When David Mott came to TEN in September 1996 it was a turbulent place, having endured 10 different programmers across 17 years. ‘Motty’ had spent 18 years with TVW 7 Perth. By mid 1997 he became Head of Programming at Ten after the departure of Ross Plapp. Andy McIntyre worked alongside Mott from 1996 to 2004, for the last five years as General Manager, Program Finance and Development. McIntrye recalls: “He had served an excellent apprenticeship at Seven, knew the keyinternational players. The advertising climate was improving and Ten was profitable. What it lacked was the prime time line up of domestic product that made Seven and Nine such ratings powerhouses.”
Mott’s first commission was a bold idea that had been rejected by his predecessor. Boldness would come to define Ten’s style. “In the bottom drawer he found the pitch document for The Panel,” says Michael Hirsh from Working Dog. “That chance discovery resulted in hundreds and hundreds of hours of original television. In addition to The Panel, Russell Coight’s All Aussie Adventures, and Thank God You’re Here followed.”
In 1999 he signed Good News Week after its 3 year run on the ABC. A former Channel 31 host named Rove McManus was given a shot. Big Brother revolutionised Reality Television. The Big Brother deal with Southern Star also gave life to The Secret Life of Us, a burning, youthful soap from John Edwards and Amanda Higgs. Australian Idol was commissioned. Talkin’ ’bout Your Generation brought Shaun Micallef broad commercial success.
Other moves would lead the pack. Under Mott, TEN became the first network to ditch the Sunday Night Movie and replace it with series TV. Working with the Fennessy brothers at Crackerjack and FremantleMedia, he stripped a US format, The Biggest Loser, into a primetime nightly format.
Michael Cordell, from Cordell Jigsaw, says Mott took a big punt on Bondi Rescue in 2005. The show has gone on to reach seven seasons, five Logies and international sales. “Motty’s been one of the great champions of bold and innovative programming in Australia,” he says. Arguably his biggest gamble came in axing Big Brother for a cooking show into primetime. In its second year Masterchef’s finale was watched by 4.8m – still a record audience.
Ian Hogg CEO at FremantleMedia added, “David Mott’s legacy will be profound. He is an outstanding television executive, an outstanding father and husband and a great friend to so many people in the business who have learnt so much from him.”
Mott is understood to have left Ten with a 6 month non-compete clause.
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By David Knox on August 29, 2012 – TVtonight.com.au