Australians turn to reliable commercial media for their virus news in a time of crisis
The majority of Australians are picking commercial TV networks and traditional media outlets for all the latest on the coronavirus.
At the end of a hectic day juggling family and work, the majority of Australians are picking the nation’s two biggest commercial television networks’ evening news bulletins to catch up on all the latest about the coronavirus crisis.
The evening news programs on the Seven and Nine networks have boasted more than 1.2m metropolitan viewers on average over the week to April 2, compared to the ABC’s TV average evening news audience of around 955,000, according to the latest available TV ratings figures from OzTam.
The public were glued to their TV screens on March 29, with the Nine and Seven 6pm news programs topping the TV ratings chart, with more than 1.37 million and 1.33 million metro viewers respectively. ABC’s TV news attracted a metro audience of just over one million.
Seven’s and Nine’s evening news held the top two spots for six of the seven days, with Nine’s hit reality dating show Married At First Sight taking out the No 1 spot last Tuesday with a metro audience of 1.32 million.
Seven news and public affairs boss Craig McPherson said news consumption had become a must during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Probably more than ever, 6pm news and the news in general has become appointment viewing,” he said, noting the huge impact the coronavirus was having on people’s lives.
“I don’t say this lightly — we really are an essential service. We are a direct connect to the public, to the viewing audience at home, which obviously has never been greater with the realities of the situation that is changing hour by hour.
“The news product has probably never been more important to the fabric of society than it is right at this point in time.”
McPherson said all members of his news team were working “extraordinarily long hours”, with reporters paired with camera crews who work remotely. Some production areas had also been isolated to protect the workforce during the crisis, he said.
Nine political editor Chris Uhlmann said commercial TV news — and commercial news more broadly — was doing an “outstanding job’’ during these troubled times and was“absolutely and utterly important’’.
The veteran journalist rejected suggestions he was having a dig at the ABC, where he worked for nearly 20 years, on Twitter recently.
“I think it is a national treasure. However, I am a champion of commercial TV news and commercial news in general. I think we do an outstanding job,’’ Uhlmann told The Australian.
“We have sometimes very few public champions, so if I’m doing anything recently it is to champion the work not just of Nine, but at Seven, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review.
“All of these great mastheads are doing a magnificent job of supplying information to people at a time when they most need it.
“A very large percentage of the population tunes in to commercial news.
“That’s the only point that I’m making; it’s not an anti-ABC agenda, it’s a pro-commercial news agenda.’’
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