Blockbuster sports events push Channel 7 to top of 2021 TV ratings

The Olympics helped make Channel 7 the most watched television network in Australia last year, but its most popular program wasn’t beamed from Tokyo.

Channel 7 has swept the competition and taken out the crown as the most watched television network in Australia for 2021.

The Seven Network has ended the year on top, ahead of rivals Nine and Ten, thanks in part to blockbuster numbers from major sporting events last year.

Moments like watching the women’s swimming team win bronze kept Aussie viewers glued to Channel 7 during the Tokyo Olympics. Picture: AFP

Seven rounded out the past 12 months with a commercial audience share of 39.6 per cent of the market, almost 3 per cent more than its closest competitor Nine.

The network also smashed streaming records with its Olympics coverage in August, when most of the country was locked down because of the pandemic.

A total of 172 million minutes of the Olympics’ opening day were streamed on 7Plus, shattering the previous record of 86 million minutes, and 2.7 million people tuned in to watch Seven’s coverage of the opening ceremony.

In total, the app saw 15.5 billion minutes of streamed content throughout the year.

However Seven’s most viewed program of 2021 was the AFL Grand Final, which recorded a viewership of 4.1 million ­people.

More than 4 million people watched the AFL Grand Final. Picture: Michael Klein

“This year, viewers embraced our content across all screens and took us back to #1 in TV,” Seven’s director of programming Angus Ross said.

“We are determined to keep the crown in 2022.”

Seven also had the biggest market share in the commercially lucrative 16 to 39s age range, with 36.7 per cent in 2021.

“Taking the ratings crown in both the calendar and survey years, along with 7Plus capturing the #1 position in BVOD (broadcaster video on demand), is a tribute to the talent and hard work of the Seven team and the appeal of our content,” Seven West Media CEO James Warburton said.

“(The) Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 was the biggest television and streaming event in Australian history, but it wasn’t the only highlight for Seven this year.”

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