The ongoing battle between Nine, Seven, 10 and even the ABC is always fierce but one network has proven its dominance in the first half of 2020
Nine had a long history of being number one in the ratings until 2007, when rival Seven took the top honours all the way through to 2018. Nine won 2019 by the slimmest of margins but at the half way point of 2020, Nine leads total viewers and demos by a considerable margin.
Is it time to bring this back?
In the survey year to date at the midpoint, Nine has a 30.01% network share in 25-54 over Seven on 26.21% and 10 on 23.65%. Nine also leads people in the 16-39 demo with a network share of 28.98%, with Seven on 26.58% and 10 on 25.68%. Nine can also claim total viewers on 27.83%, Seven on 26.5% and 10 on 18.7%. It should be noted that in total viewers ABC is almost tied with 10 on 18.34%.
In December 2018, Nine merged with Fairfax to become the owners of newspaper titles including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
In November 2019, Nine became the owner of Macquarie Media, now rebranded as Nine Radio and owns stations including 2GB, 4BC, 3AW and 6PR.
Nine also launched a new multi-channel, 9Rush, on April 5th this year in a joint venture with Discovery.
Stan is performing well with over 1.8 million subscribers and Domain is a strong player in the Nine asset book.
9Now has been a strong performer with the network focused on a deliberate strategy to engage with viewers online. This has seen Nine air series like Manifest in full seasons for viewers to binge before airing on traditional broadcast.
These acquisitions and new developments have been fundamental in building a strong news and entertainment brand that has led to positive synergies, cost savings, and increased marketing opportunities.
The road back to number 1 was certainly not instantaneous. Nine has been building, acquiring, synergizing and developing opportunities step by step and brick by brick, first creating tentpole content (Married at First Sight, Lego Masters, Australian Ninja Warrior, The Voice and The Block), building a year-round schedule (led by Michael Healy and Hamish Turner) and marketing their product to a wide audience (through their Fairfax and Macquarie acquisitions).
In recent times, networks have started the year strong with issues unfolding in the second of the year. In 2020, Nine is set to unveil a slate of programming that appears just as strong as the first half and is set to end the ratings year with the NRL grand final and State of Origin.
As James Warbuton sets to transform and rebuild the Seven Network with announcements hitting the media every month, it has been interesting to see Nine slowly build these bricks – merging with Fairfax in 2018, acquiring Macquarie in 2019 and building to their strongest first half in 15 years in television ratings and showing strong results in their asset portfolio including 9 Now, Domain and Stan in 2020.
Can we boldly predict that the final piece in the puzzle for 2021 will be the acquisition of Southern Cross to create a mammoth network that touches every part of Australia? Maybe. Although that would be very difficult under current media ownership rules as new assets may have to be divested. What new major development is in the Nine pipeline for the future?
