‘They’ll be working on new ways for advertisers to connect’: what to expect from Seven’s Upfront
This is part of Mumbrella’s coverage of the 2024 upfront season. Click here to see other articles in the series.
An industry veteran has weighed in on Seven’s Upfronts taking place tomorrow evening, and pitched some key predictions for the event.
Set to go ahead on Wednesday afternoon to coincide with the inaugural SXSW Sydney, Mediabrands CEO, Mark Coad, told Mumbrella that he predicts first and foremost Seven’s Upfronts will deliver content – and lots of it.
“There will be a few tried and trusted formulas, but I’d expect some new stuff too,” Coad said.
“And there will most likely be some time dedicated to Sport – given Nine’s focus on Olympics in 2024, they’ll be keen to reinforce their own sports credentials.”
Secondly, Coad predicts that Seven will look to continue to grow its audience, only weeks after Seven’s CEO and managing director James Warburton sat down with Mumbrella following claims by the network that it had “taken the crown in 2023”, with some weeks still left in the ratings season.
“I’m sure they’ll be working on new ways to attract and grow audiences, and importantly new ways for advertisers to connect with them,” Coad told Mumbrella.
“They’ll be keen to talk about how their audiences aggregate in large numbers across their platforms.”
Lastly, the Mediabrands head expects innovation to play a major part in Seven’s Upfronts – new platforms, new technologies and new opportunities.
“There is always an appetite for this, and importantly how advertisers/agencies can use their own specific data-built audiences and target them with precision, at scale across Seven’s assets,” he said.
Earlier this month, Seven held a 42.3% commercial share nationally in total audience, with 40.8% in the capital cities, and 45.2% in regional Australia.
A slew of high performing shows are expected to be announced to return at this week’s event, including Australian Idol, The Voice, Farmer Wants A Wife and MKR.
