Australia's Nine Network says the Australian cricket team's poor performance in the Ashes Test is to blame for the final episode of Shane Warne's chat show being dumped from the schedule.
The fifth and final episode of the cricket-themed variety show Warnie - which screens in New Zealand on Prime
- was due to air in Australia on Thursday night, but Nine has shelved plans for the episode, saying the decision was largely based on the fact the Ashes series had been largely wrapped up by the end of the Melbourne Test last week.
"The reality is that the series wrapped up after the Melbourne Test and so there was no need for a show on January 6," a spokeswoman for the network told AAP.
There were no major pre-recorded interviews lost, as the final show was always intended to be more of a live TV event, she added.
Warnie, which was broadcast corresponding to each leg of the Test, has struggled to find viewers since it first aired on November 24, despite attracting big names like James Packer, Sir Michael "Parky" Parkinson, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Sting and Dannii Minogue to the couch.
The first show attracted a mediocre 854,000 viewers, but by the next week viewers were down to under 500,000.
However, Nine has said it was suitably impressed with Warne's debut performance as a host.
"I think people were pretty impressed with Shane ... he was a very, very comfortable host," the spokeswoman said.
Warne had joked when his show went to air that one of his guests - world famous chat show host Parky - had nothing to worry about.
"I doubt my old mate Parky will be shuddering in his boots," he said in a statement at the time.
- AAP
