Seven, Nine and 10 raced through 2022 with new shows and returning favourites, capturing audiences across both free to air and BVOD.
Fresh ideas at the Seven Upfronts, Nine Upfronts and Paramount Upfronts show advertisers and media agencies what's ahead in 2023.
The jostling between networks about who was really number one in the ratings reinforced a simple fact - people are continuining to consume TV at a strong pace, even as other forms of entertainment and escapism emerge.
Kim Portrate, CEO of ThinkTV Australia, said: “TV audiences consistently seek out Australian stories on the telly. From sports to reality TV – and everything in between – locally made, Australian content dominates our viewing.”
Data provided by ThinkTV to AdNews bears this out: sports and reality television programs dominated the ratings in 2022 across all three major networks.
AdNews spoke to senior leaders from the three major commercial networks about the highlights of their year, the reasons behind the ever-growing viewing numbers of 2022 and what's in store for 2023 for content and programming.
Seven - James Warburton, Seven West Media Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer and Angus Ross, Seven Chief Content Officer, Entertainment Programming
Warburton said that he was very proud of the team for finishing the year on top in the ratings for the 14th time in 16 years, for both the calendar year and survey year.
“Most importantly, we were number one in revenue as well as converting the audience. Across the 40-week survey year, Seven was #1 in 29 weeks nationally and #1 in 21 weeks in the capital cities. We've done all that with one less multi-channel.”
Ross said that Seven’s ‘content spine’ – ranging from Sunrise in the morning through to mid-afternoon shows like The Chase and leading into 7NEWS and the evening’s tentpole offerings – means that they’re not reliant on one or two key formats.
“I think it's the spine and our consistency that has led to success, but when you look to next year, we're bringing back a bunch of the programs from 2022 and balancing that with new, fresh offerings like Million Dollar Island, Blow Up and crucially for us in Q1, the return of Australian Idol.”
Warburton said that the Seven team works incredibly collaboratively, with “everything promoting everything else”, leading to the strong numbers seen for the network across Metro, Regional and total television.
“It's actually about converting it across all those areas and measures - the work the sales team are doing in terms of convergence, how we're packaging that together to sell it and the investment in the trade platform to make it easier and simpler for buyers to buy.
“7plus was 2% of revenue a few years back, and now we’re over 40%, closer to 50%. It's a very disciplined approach around what's going to drive ratings and drive revenue results for the network."
Warburton (pictured right) said that Seven’s “relentless focus” on making sure that they’re there for the key news events, combined with the passion that their reporters and journalists have for bringing information to the public, has driven 7NEWS to the top of the ratings.
“Everyone makes a choice on what new service they watch and they watch us for a reason. If you look at something like the Queen's passing, we were first on the ground, we had the best interviews and we had the best journalists on the ground.
“The fact that we do more than anyone else has also played a factor - 23 and a half live hours, 55 bulletins across 20 regions and 65 news gathering offices across Australia.”
7plus streamed a record 12.1 billion minutes in 2022, increasing its audience 15% YoY in BVOD and 41% in live streaming, with Warburton saying that the network is excited for VOZ to come into effect next year and change the narrative of the traditional TV ratings to a more total television viewing number.
“People want to watch television, when they want to watch it, where they want to watch it. We don't think of it about in terms of 7plus or the main screen – we think the screens are Seven and it’s about how we maximise the number ,wherever that may be.”
Despite the strong numbers from BVOD, Seven is still investing in free to air TV, with new channel 7Bravo set to launch on 15 January, with Ross describing it as "a very targeted channel to women under 50".
“We like to kind of refer to it as the female version of 7Mate. It’ll have the absolute best of the NBC reality catalogue - if you think of Below Deck, Below Deck Down Under, Real Housewives and so forth - and it'll be available on Seven and 7plus.
“That brings probably another 1,000 hours to 7plus next year and on top of that, as part of our NBC agreement, there’ll probably be another 2,000 hours of NBC first-run and library series content sitting on the platform as well.
“It's a really great pipeline that we've got with one of the biggest producers of content in the world, so we’re very pleased about the multi-level partnerships that we've got with NBC.”
Nine - Michael Stephenson, Chief Sales Officer
Stephenson said that Nine’s success comes down to a combination of their free to air business combined with both live streaming and on demand within 9Now.
"In 2022, we were the number one network with both Total People and all key demographics across the calendar year.
“For the last seven years, we've had a really clear strategy, which is to create more local Australian content, to make sure our schedule is strong from the 1st of January until the 31st of December and to be obsessed and focused with delivering the demographics that are core to advertisers – 16- to 39-year-olds, 25- to 54-year-olds and grocery buyers with children.
“We've been unwavering in that strategy; the combination of a lot of hard work has meant that we've been the undisputed leader for four years in a row in a linear, free to air television stance. Of course, as the world's changed, we now think about our total audience delivery across all of our total television platforms, which includes 9Now.”
Stephenson said that Australians have always liked Australian stories, with people enjoying seeing real Australian stories unfolding in front of their eyes.
“For advertisers, that's massive, because we're able to integrate brands’ stories into the shows that we create and we can do that in a way and at a scale that nobody else can.”
Stephenson said that the live factor of such sporting events as the Australian Open is a big driver of audience for Nine.
“We saw the women's final delivering 4.1 million people - it was the biggest television event of the year. There was two and a half million people watching the men's doubles, which is amazing.
“You're seeing the growth of 9Now in the Australian Open - there was nearly a quarter of a million people watched the women's final on 9Now in the live stream - so sport is really being a major driver of this total television narrative that we keep talking about.
“People are watching it live on free to air, they're watching it via the live stream on 9Now and of course, they're watching it on-demand in their own time. It's the combination of those three things that makes sports so powerful because it delivers reach at scale across all platforms.”
Stephenson (pictured right) said that 9Now is “an enormous part” of Nine’s future in conjunction with free to air TV, with the notion of total television proving that more people are watching television today more than they ever have done before – they’re just watching it across multiple platforms.
“We're seeing in 9Now an increase in viewing year on year; all of the big tentpole shows on Nine are now in growth because of the additional consumption that we’re now measuring and seeing on 9Now.
“One of the most important things for people to realise is the growth that we're seeing in live streaming - people accessing Nine’s content, just like they always have, but that content being delivered via the internet as opposed to via an antenna.
“The numbers speak for themselves - in the last 12 months, live streaming audience on 9Now has increased by more than 50%. It is absolutely massive and it's attracting new and younger audiences to our content, because they're consuming this in an on-demand and digital world.”
Stephenson said that total television continues to prove to be so resilient, irrespective of the market conditions, because the industry has proven that it’s the most effective way for brands to advertise.
“It delivers better results than anything else, both in isolation and in combination. When retailers or brands are looking for real business results, they turn to television, and we've seen that through this period, and we'll see it again into next year.”
Stephenson said that Nine will rely on a mix of big sporting events, tried and tested shows and exciting, new formats to generate success in 2023.
“We kick off the year with the biggest event of the year, which of course is the Australian Open, and we then go into the biggest format of the year, which is Married at First Sight.
“We've got the family favorite of Lego Masters, the best cross-platform show in the country in Love Island - which is continuing to attract younger viewers to our platforms - and we've got the 19th series of the most successful show in the country, which is The Block.
“We have new series of Parental Guidance and Snackmasters, new formats coming into our schedule in Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars and The Summit and then you layer on the NRL, which we have for the next five years.
“We have got more news, more sport, more entertainment, more big shows and more big drama than anybody else - next year is going to be an absolute belter.”
10 - Rod Prosser, Paramount ANZ Chief Sales Officer and Daniel Monaghan, Paramount ANZ SVP Content and Programming
Monaghan said that 10 having eight of the top 15 entertainment shows in the Under 50s, 25 To 54s and 16 To 39s demographics demonstrates that they target that audience well, especially considering the challenges around capturing those viewers.
“What we do with all of our shows is we make people want to want to watch them live - if you don't, you catch up later - but it's like you want to talk about them. I think the talkability of our shows is the most important thing.
“That was what was so key with something like Hunted, which launched as the number one new show this year, is that people just wanted to engage with it on any platform, but quickly, so that they could talk about it with their family and their friends.
“That's what we've always done with our entertainment shows: give people shows that they care about and that they want to talk about and that entertain them.”
Monaghan attributes that success of Hunted to people wanting a fresh program in the middle of the year and to be entertained with something different.
“It was a simple premise - it had people on the run, they had to stay on the run for a period of time and not get caught by the hunters – so it was such an easy show for the audience to engage with that delivered edge-of-your-seat action.
“It just resonated with Australians who are super competitive, love to go for the underdog - which in this case was the fugitives - and it just spoke to broader Australia and particularly that younger audience.”
Prosser said that there’s also a point to be made about 10’s shows, whether the large franchises or a comedy show on at 8:30, that they're all aspirational.
“That always resonates with a broader audience and it’s something we're really proud of. As I talk to people, particularly advertisers around our slate, a lot of the feedback we get is that it's nice to be part of it, because in many ways, they are aspirational.”
Monaghan said that 10’s sports lineup – comprising the likes of Melbourne Cup, Formula One, the A-League and more – is key because it brings people together and it gives them a big entertainment play.
“We're always in sport conversations and we're always open to new sports coming onto the network. When deals come up, we'd like to be in the conversation. To have such key marquee sporting events throughout the year on the network is really important for us and important for our clients.”
Prosser (pictured right): “The A-League and the Football Australia product is definitely something that we're really pleased to have part of the schedule, because obviously there's a solid viewing base, but it also drives revenue and revenue outcomes for us because a lot of those sports are tied up with partners and brands, from grassroots all the way up to the naming rights partners.
“It brings a revenue profile with it as well and allows us to have some deeper conversations with advertisers around sport. It's so key to our schedule, because it really allows us to add campaigns off the back of it, but also promote our own shows.”
Monaghan said that the growth of 10 Play - 2022 was the BVOD service’s biggest year yet, up 6% YoY in total minutes viewed, up 21% YoY in live stream minutes viewed and an 80% growth in content hours – ties into their desire to allow the audience to be able to watch their content where they want.
“We love the live viewing on 10, we love that they can catch up on their own time on 10Play and then of course, our content is on Paramount Plus as well. We want to give people the broad scope of being able to access it when they want and where they want, but most importantly, to engage with it, because our content is highly engaged and talked about content across all platforms and on social media as well.”
Prosser echoed that sentiment, saying that the platform proposition that 10 now has extends far beyond just one linear channel.
“While there’s only advertising around the football on Paramount Plus, there is advertising that sits within the content of the shows, so anyone that sponsors one of our marquee shows that sits on 10, whether that be Masterchef or Survivor, will then surface on Paramount Plus and all that integration is part of it.
“The incremental reach - and we're not just talking about a small amount of reach, but a significant amount of reach - that they're getting by partnering with 10 and our 10 shows is quite significant.
“We're absolutely looking at how we grow the library and also our FAST proposition on 10Play to expand it even further, because we absolutely know there's a huge future for us in that on-demand space, which is really exciting for advertisers because we can surface new ad products.
“Being in a connected TV environment means advertisers can engage with our viewers in a really different and interesting way.”
Prosser said that despite the “global storm” circling the television advertising market, he’s confident that 10 can see success in 2023.
“The ad market will continue to grow and we've had some really great discussions with our consortiums around next year, and what that looks like, so I'm really positive and confident that we will see a fairly stable year next year, which, despite everything else that's going on in the globe, I think is a really good outcome.”
Monaghan said that as well as season two of Hunted, 10 has plenty to look forward to content-wise for next year.
“We're starting the year with a bang on January 9 with The Bachelors - the series has gone to the Gold Coast, it's had a bit of a glow up, we've got three phenomenal guys. They all start the series within in engagement rings with the intention to propose at the end of the series, so I think the audience will love what we've done there.
“Survivor Heroes and Villains is the best theme we've had for years, so it will be it will resonate with that massive core audience that it has. We've got a shorter, snappier MasterChef next year, a new comedy with Taskmaster, the number one comedy returning with Have You Been Paying Attention? and its sibling, The Cheap Seats.
“We've got a huge amount to talk about and much more to come as we move into the second half of next year. “
Prosser said that for him, he’s excited about the new era of The Project, the youngest news and current affairs show on TV.
“That show for us is really important for us commercially as well, because execute some really great sponsorships and partnerships across the year. Advertisers are now feeling the vibe of The Project and it’s going into a new era, which is really exciting.”
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