Perhaps for those massively rating annual sporting events, but apart from that not really.
By and large we’re a lot more individualistic when it comes to our viewing choices compared to 30, even 20 years ago.
Is this seriously the best they could come up with?
STAN as a streaming platform is a much, much better proposition compared to what our legacy networks are dishing up these days - apart from Aunty (to an extent - news editorializing is 
).
They wonder why people are deserting them. 
I think the challenge for Seven is to ensure they have a full schedule (i.e. don’t put repeats of Border Security and/or Highway Patrol on during the ratings season).
A good start is ensuring they have Sunday through to Thursday filled with reality before Thursday Night AFL begins in mid-late March. For example, they can air The Voice Generations on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, and Dancing with the All Stars on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
You have completely hit the nail on the head here. 100% what I was trying (and failed 
haha) to say.
They are still acting like its 2012 and the boom of streaming is still coming… yet they are incredibly behind and have been playing catch-up for years but never ever innovating.
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Doesnt drama still attract decent Government production subsidies and support? Seems crazy not to try and maximise these
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Of course they will. You only have to look at the general trend in linear tv and FTA tv to see that most shows are down year on year even with catch up factored in.
What happened in the US, where the big three networks, ABC, CBS & NBC, used to be miles ahead of like the CW are not that far off anymore. Ratings have shrunk considerably and the newer generations are not interested in FTA or linear on the same scale as past generations due to obvious choice, catch up and poor network programming. The same will eventually happen here.
I will give you the news but as for sport, that can be very hit and miss. Unless it’s a major event like a GF, the AFL is pretty much a non factor in NSW and Queensland, two massive markets. There is still too much emphasis on sport as a network saviour and the outdated notion that people will sample sporting events and therefore sample the other offerings on the network. It makes even less sense to bank on sport when you have streaming services like Kayo that has impressive growth and that sport is still a loss leader. The gravy train is going to have to end one day on FTA sport.
Channel 7 hasn’t exactly been making great decisions nor have their tentpole programming set the ratings alight except for a few like The Voice. Putting all your eggs in one basket, like reality tv, is never a smart plan. Neither is refusing to move with the times and capitalise on established market opportunities like streaming.
Would Netflix even want or need 7 on board considering they seem to be doing fine without them.
7 had their opportunity with Presto to get in the ground floor of streaming in Australia, but we all know how that went. Now they are playing catch up in a crowded market and have rivals with far deeper pockets.
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Well either way they have to get onboard with a streaming service or otherwise they’ll suffer. I mean, even 10’s looking better with Paramount+ with them, not to mention Stan.
They’ll have to offer streaming services some very good propositions as to why they should work with them or come up with their own (least likely). Even stepping up and having a content deal with the likes of Netflix or Amazon would be a good start.
Then they can start focusing on improving their FTA content slate.
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They are suffering now, just they can’t see it or don’t care. None or the major streaming labels need such a provincial effort like 7 plus (Yes netflix is dying for old Blue Heelers), so if they aren’t interested where can 7 go from here apart from extinction? They don’t seem invested in the future and you can only lead a horse to water you can’t make it drink it.
Hasn’t 7 already tried to get something going with Amazon and it hasn’t been met very successfully. I know in the UK Amazon Prime had old episodes of Home & Away for streaming but that stalled after 200 episodes. They also have a reboot Packed to the Rafters but I have no idea of what 7’s involvement in that venture is.
They also had Zumbo’s just deserts season 2 with Netflix but that was also a fizzer.
Yes a content deal would be great, but 7 are being short sighted and investing in just news (no streaming potential), letting their coffers slowly drain in a never ending pissing content over sports rights (already taken in streaming) and banking on quick fix solutions like reality tv (do they own any of their content anymore?).
7 will never get a content deal going because they no longer have an in house scripted production unit so what financial benefit would there be? They missed their chance at co productions and deliberately severed an opportunity of making money and solidifying their place in the future. Such a short sighted move especially at a time where Netflix and the BBC were looking at partners for co productions. All the long term viable streamers have their own fully owned productions arms. Netflix should have been a cautionary tale where their relied too much on third party producers and not enough on making their fully owned content.
They aren’t going to improve their FTA slate because they don’t think it needs fixing. You can’t fix a problem until you admit there is one.
Thoroughbred racing has been part of Seven’s DNA for more than five decades and a historic new agreement will see the very best of it shown live and free every Saturday of the year.
I wonder what they plan to air on Saturday 25 December as there is no local racing scheduled on that date? There is black-type racing on at Nakayama and Hanshin in Japan if they want to uphold their promise of racing every Saturday of the year.
Pretty sure advertisers watching an upfront presentation have bigger and more important factors they’re thinking about rather than where it’s being presented from…
“That view” isn’t a gut feel by Seven management - they’ve seen their ‘marquee’ drama series over the last two years (ie;Between Two Worlds and Australian Gangster) flop badly. In the same way networks air two series of reality tentpoles which rate well in a year, they don’t invest money into things which don’t rate as well. I want the commercial FTA networks to produce more Australian dramas. However, it’s hard for them to justify doing so when aside from the rare exception, they don’t rate as well as they once did
‘The Newsreader’ example is a different situation considering the ABC doesn’t have the same ratings pressures Seven has as a commercial network. As such, they can invest heavily into Australian drama and if a series such as The Newsreader does well on TV and/or iView, it’s fantastic for them. By contrast, Seven (and indeed Nine and 10) can’t produce Australian drama after Australian drama willy nilly in the hope that it’s BVOD numbers means it’s fine if it doesn’t rate well.
Nine and 10 have the exact same strategy you’ve outlined. As we’ve seen with example after example over the last decade or so, it’s reality or bust for the commercial FTA networks. I don’t know why people here are acting today like Seven are the only ones pumping out nothing but reality TV.
The reason why they’ve probably haven’t done that is the uncertainty around state borders.
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I don’t agree. The figures for Dancing with the Stars clearly showed that some people have their remotes stuck to channel 7.
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You’d be very surprised that they actually do.
Every wonder why Nine had indoor roller coasters and Ferris wheels in years past? It’s all about presentation. Put Nine and Seven side by side, Sevens looked dated.
So if that’s the case then, why have both of these networks been banging on about Total TV since it was launched a few weeks back? They say overnight isn’t king anymore and James Warburton was head of the queue in saying this.
They are touting this new era but then don’t have the confidence to use it for their dramas. It’s the whole bloody reason they came up with Total TV and ABC, commercial or not, again it is about the actual quality of the content that people will watch, not where it sits. If you have a story that is good, depth, reflective of the times as well as engaging it’ll rate. Look at Halifax last year, that did well on catch-up - Newsreader, Total Control. All quality stories and not some boring crap that Seven have dished up and then it’s failed.
The last few that Seven have commissioned are boring, tired old scripts from has-beans and they are resting on the past success of these producers and writers and not letting new blood have a chance. That’s why so much of these people go to the likes of Netflix etc, because these platforms nurture and will gladly take the pitch from these people.
It’s 2021, and in their presentation they said “ TV or Digitally - there is no difference” yet they won’t apply this rhetoric to drama commissions.
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RFDS was pretty good from a production value perspective but the depressing stories was a deal breaker. Australian Gangsters was pretty good but probably could’ve done with better promotion.
Between Two Worlds was terrible. Too slow and confusing.
Even if Seven do a medical and police drama then that would be pretty good, if only it brings some depth to their schedule.
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RFDS was too heavy. It was great but not right.
Aus Gangster was on the shelf for so long I feel people couldn’t be bothered by the time it was released. It also wasn’t very well promoted either
Australian Gangster was on the shelf for so long due to court trials involving a couple of real people portrayed in the series. Then there was the cease and desist letter from the widow of Pasquale Barbaro less than a week from the TV premiere. Without those legal issues, Seven would have been able to promote the drama in a better way.
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Yep! I’m well aware of that. Just it was “it’s coming, it’s coming” situation for so long and I feel it didn’t help.
Indeed. There’d be lots of people out there (especially oldies) who generally stick to Seven/Nine while rarely if ever giving anything on Ten/ABC/SBS a go.
You also can’t underestimate the importance of news bulletin/sport coverage ad breaks as a promotional platform for primetime shows, even in this day and age.
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I highly doubt that a company/advertising agency has decided whether they’ll put their money into a network/show based on how an upfront presentation/pitch was presented. That’s the point I’m making.
Simple - it allows them to tout that their shows/events are viewed by more people than the overnight numbers suggest. It doesn’t mean though everything has suddenly changed and flipped what has/hasn’t made sense in the past without ‘Total TV’ numbers.
It’s also because subscription streaming services are investing significant amounts of money into dramas and they have the scale/reach (eg; Netflix, Amazon, etc) and need (eg; Stan) whereby it makes sense for them to do so.
For Seven to invest significant money into Australian drama again, they need to have their own SVOD. It’s a huge hole in their long-term strategy which they desperately need to address sooner rather than later.
Exactly - it’s why networks invest significant amounts into securing sports rights (and often overpaying for them) since it’s one of the few things which still attract decent/big audiences on linear TV.
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