It may only be the beginning of October, but Seven has already claimed victory for the rating year with CEO James Warburton describing the network as “unbeatable”.
The network claims a 42.3 per cent commercial share nationally in all people, 40.8 per cent in the capital cities and 45.2 per cent in regional Australia. It has said it also leads nationally in 25 to 54s, 16 to 39s and total shoppers.
Seven has claimed the highest ratings for the last three years in a row and for 15 out of the last 17 years.
“We believe we’re unbeatable.”
Despite there still being three months left in the year, Seven CEO James Warburton told B&T it was confident of the network’s victory.
“We usually come out when we believe we can declare it – like any major event but for us. We’re in an unbeatable position. We’re incredibly dominant. We believe we’re unbeatable.”
This year Seven received a sizeable ratings boost from the Matildas – the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Semi-Final between the Matildas and England secured 7.32 million total TV viewers (broadcast and BVOD).
It was the most-watched TV program in more than two decades and reached more than 11 million people. Seven also claims that its sports coverage has reached more than 18 million people.
Warburton says he isn’t concerned about the ratings being dependent on one-off events.
“There’s always been ebbs and flows in the schedule. I mean next year is the Olympics and there was the Ashes this year. So there’s always ebbs and flows in major sports: these things come and go”.
Despite the fact that “none of us know what next year is going to bring”, Warburton says that Seven’s “live and local focus” as well as its news and live sports coverage will continue to drive up its performance”.
Seven’s year in numbers:
#1 nationally in all people
• #1 in the capital cities in all people
• #1 in regional Australia in all people
• #1 in audience share growth nationally in all people
• #1 in news and public affairs
• #1 in sport
• #1 at breakfast
• #1 regular local drama
• #1 in multichannels (7mate, 7two, 7Bravo, 7flix)
Warburton, said: “Seven is the clear winner in 2023 – no fine print, no disclaimers.
“The success of our content across all screens has once again made Seven the most watched broadcast and digital network in Australia, including across the capital cities and in every state. Seven is home to the most popular news, sport and local drama content and many of our entertainment shows have grown their audiences this year”
“7plus keeps going from strength to strength and will jump to a whole new level from late next year, when we add AFL and then cricket digital rights,” he said.
“Seven invests in and creates great content. In fact, we are the leaders in content. That’s why we have been the most watched network for 15 of the past 17 years.
“From breakfast right through the day and into the night, Australians vote with their eyeballs and turn to Seven more than any other network. Thank you to all our viewers and to the talented, hard-working team at Seven,” Warburton said.
TV Measurement Will Be Crucial
Going forward, how TV is measured will be crucial, Warburton told B&T.
“I think the biggest thing, which is important for the industry, is that we actually get our right measurement out there. When we get to VOZ next year television will be measured effectively and properly. So we pivot to a reach metric, the national reach metric, as opposed to an average audience metric”.
Seven’s chief content officer Angus Ross told B&T that Seven’s ratings will grow even more once it adds live sports streaming to its VOD services.
“Since about April this year, Seven has been the leader in the VOD space – but we’ve had one arm tied behind our back in that we don’t have sports streaming yet for our major sports”.
“Once we have that [from September next year] finally, we can throw that killer punch that we’ve been waiting for, to dominate live streaming, but also continue to build on VOD,” he added.
Home and Away can also provide an important gateway into drama, he added.
“The biggest show on Seven Plus is Home and Away which does about a billion minutes a year. Drama programs provide a gateway into other drama programs. So that’s why we’ve done the NBC content deal, the Sony dear, and some other pipelines that we’ve got under construction. Next September is when finally you’ll be able to see all the shows you get on Seven on Seven Plus”.
