Across the OzTAM summer period (which started November 27 and runs for 10 weeks), Seven was #1 nationally with a 40.9% commercial audience share, being the only network to grow its total people and 25 to 54 audience year-on-year.
With the official OZTAM 2023 survey year now underway, Seven is looking to repeat its feats from 2022 that saw it finishing the year on top in the ratings for the 14th time in 16 years, for both the calendar year and survey year.
AdNews spoke to Kurt Burnette, chief revenue officer at Seven, about the network’s Total TV strategy for 2023, the impact that CODE 7+ is set to have on the market and the continued success of the AFL for the broadcaster.
“We're heading into the fourth year of a strategy that (CEO) James Warburton set in place back in 2019. We wanted to create scale and synergy in total video, and then the plan was to keep growing with the content strategy we’ve got and 7Plus’ digital strategy of growing registered users, so we were just aiming for growth.
“That's what we've done in terms of record growth - the biggest growth for us since 2005 -and number one this summer, driven by the cricket. It's been a really strong start to the year and exactly what we hoped.
“Our proposition this year is one of growth and creating certainty in an uncertain environment. It's fair to say there's a bit of noise around interest rates going up and things like that, so we just want to provide a certain place for brands to and be around leading news and leading content across broadcast and digital."
7Plus, so far in 2023, has streamed 1.11 billion minutes and grown its audience 22% year-on-year. In January alone, 7plus was the fastest growing commercial BVOD service, growing 36% year-on-year in minutes streamed – 10 times more than its nearest competitor.
“To see the ThinkTV numbers that just came out - the BVOD market totalling $448 million in revenue when only a few years ago, it was a third of that - it's been a phenomenal lift from a revenue perspective and that's driven by a massive audience which continues to grow.
“Our objective is to take a good share of that growing marketplace. In summer for instance, 7Plus grew by 28% and the market grew by 18%. 7plus is a phenomenal product: it's had the best feature set in the market, its showing it with the numbers and it’s a great user experience.”
Burnette said that Seven selects, creates and distributes content on the basis that it's going to be delivered across Metro, Regional and digital, with the network “laser focused” on ensuring it’s the best content that can resonate across all those sectors of the country.
“It doesn't matter what area of Australia, it doesn't matter what state or what device you're watching on, that kind of content can be seen and the audience is captured and measured. Importantly, we connect brands to that growing audience, and we really have a good understanding of it.
“Our strategy is to deliver the best content, which is part of what the NBCU content acquisition deal was. The partnership with them is to bring in content that people love - not just like, but love - and it’s the same as the FIFA Women's World Cup, in that the reason that we went after that to acquire it was because that is going to be content that consumers love and they’ll watch it anywhere on any device, so the brands that are connected to that content will reap benefits.
“We’re also doing a lot of work on the 7Plus product, the platform that it’s on and the technology that's being utilised to create the user experience. The platform itself is among the very best in the world and stands up to any global streaming service. It's a combination of content and the product itself in how it's used by consumers."
One of the big announcements to come out of last year’s Upfronts was the introduction of CODE 7+, Seven Network’s digital and broadcast converged trading platform that has already seen results in this early part of the year.
“As we bring together more and more audiences across metro, regional and digital, CODE 7+ will make it faster, easier and more effective for agencies and clients to buy their audience on Seven. What used to take days now takes hours and minutes, so that's the speed of delivery that you can get by using CODE 7+.
“It’s also a guaranteed audience delivery, and especially the work that we're leading on Converged, which is also ensuring that the brand message and advertising message can move across the different platforms, regardless of whether it is on a linear broadcast, video on demand or a connected television.
“We just conducted a campaign for Dove, which showed the incremental reach and how we deliver that across screens using the VOZ measurement metrics. It's proven that when you buy across screens in a converged way, you can add up 30% to 40% incremental reach and it's faster and more effective to do so.
“It’s ground-breaking stuff and it’s certainly the future of the way that premium video is traded in this country. We've seen a lot of clients leaning in on that and agencies are going to win business on it, because of the way it's structured; it's a really exciting part for the whole industry and it's great for us to be leading in that space.”
In 2023 so far, 7NEWS at 6.00pm has an average national audience of 1.31 million, 45% ahead of its nearest competitor, with both news and sports making up key parts of Seven’s strategy moving forward.
“Along with the news, sport is the most trusted and the most reliable and consistent content. We’ve had the number one winter sport and the number one summer sport across AFL and cricket respectively and that’s locked in now for the next 10 years across broadcast and digital.
“You know exactly what you're going to get from the AFL Grand Final every year – I can say to you now the AFL Grand Final will be the most watched program over the entirety of 2023. There's not too many things you can say that about, but sport gives you certainty in an uncertain environment.
“Sport is an integral part of what we do and helps us promote other shows, as we also promote sport in our other shows, but when we get the digital rights in particular for the AFL and cricket from 2024, that's going to add another reason for people to come to our content.
“Why it’s important for advertisers is because the more ways we can grow the sports and the codes that we're working with, and it’s same with motorsports and horse racing, then the stronger they become, the more audience they get and the more brands can get associated with them.
“In the AFL, we get another round this year, so we've got more content and the demand for this year’s AFL has been extraordinary. I don't think there's been a year so far that there has been more demand for the AFL, so for all the noise about what's going on in the marketplace and where the advertising dollar is going, the AFL is in more demand than any other year. That's because people know it, they understand it and they trust that it’s going to deliver."
Burnette said that Seven has a lot to look forward to in 2023, not just in terms of content but also leading in audience numbers, driving the digital business forward and continuing the rapid growth as an organisation.
“From a content side, the key ones are obviously the likes of the AFL, the cricket, Australian Idol, SAS, but we’ve also got a brand new format, Ultimate Escape - which sees everyday Australians heroes race the clock and each other as they try to complete an epic journey - coming in the back half.
“Million Dollar Island is shooting the moment and looks amazing. We also have The Blow Up in terms of family, we’re bringing in comedy with We Interrupt This Broadcast, a different audience driver which is exciting, and the Logies Awards, bringing in another big, new audience that’s not been on Seven for a long time.
“It’s the largest content slate we’ve ever had in terms of different shows and genres as well as the NBCU content. We're investing heavily and we're doing that to make sure that we are great partners for our advertisers - if we offer great content to consumers then advertisers should come along.
“2023 is a year of execution on a strategy that's been playing out over the last few years, but we're also setting ourselves up for when a lot of the noise goes away over the next 12 to 18 months, we’re set for not just a very big 2023, but 2024, 2025 and for the next 10 years – there’s a lot to be excited about.”
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