The headline announcement from Paramount’s Upfront is pitching 10's platforms as one, a converged advertising trading technology called Paramount Connect, arriving in January.
It allows marketers to target and deliver audiences across every platform and program in Paramount’s content ecosystem, with Phase 1 bringing 10 Play, Paramount+ and more than 60 FAST channels on Pluto TV into a unified digital ecosystem, while Phase 2 will bring linear TV into the fold in the second half of 2025.
Paramount Australia’s chief sales officer Rod Prosser said that one benefit of the converged advertising technology is that it’s been adopted from the Paramount parent company in the US, so its tried and tested.
“It really overcomes any issues around shortfalls or delivery - the idea is that we agree on a CPM and we can trade that CPM across multiple platforms, plus it also allows advertisers to get a single customer view,” he said.
“We can obviously do some connected environment segmentation with our data partners too, so it really is a truly addressable audience in that sense.”
Another key announcement came in the way of contextual CTV advertising opportunities, primarily through the Pause to Shop and Own the Moment offerings.
Pause to Shop turns brand exposure during Paramount’s premium shows into product discovery opportunities, allowing advertisers to convert relevant content moments with specific on-screen brand exposure, or even similar products or services, into consumer engagement.
Own the Moment gives advertisers the ability to claim and enhance key contextual moments within Paramount’s programs, accompanied by a shoppable brand opportunity that dynamically matches the in-show moments to the advertiser's products or services.
Such contextual opportunities are likely to be taken up on the network’s returning tentpole franchises, which includes the likes of I'm A Celebrity, Australian Survivor, MasterChef Australia and The Amazing Race Australia.
Big Brother will also return to 10 for the first time since 2008.
Comedy continues to be a focus for 2025 too, with Have You Been Paying Attention?, Thank God You're Here, The Cheap Seats, Taskmaster and Gogglebox all coming back next year, alongside a Sam Pang weekly comedy show, a pair of shows featuring The Inspired Unemployed and Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Gen.
Prosser said that advertisers typically like to see new formats, and despite brands sometimes being risk averse in a more challenging market, delivering fresh content throughout the schedule allows advertisers to hopefully gain a different audience profile.
“A lot of them do take the risk on a first series and they’ve had great results, but at the same time we also have a returning base of sponsors and partners across our marquee formats, which is really important as you look at your whole year,” he said.
“It's not just even a schedule that sits on 10; it's really about that utility across all of our platforms. When you integrate into MasterChef, for example, that integration will be surfaced on Paramount+ and now if you're a brand like Coles, you can buy ads around that content in our spot.”
Elsewhere on the content front, the network announced a raft of content for both its free-to-air channel as well as its SVOD platform, including murder mystery Playing Gracie Darling.
Paramount Australia’s SVP of content and programming, Daniel Monaghan, said that he thinks the key franchises arriving in 2025 are “really strong” with new takes on shows like Australian Survivor and Big Brother joining familiar viewer favourites.
“From a Paramount+ perspective, we're also really excited about bringing Ghosts, a scripted comedy, to the platform and it'll play on both 10 and Paramount+,” he told AdNews
“It's such a success in the US and the US version is such a success here on the platform and on 10 that I think the brand of that show is a really great thing to be involved in.”
Prosser said this is currently one of the most challenging advertising markets he’s seen in his 20-year TV career, due to structural change happening at the same time as economic headwinds, but that he is “really optimistic” about 2025.
“The reality is we totally appreciate and understand that there is a shift within audiences and within the broader ecosystem,” he said.
“We don't have our head in the sand thinking that linear TV won't decline over a period of time - I do think that's flattened and the declines won't be as sharp as we've seen post-COVID - but also we were fully aware that we needed to accelerate our efforts in a digital ecosystem.”
“I think we're in a really great position as a business to offer something that's quite unique and different to what was our traditional competitor set. 10 is really important to us and always will be and still drives massive reach and revenue, but we are no longer a free to air network - we're premium video.”
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