Seven Network claims the rating crown in 2023 despite eight weeks remaining in the ratings year
The Kerry Stokes-led company has claimed the television ratings crown in 2023 which means it has been the number one network for 15 of the past 17 years.
The Seven Network has declared victory in the television ratings stakes for 2023 after the latest results revealed it had been the most-watched network this year.
Despite the official ratings year not concluding until December 2, Seven West Media’s managing director and chief executive James Warburton said the network was “clear winner in 2023 – no fine print, no disclaimers”.
“It’s probably the most dominant Seven has been in a really long time, everywhere that we compete we are winning and we are winning well,” he told The Australian.
“We have more people watching than anyone else through from Sunrise, The Morning Show through to Seven News, we are No.1 for winter sports and No.1 for summer sports, No.1 for drama and multichannels.”
The result, which comes eight weeks out from the end of the official ratings season, means Seven is the most-watched network for 15 of the past 17 years.
One of the biggest victories was the broadcast of the FIFA Women’s World Cup which included the heartbreaking semi-final loss by the Matildas against England that broke TV records, drawing 7.32 million viewers.
It was also the most-streamed event ever in Australia, drawing 957,000 people on Seven’s streaming app, 7plus.
Of all the TV programs to air this year, the top five most-watched have been on Seven including the Matildas’ semi-final (7.32 million), Matildas versus France post game (4.52 million), Australia v France (4.23 million), the AFL grand final between Collingwood and Brisbane (3.75 million) and the Women’s World Cup match between the Matildas and Denmark (3.57 million.)
For Nine, the recent NRL grand final between Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos drew a national audience of 3.52 million, which included 605,000 who streamed the match.
From 2025 Seven and Foxtel will begin their new groundbreaking seven-year $4.5bn broadcast deal with the AFL that runs through until 2031.
The cricket broadcasting rights will also stay with Seven and Foxtel through until 2031 after a $1.5bn deal was inked at the beginning of this year.
The latest figures from OzTAM and Regional TAM for surveys from February 12 through to October 7 showed among the national free-to-air network commercial shares in the survey year, Seven was at 42.3 per cent, followed by Nine at 36.6 and Ten at 21.1 per cent.
Seven was also ahead in the five capital cities with its commercial share in the survey year: Seven was at 40.8, Nine at 38.3 and Ten at 20.9.
Mr Warburton said the results continued to show the free-to-air market was “really a two-horse race” in relation to demographics.
Seven is No.1 nationally for people in the 25 to 54 and the 16 to 39 age categories.
Nine recently defended its ratings including for long-running home renovation series The Block after fans criticised the program for being one big ad.
Seven’s full-year results in August showed its annual net profit took a tumble, falling 30.9 per cent to $145.7m and at the time Mr Warburton said it had been a “challenging” 12 months.
In 2022 Seven also signed a seven-year deal with global entertainment and media company NBCUniversal, acquiring a big catalogue of programs.
Mr Warburton said the network was growing audiences in some of its reality programs such as Farmer Wants a Wife, Dancing with the Stars and My Kitchen Rules.
Seven West’s chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette said being the most-watched network enabled it to engage brands to help boost revenue.
A Nine spokeswoman said Nine is “the clear leader with all key demographics and well on track to win the year with the 25-54s.” She said the station’s growth was driven by shows including Married at First Sight, The Block, The Summit and sporting events including The Australian Open, The Ashes, State of Origin and NRL and NRLW grand finals.
Seven will hold its Upfronts in Sydney on October 18 to showcase its programming for 2024.
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