Seven has used its 2018 Upfronts, unveiled last Friday in Melbourne, to launch  7plus, the cornerstone for its accelerating moves into over-the-top (OTT) digital video content delivery.

7plus is a 100 per cent Seven owned and operated new OTT product that sits at the heart of the company’s strategy for Total Video and TV Everywhere.

Launching next month, 7plus will be much more than a catch-up service, encompassing live and on demand, as well as an extended content library from some of the world’s largest studios, exclusive original commissions and features allowing “binge-stacking” of your favourite programmes.

Significantly, Seven is delivering original content for 7plus and confirms that it has commissioned Seven Studios to produce as a 7plus Original, the next series of Yummy Mummies, which was a breakout success online, outranking many of Australia’s biggest television franchises in the OzTAM VPM ratings for total viewing on an IP connected device.

7plus was developed in partnership with many of the world’s leading OTT technology companies to deliver a contemporary and sophisticated user experience for consumers and advertisers alike.

Kurt Burnette, Seven’s chief revenue officer, said: “7plus will take Seven to a new level of content, innovation and engagement. Over the coming months, consumers and advertisers will see Seven dramatically expand the delivery of Australia’s favourite content in new and exciting ways. Addressable TV at scale is a game changer which will deliver marked improvements in targeting and ROI. We’re delighted to be the first Australian network to make it available at scale on all our brands.

“We create and own a huge library of premium, brand-safe content made for Australia and the world with Home and Away, My Kitchen Rules, House Rules and an enormous back catalogue of some of Australia’s most loved and iconic programming all discoverable on 7plus. We are also building our content offering beyond Seven with new content and exclusive 7plus commissions never seen before on Australian television.

“This amazing content will be joined by key major domestic event franchises, including The Melbourne Cup, the Rugby League World Cup in Australia, the Australian Open tennis, the Winter Olympic Games and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

“These huge audience aggregators across Seven and 7Live will underpin 7plus in an unprecedented delivery of live sport on broadcast, live streamed and on demand. Available to all Australians for free.”

Clive Dickens, Seven’s Chief Digital Officer, said: “We’re very excited to introduce this new, world-class OTT service to Australian consumers and advertisers, offering all you love from the Seven Network, plus so much more. More than live. More than catch-up. More effective for our partners.

“Consumer behaviour is evolving rapidly and the growth of connected devices demands we take a fresh approach to matching great content to the right device and the right audience, creating a myriad of new opportunities for brands to connect through video in ways like never before.”

CEO Tim Worner said: “We are transforming. We are building new businesses. We are expanding our content creation capabilities and we are now a company connecting with all Australians across every screen.

“7plus is a cornerstone of our strategy, leveraging our content creation, our marketing strengths and our partnerships to deliver content to our audiences on their terms. Taking our content beyond broadcast television has moved to a new level with the streaming of our market-leading video content live or on demand, on any device.”

A key feature is Seven’s launch of live and video-on-demand ‘Addressable TV’.

Kicking off with coverage of the Rugby League World Cup and extending right throughout the year, Addressable TV replaces selected broadcast ads when content is consumed on a live stream with targeted digital video ads specific to the individual user. The result is a more personalised and immersive advertising experience, tailored to the end user, based on a deep knowledge of their individual online behaviour and profile. The result is greater efficiency and ROI, combining the scale and engagement of TV with the targeting of digital.