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As an uninspiring Big Brother trudged through its umpteenth Australian season, Channel Ten knew it needed a BIG IDEA that would demand attention, create buzz and draw in an audience that, until now, had stayed away in droves (compared to earlier BB seasons).

Enter former Baywatch babe and ex-Playboy pin-up, Pamela Anderson. Literally.

Anderson, who at 41 is heading towards exalted 'yummy grandma' status, entered the Big Brother house to shake things up a bit, and ratings for the show jumped as a result (1.4 million viewers tuned in to see Pammy, making it the first time this year that BB had beaten all competitors and won every major demographic, according to news.com.au).

It may have cost Big Brother $500,000 to bring out the blonde bombshell and whether it makes a return on the investment longer term is yet to be seen, but as far as a publicity stunt goes, it worked its ass off (literally), so congrats to Ten for having a go. 

* Pamela Anderson on the set of Big Brother (Pic: China Daily)

Wednesday night this week was an interesting one in terms of Australians' television viewing habits.

 

While some would argue (quite convincingly) that Pammy and Big Brother is proof that the dumbing down of Australian television continues at an alarming rate, at the other end of the spectrum, the ABC had one of its biggest nights ratings-wise.

According to The Australian, the ABC had the three top-rating shows in Melbourne, with Spicks & Specks, The Gruen Transfer and the new Working Dog political satire, The Hollowmen, all excelling (and no doubt helping each other out audience-wise).

The Hollowmen pulled in 1.1 million viewers while 1.3 million people tuned in to watch The Gruen Transfer, it's biggest audience to date. Later in the night, At The Movies lapped up the overflow of viewers, attracting over 700,000+ sets of eyeballs - reportedly the best figure of Margaret Pomeranz & David Stratton's 23-year of a movie reviewing partnership,

All this goes to prove that, while the appearance of a big-time blonde celebrity still works as an effective publicity strategy, there is still a significant audience for quality shows on a channel with no advertising.