The SMI figures for July have been released and show that Channel Seven remains the top free-to-air station for ad spend.
However, it wasn’t all good news for Seven this month who were forced into a humiliating back down with its fight with Nine over Restaurant Revolution, and despite scoring the most ad cash its share actually went backwards.
Seven had 38.5 per cent of the ad spend for July, Nine snared 37.1 per cent and the Ten Network continued to improve taking in 24.4 per cent.
Nine had a terrific month for ratings with July having shown the State of Origin, The Ashes and unveiling the, thus far, successful The Hotplate.
Seven is desperate to hang on to number one spot for ratings and spend for the remainder of the year and will reportedly unleash a raft of new programs in September including new fast-tracked US releases and a new format to lead into its lagging 6pm news slot. It’s been rumoured Seven’s 5-6pm time slot of Deal Or No Deal and Million Dollar Minute will be canned for new quiz show The Chase.
The metropolitan TV ad market grew 3.2 per cent in July despite the overall media sector falling 1.5 per cent
Despite the departure of its CEO Hamish McLennan late last month Ten’s revenues and ratings are on the improve. Its 24.4 per cent share of the ad market was up from 21 per cent this time last year. The Network’s success has come off the back of good ratings for MasterChef, The Project and The Living Room.
Seven leads the 2015 calendar for spend with a 39.6 per cent advertising revenue share ahead of Nine’s 38.0 per cent and Ten’s 22.4 per cent.
