Nine emerged as the leading network in the 2021 half yearly reports, as per OzTAM.
The data shows Nine leads in the free to air network shares across all demographics.
In people 25-54, the Nine Network had 30.9 per cent while the Seven Network had 22.9 per cent and Network 10 had 12.4 per cent.
For the 16-39 bracket, ratings were marginally closer: the Nine Network had 30.5 per cent, the Seven Network had 23.7 per cent and Network 10 had 12.1 per cent.
The Nine Network had the highest proportion of the share in GS + Child at 31.7 per cent, followed by 27.1 per cent for the Seven Network and 21.1 per cent for Network 10.
In total share, the competition was particularly tight between Nine and Seven, with Nine at 28.5 per cent and Seven at 27.8 per cent. 10 had 17.9 per cent.
In terms of channel shares, Nine also came out on top. Channel Nine won with both the 25-54 and 16-39 demographics at 22.2 per cent and 22.9 per cent resectively. Channel Seven had 18.6 per cent of the share among 25-54s and 19 per cent among 16-39s, while Channel 10 had 14.5 per cent among 25-54s and 15.1 per cent among 16-39.
In terms of GS + Child, Channel Nine had 23.9 per cent of the share while Seven had 19.3 per cent and 10 had 13.5 per cent.
Finally, for total channel shares, Nine had 20.6 per cent, Seven had 18.9 per cent and 10 had 11 per cent.
The networks each had their own takes on the results.
Network 10 described itself as the “youngest free-to-air network”, with 57 per cent of their audience under 55. They pointed to the success of programs like I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! and Gogglebox which, according to 10, had its biggest ever BVOD audience.
Daniel Monaghan, SVP content and programming, 10 ViacomCBS, said: “Our continued success as the youngest network was cemented in week one of 2021 thanks to the unbridled success of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!. It reiterated that the landscape of summer viewing has changed forever. It was the #1 summer entertainment television event. This success and momentum continued with Gogglebox Australia, The Amazing Race Australia and Have You Been Paying Attention?, all of which dominated in our key demographics and experienced phenomenal growth on 10 Play.”
“And of course, who could forget the extraordinary success of Oprah With Meghan And Harry which reigns as the #1 non-sport program of 2021 with an audience of 2.36 million. It was also crowned the biggest ever program on 10 Play with an enormous 341,000 viewers.”
According to the Nine Network, their continued success is the result of a “reliable schedule of premium, family friendly content that delivers consistency of audience across all advertiser-preferred demoraphics.”
Nine particularly pointed to the success of Married At First Sight, so far the most successful reality show of 2021.
Michael Healy, Nine’s director of television, said: “I am incredibly proud that once again our content slate has resonated so strongly with the audiences we program for. I’d like to thank our dedicated team for creating Australia’s most watched programs across all platforms.”
Richard Hunwick, Nine’s director of sales for television and radio said, “at the half year mark we have gained share against our core target audience of 25-54s and we remain the clear leader across both linear and BVOD with strong and reliable content slate set to carry us through the rest of 2021.”
Finally, Seven pointed to strong momentum before the Tokyo Olympic Games, as well as the fact that they have ranked first in 14 of the past 26 weeks of TV ratings. According to Seven, 7plus has increased its audience by 18 per cent over the last three months.
Seven West Media managing director and CEO James Warburton, said, “our strategy of investing in new and proven content across television and digital is delivering powerful results.”
“Seven is the only network that has grown its audience share this year in 25 to 54s, 16 to 39s and total people. Since late April, we have been #1 every week in those three demographics and in under 50s.”
Seven’s director of network programming Angus Ross was particularly confident about Seven’s sport offering.
“The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be the biggest media event in a long time.”
“We also have the AFL Final Series, Bathurst 1000, the best horse racing in Australia, and a lot more. It’s an incredible line-up, one that is on track to return Seven to market leadership in 2021.”
The impact of the Olympics on the network ratings will certainly be an important factor to watch as we head into the second half of the year, as the question remains: who will take the overall 2021 crown?
