How long till they end up on 7, 9 or 10??
i honestly believe that won't happen.
Chaser may follow Kath and Kim
http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,22504584-10388,00.htmlNetworks scramble to sign Chaser team
Julian Morrow says no deal until series ends
Insider says Seven is frontrunner
POPULAR television comedy group The Chaser may follow Kath & Kim and defect from the ABC to the Seven Network.
Seven has emerged as the favourite among the commercial networks to sign The Chaser team after a bidding war for the satirical comedians' next television series.
"We are obviously not closing our eyes to the rest of the Australian TV world or the world," The Chaser's Julian Morrow told The Sunday Telegraph.
"We've been approached all over the place but the God's honest truth at the moment is we are desperately trying to make the remaining War On Everythings for the ABC and we are not anywhere near signing anything with anyone."
The Chaser team has nine episodes to go on the current series of War On Everything with the ABC.
They will then undoubtedly ramp up their discussions with TV networks for next year.
Nine is also believed to be keen on signing the comedic troupe but is unlikely to trump Seven, which is in the box seat.
"We are aware that there is interest all over the shop but we haven't concluded that even internally," said Morrow.
"You can't appreciate how time-hungry this show is. There is just not space to make those calls."
After three series with the ABC and launching themselves internationally, comedians Gina Riley and Jane Turner took their hugely popular Kath & Kim series to Seven.
Their show premiered on Seven in August and attracted a massive audience of more than 2.5 million viewers, making it the most watched television program of the year so far.
An industry source said The Chaser group, made up of Morrow, Craig Reucassel, Chris Taylor, Andrew Hansen and Chas Licciardello, had watched Kath & Kim's move to Seven closely.
The Chaser attracts an audience of more than 1.5 million people each week, a massive figure for an ABC program.
A recent episode, where a number of The Chaser crew were arrested after breaching APEC security, for which they will appear in court on Thursday, attracted an all-time audience high for the show of 2.24 million viewers nationally.
Moving to a commercial network would provide The Chaser with an even greater platform to reach more viewers.
A commercial network is also likely to have more money to inject into their production.
"They are talking to all of the various networks and over the past 12 months there has been a series of discussions between The Chaser and Seven,'' the source said.
"It would be fair to say that The Chaser has seen what Kath & Kim have done in moving across to Seven and maintaining the integrity of the program and the fact that a program can successfully migrate from the ABC to a commercial network.''
Seven head of programming Tim Worner wouldn't comment.
"At this time we are not willing to comment on matters of national importance,'' he said.
However, Morrow said there was a chance The Chaser may stay with the national broadcaster. "We are certainly talking with the ABC,'' he said.
"We have always said we are pretty happy with the ABC and we regard the ABC as the natural home of The Chaser.
"We are just nowhere near any definitive resolution of what we are doing next at this stage.''
