As Home and Away heads into its finale tonight, Seven is leaning into what has become one of television’s most reliable annual rituals: a surge of fan engagement, a spike in cross-platform viewing, and a rush of brands eager to attach themselves to Summer Bay’s cultural gravity.
But behind the scramble for airtime, Seven’s leadership says the real engine of the show’s commercial power remains simple – protect the audience at all costs.
With total television viewership up 5% this year and younger 25–54s up 7%, the long-running soap is enjoying a fresh cycle of momentum.
BVOD bingeing has jumped, international audiences continue to follow the show in the UK and New Zealand, and the nightly fandom remains intensely loyal, with almost one million viewers returning each evening.
It’s a combination rarely found in Australian drama, and Seven’s executives know it.
When asked by Mediaweek what his favourite Seven show was, Group Managing Director, Angus Ross revealed that while he “loves all my children at Channel Seven” the one show that he does tend to watch the most is Home and Away.
“It’s the biggest show on on 7Plus,” he added.
“There’s not many countries in the world where you can talk about a four night a week drama at seven o’clock where the audience is growing.”
Seven’s Katie Finney
‘Put the audience at the heart of everything’
Seven’s National Television Sales Director, Katie Finney, says every sponsorship and integration comes back to preserving the emotional connection audiences have with Summer Bay.
“At the end of the day, you need to be putting the audience at the heart of what we do with a show like Home and Away,” she told Mediaweek.
“You want to be true to Summer Bay and to the drama. It’s that authenticity – that it doesn’t seem like we’re forcing a brand in.”
That discipline, she says, is why advertisers continue to treat the show as a foundational pillar of their television schedules.
“So what we see is a lot of our advertisers lock in Home and Away, and lock in a number of years as a baseline for their television schedules, and then ladder up if there’s a strategic reason for it.”
And for a show approaching four decades on air, the appetite remains global. “Home and Away is truly a global hit, and audiences continue to watch in Australia, New Zealand and the UK,” Finney said.
How Specsavers showed the template works
This year, Specsavers delivered one of the cleanest examples of Seven’s “audience-first” approach in action, using the world of Summer Bay as the creative canvas rather than the campaign backdrop.
Created by 7RED Engine, the partnership produced a suite of six 15-second TVCs – each beginning as classic Home and Away tension before pivoting into harmless mix-ups caused by poor eyesight.
A surfer unveiling a misspelled tattoo; a dad accidentally picking up the wrong baby in the Pier Diner; a romantic proposal derailed by a simple visual error.
“Home and Away gives us a great platform to reach the right audience, but as with all our ‘Should’ve’ campaigns, it’s relatable and has that core serious message at its heart,” said Specsavers Head of Marketing, Awareness & Consideration, Anri McHugh.
“We all know that mistakes are easily made if your eyesight is failing, so these executions are a good reminder to Australians of all ages to look after their eye health.”
McHugh said the creative alignment was deliberate.
“Specsavers is a brand that has consistently proved the longevity and success of TV advertising, and the creativity of the new sponsorship builds on both Home and Away and Specsavers’ enduring appeal.”
Finney says the collaboration worked precisely because it respected the audience’s relationship with the show.
“The work that we did with Specsavers was really successful, and they were really proud of how we were able to work together and create content for Specsavers that was true to their brand and true to Home and Away and the IP of Summer Bay.”
Building integrations that feel like story
Finney says Seven’s approach to brand partnerships is grounded in long lead times, clear creative boundaries and close collaboration between producers and commercial teams.
“We have brands playing in that space from a product placement level, and we are certainly open to deeper integrations,” she said.
“What we find is we work quite a timeline ahead, so brands need to be very organised about where they show up.”
She adds that Seven proactively approaches brands when a storyline naturally aligns – but protecting the drama always comes first.
“At the end of the day, you do really want to be respectful as a drama: brands are seamlessly partnering and not taking away from the storyline, respecting the huge fan base we have with almost a million people coming in every night.”
Home and Away, she says, remains iconic partly because it is still anchored in everyday Australian life.
“The storylines we do are at the forefront of culture and what’s happening in homes and families everywhere in Australia. They’re always touching on social issues and going deeper into those issues through storylines.”
A finale backed by cultural heat
With speculation swirling in fan blogs and social media, Seven expects this year’s finale to again deliver big.
For advertisers, the combination of emotional stakes, multigenerational audiences and BVOD flexibility makes it one of the most valuable local scripted environments heading into summer.
“It really is the fans, and we continue to have that fandom,” Finney said. “That is why this show is so great – because it’s brand safe. People come in every single night to share the stories of what is happening at Summer Bay with the friends and family who are part of the program.”
And that is ultimately the pitch: a finale big enough to pull in viewers across platforms, and a universe built carefully enough that brands can enter without breaking the spell.