Network Ten's new digital channel Eleven got off to a strong start, pulling in a 4.4% share of commercial television viewing on launch night, but key shows underperformed.
Ten said Eleven attracted a 9.1% share of its 13-29-year old target demographic, while Neighbours drew 254,000 viewers following its move from the main channel Ten to its new home at Eleven, according to OzTAM overnight figures.
Launch night advertisers included among others Mars, Vodafone, Hungry Jack's, Commonwealth Bank, Pacific Brands, Apple, Sanford Australia (Sharpie), McDonalds, Streets, 20th Century, Fox, Fairfax and Volvo.
Despite an encouraging start, joint head of investment at Mediacom, Paul Brooks, greeted the ratings with a lukewarm response, citing the underperformance of marquee shows: "They will be disappointed with the numbers, especially for their two flagship programs, Neighbours and The Simpsons which are down massively. You would expect any change of format to to result in a loss of about one-third of viewers, but anything above that is a haemorrahge.
"Eleven will definitely build on these initial figues, but it needs to happen quickly. We tend now to buy programs, not channels, and that's for two reasons - demographic and engagement, but without numbers, you really need to weigh up whether it's worth the investment. We are certainly not buying Eleven for anywhere near what we pay for Ten. They are much cheaper.
Network Ten chief programming officer David Mott said: "It's only the beginning but, even so, we're delighted with Eleven's first night ratings - and we're particularly pleased with these results at this time of year as there are fewer people watching television during summer.
"Typically, key programs on other multi-channels have achieved about a quarter to a third of the audience they attract on the main channels. Last night's strong result for Neighbours already suggests the audience will follow the folks from Ramsay Street to their brand new neighbourhood on Eleven."
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