‘Boring as bats..t’: 10’s Project replacement dubbed ‘Temu ACA’ as Perth viewers tune out, opt for ABC reruns

Channel 10’s replacement for the axed Project has flopped with Perth viewers, beaten by reruns on the ABC and derided online as a boring, Temu current affairs program.

10News+ debuted in Perth with an average audience of just 25,000 according to OzTam data— compared to 7NEWS Perth’s share of 137,000 in the same timeslot. It recorded just 1000 viewers in regional WA.

But 10’s new show came in fourth in Perth, losing out to the ABC’s reruns of Antique Roadshow and Hard Quiz over the hour-long slot.

Nationally, 10News+ recorded an average share of just 291,000 viewers.

Anchors Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace opened the program claiming they weren’t out to “scare or depress” viewers.

“We will give you facts, information you can trust — the truth,” Brace said, before Hitchcock added: “Of course, we are a daily news program, so you won’t miss the stories that matter.”

“But we are also digging deeper with investigations and original reporting you won’t see anywhere else,” Brace added.

The first segment — a 20 minute-long investigation lead by Hitchcock into drug smuggling Melbourne mum Debbie Voulgaris, who is serving a 15 year sentence in Taiwan — was slammed as too long for 6pm.

“Please no more long investigation reports it’s 6pm,” one viewer mused on social media.

“10News+ will not survive. A 60 Minutes-style program like this will not connect in the 6 pm timeslot. Families are busy preparing dinner and doing kids homework to really tune in,” another wrote.

“You replaced The Project with a Temu ACA. Not seeing (The Project) is incredibly depressing. 10News+ sucks,” wrote another.

The duo then interviewed the Prime Minister, crossed to a reporter covering the the Erin Patterson “mushroom murders” trial and the claims by a former Greens candidate about police brutality at a pro-Palestine protest.

At one point in the broadcast, Hitchcock asked Anthony Albanese if he would ever call US President Donald Trump “Daddy”, following NATO secretary general Mark Rutte’s comments last week.

“It’s not the words that I would use. I’ve been very respectful to the President of the United States,” he said.

“I know the Secretary General of NATO quite well, Mark Rutte, and he was formerly the Prime Minister of the Netherlands and he was a bit of a character and I think his own character came through with those comments.

“But they were received well by the President and so all’s good.”

The show ended with a story on a NSW surfer attacked by a shark at the weekend before an interview with astronaut Chris Hadfield. Hitchcock and Brace closed the show with a fist bump, prompting one viewer to say “yikes”.

Others slammed the hour long show as bland, disappointing and “unwatchable trash” and “boring as bats..t”.

“This is trash, so dry and bland. Time for the project 2.0 and a game show in a prime time slot up against Home and Away,” one said.

“You replaced The Project for this tabloid junk? I’m turning this off!” another posted.

10 announced the new program last month, a replacement for the long-running show The Project, which is axed last week after a run of poor ratings.