• Nine has won the key advertiser-friendly demographics across the five capital cities for the 2018 ratings year
• No. 1 sports program & No. 1 overall program: State of Origin
• No. 1 entertainment program: The Block
• No. 1 light entertainment series: Australian Ninja Warrior
• No. 1 reality series: Married at First Sight
• No. 1 comedy program: Young Sheldon
• No. 1 weekly public affairs program: 60 Minutes
• No. 1 BVOD TV Network: 9Now
• No. 1 BVOD program: Married at First Sight
Across the 40-week ratings survey period (excluding Commonwealth Games) Nine’s primary channel secured the greatest share of prime time (6.00pm to midnight) viewers with the coveted demographics of People 25-54, People 16-39 and Total Grocery Shoppers with Child.
With the official ratings period concluding overnight, Nine can lay claim to delivering advertisers more viewers with these key demos than any of the 18 other free-to-air channels.
On combined network shares, when multi-channels are included, the Nine Network won the year with Total Grocery Shoppers with Child.
Nine’s sustained success with the advertiser-preferred demographics is thanks to a solid and consistent slate of family-friendly programs that deliver dependable ratings throughout the year, including the highest rating program of the year.
In 2018, Nine was home to Australia’s No. 1 program, with the first State of Origin rugby league match between New South Wales and Queensland scoring a national average audience of 3.445 million viewers (5 City: 2.347 million/Regional: 1.097 million).
Kick-starting Nine’s 2018 schedule was Australia’s No. 1 regular series and No. 1 reality series, Married at First Sight, which wrapped the fifth season with its highest ratings yet. The explosive series that had the whole nation talking concluded with a national average audience of 1.855 million viewers per episode (5 City: 1.346 million/Regional: 509,000), culminating in 2.588 million viewers for its finale (5 City: 1.9 million/Regional: 688,000).
Married at First Sight also boasted incredible year-on-year growth, increasing its 5 City audience by 16.7% with People 25-54, and by 12.8% with Total People. The Married at First Sight finale is the No. 1 entertainment program of 2018 with People 16-39.
The spin-off series, Talking Married, became the highest-rating program in the history of 9Life. Married at First Sight returns for its highly anticipated sixth series on Monday, January 28, straight after The Australian Open.
The world’s biggest and most enduring singing contest, The Voice, formed the backbone of Nine’s second quarter. Celebrating its seventh series in 2018, The Voice delivered a national average audience of 1.407 million viewers per episode (5 City: 982,000/Regional: 425,000), with 1.486 million viewers tuning in to the final episode (5 City: 1.037 million/Regional: 449,000).
After taking the nation by storm in 2017, Australian Ninja Warrior returned with a bang in July, capturing a national average audience of 1.367 million viewers per episode (5 City: 978,000/Regional: 389,000), making it Australia’s No. 1 light entertainment series of 2018. The finale reached a national average audience of 1.671 million viewers (5 City: 1.209 million/Regional: 462,000). Australian Ninja Warrior will return in 2019 from its brand-new home in Melbourne.
Enjoying an unprecedented 14th series in 2018, Australia’s longest running reality series, The Block, is a national phenomenon. No other program on Australian television has delivered the consistency of viewers over such a sustained period. Nor does any other program provide better integration opportunities for advertisers.
When the hammer went down on this year’s series, it recorded a national average audience of 1.608 million viewers per episode (5 City: 1.161 million/Regional: 447,000), with a massive 2.888 million viewers tuning in for the “Winner Announced” segment (5 City: 2.093 million/Regional: 795,000). The Block is the No. 1 entertainment program of 2018 with People 25-54 and Total People.
True Story with Hamish & Andy returned in 2018 for a second series of ten episodes. The smash-hit comedy, in which everyday Aussies recount their hilarious true tales, which are then recreated by a cast of renowned actors, wrapped up with a national average audience of 1.037 million viewers per episode (5 City: 738,000/Regional: 299,000).
The second series of Travel Guides, the observational fly-on-the wall program where diverse groups of people impart their opinions on their shared holiday experiences, achieved a national series average audience of 1.080 million (5 City: 775,000/Regional: 305,000). Travel Guides posted double-digit year-on-year growth, increasing its 5 City audience by 11.7% with People 25-54 and by 10.3% with Total People.
The first season of Love Island Australia set a new benchmark for cross-platform television and digital performance. The joint 9GO!/9Now commission saw the show’s national cross-platform audience average 519,000 across television and digital. Love Island Australia also smashed records for digital, with eight episodes surpassing the 300,000-mark on 9Now and 28 of the 30 episodes achieving a VPM in excess of 200,000 – numbers that continue to grow. Some episodes recorded more than 60% of their combined overnight and BVOD audience via digital. The program also smashed records for live streaming numbers, in some instances exceeding 10% of the linear TV audience.
Nine’s drama slate was again spearheaded by the ever-popular Doctor Doctor. The third series hit a national average audience of 1.218 million viewers per episode (5 City: 811,000/Regional: 408,000).
The TV Week Logie Awards, celebrating their 60th year from a new home on the Gold Coast, secured a national average audience of 1.151 million (5 City: 847,000/Regional: 303,000).
Nine has long been considered Australia’s most trusted source of news and current affairs. In 2018, our flagship Nine News one-hour bulletin again took top honours, across all seven days, in the country’s two biggest markets, Sydney and Melbourne. In Sydney, Nine News won 39 out of the 40 weeks over all competitors, while in Melbourne it claimed 37 weeks.
A Current Affair, the program that battles for the underdog while getting results and providing information that make a difference to people’s lives, wraps up the 2018 ratings period with a national average audience of 1.075 million viewers per episode
(5 City: 756 ,000/Regional: 320,000).
Celebrating an historic 40th season in 2018, 60 Minutes ends the year as Australia’s No. 1 weekly public affairs program. This year 60 Minutes achieved a national average audience of 1.034 million viewers per episode (5 City: 722,000/Regional: 312,000).
Today, Australia’s longest running breakfast program, finished the year as champion of the timeslot across the combined East Coast capitals of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
This year Nine premiered the debut series of Young Sheldon, which immediately cemented itself as Australia’s No .1 comedy program, with a national average audience of 1.179 million viewers per episode (5 City: 824,000/Regional: 355,000).
Michael Healy, Nine Network director of television, said: “After a very successful 2017, our schedule this year offered audiences and advertisers greater consistency than any other network. We are proud to have delivered a strong programming slate that entertained and informed, particularly with the demographics we target. Increasingly, our viewers are choosing to watch our content on a device and a time of their choosing, a trend that we embrace and look forward to growing.”
Michael Stephenson, Nine’s chief sales officer, said: “2018 was another great year for Nine. We have again delivered where it matters for marketers: No.1 in the key demographics on the primary channel. When it comes to delivering for advertisers, year in year out, Nine has the most consistent slate of programs, built around franchises like Married at First Sight, The Voice, Australian Ninja Warrior, The Block and Love Island Australia, and this slate will be strengthened in 2019 by the Australian Open.”
In the broadcast video on demand (BVOD) space, in the last six months 9Now had an average monthly audience of 2,380,742 to be ranked No. 1 for free-to-air BVOD TV Network sites.
Married at First Sight secured an average VPM of 250,000 viewers per episode, while Love Island Australia had an average VPM of 245,000. 9Now can also claim the three most streamed series of the year in the BVOD space, with Married at First Sight, Love Island Australia and Love Island UK.