Seven’s streaming arm fuels success

Seven leveraged the record ratings of the Tokyo Olympics to capture almost half of the nation’s streaming minutes aired across Australia’s three commercial free-to-air networks in 2021.

Seven West Media chief executive James Warburton. Picture: Nikki Short

Seven leveraged the record ratings of last year’s Tokyo Olympics to capture almost half of the nation’s commercial streaming minutes aired across Australia’s three free-to-air networks in 2021, with its video-on-demand platform, 7plus, enjoying 57 per cent year-on-year growth.

Seven chief digital officer Gereurd Roberts said during the company’s business update last week that 45 per cent of all BVOD (broadcast video-on-demand) streaming minutes in the Australian FTA market in 2021 were consumed on 7plus.

“It is the most under-reported, under-appreciated digital transformation in Australian media,” Mr Roberts said.

“We’re continuing to take share off all our competitors. We’re growing at almost double the rate of 9Now and we’re growing at four times the rate of 10play, and that’s without AFL digital rights or the sports rights that we know a lot of our competitors have already got. It’s a dominance that extends across all platforms.”

Seven chief executive James Warburton said the company’s $133m acquisition of Prime Media Group – a long-sought-after deal that was finally completed in January – had given the media giant unparalleled reach into 91 per cent of Australian households.

“We are a national news service. There are only two markets we don’t win — Sydney, where, depending on the week we’re about 20,000 or 30,000 (average audience number) behind Nine, and Newcastle … where we don’t have a news service, but we’re thinking about launching one. But in every other market in Australia, Seven News is the dominant brand.”

In the commercial free-to-air ratings survey – year to date – verified by official audience measurement research firm OzTAM, Seven has won 13 weeks compared to Nine’s four, and in regional markets, the Kerry Stokes-­controlled network has won all 17 weeks.

Seven’s mid-year update comes as all three commercial networks and streaming-led company Foxtel (65 per cent owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian), along with global giant Amazon and Ten’s US-based parent company Paramount, vie for the AFL broadcast rights – the most lucrative sports deal in Australian media.

In the past fortnight, outgoing AFL chief executive officer Gillon McLachlan and other senior executives from the sporting body have met with bosses from the free-to-air commercial networks, and Foxtel, as the end-of-season deadline for the awarding of the next rights deal approaches.

The current rights run until the end of 2024 for both Seven and Foxtel, but it is widely expected that the next deal will be inked before Mr McLachlan steps down from the AFL’s top job in October.

Sources told The Australian that dollar figures weren’t canvassed at the most recent meetings between AFL bosses and media chiefs.

Also at last week’s business briefing, Mr Warburton again raised the issue of transforming the way television ratings are collated and reported, hinting that his push for industry reform – which would see the release of overall ratings figures that include BVOD viewing numbers – was being stymied by his counterpart at Nine, Mike Sneesby.

Mr Warburton wants the commercial free-to-air networks to reach a consensus on shifting to a reporting regime that would add metro, regional and BVOD viewing numbers together, to give advertising clients, and the media, a clearer picture of audience behaviour. “For the life of me, I cannot contemplate as to why anyone would want to hold it up,” he said.

Asked directly which network was opposed to the proposal to include an aggregated ratings figure that includes BVOD numbers, Mr Warburton said: “It’s not us.”

“It makes no sense to hide overnight BVOD viewing information from public gaze. As an industry, we need to be celebrating our success and the strength of free-to-air TV across all platforms,” he said.

Network 10 also backs ratings reform, with a spokesperson telling The Australian: “As BVOD viewing continues to grow by double digits each year, it’s increasingly important we measure the seven-day total TV audiences of our premium content, across all platforms. These numbers represent the true impact of our content across all screens and deliver the most relevant and accurate metrics.”