The conundrum: certain death by not being in streaming or slow death by over investing in streaming
Which should 7 choose?
The future of TV is streaming. All major entertainment brands need to be in this space.
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Or no death by aligning yourself with an established streamer down the track.
Let’s not forget the Presto streaming service that Seven and Foxtel poured heaps of money into between 2014 and 2016 only to see it fail.
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A quick scan of Nine’s results suggests they did last year, but it wasn’t spectacular.
I’d be concerned though that any profit may be shortlived - their reported costs are escalating faster than their revenues. I don’t know what their arrangements are for accounting for shared sports content with Nine, but their Sports offering (which let’s be honest is a tad eclectic, with some highlights) is driving their costs up.
What is their owner’s position on allowing them to be a loss leader though? All three have owners that will have significant exposure to the financial impacts related to delays as a result of the writer’s strike - will this push them to improve the profitability of their streaming offerings or give them a (perhaps temporary) free pass?
And you’ve got to think it’s clouding their forward thinking. The reality was that it was probably a tad too early to market (and the tie-up with Foxtel was always going to be problematic).
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I agree that Dr Chris doesn’t seem like a great get! Didn’t think he was very good on Celeb and wasn’t a strong presenter at the Upfronts. Wonder if he’ll be similar to the Shane Bourne outcome…
You’d hope that Seven would invest in his education or training to be a better tool then he currently is. 
I hope he does improve. 
Although I do agree with you in that part, but there is always going to be a tradition in which will have a strong hold on the free-to-air space on the spectrum. Most people wont move forward with streaming, and the networks still see free to air as money grab for advertisement dollars. It wont be going anywhere in a hurry.
Some commentary on the Seven Upfronts
Seven’s high-stakes spin on newlyweds TV
The Seven Network launched its 2024 offering to advertisers and media buyers on Wednesday, promising Kerry Stokes’ media empire was “the home of mass cultural moments”.
The emphasis was more on the “mass” and less on the “culture”, as the TV network did not offer the 1,000-strong crowd any new Australian drama and has decided to bring back Big Brother Uncut – 17 years after it was dumped when politicians complained about lewd content.
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And 7 seems to be just about what’s profitable atm… their decision to let the Olympics go is an example.
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There are so many inaccuracies here:
- It’s almost certain FTA signals will be turned off in the next 15-25 years, globally
- Most people have already moved forward with streaming
- The FTA networks are grapling with ever declining ad revenues
- The decline in FTA linear viewing is actually happening faster than the industry and FTA networks predicted.
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P+, Peacock, D+ - their owners / and wall st are no longer allowing them to lose billions.
Hence the dramatic dumping of content, shutdown in productions, on selling of shows and addition of advertising. They are being forced into profit with a lot of cuts
What streamer would align with Seven?
Dumping content is an interesting one - I get not acquiring/commissioning new content but we’ve seen them dump existing content too.
Trying to grow but simultaneously cutting costs will be tricky - having a userbase that’s only really month-to-month makes it easy for consumers to switch out services if they no longer feel like they’re getting a benefit.
I thought I would share this one as it mentions the shows that were not part of the upfront media release. Some of them are just held over from the 2023 upfronts and some of the cancellations are obvious but I was surprised to learn that Seven were not moving forward with more This is Your Life
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They’ve put forward such a turgid lineup all year and there’s still content that they previewed 12 months ago that they haven’t used?!?
I believe some if it was held for more content in 2024 due to the strike in America not being able to deliver shows until much later.
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In what can now only be described as an ongoing gag, the comedy Fam Time is technically still ready to air. Announced for 2021, the show never made it to air, but was pushed to 2022 and then 2023 and now 2024 (?)
This really is ridiculous. What’s the point of holding it off every year? Just screen it somewhere. 7, 7two, 7mate.
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Thanks Aaron. Shame about This is Your Life.
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Or 7plus. Just get it shown and done with.
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