The ABC’s most popular franchise, The Gruen Transfer series, will now not make it to air in 2014 – leaving a big hole in ABC1’s schedule and the network’s annual ratings.



And with its creators tied up with other projects, Guardian Australia understands the return of the award-winning series beyond its seven seasons on Aunty is not yet guaranteed.

Since 2008, audiences have embraced host Wil Anderson and advertising guru regulars Todd Sampson and Russel Howcroft as they examined news, sport and advertising and deciphered where the truth stops and the spin, branding and image control begin.

The show averaged 1.1 million viewers across two series last year, reaching 1.3 million for its finale in November, numbers the ABC rarely achieves.

Created by Andrew Denton’s production company Zapruder’s Other Films for the ABC, the show’s creative heart is the former Zapruder’s producer Jon Casimir and host and executive producer Anderson.

But for Anderson it has always been a second job. He is devoted to his standup comedy career and his international tour dates have him booked for gigs until mid-2015.

Casimir is unavailable because he has taken up a position as ABC TV’s head of entertainment after a decade with the production company, which rebadged as Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder in 2012.

Without a big event like a federal election or an Olympics to hang the series on, Casimir and Anderson were keen to have a year off, sources say.

At the ABC, Casimir’s role is to oversee shows such as The Gruen Transfer and its offshoots Gruen Planet, Gruen Sweat and Gruen Nation, as well as Spicks and Specks which has just been axed after an unsuccessful attempt to revive the original Adam Hills music quiz show with a new cast.

ABC management announced Gruen would return in 2014 at a promotional event last November. “To be honest if they had their way I think Gruen would be on air 40 weeks a year,” an ABC source said.

Without Specks and Specks, Gruen or a successful Chris Lilley series such as Summer Heights High, the ABC’s entertainment line-up is sparse. Lilley’s latest series, Jonah from Tonga, had an unimpressive run on ABC1, slumping to just 289,000 viewers.

Gruen not only attracted huge audiences but won awards: the Rose d’Or for best entertainment show last year and an AACTA for best light entertainment program for Gruen Sweat in 2011.

Wednesday nights on Aunty have fallen from a healthy share of 14.1% in 2013 when Gruen was on air to just 10.8% in the first half of 2014, a decline of 3.3 share points, according to OzTam data.

ABC TV ended the 2013 ratings year in third place – ahead of Ten – with a prime-time share of 14.6% (up from 13.6%), the largest increase across all networks. That result is unlikely this year.

In the Gruen timeslot of 8.30pm to 9.30pm the ABC was attracting a 17.2% share of the audience compared with just 10% without it.

A spokeswoman for the ABC said plans were “already under way for the next series but there is no air date yet”. She said: “I’ve been told that we are not commenting any further.”

The production company CJZ was more forthcoming. The chief executive and co-owner Nick Murray said: “We fully expect Gruen will be back next year. As Wil has already said publicly, he is living and working in the US this year – other than the odd live show here in Australia.

“We have a team in place which includes many of the original production crew. The key crew are on staff here already, and Jon will be overseeing the show at the ABC end, so there will be virtually no change of personnel.”

CJZ is Australia’s largest independent TV producer, responsible for shows including Go Back to Where You Came From on SBS and Bondi Rescue on Ten.