Mediaweek speaks to ViacomCBS’s chief sales officer Rod Prosser about the ad market as Australia transitions out of lockdowns.
At the Network 10 2022 Upfront, one of the key commercial announcements from 10 ViacomCBS were two new ad products – Dynamic e-Trading Placement and Happy Hour. Two products that are part of 10 Play’s roadmap for 2022.
Network 10 audience profile
One of the messages at the 10 Upfront this year was a reminder of the people who watch the 10 portfolio of channels and its BVOD service.
“Our audience profile has always been different and is what set us apart from our competitors,” Rod Prosser told Mediaweek. “We will continue to amplify that as we talk to advertisers. We have a really targeted and rich audience, particularly in the demographics and again, particularly in under 50s. We’ve got a high percentage of females watch watching our shows.
“It’s a discussion that we have with our advertisers all the time. With around 60% of the ad revenue sitting within the demographic of 25-54 we’ve just got a keen eye and focus on the demos. We don’t talk about total people as it’s almost irrelevant in our business.”
Prosser welcomed the arrival of VOZ Total TV. “As salespeople, we sweat on overnight ratings. But the consolidated picture is becoming ever so more important, particularly as our platforms and distribution grow. People are consuming content so differently. It’s a big initiative within our staff to to recognise the full picture, not just the overnight picture. VOZ is going to do some great things around illustrating how viewers are consuming across platforms.
“I like to call it the audience that we never lost in TV because they were always there. They’re just consuming differently.”
Rod Prosser in the Mediaweek Studios with James Manning
Good time to be selling TV
“There’s been some ups and downs as we’ve battled through the pandemic. We’ve had a lot of advertisers move back into television and we’re seeing great demand because they are getting results, demonstrating again, the power of TV.
“We’ve opened up our system for the first half of next year which is which is earlier than we normally would have. That’s simply because we’re seeing a huge amount of demand with advertisers are wanting to book schedules for next year.”
2022 starts January 3
Network 10 will have a new sport over the summer with the A-League. But past performance of I’m a Celebrity indicates there is an audience for a mainstream sport alternative.
“Not everyone wants to watch sport as over the summer period,” agreed Prosser. “I do believe that there’s a big audience that just simply don’t tune into sport, so we’ve given them an alternative.”
10’s late-night offer
10’s primary channel has good success holding onto its key demo crowd later into the night with local productions Have You Been Paying Attention?, The Cheap Seats and Gogglebox.
“Our programmers have put a lot of emphasis on getting that time slot right because it’s primetime and we are often the #1 in those timeslots.”
Prosser and his team offer opinions on what new programs will mean for revenue.
“We don’t go into anything without having a discussion around the monetisation potential of a show. We are not making a decision on a format and the ultimate ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but we are a big component of figuring out what we can extract in terms of revenue from the shows, whether that be via integration or sponsorship partners.”
10’s commercial A-team: Rod Prosser and Lisa Squillace
A-League just four weeks away
Prosser said he and the team are thrilled with the initial interest in the A-League.
“While we’re not ready to announce a suite of partners, we’ve confirmed many. The categories that you would expect to be attached to large sporting code have certainly taken up our broadcast so we’re really pleased with the uptake.”
Prosser said those partners will include brands from the auto, gambling and telco categories.
10 Play in 2022
With regard to 10 Play, ViacomCBS this week has become the first commercial broadcaster to open up the Foxtel audience via the integration of the 10 Play app.
“We are announcing a couple of new ad formats that we will launch next year,” said Prosser. “We are only announcing two which are part of a much broader and more robust roadmap which will be unveiled across the next 12 months.
“The dynamic placement product comes off the back of that boom in e-commerce and allows retail clients specifically to change their creative, pricing and their messaging in real time.
“Another product that we are launching is the Happy Hour template that is a product which allows brands to create a branding moment on 10 Play which we haven’t done a lot of, but we see this as a growing area.”
Rod Prosser out of lockdown as borders open
While Sydney is head office for many media companies, many key executives are based in Melbourne. On that list for ViacomCBS is Prosser.
“I think we’re all missing a bit of that face to face,” said the sales chief when asked about the challenges of lockdown. “I’m not sure I missed the airplanes, or all the airports.”
See also: Network 10 announces e- Trading Placement and Happy Hour for 10 Play