Seven West faces its cricket test

Seven West Media plans to cash in on its $450 million deal to televise men’s Test matches and the Big Bash League.

Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner announces the broadcaster’s offerings for 2019, with men’s cricket the linchpin. Picture: James Croucher

Money well spent is the message from Seven West Media chief executive Tim Worner about the broadcaster’s record-breaking $450 million, six-year cricket rights deal.

Seven’s broadcast of the men’s Test matches in Australia and the Big Bash League was one linchpin in the free-to-air network’s an­nual Allfronts event, unveiled in its 2019 program line-up.

Seven bought the rights in conjunction with Foxtel in a $1.2 billion agreement, which meant Nine, which had bought the rights to the Australian Open tennis, would be without cricket for the first time in more than 40 years.

“I fervently believe in the fullness of time, certainly well inside the lifetime of that deal, it will prove to be a very wise investment,” Mr Worner told The Australian. “That is based on what I think can happen with the audience over time.”

Seven says it has already won the 2018 year in total people, its 12th year in a row, in “record-breaking” style and is close to winning the demographics as well.

Network all-channel share 2017 vs 2018*

And while 2019 is still two months away, Mr Worner said the benefits would occur almost immediately.

“The impact will be in evidence even before then, December year-on-year will be hugely up.”

He predicts the growth figure will be in “double figures”.

“December has always been a month for us that has been tough. All of a sudden we are heading into December pretty confident that it is not going to be tough.”

Seven also announced it was expanding its online operations and would launch a food channel.

After dissolving its partnership with Yahoo, Seven has taken its digital assets in-house with its 7Plus service.

But Mr Worner shied away from his head of digital Clive Dickens’ statement that “7News.com.au will become Australia’s number one online news brand within six months of launch”.

Mr Worner said: “I think that we are going to double our online audience within a couple of years.” As a result of the split from (Yahoo! owner) Oath over the Yahoo7 alliance, that growth will come from a low base.

7Plus already hosts long-form content and 7news.com.au will launch early next year.

“One of the things we are going to have as a marketing platform is Seven News itself which — not just at 6pm but throughout the day — in terms of a marketing weapon is very powerful,” he said.

Network all-channel share 2017 vs 2018*

In drama, ABC favourite Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries will be updated to 1960s Melbourne with Geraldine Hakewill starring as Phrynee Fisher’s niece, Peregrine, in Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, while Between Two Worlds, from A Place to Call Home creator Bevan Lee, about a rich family and poor family brought together by tragedy.

Relationship programs will include The Super Switch, where couples split and live with a new partner, and The Proposal, where 10 singles will compete to win the heart of a mystery stranger. They will replaced ­failed programs from this year Back with the Ex and The Single Wives.

My Kitchen Rules, celebrating its 10th anniversary, will ­appear twice, with a special event series at the end of 2019, to help boost Seven’s often underperforming fourth quarter.

Seven has partnered with US media company Discovery to launch 7food network, on ­December 1 on channel 74, showcasing programs including Iron Chef America and old ­episodes of My Kitchen Rules.

Seven West network director of sales Natalie Harvey said the network’s fourth multichannel, 7food network, would be a home for food content, already successfully showcased across print and TV in Better Homes and Gardens, as well as Pacific’s Men’s Health and Women’s Health titles.

“Having it launch at Christmas time when there is a lot of food consumption and there’s a lot of activity from an advertiser point of view, that is important,” Ms Harvey said.

She didn’t commit to new Australian content and denied the network had been influenced by SBS’s Food Network, which launched in 2015, saying it had a different audience.

Ms Harvey said success would be “total network growth, not taking from anywhere else”.

“A schedule that brings in a consistent audience throughout the day and the ability to be able to create content for advertisers and provide a service for our viewers as well. There is always a need to eat,” she said.