Studio 10 is axed by Channel 10 after a decade on Australian TV – following years of declining ratings and the departure of long-serving host Sarah Harris: ‘Tough day’

Network Ten’s morning program Studio 10 has officially been axed. 

A spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday the last episode of Studio 10 will air on Friday, December 22, after more than a decade on Australian screens.

Hosts Angela Bishop, Narelda Jacobs and Tristan MacManus, as well as special roving reporter Daniel Doody, will remain with the network and will be deployed in different roles. 

Bishop and McManus admitted in an emotional Instagram video it had been a ‘tough day’ after being informed about the news at lunchtime on Tuesday.

‘It’s a tough day for the whole Studio 10 family because we have loved bringing you the show for the last 10 years,’ Bishop said.

‘We’re all really proud to be part of it. To finish up, I’m going to pinch a quote “Don’t cry cos it’s over, smile because it happened”.’ 

Meanwhile, a network spokesperson thanked the show’s hosts, past and present, staff and viewers for supporting the program.

‘Studio 10 has been a great contributor to Network 10’s daytime program lineup. We would like to sincerely thank all those who have participated in and supported the program over the past decade and to the millions of viewers who tuned in over that time,’ a statement from the network read. 

‘It has been a show that has provided copious amounts of feelgood fun, joy, passion, heart, entertainment, and unforgettable moments all against the backdrop of live television.

‘Although we are sad to be farewelling the program, the decision to cease production of Studio 10 comes after a change in viewing habits in daytime television. In 2024 there will be a new morning lineup with an increased focus on news and current affairs later in the day.’

Studio 10’s original executive producer Rob McKnight expressed his sadness for the decline of the once-great talk show.  

‘It’s a sad day for everyone who has been involved in the ‘little show that could.’ Although its current version is not the show we once made, everyone who had anything to do with Studio 10 did it with passion and love,’ McKnight, who runs industry website TV Blackbox, said.

‘Shows come and go but this one will always have a piece of my heart.’ 

The announcement comes one year after former Studio 10 host Sarah Harris jumped ship to The Project amid the show’s ever-declining ratings.  

For the past year, the program has been helmed by MacManus, Bishop, Jacobs and Doody.

In June, Channel 10 attempted to garner a boost in popularity by bringing in major Instagram influencer Emmylou MacCarthy as a regular guest.

Studio 10 has become one of the lowest rating-daytime shows in Australian TV history, falling far behind rival programs on Seven, Nine and the ABC 

The embattled program has been haemorrhaging viewers by the tens of thousands in the past year, leading industry spies to repeatedly question how long it would last on the air.

In April, the show’s ratings plummeted to the lowest in its decade-long history, reaching a shocking average of just 10,000 viewers in the five-city metro.

However, a Network 10 spokesperson recently told Daily Mail Australia that Studio 10 wasn’t going anywhere.

‘Studio 10 is a staple in our daytime program schedule boasting fun, entertaining and engaging content led by a fantastic panel,’ the spokesperson said.

But in December 2022, it was announced Studio 10 would be cut from three-and-a-half hours to two hours, shifting its start time to 10am instead of 8.30am.

According to The Australian, the ratings were so low that ‘few media pundits were overly surprised’ when Studio 10’s run time was cut down from three-and-a-half hours to two hours, and now starts at 10am instead of 8am.

Studio 10 had also been losing panelists at an alarming rate in recent years.  

Cracks first began showing back in 2018, when panelists Ita Buttrose and Jessica Rowe both departed the show. 

At the time, a TV insider told Woman’s Day magazine that the show was ‘starting to look a lot like rats leaving a sinking ship.’ 

Ita departed following rumoured on-set tensions with co-host Denise Drysdale, which eventually culminated in the now-infamous ‘Brussels sprout incident’. 

Tensions flared in November 2017 when Denise ‘hurled’ a Brussels sprout at Ita while filming a Christmas segment. 

Denise also apologised for the incident, telling the Herald Sun: ‘I rang Ita for Christmas; we talk, we all get along. I did the wrong thing, it was totally my fault, I am sorry it happened.’

However in a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Network Ten strongly denied claims there was tension between Ita and Denise, labelling the allegations ‘offensive’. 

Rowe meanwhile announced her departure from Studio 10 in March 2018, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family.

Woman’s Day magazine subsequently claimed that Rowe had reportedly left the show because she realised the program was ‘in decline.’

‘Jess is a TV veteran and the show hasn’t been working for at least six months, so while she does want to spend more time being a mum, I think she also realised it was a good time to walk away,’ a source said.  

Former Studio 10 panelists Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Natarsha Belling and Joe Hildebrand was also axed from the show in 2020 amid Channel 10’s mass layoffs.

Kennerley has been a vocal critic of Studio 10 following her departure, saying it was ‘sad’ to see Studio 10 become an insufferable woke-fest after she was sacked. 

Her departure from the show coincided with Studio 10’s content becoming more politically progressive, as well as a steep decline in ratings.

‘I don’t know what got into producers’ minds. They all got scared. They’ve chickened out, in my view,’ she told the magazine in November 2022.

‘When I was on Studio 10, I really felt like we were getting better and better each week. 

‘I think in the 18 months I was there, they got more traction and more press than they ever did in the previous five or six years.’

She continued: ‘And if I’d produced it, I would have doubled down. I would have said, ‘Okay, let’s go further, let’s go more controversial.”

Indeed Studio 10, which once had a loyal audience of over-50s who tuned in to watch the panel debate news events from a range of political perspectives, had also seen a shift towards more politically progressive content in recent years. 

In September 2022, American nonbinary activist, comedian and poet Alok Vaid-Menon appeared on the show to discuss gender nonconformity and the importance of comedy that doesn’t offend marginalised groups.

Speaking to presenter Narelda Jacobs, Alok explained how ‘most comedians have become ambassadors for the status quo’ when they should be ‘championing change’.

Jacobs, who is Indigenous and openly gay, praised Alok for championing social justice, saying: ‘Alok, I love you so much, I can’t get enough.’