"Get This" gets punted

It was announced over the weekend and confirmed on the program on Monday that Triple M's comedy program "Get This" with Tony Martin, Ed Kavalee and Richard Marsland is getting punted from the Triple M lineup. The last program will be the day before the Federal Election.


At the moment, "Get This" airs between 2pm and 4pm in Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane and the first hour only is played in Adelaide between 3pm and 4pm. It's original timeslot was between 9am and 10am from April - December 2006. Then from January - September 2007 it was aired between 11am and 1pm before being switched to the current slot.


If you are unfamiliar with the program, it is a comedy program with a lot of current news being presented in a satirical way with soundbites and sound effects often being used to great effect. There is also a lot of TV and movie talk as well, especially because Tony Martin is a self-confessed film nerd.


So to use a soundbite from New Zealand Police doco "Police 10-7" that commonly appears on the show: "how come?" Why is the show being punted?


On air on Monday when Tony announced the decision (which is also on Get This podcast 139), he said that ratings shouldn't be an issue because in every market, "Get This" is in a higher position on the ratings than the station is overall. It is believed that the money saved from punting "Get This" is being funneled into the breakfast programs (sound familiar?) , especially in Melbourne with the announcement of another new breakfast show with Myf Warhurst (soon to be ex Triple J breakfast) and Peter Hellier (from Rove).


"Get This" fans are not happy. They point to the ratings the program receives in it's markets and also the popularity of the show's podcast that is downloaded from across the world. Indeed, "Get This" is frequently (if not always) in the top 25 podcasts list in the iTunes store in Australia.


There is currently a petition online calling for "Get This" not to be arsed which at the time of writing has over 1750 entries on it since Monday.


This decision reminds me of when Triple M punted "Club Veg" a few years ago for pretty much the same reasons. I boycotted the M's after this decision and it was "Get This" that led me to return to the station, albeit usually in podcast form.


I think Nova should pick this show up and have it on air nationally instead of the crap Idol show that they have on prior to Akmal and Cal. Austereo (the owners of the Triple M and Today networks) should never be allowed to treat "Get This" like it does and it would be better suited to Nova in my opinion.


I hope that Triple M does change it's mind but usually once a decision like this is made, that is usually it.........