Seven CEO claims advertisers to be lured back via ‘aggressive marketing’

Seven West Media has partially blamed the election for the decline in TV advertising and predicted the medium will see “aggressive marketing” following the establishment of Think TV earlier this year.The network’s chief executive, Tim Worner, also claimed advertisers and buyers are “for the first time” admitting the swing away from TV has been “overdone”.

The comments came as Seven West Media reported a net profit after tax of $207.3m for the 2016 financial year. The company flagged the TV advertising market as “short” and predicted it will be “flat to down” in the next 12 months.

Speaking to investors and media, chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette said big advertisers traditionally drift away when an election is imminent.

“There was strong support as you would expect from the Government, but – and we often see this – advertisers refrained from spending, and some big categories like telcos and retail pulled off,” he said. “We can expect them to come back, but that certainly had an effect.”