It has been a big week already for Seven. And it is about to get much bigger. The drama surrounding the arrival of Big Brother VIP contestant Katie Hopkins was probably a controversy it didn’t need in an Olympic Games lead-up. But the antics of the provocateur certainly shone the spotlight on the forthcoming format.
Seven has been very competitive with Nine so far in 2021. It is hoping to nudge ahead as Olympic competition kicks off Wednesday, the Opening Ceremony screens Friday and then Olympic competition really launches into gear on Saturday.
Seven had a somewhat shaky start to the year, but since then there’s been plenty to smile about.
“If you look at our 2021 Q2 we have been dominant, and we have delivered growth year-on-year,” Seven director of programming Angus Ross told Mediaweek. “We are the only network that is growing share, calendar year-to-date and survey year-to-date, across all people and key demos.
“The starkest illustration of that improvement would be Nine and us each winning 14 weeks apiece. [As of Week 28. The scorecard is now 15-14 after Nine took Week 29 since we spoke.] At the same time last year we were 10 weeks behind in terms of weeks won.
“That improved performance has been driven by Big Brother, Farmer Wants a Wife and all the bricks in the wall like news programming, Home and Away, The Chase and the AFL.”
Seven goes into the Olympics now and then heads for the finish line with what Ross called a “strong half of proven programming”.
Those shows will include The Voice, SAS Australia and the now infamous Big Brother VIP.
“We are in a very good position to return to leadership in 2021,” predicted Ross.
See also: Countdown to Tokyo: Seven finds brands still have massive Olympic appetite
Not everything is a winner at Seven
Two series that disappointed Seven viewers’ expectations were Holey Moley (which launched strongly) and Ultimate Tag. Ross explained about the latter: “Despite everyone’s best efforts, the Ultimate Tag format couldn’t be re-imagined for Australia. We were disappointed with what we ended up with and it was scheduled accordingly. It is a small part of the overall year.”
Home and Away
Drama and where it lives
First run drama may soon be a thing of the past on FTA TV. At least on Nine (with programming tipped to premiere on Stan in future), and 10 (soon to launch Paramount+).
Asked about the changing landscape, Seven’s programmer said: “I am not totally across the plans Nine and 10 have for their drama. Although I note Five Bedrooms is going on Paramount+ I think.
“Our biggest drama priority remains Home and Away. It is a 40+ weeks proposition. It is critical in that it’s the gateway to the 7.30pm slot.
“It is going through a real purple patch delivering bigger numbers versus last year. It has been impacted by lockdown, but it is reaching over 1m viewers per episode on broadcast. The untold story is its massive success in streaming. Home and Away is having a record year on 7plus and every episode on 7plus does 150,000. It is the most streamed drama in Australia.
“Home and Away is then very important for 7plus as the gateway for viewers to experience the other dramas that also sit on the platform in terms of library content. It’s the secret weapon for drama consumption on 7plus.”
This a big week for Home and Away too with what Seven is referring to as the “pre-Olympics cliffhanger” and “mid-season finale” on Thursday on Seven and 7plus.
RFDS
Beyond Summer Bay
Commissioning drama for commercial TV has its challenges. One new series coming from Seven is RFDS which it will be promoting heavily across the Olympics. Its other most recent “adult” dramas were Between Two Worlds, which was a major disappointment, and Back to the Rafters, which Seven Studios made for Amazon Prime Video.
“Consumption of drama has changed,” said Ross. “With dramas later in the night it is hard to move the needle. RFDS is a great show, but in the 8.30pm slot it may not suddenly change audience dynamics. Not in the way growing the Home and Away audience can radically change things.”
Seven hasn’t stopped commissioning drama though.
Ross: “We are limited of course by what we can afford to do. A lot of our investment has to go into news, Home and Away and early evening tentpole programming, plus sport. As much as we would love to make Australian drama for many more slots, we can’t.”
Ross recalled how Packed to the Rafters used to do 2m (metro) for Seven every week and they used to commission 40 hours of All Saints every year.
Reworking formats
As to the tentpole programming, there don’t seem to be any major formats Seven hasn’t already kickstarted or thought about revisiting. “Everybody is now looking for something fresh. As a programmer you always feel like you may be a program sort. Even with the successful reinvention of Big Brother and Farmer Wants a Wife and the return of The Voice, there is room for something new.
“Look at what we did with SAS Australia. We took a show that ran in a late night slot in the UK and made it possible to strip at 7.30pm in this market.”
Ross noted that recently departed Screentime MD Rory Callaghan pitched SAS to Ross and Seven director of production Andrew Backwell. The format was down the list with a number of options Screentime was offering. Ross noted Callaghan and his team had done a stunning job with the opening episode of the second season, a fitting farewell achievement from the production chief who had a successful career in making TV.
SAS Australia
SAS Australia: Believe the hype
Expect to hear a lot of claims during the Olympics about this series with physical and mental challenges. But Ross reckons any hype is deserved.
“The physical challenges and the mirror room discussions are just next level. This year having the mental toughness as well is going to catch some people out.
“Last year it was the most talked-about show on TV, this year it will be again. It will define what you can play at 7.30pm in this country. You also get to hear people discuss things about themselves you would never expect them to discuss on television.”
SAS S1 was the most-streamed show ever on 7plus. Episode 1 attracted over 400,000 additional viewers after the broadcast premiere.
Angus Ross announcing Australian Idol last year
Australian Idol now Covid-impacted production too
While Seven has already postponed Australia’s Got Talent and had some challenges about Big Brother VIP casting, another of its purchased formats is under a cloud.
“Australian Idol is in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment. In the current climate we are unable to get the show made. It’s a similar challenge we faced with Australia’s Got Talent. There are some shows where it is a must to have an audience. We have seen what happens when you make Covid-impacted productions in the UK and the US. The numbers on those shows just tank.”
Seven: Multichannel leadership
“We still have the #1 suite of multichannels,” said Ross. “Even though if we have one less than one of our competitors. 7mate remains the leading multichannel 25-54.” (Seven and 10 have three multichannels, Nine runs four.)
Seven commissions more series for a multichannel than any of its competitors. 10 perhaps makes more hours as Neighbours screens on a multi.
“After the Olympics we will have more Fat Pizza and Housos from Paul Fenech. We have a great new show from Rick Donald called Australia’s Sexiest Tradie.” Seven describes it as a fly-on-the-wall comedy about a plumber attempting to win the radio competition Australia’s Sexiest Tradie.
“We also have successful Australian character-led programming like Outback Truckers.”
Key to Seven’s start to 2022
Seven in 2022
Ross was not about the offer up the 2022 programming plans ahead of the Seven Upfront, but he did share some thoughts. “We don’t have the whole year sorted yet. But I don’t think anything in our first half will be impacted by Covid. We will have a lot of this year’s programs returning next year.”
He wouldn’t reveal what Seven’s sales team would take to market soon for a fast start in 2022. Ross did venture: “Throwing a new format up against Married at First Sight or Survivor is a big ask. We probably need something that is known to counter-program against those two shows.
“Don’t forget across summer we have The Ashes and WBBL and BBL. We then have the Beijing Winter Olympics. The timing will work for this market and there is traditionally a lot of interest. That is two weeks of survey in Q1.”