It is a dark dark day for fans of TV ratings because tomorrow marks the last official ratings day of the year (you’ll just have to find something else to get you out of bed in the morning).
Thankfully, the end of the official TV ratings period for 2023 does not mean the end of TV ratings content. B&T sat down with Network 10’s chief sales officer Rod Prosser and Daniel Monaghan to talk about some of the biggest issues in TV measurement this year.
Is There Room In The Market For More Than One Ratings System?
For those of you that paid close attention to this year’s upfronts announcements you’ll remember that Foxtel said it would be coming up with its own ratings system to rival OzTam.
Prosser agreed with OzTam that one system is less likely to confuse buyers – “Instinctively, I want to say that one measurement system, or currency is better for the industry and indeed, media buyers,” he said.
Whilst Prosser acknowledged that Network 10 is a shareholder and supporter of OzTam (we have “100% focus there”), he did add that “the landscape is changing, evolving”.
Given that Network 10 has “most of the TV assets” within its portfolio” it is really important to “make sure that we assess and look at all the measurement that’s out in the market” he sad.
Why 2024 Is Going To Be ‘Very Competitive’
I won’t start to explain that the media landscape is fragmenting because if you’ve made it here, you’re probably aware. However, Prosser warns that 2024 will be even more competitive for TV as more streamers move into the market.
“Next year, Amazon is obviously at market talking about their offering. You’ll see Disney coming into the market next year at some point, no doubt. And of course, we’ve announced that an ad-tier will be coming to Paramount plus. The marketing dollars have to come from somewhere which means that traditional TV or linear TV needs to be highly competitive. It obviously still has mass reach, which the SVOD players don’t necessarily have. But again we’re well poised to compete in that market simply because we have all those assets. We certainly don’t have our head in the sand thinking that naturally dollars will stick to linear. We’re out there to compete”.
Why Network 10 Is Going For The Laughs
Comedy has been a big focus for Network 10 in the past year, Monaghan says.
“We have the number one comedy on TV – Have You Been Paying Attention? and Cheap Seats in there as well. We have also doubled down and taken a risk with known brand such as Taskmaster which will return next year”.
Asked why Network 10 is so focused on comedy, Monaghan said it sits with the cyclical nature of world events.
“The sense of what people the audience want to watch across any platform is cyclical. Sometimes they, you know, they want different things as the as the years evolve, but we’ve come into a period about where the news cycle is quite heavy and interest rates are high”.
“Our job is to, is to look and see that people are looking for as an escape when they come to TV. They want something that they can sit down with their family, as a group, whatever device they’re looking at. They want to feel safe, they want to feel warm, they want to feel happy. And that’s the period we’re in right now where people want to be entertained”.
They want to laugh and that’s why we are doubling down on it again next year.”
Some Highlights Form Network 10’s Ratings Wrap:
