t, and Channel 7 for poaching them and cynically only funding a gaming show once the ABC has taken the risk for all these years?
Or will they perhaps find some way of twisting this so its still the ABCs fault and the hosts remain innocent….?
I don’t think the hosts deserve any hate (though I’m sure they’re going to get some). They left for another job like anyone in the world does and they presumably just had the expectation they’d be replaced and the show would continue…
I think realistically the ‘blame‘ lies with the ABC but at the same time (as I mentioned in another comment), I wouldn’t really blame them for it either without having all the information.
Just a shitty situation really.
I’m always down for a good Channel 7 bashing, I think they’re the worst Australian network and have been for years. Best of luck to the hosts of course, but I won’t be watching it.
9 and 10 are terrible too but channel 7 is the worst. I can’t even watch their versions of the news without boiling into a rage.
Oh I agree, all Australian network television is pretty garbage, to the point I don’t even watch it any more. I do have at least some fondness for ABC and SBS, but 7 is terrible.
People criticize ABC and SBS but I think they do a good job, we’re lucky to have them. Channel 7 news is disgusting, every night there’s a fucking zoo animal that ate a leaf then its onto oh mart good weekend for sport ha ha
SBS I actually don’t mind. But the ABC I’m critical of because it is not the balanced network it used to be.
When it comes to news, the only time there is balance is when they run another season of Mad as Hell. The rest has devolved to be no different from any other gossip media.
The ABC also used to have a good collection of quality cartoons, especially those from our own (and now deceased) Yorram Gross.
Don’t see much of that anymore. Now it’s the “safe” and sanitised content they bough for a pound from the BBC.
That would be because they merged TT with the “news” to form a 1 hour block since ACA kept flogging them in the ratings.
At which point thry began to show those stupid affairs articles as “hard hitting ” news stories and no one would be the wiser since its on the “news” program
The ABC execs choose to axe the show. The ABC execs choose not find replacements.
How is it the hosts fault when it was in the hands of the ABC execs?
Hosts choose to take offer at rival station setting up rival show.
Hosts choose to leave the ABC who had piloted and proved concept for show and built audience.
Hosts choose to leave knowing that it will likely cause cancellation of original show (I don’t believe for a minute they where naive enough to not know this was a likely outcome)
Of course ABC would cancel knowing that two key hosts where leaving and a commercial network was setting up a gaming show. It’s a niche market with limited audience, and why do you think seven would have poached the talent – so that the audience comes with them. As noted in the original article on this, all indications where that ABC was planning another series, until the hosts decided to defect.
Except you STILL have one host in the show… if anything Bajo technically has more pull for bring the “veteran” host as hes been around since season 2!
Nichboy is awesome for pocket but for the folks who were more into the gg prime Bajo and Hex ae the bigger names and loosing Hex doesnt mean that the show itself would just collapse and suddenly be unviable. They lost kapowski after season 1 and the fact the show persevered after Jung was gone from the show means you can still keep it running even with a change of 1 host.
Had we lost bajo AND hsx then that would be understandable…. but 1 host left behind isnt a killer since u still get continuity!
The hosts leaving isn’t the killer. The hosts leaving to front a new show set up on a “rival” network is the killer.
because one of the hosts was acting all “ZOMG EVIL ABC FOR CANCELLING OUR SHOW, WHAT WILL WE DO NOW?” when they knew all along the reason for the cancellation is because the ABC doesn’t want to continue with the show without the recognised hosts.
Seriously, don’t let your hate of the ABC cloud whats going on here
I don’t have hate for the ABC, I only call it what it is. It is easy enough to find new hosts, the ABC simply chose not to. Not demonising, not making them the bad guy; only pointing out the facts.
My judgement isn’t clouded. You on the other hand are acting like a rabid fan-boy/-girl.
Clean up your own backyard before complaining about mine.
Pot. Kettle. Black.
List a few examples of a show that’s lost its main host/s to a rival network to create an identical show, and replaced said hosts and remained successful.
There isn’t many. No doubt the ABC knew that and thought the risk wasn’t worth it.
So lets the cut the petty attacks
*cough*
This technically happened w/ Save Point when Junglist was signed up by Channel 10…. ummm didn’t really work out w/ Channel 10 =P
Except you still have ONE very recongnisible host let thats been there since nearly the beginning ie. Bajo and 1 awesome field reporter Goose and their new net intern Rad
All 3 are well known and the show could very well have survived without Hex and Nichboy (as awesome and as much missed as they would be) as you had a very well established audience and community already.. and heck its survived
As for an example of hosts being poached for a similar show….. remember Save Point? It was channel 10s attempt to emulate GG and they even got Jung as a host… was pretty much a sad coroporate copy that didnt last as long.
It’s not about the fact that there’s still one recognisable host. It’s the fact that there’s a limited audience pool, and some of that will move over to the new show with the hosts going there. Why would channel 7 get them if not because they expect them to bring audience?
The very fact people are jumping up and down at the suggestion the hosts may have any “responsibility” in the decision to cancel the show is evidence enough as to their following, and just reinforces that the ABC execs have made the correct decision.
Limited audience, more than likely fall in viewership from a new show established with two of the existing hosts, uncertain viewership retention if hosts replaced = good game cancelled.
For the record, I don’t have any investment (not being a good game viewer) and certainly no anger at any party – my point is, if someone feels the need to get angry and want someone to blame, then they should vent their anger in the appropriate direction. Refusing to accept that the hosts leaving to front up a new show is the primary cause of the show being cancelled, and continuing to shout about how ABC “don’t need to do this”, just comes across as naive and demonstrating a blinkered and limited understanding of how the world and business works. Of course they don’t need to cancel the show, it just makes absolutely no business sense to continue.
I’ll just consolidate my reply to the earlier one to this one =P
As I was saying though… it *has* happened. As someone who was not invested in the show you probably missed the huge drama when Junglist was let off from the show and Hex was brought in.
Junglist was in fact one of *the* founding hosts and people behind Good Game. He eventually moved to channel 10’s Save Point which was their attempt at also making a video game/tech based show. At the time folks who were hard core fans of the show had the thought process of this is the end for GG since it’s most popular host has not only left but has also gone to another video game based show and the assumption was most of the audience would just jump ship…. it didn’t happen. Save Point will probably be remembered only by the very few hard core folks who paid attention to Channel 10’s sad attempt at cashing in w/ gaming becoming mainstream w/o properly looking at what GG was doing right (ie. it’s not just about reviews and folks discussing tech and games, you need that personality and passion from the folks delivering the content).
If anything at the time there was an even smaller audience pool since GG was finally crossing that spot of niche viewing and mainstream expansion. Now that you actually have a growing number of audiences from different pools ie. Youtube, ABC2 and ABC4Kids and the popularity and proof of a shows staying power has been shown w/ a 10 year anniversary, an always packed/sell out live show on events a sudden change of guard and suddenly ABC is unable/unwilling to invest on the main show? It just doesn’t make sense as a lot of folks have said.
Also attributing the show’s cancellation to 2 popular hosts is a huge loaded statement and blame shifting, (This is not a dig on both Hex and Nichboy btw love their stuff) as it makes it sound like 2 huge pillars of the show have upped and left when techncally one of which wasn’t even a main host for the 2 lead setter shows ie. GG and GGSP is *not* a huge blow to he profitability of the main show. Take into consideration the other main host left is actually the more popular one to the target demographic of the prime show which means technically speaking it’s not a huge blow to the ratings… heck judging by all the “Hex hate” we still get it’s probably going to get some older school folks to come back and check GG if ABC played their cards right.
I mean sure from your perspective as someone who was not invested it may seem like GG was about to become a sinking ship (and yes me being invested definitely colors my reaction a bit more I will not deny that) but if you look overall at the series, it’s acheivements and generally the success of the show and the way it’s hitting it’s peaks at the moment a change of guard on hosts is not necessarily a bad thing or a killer to the show. Let alone competition from another channel’s attempt at a show either.
I am not here to get angry and sling blame at someone… heck if I wanted to do that Hex and Bajo would very easily be the better and more convenient target as ABC has basically used them as the reason for the shows cancellation. But at the end of the day your last sentence is basically the only real explanation though – someone higher up has decided no GG was too much effort and was not willing to spend money on it anymore. What myself and some other folks are trying to point out however is that while yes ABC is within their rights “Not to do this” (which really applies to just about ALL their shows) if you look at it from the shows acheivements *and* the fact you have a very dedicated (and growing thanks to SP and Pocket) viewer base cutting the show off abruptly “doesn’t make sense” either from our PoV..
…and honestly you’re also forgetting just because there is a new show does not on it’s own make the programs mutually exclusive. Sure you will get folks swapping over to watch Hex and Nich but that does not necessarily equate to them not watching GG either does it? It’s still a grossly untapped topic when it comes to tv programming 1 more show doesn’t mean the end of the world if anything it can also have a mutually positive effect of drawing new audiences who watch channel 7’s show and get interested and decide to tune in to GG as well.
Edit: Apologies did not expect massive wall of txt so here’s the obligatory
TL;DR: Change of hosts has happened it wasn’t lethal even w/ the more limited audience GG had at the time. Change of hosts can be good specially since older well known host is still around with all the growth. New show does not make audiences mutually exclusive as more likely you will have cross over of audiences to both show and because of the limited shows on gaming in general you are likely to increase the audience base on both. Finally not looking to blame just explaining our sides PoV why the decision does not make sense =P
I’m well aware of Junglist leaving. More so than you it appears – he didn’t leave, he was replaced. Here’s an article from this very site about it (yes, I was reading Kotaku back then).
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/10/good-game-explains-why-junglist-was-axed/
The common thinking was that Hex was brought on to give the show greater “mainstream” appeal. As you yourself noted, the audience was more limited then. They wanted to grow the audience. Rightly or wrongly they replaced a host. Then audience size increased….
Now draw a line from that, through the growth of the show, to that host who was brought on specifically to replace another host now moving to a rival show.
You seriously can not compare a host being replaced a couple of years into a shows run and at a time when there was no real competition, they where still establishing the show and needing to grow and maintain a foothold, to two hosts leaving to join a new show at a time when GG is mature and in a landscape that has significantly changed.
are you seriously saying that the current and ongoing market is large enough to support two gaming shows? When most people think it’s a miracle GG has survived as long as it has? When demand for linear channels is decreasing, and the number of alternative on-demand sources for game related videos is increasing…
Ok. Whatever.
Honestly yes i do believe there would be room for “competition”. I mean your argument even confirms there has been growth in the people who watch and consume Good Game and game related shows on mainstream tv exactly because the viewership and landscape has matured.
But judging by your comments about GG surviving being a miracle we are coming from completely opposite views here .ie Good Game isnt profitable enough… heck you even have the easy argument of abc canning it to back you up =P So just gonna agree to disagree here
Besides its all speculation at this point now anyway… personally would have been nice to have 2 shows as a counterpoint to each other.
Plentyof ex ABC staff on TV and radio leave and have good careers elsewhere , making a good living for yourself is not selling out.
Oh yeah, this’ll fuel the conspiracy fires.
Why are people watching TV about video games? I thought the entire point about gaming as a medium is it’s interactive? Between Kotaku, Phoronix.com and gamingonlinux.com. I have all the gaming news I need. A TV show seems pointless, if I want to watch videos of people playing games there’s Youtube. Why would I want to buy into a cult of celebrity from some people working in a studio? The industry is based in North America, Uk/Europe and Japan. I don’t need an Australian person telling me about an international industry.
You gotta consider when Good Game started, mate. It was before all the stupid crap that exists in the community these days, back when people still bought magazines.
Exactly – those first few years were religious viewing! And it was one of the original flagship shows on ABC2
And it was also far more than just game reviews. The reported on gaming subcultures, dangers, humour, games evolution, laws, industry, and more. They reported on those topics with diligence and respect. You thought you were watching game reviews but it was actually an educational show.
Good Game was unique because it was created by an independent public broadcaster and it had an extensive online presence with all shows available on Youtube as well as Youtube-only Good Game Pocket and Good Game Well Played.
I probably wouldn’t bother with the CH7 show, plenty of stuff on the internet, including Kotaku and many others. As well as plenty of Youtube shows out there.
OK I admit it you guys were awesome but could you please bring Junglist back so he can host a new TV show on channel 7? I mean it was nice you of guys to send me The Good Game gamers guide to good gaming and you guys could’ve also sent me a Good Game T-shirt for saying thank you but uh screw it.
Good luck to you guys.
Interesting times. Good luck at Seven guys……*crickets*
Channel 7 did have A*mazing back in the day so who knows. Maybe this move will work out.
But I will confess, I haven’t watch FTA for years and mostly just use a PVR server to record the odd cartoon I liked as a kid.
Sure, I certainly hope it does work out too.
Likewise, I rarely watch FTA TV. Even regarding GG, I was more of a casually bystander and general supporter of a show dedicated to gaming, preferring to obtain my news and reviews from mostly online sources.
And that’s my biggest gripe with their show going to Seven – it’s going to be bloated with more ad breaks than actual show content. Cannot even be bothered recording the show and FF through the breaks.
I will check it out however…maybe on their app…..but wait that’s even worse; unskippable ads of the same ad 3 times in a row…sh*t! It’ll be interesting to see if Seven bends Hex’s more ‘independent gaming’ preferences to a mainstream popular opinion.
In terms of ads, I think you can thank the formation of FreeView for that. The idea is ads pay for the content’s broadcast and in some cases content creation thus fast forwarding is considered taboo.
I’d say more but that is a different topic altogether.
A very interesting topic, nonetheless.
From a business perspective it makes perfect sense. You’ve got a captive audience who have actively sort out specific content. So, “suck it up viewer!”. This plays directly into YouTube’s Red model too; which I happily pay for.
Interest times, once again…..
Hex i can understand them wanting, but NichBoy really?
the ABC canned Pocket last year (but it wasn’t announced as the GG team were going to try and continue it pirate radio style) so no wonder NichBoy would accept a new opportunity
Nichboy was not only the best presenter on that show, but possibly on all of Australian TV.
I remain cautiously optimistic. Hex and Nichboy wouldn’t have gone if they hadn’t been given some sort of autonomy over the show, and they both have pretty decent taste (ie. they both outwardly hate COD/FIFA/etc). Fact is this show is clearly being built around them and the network won’t wanna piss them off.
Also I wonder if Pierreth still being on the GG team (as far as I can tell anyway) might have been considered a bit of a conflict of interest with Hex on a rival network. At least you can be sure there’s no bad blood between the two teams.
Anyway, I really like both of these two, so I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve seen the show.
Except it’ll probably be Hex, Nichboy and Chadbot (The dudebro bot that is fueled by teabagging) satisfying all of your COD/Halo/Fifa needs.
Hopefully Ch 7 get Hex into some better attire. Shes been smuggling an A grade rig under those conservative ABC rags for years.
I am at 2 minds about this… i know nich and hex will make excellent hosts because of their passion and persona…. the problem is the producers and directors.
Lets all remember there have been attempts at video game/tech tv shows before and they just didnt get that lightning in a bottle mix of accessible fun and passion gg had. Level 3 was great as an indie production but often went far too gamer cred to be too accessible. Save Point ended being tooo “corporate/produced” that it just felt fake at times.
I am hoping their show doesnt end up like that as it would be a huge waste of talent =(
They should call the 7 show NO RE
Nichboy was the painfully under utilised at Good Game, so if anything I’m just glad he’ll be given a bigger spotlight. I just hope that 7 will give him the same creative freedoms. Plus I find the chemistry between those two had been much better and friendlier than between Hex and Bajo.
I just hope that nobody else on the production team ends up losing their job over this, or gets shoved into another role which they hate and will eventually quit
Nichboy was the painfully under utilised at Good Game, so if anything I’m just glad he’ll be given a bigger spotlight. I just hope that 7 will give him the same creative freedoms. Plus I find the chemistry between those two had been much better and friendlier than between Hex and Bajo.
I just hope that nobody else on the production team ends up losing their job over this, or gets shoved into another role which they hate and will eventually quit
great shows
Commercial TV is a whole different animal.
Due to interference or a change in management I give the new show a year, and then (sadly) Hex and Nich will disappear.
So ABC doesn’t think Australia is big enough for two gaming shows and concedes defeat before they even go head to head… I guess it really puts pressure on the new show, if it fails it’s not because people are watching the other one, hahaha
Competition drives innovation. I think two Australian gaming shows would drive ratings for both. But then ABC is underfunded…