Seven hopes to break audience record at Rio Olympics

Seven West Media executive Kurt Burnette says the Rio Olympics will pull in “the largest aggregated audience”.

Seven’s Saul Shtein, left, and Kurt Burnette at the new Olympics studio in Sydney. The network will screen more than 5000 hours of the Rio Games. Picture: James Croucher

Seven West Media executive Kurt Burnette is predicting the Rio Olympics will pull in “the largest aggregated audience” in Australian television history as media buyers expect advertising sales to reach $120 million to $130m.

If you need proof that Australia is a sporting nation, look no further than the humble box. Over the next three weeks, viewers will be treated to a series of high-profile events that will have them not only glued to the couch, but also their smartphones, desktops, tablets and social media apps, according to Mr Burnette.

“The broadcast of that audience will be a major event. Records won’t just be broken in the Games, but also through content delivery,” Seven’s chief revenue officer and event director told The Australian. “That’s a unique proposition. We’re going to change viewing behaviour and this won’t be the last time we do it.”

With little more than five days to go before the start of the Games, Seven is preparing to show the event in an unprecedented way by producing more than 5000 hours of coverage — including 3000 hours of live events — across three channels, 36 online streams and a paid app strategy.

Seven will broadcast and stream about 1000 hours of free content, showing how the traditional overnight ratings measurement can’t keep up with how TV is being consumed amid audience-behaviour shifts.

According to estimates by top TV ad buyers and sales executives, ad demand is close to matching the 2008 Beijing Games, where Seven also generated $120m to $130m.

Seven has sold out its tier-one sponsorships, selling packages for about $10m to $12m each. Sponsors include Woolworths, Swisse, Qantas, Harvey Norman, McDonald’s and Toyota.

The network paid an estimated $170m for a three-Games package that begins with Rio as the Olympics returns to the network after an eight-year hiatus.

Previous rights holder Nine racked up a $25m loss on the London 2012 Games. For the International Olympic Committee, there is much riding on the success of the Games, as Brazil’s economic problems, political turmoil and health concerns dominate headlines in the run-up to the event.

The risk is that all the negative news could deflect attention from the Games, and hurt TV viewing.

Seven’s head of sport, Saul Shtein, is confident that won’t happen. The Olympics programming veteran notes that there were controversies at Athens and Beijing that did not have a big negative impact.

“I recall the same anxieties before Athens and they found a way to make it work. My team on the ground there is very confident it will run smoothly. Security in the area seems very good and they’ve seen no mosquitoes. There’s something magical about the Olympics. I’m confident it will all come together.” To reach coveted millennial consumers on their home turf, Seven last week announced content deals with Twitter and Snapchat, the Los Angeles-based start-up valued at $US20 billion ($26.8bn) that is best known for its disappearing photos.

“Social media is now not just a big part of our offering but also for the athletes participating,” Mr Shtein said. “This will be the social media games. We’ve got to embrace all aspects, whether it’s short form video, streaming or catch-up. It’s a very different world.

“It’s new and incredibly exciting challenge.

“While we’ve had experience of this in the past, we haven’t broadcast for 24 hours a day across all three channels.”