Over a year ago, we wrote a blog that imagined the consequences “if Channel 10 scheduled a 3 hour prime time interview with Julia Gillard”.  In it, we spoke about brands like the Labor party, the Australian cricket team and Channel 10 as brands in trouble. A whitewash summer campaign and a terrible budget has seen two of these brands be re activated but according to @774melbourne this morning with Jon Faine, Channel 10 continues to suffer.

In some ways, Channel 10 is in a no-win situation. We knock them down for poor ratings and then knock them down again when they axe shows that are not delivering those ratings.

TV viewing is habitual. The person on the street knows that, our award-winning paper on consumer rituals and routines identified this – 66% of breakfast TV viewers are habitual to one show.  So what is missing from the Channel 10 strategy at the moment is defined ways to disrupt existing habits and other cues needed to strengthen their relationship with the casual viewer.

Habit is key. Habitual viewers spend more time with that channel and provide overflow into the following shows. So what do we recommend?

Here is two starters for 10 for their brand man Russel Howcroft.

1. Start the strengthening process, identify the nights you can win, and build the habit based on those nights. Masterchef performs better when it’s not against The Voice and House Rules, so start by building a Thursday night habit.   It might not get the eyeballs and expected ratings but at this stage, we know habit is more important.  Look at the UK model where Saturday night houses the big performers. Sure the culture is different and the weather is better here, but there are people in Australia who are looking for more than sport.

2. Act like a challenger brand and find your point of difference. Again, ask the average person on the street and their biggest grievance with live TV is the number of ads. Remember when Nova FM launched as a proper challenger brand with the proposition of no more than 2 ads. It found its point of difference that resonated with the listener – and could still be applicable today.

Something needs to happen with Channel 10 but it’s far from being dead and buried. Brands like Lego, Nintendo and Old Spice turned it all around so why can’t Channel 10?  You just need to create a habit and start acting like a challenger brand.