The current spate of channels aimed at female audiences (News launching the latest player in the space on Monday) shows no sign of abating despite it, arguably, becoming an incredibly saturated space in Australian media

And according to Nine’s program director, Hamish Turner, it’s only going to become a noisier sapce as advertisers target the perception that it is, indeed, the females who make the decisions in the home, particularly when it comes to things like grocery buying.

“Females are typically the decision makers, particularly when it comes to families,” Turner said on the eve of the first birthday of Nine’s other female-centric multi-channel, 9Life.

“They’re the grocery buyers, they’re the ones we want to target with our FMCG clients and from an advertising perspective it makes complete sense that you’ve got that audience that makes those decisions in the household. They’ve got a lot of power, particularly those with families, and that’s the key point.”

Speaking to B&T, Turner said 9Life regularly pulled in over 100,000 metro viewers daily and specifically targeted a 18-54 female audience. He also believed it was the ideal foil to Nine’s newest and shiniest stab at the female market – Nine Honey.

“9Life allows advertisers to target a very specific audience and not get too much wastage. If you’re after women, you’re after women of a certain mindset, then 9Life is the perfect environment to get them.

“Yes, it’s a guilty pleasure channel, it’s a way for viewers to escape the grinds of everyday. It’s putting your feet up, having a glass of wine and forgetting the day without having to give too much over. It’s not meant to be taken too seriously, we’re not asking too much,” Turner said.

According to Turner, 9Life’s success comes from delivering – via its licensing arrangements with NBC and Scripps in the US – a “good, consistent flow of content coming through, you’re never up and down throughout the year.”

However, Turner admits the multi-channel’s not (well, not yet, anyway) a vehicle for local content, despite “local” and “Aussie” being the prime catchphrase of Nine’s Upfront’s earlier this month.

“Obviously the majority of our investment is on our primary channel and we are ramping up that investment,” Turner said.