Free-to-air evening TV news bulletins buck trend

The good news for broadcasters is evening bulletins have reversed the trend of declining free-to-air TV audiences with some of the best ratings figures since 2022.

Nine News Melbourne hosts Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort command Australia's biggest evening news audience. Picture: Nine News

Free-to-air television news bulletins are maintaining strong audience engagement – and in some cases have even increased viewerships over the past three years – despite the wider trend of falling ratings for programs on commercial TV.

Industry observers say the second presidential term of Donald Trump, local climate events and the upcoming Australian federal election have helped grow TV news audiences in the first quarter of 2025, even as audiences drift away from the medium in favour of streaming platforms.

“In a time of world economic volatility, increasing natural disasters and political uncertainty, the increasing number of viewers for both 7NEWS and 9News is further proof of the enduring strength of free-to-air news,” Seven West Media news director Anthony De Ceglie said.

“It’s easily forgotten that almost every night in Australia the number one and two programs in the country are 7NEWS and 9News at 6pm, with millions of people tuning in every night. “When combined, the audience is only beaten (each year) by the AFL and NRL grand finals.”

Ten years ago, TV ratings were measured by the size of the metro market audience. In 2015, Nine and Seven both had 6pm news metro audiences close to one million nightly viewers, with Nine narrowly in front with 1.057 million on average across that year.

For the first 13 weeks of 2025, Seven holds a narrow lead across metro markets with an average audience of 836,592, compared to Nine on 829,511.

The good news for broadcasters is that the evening bulletins have reversed the trend of declining free-to-air TV audiences, with the numbers up year on year, and some of the best ratings figures since 2022.

Nine presenter Peter Overton outside Buckingham Palace.

The better news for Nine is that it is growing its audience quicker than arch rival Seven.

ABC’s 7pm News is also the public broadcaster’s most-watched program most nights, although with a national audience around 850,000 this year, it can’t compete with the Nine and Seven news products.

The ABC figure is close to what its commercial rivals have in metro markets alone; however, the national broadcaster’s evening bulletin has enjoyed growth of 6.5 per cent year on year.

In recent years, broadcasters have largely eliminated the release of metro-only data and the focus is on national audiences. Seven has been the traditional leader with its national TV audience thanks to the boost it has from strong regional markets.

The Seven metro stations have also traditionally dominated in Adelaide and Perth, helping secure that national dominance.

In the first 13 weeks of 2025, Nine now trails Seven at 6pm across metro markets only by an average of 7000 viewers. In the first 13 weeks of 2024, the gap between the two broadcasters was 48,000.

A decade ago Nine was the leader with 66,000 more viewers on average across the year.

One change in recent years helping Nine is the growth in viewers watching via 9Now. Last year’s broadcast video on demand average audience for the 6pm news in the first quarter was 55,000. That figure for the same period this year is 81,000.

Seven’s 6pm News audience on 7plus reported similar growth – up from 34,000 to 51,000. While those numbers continue to be outstripped by linear broadcast figures, the growth for both is close to 50 per cent year on year.

These extra viewers for both broadcasters aren’t all older people. There has been double-digit growth for Seven and Nine with viewers in the 25-54 and 16-39 demographics.

In Sydney, Nine’s Peter Overton is holding well at number one against the reconfigured Seven News two-hander bulletin with Mark Ferguson and Angela Cox. Nine News Sydney is up 7.9 per cent to Seven News’ growth of 5.4 per cent.

Mark Ferguson and Angela Cox from Network 7 in Parramatta Park. Picture: Jeremy Piper

However, younger viewers are warming more to Seven News with growth of 30 per cent in the 25-54 demographic, and 40 per cent in the 16-39 demographic.

In Melbourne, Seven News with Peter Mitchell is growing its audience at a faster rate than Nine News with Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort, but Nine holds a comfortable lead with 29,000 more viewers each weeknight.

Nine News Melbourne also has the biggest single news audience with 275,000 so far this year.

Seven Adelaide was the only metro market to show an audience fall year on year.

Nine national news boss Fiona Dear said evening news bulletins remain “one of the most accessible, immediate and trusted sources of information”.

“In moments of crisis, major events or day-to-day developments, audiences know they can rely on broadcast news … for accurate reporting, live coverage and context – delivered by experienced journalists they know and trust,” she said.

“It’s that combination of credibility, connection and convenience that keeps viewers coming back.”

De Ceglie agreed: “When people need the facts, they come to our established brands, rather than sift through fake news or conspiracy theories on social media.”