With the TV ratings survey coming to a close for another year on Saturday, November 26, results have now started to be released by the free-to-air commercial television companies. This includes Channel 10, which despite a series of noise making by its competitors and outside voice, believes that it has a compelling story to take to market.
During 2022, 10 premiered the number one new show on television, Hunted. 10 also had TV’s top 8.30pm show, Have You Been Paying Attention?, followed by Gogglebox Australia which was ranked number two for 8:30pm.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, doubled the audience of its closest competition, while The Dog House Australia was 2022’stop lifestyle show. Australian Survivor and Australia’s top cooking show, MasterChef Australia, achieved their biggest ever BVOD audiences on 10 Play.
In sport, Network 10 reached 11.9 million viewers across the year. The 2022 Melbourne Cup Carnival reached 3.51 million Australians, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix reached 3.2 million Australians, while the A-Leagues reached over 6.5 million fans.
10 Play was up 6% year-on-year, with more than 6.2 million registered users. 10 Play has also seen growth in live streaming, up 21% on the same point of 2021.
Mediaweek caught up with Rod Prosser, the chief sales officer at Paramount ANZ, and Daniel Monaghan, the senior vice president, of content & programming at Paramount ANZ, to discuss what these results mean to 10 and what the companies message is to the market.
What are your main takeaways from the results?
RP: “Network 10 has always been, and still is, highly competitive in younger demos. We’re the youngest free-to-air network. The average 10 viewer is up to 7 years younger than our competitors (10’s average age is 50, Nine’s is 54, Seven’s is 57). Network 10 has a high concentration of advertising-rich demos – 45% of our viewers are under 50 compared to 35% of Nine and just 31% of Seven’s audience.
“More and more fans are consuming their favourite shows on BVOD with 21% of Australian Survivor’s audience coming from 10 Play, 25% of The Challenge Australia’s audience and 18% of Hunted’s audience.
“So, I would say this is proof that Network 10 delivers effective and efficient results for advertisers who are targeting younger audiences, while older demos are well serviced by our competitors.”
Hunted
What is the key message to advertisers after your results in 2022?
RP: “Not only do we deliver efficiently in younger audiences, but we also have a progressive audience which ads and brands lean on us to talk to.
“We are continuously working on our DE&I and sustainability strategies. We were the first commercial network to implement a Reconciliation Action Plan which we are continuously developing, and we are also the first commercial broadcast partner of Sustainable Screens Australia.
“Our best-in-class sponsorships work harder and they are award-winning. We’ve seen this with Dell Changemakers and The Ultimate Classroom.
“Something that I’m really excited about, which our competitors don’t offer, is a large platform that gives us utility out of content. For our partners and sponsors, this means they get huge incremental reach across multiple platforms and importantly, our subscription asset Paramount+.
Paramount sales chief Rod Prosser
You target younger demos with your content how has this paid off? How important are key demos to advertisers?
RP: “We’re pleased with our revenue outcome and that’s partly due to advertisers targeting 25 to 54s, 18 to 49s and grocery buyers. We’ve got the youngest average age and our audience is less duplicated and more efficient in these audiences.
“Positioning 10 among younger audiences has worked well for us and our advertisers, and a big part of that is because the older demos are rusted on to brands and products. We are reaching younger audiences at every age and every stage of their product lifecycles, while they are willing to try and buy new products.”
Content-wise, what were some key learnings? (Hunted performed very well while other shows like The Challenge, Traitors, and The Real Love Boat found a harder time finding a market.)
DM: “As we’ve seen this year, you don’t get hits without taking risks. Hunted captured Australia’s attention and was the #1 new show of 2022. And while not all new programming landed, 10 dominated demos with more of the top entertainment shows than Seven or Nine in key advertising demos. You can trust that 10 will be in search of another new hit show to break through in 2023.
“We’re also always listening to our consumers and partners and are here to evolve our established franchises to best serve audiences. Next year The Bachelors has a had a glow up, MasterChef returns as Australia’s number one cooking show in a shorter, snappier run and The Project is seeing some fresh new faces fronting the panel.”
The Bachelors
How have the total TV results changed the narrative about your programs?
DM: “When we consider the best way to serve our audience in the future, top of mind is the way content is consumed. It’s constantly evolving. And we have to constantly evolve as well.
“Viewing stretches beyond the overnight ratings, audiences are watching these shows across our entire ecosystem, including Paramount+.
“Total TV measurement has proven that the younger audiences are accessing premium content on our BVOD service as they curate their own prime time viewing schedule.”
MasterChef
What role has your global pipeline of content played this year, and how will it continue to shape your direction going forward?
DM: “We have unparalleled integration opportunities given our ecosystem of channels. Advertising in-show has the opportunity to span across broadcast on Network 10, BVOD on 10 Play and a global subscription platform, Paramount+.
“Well-executed, familiar brands continue to succeed, but our young and savvy audience is ready to embrace new shows, and we have a brilliant lineup of fresh content to complement fan favourites.”
See Also: “Commercially Viable”: Why key demos are the aim of the game for Nine
See Also: “No matter how you cut it”: Seven’s Warburton and Ross talk TV ratings win