Australia - Disbelief As Consumer Comedy Show ‘The Checkout’ Gets Shelved

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Public broadcaster ABC Australia decided there wouldn’t be a new season of popular consumer affairs program ‘The Checkout’, a program which had a large online following on various social media outlets for being one of the only shows that were able to combine comedy and entertainment with consumer awareness.

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The Checkout team was told the show, which had been on the air since 2013, wouldn't be renewed during the 2018-19 financial year as it’s relatively high production cost made it difficult for the company to re-launch it as the federal government had recently unveiled an $84 million hit to ABC’s funding over the next three years.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Media Files: ABC pulls funding from The Checkout <br>Seriously?<br>OK. The last thing anyone wants to know is how they are being scammed by robber barons and extortion racketeers as they do their shopping.<br>Great call, ABC.<a href="https://t.co/Tebt62P3R4">https://t.co/Tebt62P3R4</a></p>&mdash; Urban Wronski (@UrbanWronski) <a href="https://twitter.com/UrbanWronski/status/1015081325550686208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

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An ABC statement read: “The ABC has decided not to commission a seventh series of The Checkout for 2018-19 at this time. The programming slate regularly changes for any number of reasons, including the need to strike a balance between new and returning programs for audiences. Putting The Checkout on hiatus does not preclude the program from returning in the future.”

Although the Checkout never broke viewing figures, some of its segments had huge followings online as social media viewers discussed the show’s combination of comedy and consumer affairs.

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Executive producer Mr. Julian Morrow explained: "We're disappointed the ABC's funding priorities do not include The Checkout."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If it’s not axed then when are you making new episodes?</p>&mdash; popular comedy account “the pixelated boat” (@pixelatedboat) <a href="https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/1015085883265937408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

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"The cost of making The Checkout has not increased for two years and the next series would have cost the same or less. Our inbox was always overflowing with rip-offs, corporate double-speak and advertising fail from the sinister to the silly. The rip-offs will continue, but unfortunately, it seems The Checkout will not. We'd like to thank everyone who's tuned in to The Checkout over the years for the input and their support."

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Many fans of the show expressed their disbelief over the show’s axing on social media, urging ABC to rethink its decision.

Source:

https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/entertainment/television/ripoffs-will-continue-checkout-star-slams-shows-surprise-axing/news-story/0c675930b41be291637ca5418fd64cf9