The Project is officially done, and a new era has begun with 10 News+, but viewers seemingly aren’t interested.

Channel 10's new show 10 News+ is the replacement for The Project

Channel 10 viewers have taken to social media to slam the network’s replacement for The Project. Photo: Ten

Viewers left heartbroken last month when it was confirmed The Project had been axed by Channel 10 and would be replaced with a new show, 10 News+. The new current affairs show, hosted by Amelia Brace and Denham Hitchcock, kicked off on Monday night, and viewers were divided, to say the least.

Denham began the show by telling viewers, “Firstly, we’re not here to tell you what to think. We’re not here to scare or depress you.”

“We will give you facts, information you can trust, the truth,” Amelia added, saying the team would be “digging deeper with investigations and original reporting you won’t see anywhere else.”

“We’re taking a fresh approach to news,” Denham said.

 

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Unfortunately, despite having a world-exclusive story on convicted drug smuggler Debbie Voulgaris, who spoke to the team from a Taiwanese prison, and an interview with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, most viewers weren’t interested.

“Seriously Channel 10!” one viewer wrote, “There’s enough depressing news already out there and now you’ve brought it to us at 6 pm! Bring back The Project.”

“Wow, you’ve booted The Project for A Current Affair, yawn!” another said.

“Why would you create a SNOOZE FEST of a show with NO SOUL,” a third angry viewer wrote. “Very disappointing. Do you think Australian audiences are stupid? We are bored of this same media content that you all just spit out. This needs to go in the bin!”

“This 6 o’clock news is waaayyyy too serious,” someone else wrote. “Cut and paste of Channel 9’s A Current Affair. Not interested. Already changed channel.”

“Genuine feedback and not at all a criticism of the hosts – but this show is so vastly different from The Project and more like A Current Affair,” one person wrote on Facebook. “It’s not unique, unlike its predecessor. So logic tells me that The Project viewers won’t be tuning in… not sure how that translates to higher ratings? Or was it just a cost-cutting measure all along?”

The criticism and comparisons to A Current Affair kept coming, with another person writing, “What a joke! Just like A Current Affair but for Channel 10. And this version is even worse.”

Someone else joked, “Please keep this show going. I’ll tape it and watch it late as a cure for my insomnia…”

Some went so far as to say 10 News+ they “give it a month”, or that it “won’t last the year”, while others even questioned if the hosts were “AI generated”.

Others loved the new show, with one person writing on X, “Loving @10NewsPlus – strong launch story. Is this the new Schapelle Corby story we all need to know about? 10 News should be very proud.”

“I liked 10News+. It was very interesting and I liked the interview with the astronaut,” another said.

Tears flowed during the final episode of The Project on Friday night with Waleed Aly reading out a monologue describing the impact the show had during its 16 years on air.

“Sixteen years ago, some outstandingly creative people began an audacious TV experiment. Could you straddle the world of news, popular culture and comedy in a single show, a single segment, a single moment?” he asked.

 

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“I think that this show reflected the best of this country. It was irreverent and knew when things were serious but always refused to take itself that way. It always gave its best but never presumed to think that it was doing everything right. For God’s sake – the show’s name is The Project – it’s never finished, and it reflected our lives.

“You love, you cry. You get things wrong. You laugh, and you do all of these things all at once – not in isolation, because that’s life. Often we are laughing despite the tragedy around us. It’s release and escape and especially, it’s connection.”

Waleed thanked both the crew who worked so hard behind the scenes and viewers for “letting us into your hearts”.

“You’re the reason the show existed and the reason that this moment is so hard…But this impossible show and the people who gathered around it is unlike anything that came before it, and nothing like it will exist again. This show brought people together with sometimes very little in common and made them long-term friends.”