Australia Wanted More Live Music TV... So Why Aren't We Watching 'The Set'?

In September last year, ABC announced the launch of their new live music program The Set. Hosted by Linda Marigliano and Dylan Alcott, the show promised "something for a new generation of music lovers to call their own".

For years punters have been calling for the return of a Recovery-style program - the much-loved show that ran from 1996-2000 and saw local and international acts perform live from the ABC studios on a Saturday morning - and with its launch, The Set looked hopeful to fill that void.

Now in its second season, The Set is offering what people asked for - Australian music being played live on TV - and with acts like Middle Kids, Angus & Julia Stone, Ball Park Music, Thelma Plum, The Teskey Brothers, Baker Boy, Dune Rats, The Presets and more having appeared there’s a lot of reasons for people to be watching.

Instead this week saw only 104,000 viewers, a substantial drop from Utopia's viewership of 569,000, the program that preceded The Set’s 9.30pm Wednesday slot. At its lowest point so far this season, only 58,000 viewers watched the show as it went to air. 

Fundamentally, The Set is delivering the same content that Recovery and even its predecessor Countdown did - interviews with established and emerging artists, followed by a performance or three. They’re also adding a little something extra too with 'The Set Piece'; a collaboration between the three acts appearing that week which sees them performing cover of a classic track. 

So then, given that the program is providing people what they asked for, why aren’t they tuning in?

While there are a lot of possibilities (perhaps 9.30pm on a Wednesday night isn’t the right time?), there is one kind of glaring thought - people want nostalgia. 

Reflecting on Recovery makes people feel good. The same way that Spicks & Specks does. The same way that Countdown does. The same way that playing your favourite album from your youth does. 

Could that be the same reason why The Masked Singer is seeing such huge success? While the concept - which sees celebrities sing to a studio audience and judges while hidden under a mask - is new to Australian audiences, the principle remains the same: viewers are watching people they already know (you know, without actually knowing who they are) perform tracks they already love. Disclosure: I am firmly in the ‘adoring The Masked Singer’ camp.

Last week saw the show debut to a whopping 1,162,000 viewers, revealing former Big Brother host Gretel Killeen as The Octopus. Its second night saw 1,054,000 viewers and cricketer Brett Lee - The Parrot - voted out. This week’s two episodes have pulled in well over one million viewers each, as well as unmasking former child star Nikki Webster and footballer Wendell Sailor. Are we valuing this more than we’re valuing emerging Australian talent?

Songs performed so far include Queen’s I Want To Break Free, Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy, Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like A Woman, Irene Cara’s Fame, Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds and more international hits, plus songs from Australian acts like Sheppard, Hoodoo Gurus, AC/DC, 5 Seconds Of Summer and Daryl Braithwaite. Songs that people know and already love.

While viewers may not necessarily love the celebrities behind the masks, most people are at least familiar enough to have formed an opinion of them and maybe that’s enough to sell it to a million people an episode.

Australian music needs viewers. That’s all it comes down to. Recovery is so loved, so revered and so hallowed because of what it gave people - music they love and memories they cherish; whether that’s sitting on the couch watching it or going out to see that act they saw on TV the week before play a show.

Moreso, there’s clearly still an appetite for Australian music on TV. Spicks & Specks returned for a one-off special late last year and it turned out to be the ABC’s highest rating program of the year. It’s since been confirmed that the show - complete with the original line-up of Adam Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough - will return for a further four shows. ABC’s Countdown New Years Eve special even drew in huge ratings and rave reviews across the board.

Hell, Recovery hosts Dylan Lewis and Jane Gazzo have even launched a new music series just this week. "We got sick of people telling us music TV is dead so we thought, 'Stuff it. Let’s just do our own thing coz we love it.’ So we are,” said Lewis of its launch.

Ultimately, The Set has delivered, and continues to deliver what its creators aimed to do: support live performances from Australian artists and give it a dedicated show. Perhaps for those outside of the show’s current 104,000 viewers though it just needs another 20 years, the power of hindsight and a touch of nostalgia to win them over.