The winner of the first Mediaweek Industry Award for FTA TV channel is the primary channel from the ABC.
This comes off the success that the channel has had this year from producing a Gold Logie winner in Tom Gleeson from the hit TV quiz show Hard Quiz, to the critical success of new dramas like The Cry and Total Control.
Who has won so far? Catch up on all the 2019 winners here.
Along with Gold Logie winner Tom Gleeson and Hard Quiz other shows returning to the channel next year include Gardening Australia, Catalyst, Compass, Mystery Road, Harrow, The Heights, You Can’t Ask That, Further Back in Time for Dinner, Gruen, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, Anh’s Brush with Fame, Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell and Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery.
Bluey is also returning to ABC KIDS. Since its launch in October 2018 Bluey has become the nation’s most watched children’s program with a total of 152 million program plays and a VPM series rating of 2.3Million.
Michael Carrington, ABC Director Entertainment & Specialist said during the ABC’s 2020 upfront that bold content and creativity is what speaks to Australians:
“The stories we share will speak to and for all Australians, firing their imagination through bold content and creativity. We will engage new audiences by increasing the diversity of our programs and people, on and off screen, sparking meaningful change in how we see ourselves and each other.”
In second place is Nine which was #1 across the 40 week TV survey year for the first time in over a decade, ending Seven’s 12-year run as TV’s #1 network.
Nine’s key achievements cross the 2019 survey year:
• No. 1 Network All Key Demographics
• No. 1 Primary Channel All Key Demographics
• No. 1 Commercial Free-to-air BVOD: 9Now
• No. 1 Overall Program: State of Origin Game 1
• No. 1 Overall Regular Program: Married at First Sight
• No. 1 New Program: Lego Masters
• No. 1 & No. 2 Reality Series: Married at First Sight & The Block
• No. 1 & No. 2 & No. 3 Light Entertainment Series: Lego Masters, Australian Ninja Warrior & The Voice
• No. 1 Comedy Program: Hamish & Andy’s “Perfect” Holiday
• No. 1 Sports Program: State of Origin
• No. 1 Weekly Public Affairs Program: 60 Minutes
• No. 1 Daily Public Affairs Program: A Current Affair
• No. 1 Multichannel Program: The Ashes (4th Test, Day 5, Session 1)
“Four years ago we made the strategic decision to focus on the thing that matters most to advertisers – the key demographics,” said Michael Stephenson, Nine’s chief sales officer.
“We are pleased to have won another year in the key demographics driven by the most consistent slate of premium content that engages millions of Australians every week across every platform.”
In third place is 10 which heads into 2020 with four consecutive months of year-on-year commercial share growth in under 50s and all key demos (16 to 39s, 18 to 49s and 25 to 54s).
Its 2019 highlights included:
• Australian Survivor achieving its biggest audience ever, up 10% on 2018.
• The Masked Singer Australia launching as 10’s biggest new show since The Bachelorette Australia in 2015.
• The Bachelorette Australia growing 24% year-on-year and becoming 10 Play’s #1 show.
• The Rugby World Cup 2019 seeing significant growth on the 2015 World Cup.
• The 2019 Melbourne Cup Carnival reaching 4.1 million Australians nationally.
Network 10’s chief executive officer Paul Anderson said: “Network 10 achieved a lot over the past year, from establishing a powerful new sales team and investing in data and technology, to making television advertising even more effective, to expanding our digital media assets and investing in great new content such as The Masked Singer Australia and the Melbourne Cup Carnival.”