By James Manning

Seven was quick to tell the market late in 2018 how successful its coverage of the first test against India had been.

It is on the offensive again, halfway through the summer and just one week into the Australia Open.

And despite the major summer codes – cricket and tennis – changing FTA channels, Seven is reporting that at the end of week 3, 2019, it is the only network to grow its share year-on-year. That includes total people and key demos. (See chart for details.)

Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner told Mediaweek acquiring those rights last year was a good move: “Over a time it will be an excellent investment. If you think about it we now have cricket for three to four months – all through summer – and then AFL all through winter.

“Those two sports rights are the foundation of our company.”

That foundation needs to pay its way. Worner told Mediaweek during 2018 that if anybody could make money out of the new cricket rights it would be Seven’s Kurt Burnette. (See separate item today for more on that.)

So is Seven West Media making money in year one, or will it take time to return a profit?

“We talk in terms of profit over the length of the deal and over a whole season.” Worner indicated they are yet unsure of the revenue from hours outside of the cricket.

“We are a lot happier with the cricket than we would have been if we didn’t have it.”

Worner admitted that for a first year cricket broadcaster, Seven has learnt a lot.

He didn’t want to share too many of those learnings, but he did say: “It is a very big undertaking. I wouldn’t want to give the impression we went into this underprepared, because I don’t think we did. We had enough experience on our team to know what was coming.

“I say large undertaking because no one previously has had much of the Big Bash League plus test cricket. It has been a challenge, but of course at the same time a tremendous advantage. In the next few days you will see that when we’ve got a test match and Big Bash happening simultaneously and it is all on Seven.”

Because that is a day-night test, there will be test and Big Bash cricket simultaneously on two of Seven’s channels.

Regarding scheduling in the next few weeks, Worner said My Kitchen Rules will be launching at 7pm when it returns, with Home And Away not returning to the schedule until after the cricket.

Cricket will remain on Seven until Sunday February 17 when the Big Bash League final will be played.

The last test match of the domestic summer, against Sri Lanka, commences February 1.

“It is very useful [for the business] to have audience firepower and getting the scheduling right is something we are putting a fair bit of work into.”

Regarding the extra costs associated with mounting coverage of the matches after the acquiring of the rights, Worner said he thought Seven was realistic with its budgeting.

“We are comfortable with where we are at the moment for year one. Media companies are always looking at costs and there are lessons we have learnt this year that will result in cost savings in year two.”

That could mean Seven might share more costs with Fox Sports next season. Worner said: “We are always discussing [sharing] with Fox Sports. We have a close partnership with them in AFL and now cricket.”

As to criticism from some that people without Fox Sports are unable to watch Australia’s one day team in action domestically, Worner reminded us those rights were not available because of the structure of the Cricket Australia deal with Fox Sports.

As regard to the WBBL, Worner said not only are the audience numbers strong, the quality and interest in the sport is huge. “I feel we have helped lift the profile of women’s cricket, something that we committed to during discussions with Cricket Australia.

“The profile of the game and profile of the players has gone through the roof. The quality of the games has been extraordinary. The two semi-finals we broadcast on the weekend were fantastic.”

Competing with Nine

As to any benefits Nine is getting got from its Fairfax Media merger, Worner said it was too early to tell. “Regardless of what happens, we have just got to look after what we can control. We are certainly happy with the response we are getting for the AFL this year [from advertisers].”

Worner then reinforced what he explained earlier in the interview:

“The two most valuable pieces of screen real estate on Australian television – the 30 seconds at the end of an over in the cricket, and the 30 second after a goal in the AFL – are only on Seven.

“They are precious and the market recognises that.”

Breakfast TV battle

When asked about the importance of breakfast TV, Worner noted it was as critical as winning any other part of Seven’s schedule.

Although Sunrise remains well and truly ahead of Today after a week of the revamped Nine breakfast show, he said: “It is less than five minutes into the first quarter.

“We are really pleased with the way Sunrise is going as a show, quite apart from its great ratings.

“The show is right in its groove and there is a team of people on and off camera working on that show who seriously know what they are doing. And you can sense that when you are watching the show.”

Content investment

Given that sports rights suck so much out of TV content spend, does it make it hard to know where to spend what is left over?

Worner: “It always has been a challenge to get most of your expenditure decisions right. Nobody gets them all correct. Over the last decade we have got many right.

“We have a good line up of content for the whole year with a foundation of cricket and AFL. Having that certainly makes some of those other decisions easier.”

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Top  Photo: Tim Worner during the Seven Allfronts in October 2018

The Seven Network has detailed how it is on track to deliver its promise to secure a 40%+ commercial share of 06:00–24:00 viewing across summer, having secured a 45% share in December:

Seven’s cricket coverage has been a massive success with Australian viewers, receiving praise for its fresh new approach and delivering huge audiences across the day and throughout primetime.

In summer viewing to date (at the end of survey week 3), Seven is the only network to grow share year-on-year, both in total people and all demos, throughout the day and in primetime.

Highlights of Seven’s Cricket coverage include:

• Total reach of over 14.6m Australians nationally, including 12m for the Tests and 11.6m for the BBL
• Average daytime commercial share of 55.6% during Test broadcast days. Even greater shares seen in key demos, with shares of 63.1% for P16-39, and 67.6% for M16-54
• Average primetime commercial share of 40.1% during BBL broadcast days. Even greater shares seen in key demos, with shares of 42.8% for P16-39 and 46.0% for M16-54

Seven’s chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette said: “Cricket has proven to be the juggernaut that we predicted, with reach eclipsing everything else, and audience growth in every demo across summer.

“Seven’s Summer of Cricket is delivering for our sponsors and clients. They bought audience, reach and integration, and we have delivered on all fronts.

“Seven has given our advertisers the best end to 2018 and the fastest start to the new year in all of TV. And this will be the case for the next five years.”

KFC’s marketing director Sally Spriggs said: “We’re delighted with our Summer Of Cricket Partnership with Seven so far and look forward to more success with the KFC BBL and the Sri Lankan Test Series.”

—

Top Photo: Kurt Burnette at Seven’s Allfronts 2018

Despite some rain-related delays, and the loss to India, the final One Day International match at the MCG on 18 January delivered additional audience growth for the series, helping Fox Cricket continue its run of ratings records for STV, reports MCN:

The last game drew an average of 281,000 viewers, resulting in the total series hitting an average of 327,000 people across 23 hours of live coverage. The series experienced a 27% increase on the three game Australia v South Africa ODI series, which averaged 258,000 viewers.

The platform’s highest rating ODI series in history, it also reached over 1.7 million unique viewers across live play, pre and post-game supporting coverage, plus innings breaks.

MCN said the ratings for the Australia versus India ODI series underscores the large number of Australian’s tuning into Fox Cricket this summer.

The second international one-day international match on Saturday 12 Jan 2019 drew the second highest ever ODI game audience on STV. Only the 2015 ICC World Cup Final, which had 544,000 viewers, won a larger audience share.

The men’s Big Bash League has also proved a hit with viewers, attracting an average 218,000 viewers across all games, including both simulcast and exclusive games. Overall, the BBL has reached 2.2 million people on STV to date, with the Women’s Big Bash League reaching 723,000 over the same period.

MCN CEO Mark Frain said the success of the channel is thanks to the outstanding coverage developed by the world class production team at Fox Cricket in collaboration with our advertising partners.

“The partnership opportunities we’ve delivered via Fox Cricket have set a new integration standard for not only MCN, but the wider industry and of course, our subscribers,” he said.

“Despite a challenging TV market, Fox Cricket’s ongoing performance has meant we have delivered some emphatic results for our clients over the past few months, kick starting MCN’s momentum into 2019. The channel has helped us perform ahead of the TV market, and we look forward to continuing this strong performance throughout the year as we deliver the strongest spectrum of international and local content to Australians via the Foxtel platform.”

Head of Fox Sports Peter Campbell said: “Fox Cricket’s numbers have once again exceeded all expectations, demonstrating the channel isn’t just showing us the power of live sports to attract massive audiences to STV, but it’s also pioneering seamless advertising integration in a manner that actually enhances the viewer experience. These numbers are noteworthy in terms of the overall audience over the past few months as a very significant amount of all TV viewing has been on Fox Cricket.”

MCN national sport sales director Martin Medcraf said: “What the first test, ODI series and our ongoing Big Bash League has shown us is that Australians are very much attracted to Fox Cricket’s quality broadcasting of the popular summer sport, which means strong reach for our advertisers and a deeply engaged audience. The Australia versus India ODI series has been a great ramp up to the channel’s next big test – Australia versus Sri Lanka, later this week.”

As a medium the channel has reached 3.7 million people, 99 of the top 100 programs have been on the channel over the summer, and a massive 5.72% of all TV viewing has been on Fox Cricket.

The series follows strong ratings on the Fox Cricket channel of its first ever Test series, averaging around 247,000 viewers and reaching 31% (2.4 million) of the STV population.

The ratings do not include viewers on the FOX CRICKET app, Foxtel Now, Foxtel GO or KAYO.

Running 24/7, Fox Cricket is broadcasting all formats of the game through to March 2019.

Major advertising partners include Toyota, Alinta, McDonald’s, Harvey Norman, Bunnings, Lion Nathan, bet365 and Maytronics.

News media across all platforms are read by 17.5 million Australians, or 94% of the population, according to the latest emmaTM (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) data1 for October 2018.

The October emma data incorporates calibrated Nielsen Digital Content Ratings (DCR) digital audiences, providing a complete picture for tagged sites of audiences both on and off-platform, for the first time.

The new audience data now integrates digital news media consumers measured by DCR but previously not included in the cross-platform readership.

Digital news media is read by 15.6 million, or 84%, of Australians. Total print news media readership is 12.2 million, or 66%, of the population.

Metro newspapers are read by 9.9 million people, or 54% of consumers. Regional and community newspapers are read by 5.8 million people, or a third of the population (31%).

Additional newspaper mastheads will now receive a currency-grade total audience including regional mastheads.

NewsMediaWorks CEO Peter Miller said: “emma CMV, now with calibrated Nielsen DCR, means we can more accurately measure both on and off platform digital and print news media audiences. The data clearly demonstrates that the vast majority of Australians seek out their trusted news, entertainment and information in news media. News media offers unparalleled credible, independent journalism, which is why it comes as no surprise that it is Australia’s most trusted media channel2. That trust positively impacts purchase intent, and advertisers are taking note.”

This is the eighth month of emma cross platform readership data to come from Nielsen, in a new strategic collaboration announced in May. It is the first using DCR calibration.

The full integration of the IAB-accredited Nielsen DCR currency into emma will be possible with the delivery of Nielsen’s full synthetic digital respondent-level database at a date to be confirmed in the first half of 2019.

The Sydney Morning Herald is Australia’s highest-reaching title across all platforms with 7.43 million readers. The Daily Telegraph followed, reaching 4.5 million readers and the Herald Sun on 4.44 million.

(See table below).

The incorporation of calibrated Nielsen DCR digital audiences means that emma’s digital methodology has changed and there will be a trend break in the data, rendering year-on-year and month-on-month data comparisons of digital news media and total audience invalid.

The trend break will last until October 2019. Print is unaffected.

ARN has launched KIIS 1065’s 2019 marketing campaign featuring Kyle & Jackie O and new campaign position: HEAR IT, LOVE IT, KIIS IT.

The new campaign coincides with The Kyle & Jackie O Show’s first day back on air for 2019 as KIIS 1065 celebrates the brand’s fifth birthday.

ARN created and launched KIIS 1065 in January 2014 as the new home of Sydney’s #1FM breakfast The Kyle & Jackie O Show.

The multi-platform campaign has gone live across outdoor, digital and social with two new TVCs, to be launched in coming weeks.

ARN’s chief marketing officer Anthony Xydis said: “This campaign is the next evolution of the KIIS 1065 brand, while staying true to its essence as an irreverent, vibrant and fun station showcasing the best of Sydney and, of course, the home of Sydney’s #1FM breakfast The Kyle & Jackie O Show.

“The new campaign positioning reflects the strength and character of the Kyle & Jackie O brand. Sydney remains a very competitive market, and this high impact campaign reinforces ARN’s ongoing commitment to supporting our brands.”

This morning Kyle & Jackie O kicked off their first show of 2019 with the unveiling of a five-tiered birthday cake to celebrate KIIS 1065’s fifth birthday and their fifth year at the station. Celebrations continued throughout the morning with listeners calling in to congratulate the duo.

Pacific announced today:

The new series brings to life the pages of marie claire serving up all the hot topics and issues that matter most to women with a healthy dollop of Thinkergirls sass. Promising to be both inspiring and thought-provoking, the first episodes tackle a diverse range of subjects, from anxiety and same-sex marriage to the modern-day obsession with finding happiness.

The podcast is hosted by Stacey June and Kristie Mercer, the creatives behind one of Australia’s most popular and longest-running podcasts which now generates approximately 100,000 downloads each month.

The innovative partnership will give The Thinkergirls access to marie claire’s 1.3 million-plus touchpoints, while broadening marie claire’s reach to a wider millennial audience through The Thinkergirls dedicated fanbase.

Nicky Briger, editor of marie claire, said: “Launching this exciting podcast series is part of marie claire’s wider strategy to inspire women to fearlessly move forward. We’re always looking for ways to use different platforms to reach new audiences and working with the fabulous Thinkergirls presented the perfect opportunity to do just that.”

The Thinkergirls’ Stacey June said: “We’re beyond excited to partner with marie claire which continues to be such an important voice for women in this country. We’re so passionate about having conversations that are brave, aren’t always pretty, but are deeply raw and real, inquisitive and hopeful.”

Mercer added: “We’re proud to bring an audio platform to a much-loved, successful brand. Joining forces are two brands that enjoy pushing the boundaries, so we believe this partnership is a match made in heaven and the opportunities are endless.”

The episodes are available now on marieclaire.com.au by following this link here.

By James Manning

Business models are being overhauled as companies look for ways to maintain revenue streams and keep a handle on costs.

Our three placegetters did good work during 2018, but there is plenty on all of their plates for the new year.

Winner: Hugh Marks (Nine Entertainment Co)

In the space of six months Nine CEO Hugh Marks and his chairman Peter Costello raised the prospect of merging with Fairfax Media and then completed the deal.

There was/is plenty of scepticism from some quarters that it was a deal worth making.

One of the big tests in the next 12 months will be the amount of cash Nine can raise from divesting the divisions it doesn’t want and how well it assimilates the divisions it does.

Making sense for advertisers of the new media combinations will be key.

There will also be lots of opportunities for the different Nine Entertainment divisions to leverage other parts of the business from ways to make news subscriptions more compelling through to ways of upselling news or Stan subscribers with extra value.

Second place: Cathy O’Connor (Nova Entertainment)

Nova Entertainment CEO Cathy O’Connor

The year could not have ended much better for the chief executive of Nova Entertainment.

Cathy O’Connor had the #1 FM station in Australia’s two biggest radio markets – smoothfm 91.5 in Melbourne and smoothfm 95.3 in Sydney.

The Melbourne breakfast show with Mike Perso and Jennifer Hansen recorded its highest ever share – 8.9%. The Melbourne station ended the year #1 in four consecutive surveys. The Sydney station has now been #1 FM for two consecutive surveys.

Sister Melbourne station Nova 100 ended the year with share growing while its cume audience was over 1m.

At Nova 969 in Sydney, the station also has a cume audience over 1m while breakfast with Fitzy and Wippa posted their best-ever share of 8.4%.

When it comes to networked daytime and evening shows, Nova is hard to beat.

In drive, Kate, Tim & Marty were Australia’s #1 drive show for a 16th consecutive survey. Meanwhile in evenings, Smallzy maintained his run as the #1 show for a 43rd consecutive survey!

Despite lots of competition, Nova’s Red Room remains the premier live event that connects radio station audiences with the cream of the world’s best artists. The Red Room brand ended the year with four special shows during ARIA Week, which included an exclusive performance from Keith Urban for a handful of Nova listeners.

Like all media executives, Radio Hall of Famer O’Connor walked the fine line of keeping costs down while not impacting on the product.

Among initiatives launched during the year was a pop culture platform for Millennials, GOAT.

Third place: Craig Hutchinson (Crocmedia)

Larry Kestelman and Craig Hutchinson

It was a year of deals (again), for the Crocmedia co-founder and chief executive Craig Hutchison. A reverse takeover of broadcaster Pacific Star was completed early in the year.

The company’s radio station was overhauled with the country’s best sports broadcasters taking over key timeslots including Gerard Whatley in mornings, Garry Lyon and Tim Watson in breakfast. The station also beefed up afternoon and drive and its weekend AFL broadcasts.

Hutchison managed to keep his on-air role, hosting Off The Bench on Saturday mornings, a show which runs for three, and sometimes four, hours.

There is no room here to list all the rights deals Hutchison completed during the year.

His biggest achievement perhaps was the launch of SEN South Australia on an AM narrowcast frequency. That station has its own dedicated breakfast and drive shows, taking networked content across the rest of the week.

He also managed to continue co-hosting one of the best Australian podcasts, The Sounding Board, with Triple M’s Damian Barrett. Trade Radio is also worth a mention that has grown from a niche online broadcast to a major product attracting major advertiser investment.

The pace looks like being frantic again in 2019 with cricket and tennis rights deals supplying content to SEN listeners on air and online, with the Super Bowl to follow in February, which is always a big focus for Hutchison and his colleagues.

One of the CEO’s skills has been his ability to mix his content smarts with advertising and sponsorship opportunities. There is no better example of how he blends the two than his Saturday morning radio show.

Along the way this year, Crocmedia also invested in NBL team Melbourne United with a 25% stake.

—

Top Photo: Mediaweek’s James Manning and Hugh Marks

Singles

Post Malone & Swae Lee extended their stay at #1 with Sunflower to three weeks.

Australian artist Kian lifted another spot this week with Waiting up from #17 to #16 after 22 weeks on the chart.

The highest new entry this week just made the top 20 – Sam Smith & former Fifth Harmony vocalist Normani with Dancing With A Stranger at #19.

Sam Smith and Normani

Meanwhile new at #25 is French producer Gesaffelstein and The Weeknd with Lost In The Fire. They previously collaborated on The Weeknd’s 2018 release My Dear Melancholy, which peaked at #3 on the album chart in April of last year.

Florida artist Dominic Fike slipped into the chart at #42 from outside the top 50 after three weeks with 3 Nights, a track from his 2018 six-track release Don’t Forget About Me, Demos.

Albums

Soundtracks continue to feature high on the charts. After three months charting, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody (The Original Soundtrack) continues its stay at #1. Soundtracks have topped the chart for the last 13 weeks.

Reaching a new peak this week is the soundtrack for Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse as it lifts from #12 to #11.

A significant mover was Mumford & Sons with Delta up 19 places on the chart to #30. The album originally peaked at #5 in November of 2018.

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie

No album debuted in the 50 this week, but the highest new entry on a quiet week for new releases was A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s Hoodie SZN at #37. The second studio album by the American rapper (aka Julius Dubose) is his first ARIA chart appearance.

This new Switch version of Super Mario Bros. U is an enjoyable re-release but doesn’t stand quite as tall next to modern platformers, like Rayman Legends, Celeste, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, or the incredibly inventive Super Mario Odyssey.

There have been a few jiggles elsewhere on the charts but, as predicted, there haven’t been any other especially seismic shifts for this week. The likes of Resident Evil 2 Remake and Kingdom Hearts III are sure to make an impact at the end of the month, however, and February is stuffed with new games that will almost certainly crack the top 10, like Crackdown 3, Far Cry: New Dawn, Metro Exodus, Anthem and several others.

By James Manning

Seven

Although Seven’s summer of cricket has lifted the station’s share year-on-year, share was down to 14.5% last night, well behind the best night of the Australian Open so far on Nine.

The Big Bash League game between Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat was third in the slot early in the night, but moved into second spot after I’m A Celebrity ended. The cricket crowd was 422,000 for the first session and then 380,000 for the second.

Seven ended week 3 a clear leader in breakfast against Nine’s revamped Today. However as Seven’s Tim Worner tells Mediaweek elsewhere today, it’s very early in 2019 to be claiming victory.

Breakfast TV Seven v Nine: Week 3

Monday

• Sunrise 427k (Metro 266k Regional 161k)
• Today 311k (Metro 197k Regional 115k)
• News Breakfast 173k* (Metro 103k Regional 70k)

Tuesday

• Sunrise 444k (Metro 275k Regional 169k)
• Today 303k (Metro 202k Regional 102k)
• News Breakfast 163k* (Metro 100k Regional 64k)

Wednesday

• Sunrise 425k (Metro 251k Regional 174k)
• Today 342k (Metro 238k Regional 105k)
• News Breakfast 173k* (Metro 103k Regional 70k)

Thursday

• Sunrise 461k (Metro 289k Regional 173k)
• Today 295k (Metro 206k Regional 90k)
• News Breakfast 161k (Metro 91k Regional 70k)

Friday

• Sunrise 464k (Metro 281k Regional 182k)
• Today 308k (Metro 212k Regional 96k)
• News Breakfast 184k (Metro 110k Regional 74k)

Doesn’t include ABC News simulcast audience

Nine

The broadcaster has enjoyed its biggest ratings with the Australian Open on a day that saw some of the top seeds bundled out. In the first week of the tournament Nine’s best primetime metro primary share was 20.5% on Saturday. They blew away that record last night with a share of 31.9%.

Nine’s combined channel share last night pushed above 40%, which doesn’t happen much any more for any broadcaster.

See our separate features this week with a deeper dive into the Australian Open TV ratings from the first week of the tournament.

The Sunday metro tennis audiences were as follows:

• Day 7 evening 1,036,000
• Day 7 day 611,000
• Day 7 late 617,000

10

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! started its second week facing off against the biggest night of the tennis yet.

Despite grand slam tennis on Nine and Big Bash League action on Seven the reality audience for 10 was over 700,000 as Shane Crawford was revealed as the first intruder. The launch episode a week ago was just over 1m.

Elsewhere on the channel The Sunday Project did 402,000 after 7pm with Joel Creasy a guest.

Later in the night two episodes of NCIS did 296,000 and 175,000.

ABC

Grand Designs House Of The Year was on 313,00.

British crime drama Vera did 393,000 with a repeat episode.

SBS

A night of Slow TV featured a camera travelling along Britain’s wonderful canal system. It was really slow, yet very relaxing, Slow TV, with 145,000 watching.