Tuesdata: Where the free to air networks won and lost in 2023
Welcome to Tuesdata, our weekly analysis for Unmade’s paying members.
Today, with the official ratings year now wrapped up, we take a look at how the commercial networks fared, and ask who truly came out on top.
Further down, a bounceback on the Unmade Index, with ARN Media on the up despite a setback in its Southern Cross Austereo takeover bid.
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As linear audiences moved away, Nine won the ad demos; Seven got best overall share and Ten looked to streaming
Seja Al Zaidi writes:
On Saturday, the curtain closed on the TV ratings year, with hostilities now officially suspended until February 12.
The networks have been hard at work claiming victories in their preferred battlegrounds.
While Seven narrowly claimed the crown for number one in all people, Nine contended that’s an archaic measurement for advertisers while Ten argued it’s the youngest skewing network. SBS pointed to its early moves into streaming paying dividends.
Each network produced their own analysis of the audience numbers produced by ratings body OzTam, and (with the exception of Seven), all of the networks put forward an executive to participate in this feature.
“I still hear people talking about ‘we won this many weeks’, or ‘we won this, we won the survey year’. These things are from a different era. We’re far more progressive,” claims Nine’s chief sales officer, Michael Stephenson.