On Sunday night Nine aired its finale of Married at First Sight which capped off a successful season for the show after dominating its timeslot and key demographics. On the night of the show’s finale Nine had the largest primary and network shares of the year. The episode was the most watched program of the year with a metro audience of just under 1.4m metro and a national audience of 1.816m.

Mediaweek spoke with the director of sales for television and radio at Nine, Richard Hunwick about the commercial success of the broadcaster’s flagship show.

“It dominated in its time slot it was a 60%+ share in all its demos and the average audience across a season was 1.5m across linear TV but then another nearly 450,000 watching per episode via live stream or on-demand as well pushing those numbers up to the 2 million mark, which I think is pretty unique compared to what is out there at the moment.”

Hunwick said that MAFS did incredibly well commercially with a record number of sponsors.

“Our goal was to grow our sponsor numbers from a full broadcast cross-platform perspective year on year, and to introduce a number of new sponsors which we did.”

The show’s sponsors included returning brands KFC, Suzuki, BUPA, Youfoodz, LION and Tradie. Plus new sponsors Specsavers, Disney+, Snooze, Menulog and MyPayNow.

“We wanted to see advertisers use our platform in a way that integrated their assets into the show more as well. Specsavers and MyPayNow for instance made specific creative to include MAFS in their commercial inventory and delivered a great outcome.

“The Specsavers TVC which Powered built as part of a broader conversation was fantastic and provided it with a great brand alignment and then allowed the ratings to do the rest.

“MyPayNow was a bit cheeky and a bit different introducing their new mascot but did it in a way that was very MAFS and utilised the show to do that within billboards which was great.

“Youfoodz managed to demonstrate how you could integrate right across the show, with products in show but also used branded playouts and using MAFS social platforms to drive some of those outcomes.”

Another goal for Nine was helping Nine’s BVOD platform 9Now generate its own commercial outcomes.

“We also wanted to make the most of the digital audience with over 25 millions screens and over a billion minutes screened. It is really nice to see guys like Menulog, Estée Lauder, Ebay, and Schweppes all get involved from a digital-only level. We have got a property that allows you to get mass reach in that digital space. As well as having those guys who were sitting on television or cross-platform we are starting to have advertisers come in and activate in that digital-only space.

“Menulog utilised talent alignment with Martha Kalifatidis who is a past contestant with Martha’s Red Win Moments which was a bit of fun and created some new content. It is really important to leverage these campaigns in an intelligent and additive fashion, we don’t want to interrupt the viewers but we want to give them a little bit more.”

Starting strong with MAFS

Hunwick said that the strong lead in provided by MAFS was vital in kicking off the rest of the year starting with Lego Masters which launched the following night.

“We always want to get off to a fast start, we have started a bit later this year due to the delay of the Australian Open, but what it has done is A) monetise strongly that front period of the year to do some good deals early and strengthen our quarter 2 results and B) Give us a platform to promote our other shows like Lego Masters.

“No one has been watching anything but MAFS for the last three weeks so it’s a great opportunity to get out there and talk about what we have coming out, while the other guys have products that they are launching but haven’t had the benefit of that bedrock.”

iNC Digital Media has undergone a lot of change over the last year after being sold by HT&E – where it was part of ARN – to Impulse Screen Media, but that hasn’t changed the approach of the now indie agency says CEO Loan Morris.

“We are not a big agency, we are still a boutique independent agency so it has its advantages and inconveniences but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Morris told Mediaweek.

“Yes performance is 100% the goal but it is also how you go about it. One thing about our team and our business, we would never compromise our relationships with our clients to get where we need to be, we believe in respecting people and having a responsibility to everyone around us.”

Morris has been the head of iNC Digital Media for the last four years including when the agency was previously run by ARN and then after the company was sold last year.

“I had been at ARN for a long time, after seven years working there, I was given the opportunity to take over the agency and turn it from a loss making agency to a profitable division.

“I took over in 2016 and restructured the company and took it to where it is today. I led the merger and acquisition with Impulse Media and we just celebrated the one year anniversary of being separated from ARN.”

iNC Digital Media Clients

The agency has been quite successful with retaining its clientele and has had major clients like the Australia publishing arm of Simon & Schuster who have been with the agency since its launch.

“We have had clients with us since we launched in 2016/2017 and are still with us today.

“When we transitioned out of ARN we retained all of our clients but one, there was only one out of hundreds of clients that didn’t want to follow us.”

The agency has had some recent major wins with the recent acquisition of the Jack Links beef jerky account sticking out.

“It is quite a well-known brand and we will work in collaboration with a creative agency called Three Scoops.”

Media Buying

Morris said that iNC buys all of its own media direct but on top of that are also the digital agency of choice for a few other indies.

“Because of Covid we have had a lot of redundancies in our industry including a lot of very good radio labs and media labs and anyone who had their own little one-man-band agency, so I have been working with them to fulfil all the additional services for their clients exclusively.

“This was already very much a revenue channel, but this has accelerated since the pandemic.”

Specialisations

Morris said that iNC Digital Media doesn’t have one speciality as a digital agency and that in digital media unless you’re coming up with some amazing technology then everyone is basically doing the same thing.

“We don’t have a true specialisation as it stands right now. The things that set us apart is we absolutely stand for transparency and accountability and I would say that is one thing that is quite refreshing and new. Our clients know exactly what is being spent and we give them access to a lot of tools that provide them transparency the whole way along.”

Joining the IMAA

iNC Digital Media joined the IMAA in June of last year and Morris said the only reason for the delay was the sale of the company from HT&E.

“When I was still a part of ARN I said ‘that is amazing, that is exactly the type of support and network that we need’, and the moment that we became independent I was like how do we sign up?

“One of the amazing things during Covid has been the knowledge sharing, how we have been able to network but also educate our staff, especially around the different media channels. And the awareness that is being put on this sector which IMAA is doing an exceptional job at as well, it is really building a voice to be an independent agency.”

House & Garden

The new issue of Are Media’s Australian House & Garden went on sale this week. Looked after by busy editor-in-chief Tanya Buchanan, who also runs Belle, it seems only yesterday publisher Are Media released their Top 50 Rooms Awards edition.

Byron Bay might be on the nose for some, but House & Garden has found a stunning home in the Byron hinterland to feature on the cover. The new edition boasts 102 pages of Australia’s finest homes plus pages featuring gifts of art and design for Mother’s Day, upcycling ideas and glamorous gardens.

Speaking to Mediaweek’s Tess Connery last month, Buchanan said people working in the homes space had a very productive year – and the numbers prove it.

“We all spent a lot of time looking at the interiors of our homes last year, and a lot of people have excess travel budgets to spend. So it’s been pretty great, not that anybody wants to say that they’re profiting from what we had last year, but it’s been an amazingly productive time for the homes’ clients and for magazines.

“The most exciting outing that you could have last year for a lot of people was to the supermarket, and fortunately all of the Are Media titles are there. Brilliantly, House & Garden continues to dominate the homes category. Our February issue was up 17% year-on-year, January was an incredible 28% up year on year, and the last six issues have been up year on year, so I’m really happy with that.”

Read more: House & Garden’s Tanya Buchanan on choosing Australia’s Top 50 rooms

Inside Out

Another title in the thriving lifestyle space is Inside Out. It is one of the titles originally launched by News Corp Australia two decades ago, but now published by Are Media.

Editor Eliza O’Hare this month features a house from Barwon Heads in Victoria on the cover. Also in the latest edition is the announcement of the Inside Out Home of the Year Awards presented in association with Brickworks. Entries will be accepted until June 9 and the overall winner will get $10,000.

A trademark of the magazine over the years were breakout boxes which included a guide to the cost of a build or a renovation. They are still around, but not for every property.

Other titles that appeal to homemakers and dreamers include:

Australian Home Beautiful (Are Media) – May edition was branded “The dream homes issue” with 80+ pages of homes. Looking after the magazine that Foxtel’s Wendy Moore edited for many years is acting editor Katrina O’Brien.

Houses is subtitled “Australian residential architecture and design”. An indie title from Architecture Media in Melbourne, the bi-monthly is edited by Gemma Savio.

Sanctuary – modern green homes is another indie out of Melbourne, this time from the not-for-profit organisation Renew. An attractive ingrediant here is the detail on each home and the almost forensic specs sheet which includes a costing.

marie claire makes a splash

Magazines are still a medium much loved by many. As marie claire Australia editor Nicky Briger proved last week with Grace Tame, the right sort of cover can generate a lot of media interest. Briger said: “Anyone who’s heard Grace speak is instantly moved by the power of her compassion and convictions. But beyond just words, she’s a true change-maker who’s shining a light on child sex abuse and the urgent need for action and legislative change. As a brand that’s continually striving to educate, empower and inspire Australian women, Grace represents our core values better than anyone. I’m absolutely thrilled she agreed to ‘grace’ our cover and, in the process, make marie claire history.”

Read more: Grace Tame becomes first non-celebrity to feature on marie claire cover

Seven West Media has announced a partnership with Kerv Interactive to deliver the shoppable ad experience, 7ACT.

The new product allows advertisers to insert QR codes into video assets, enabling brands and content creators to showcase specific products, offer relevant information, and provide contextual shopping opportunities.

Seven has launched 7ACT with a programmatic-first partnership with key agency partners Matterkind and Initiative, developing a campaign for Officeworks.

Officeworks is using 7ACT as part of its “Mind Grown” campaign, providing children new avenues to grow and learn through a range of learning resources. 

7ACT is an innovative addition to Seven’s Enhanced Advertiser and Viewer Experience (E.A.V.E.) initiative, which was launched last year.

Seven West Media Network digital sales director, Nicole Bence (pictured), said: “Our mission with premium ad experiences such as 7ACT is to make advertising more enjoyable, more engaging and more relevant through personalisation.

“E.A.V.E. is central to our approach to innovation, creating ad experiences that are unique, customised and bring brands to life through interactive storytelling. We believe that by delivering valuable ad experiences to our viewers, they will be more loyal to our platforms, more engaged with our content and therefore much more responsive to brand messages from advertisers.”

Kerv is a global, multi‑award‑winning video technology company that lifts existing video assets to become unique, interactive experiences for consumers. The QR code response process is unique to Kerv and allows information and shopability to shift where the mobile destination is directed, based on the Kerv object-level AI.

Matterkind national head of partnerships & strategic investments, Flaminia Sapori, said: “We are extremely excited to be part of this launch with Seven West Media, who have been leading the market through their programmatic-first approach in the BVOD space. This approach allows Matterkind to trade easily on a diverse variety of advertising products and innovative solutions for our agencies and brands.

“Ad product innovations like 7ACT represent a huge step forward for brands, leveraging high-impact and immersive formats to expand their addressable footprint. Most importantly, 7ACT’s use of QR codes enables accurate measurement of success across Connected Television, far beyond standard brand metrics.”

Nielsen has today announced the launch of an enhancement to Nielsen Ad Intel Digital that provides marketers with advertiser-level social, in-app media spend and creative data.

The added breadth of measurement to include these media provides visibility into ad investments on digital, while video collections are expanded to cover pre, mid and post-roll content for mobile and desktop devices.

Nielsen Ad Intel Digital offers intelligence to identify prospects, analyse brand strategies, and learn from past campaigns to plan for the future through a range of media categories. This new addition of social and in-app digital data will provide increased coverage by measuring additional sites and advertising types, with more accurate representation of digital ad buys, in a privacy-safe way. Media buyers and sellers now have a greater ability to monitor, adjust and measure their digital ad performance.

Nielsen Ad Intel Digital includes:

• Introduction of social and in-app measurement to strengthen cross-media channel insights
• A significant enhancement to video capture including pre, mid and post-roll video
• Expansion of the number of websites monitored
• Access creatives via an easy to use digital dashboard

The New Ad Intel Digital – Social Data

When taking a look at the new dataset, in the first quarter of 2021, Nielsen Ad Intel reported $450M in estimated media spend for Social media (across Facebook and Twitter).

Rose Lopreiato, Ad Intel commercial lead, Nielsen, commented: “Nielsen Ad Intel can provide advertisers, agencies and publishers with detailed advertiser-product level spend, impression data and creatives from multiple digital devices. This new, rich set of data will enable our clients to monitor their competitors’ spend and creatives across social, in-app, video and general display.

“The enhancements to Ad Intel are part of Nielsen’s effort to equip the industry with independent and comprehensive competitive metrics that help establish a more flexible way to evaluate ad performance across-platforms.

“Our new Ad Intel digital offering is what the industry has been asking for. The upgrades to our digital monitoring provides our clients with a quality and granular digital ad measurement solution which compliments the trust Nielsen provides to its clients across all its existing media spend services.” Lopreiato added.

The familiar sound of the Neighbours theme rang out on the ABC last night. It was used at the start of a report on 7.30 that detailed continued allegations of racism on the set of the long-running TV drama.

7.30 reporter Jason Om spoke to a number of cast members both in Australia and now Los Angeles about their experiences working on the program.

Om also had a response from production company Fremantle and what they are doing in response to the criticism.

The program featured interviews with four former cast members from culturally diverse backgrounds – Shareena Clanton, Remy Hii, Menik Gooneratne and Sachin Joab. Here is some of what they had to say:

Remy Hii: “Something isn’t working behind the scenes. It’s not an isolated incident.”

Sachin Joab: “They have got us by the balls. If you speak up, how do we know that we’re ever going to be employed again?”

Shareena Clanton: “There is something systemic here. There is something fundamentally dangerous.”

ABC reporter Om explained Clanton was hired between October 2020 and March this year to play a guest character. Over the six months she claims she saw various forms of racism on the Neighbours set including the use of the N word behind the scenes.

Om also reported another Aboriginal performer, Meyne Wyatt, spoke out. On Twitter he said he heard the C word slur and regular cast member Sharon Johal said a cast member called her the “the black one” and blacky” behind her back and that a now former cast member put on an Indian accent in her presence.

The program managed to track down Menik Gooneratne who played Priya Kapoor in the first south Asian family to move into Ramsay Street in 2011. Now living and working in Los Angeles, Menik says that at the time she received little support from Neighbours‘ management.

Menik Gooneratne: “What happened when they announced our casting as main cast, we received a lot of public backlash and racist vitriol from people saying that we were moving on to the street and taking other people’s jobs.”

Sachin Joab played the Kapoor family father, Ajay.

Sachin Joab: “At the end of our one-year contracts, we were terminated. This is after putting in approximately eight to 10 months being presented to the public as main casts or regulars, you know, regular reoccurring faces on the show. But we were actually guesties, we were all guest actors.

“If we had the Caucasian blonde hair and blue eyes, I don’t think they would have written us out.”

See also: Andrew Mercado – Wake-up call about lack of diversity on Australian commercial TV

Om reported that for Crazy Rich Asians star, Remy Hii, Neighbours helped boost his early career and while he said he faced no racism on the set, some viewers opposed his brief stint on the show in 2013.

Remy Hii: “Look, there were definitely [comments] racial in tone. People just objecting to seeing an Asian face on their screen. Of course, it like weighed on me at the time and it felt pretty bad.”

Production company for Neighbours, Fremantle, declined 7.30‘s interview requests.

But the production company provided this statement to 7.30:

We remain committed to ensuring a respectful and inclusive workplace for all employees on the set of Neighbours and take very seriously any questions about racism or any other form of discrimination.

We are engaging an independent legal investigation to work concurrently with Campfire X’s cultural review and hope to work directly with the individuals that have raised concerns following which we will take whatever next steps are appropriate.

Main image: Former Neighbours actors Sachin Joab, Shareena Clanton and Remy Hii on ABC’s 7.30 (Photo: ABC News/Jason Om)

Seven has announced the 18 celebrities who will take on the new season of SAS Australia.

NRL star Sam Burgess, tennis legend Mark Philippoussis, dual Olympian Jana Pittman, celebrity chef Manu Feildel, Bra Boy Koby Abberton, socialite Brynne Edelsten and singer- songwriter Pete Murray are some of the stars to enlist for the series of physical and psychological tests from the real SAS selection process.

Elite ex-Special Forces soldiers Ant Middleton, Mark “Billy” Billingham, Jason “Foxy” Fox and Ollie Ollerton are returning to lead the celebrity recruits, promising the most gruelling course ever seen in the UK or Australia.

“Living in our world will be the rawest and most brutal life lesson these celebrities will ever experience,” says chief instructor Middleton. “We aren’t holding anything back, it’s as authentic as it gets.”

The full line-up of star recruits set to take on SAS Australia in 2021 is:

Alicia Molik – Tennis Champion
Bonnie Anderson – Singer / Actor Brynne Edelsten – Socialite
Dan Ewing – Actor
Emma Husar – Former Politician
Erin Holland – TV Presenter
Heath Shaw – AFL Star
Isabelle Cornish – Actor
Jana Pittman – Dual Olympian
Jessica Peris – Sprinter
Jett Kenny – Ironman
John Steffensen – Olympic Runner
Kerri Pottharst – Beach Volleyball Olympian
Koby Abberton – Bra Boy
Manu Feildel – Celebrity Chef
Mark Philippoussis – Tennis Legend
Pete Murray – Singer-Songwriter
Sam Burgess – NRL Star

Faced with more extreme challenges in mountainous terrain, these famous faces will eat, sleep and be tested in punishing conditions, with no allowances or exceptions made.

Fox Sports has completed a massive weekend of sport playing out over 10 Fox channels on Foxtel and 372 live-streamed events on Kayo, including 37 concurrent live streams on Saturday, providing sports fans with over 1,700 live hours of entertainment.

Weekend highlights included:

NRL Round 6 saw average audiences of 369,000 on Foxtel and Kayo, up 11% year on year. Saturday afternoon’s Rabbitohs v Wests Tigers clash was the Round 6 standout on Fox, attracting an average audience of 465,000 and ranking as the 11th highest NRL game of all time on subscription television.

Round 6 of the NRL featured average audiences of 372,000 (TV + streaming), up 12% year on year making 2021 the number one rating NRL season ever for the Foxtel Group.

The 2021 AFL Season is also seeing fans choose Fox Footy in record numbers. Average audiences for the first five rounds reached 253,000 on Foxtel and Kayo, up 18% on 2019 and ranking the 2021 Season alongside 2020 as the highest rating AFL season ever for the Foxtel Group.

AFL Round 5 saw average audiences of 213,000 on Foxtel and Kayo. With matches back to three-hour durations and quarters returning to 20 minutes from the shortened form of the game in 2020, 2019 provides the best average audience comparisons for 2021.

Nevertheless, average audiences fell for Round 5, with the equivalent 2019 round played over Easter, which featured nine standalone games. Friday night’s game between West Coast and Collingwood was the number one game of the round with an average audience of 339,000.

The AFLW 2021 Season concluded with Brisbane’s 18-point victory over Adelaide with an average audience of 128,000, up 64% on the 2019 Grand Final, ranking it as the third-highest rating AFLW game ever on subscription television. The 2021 AFLW Season attracted average audiences of 35,000 across 68 games on Foxtel and Kayo, up 19% on 2019 and up 3% on the shortened 46-game 2020 Season.

Fox Sports executive director Steve Crawley said: “Fox Sports is going from strength to strength as the go-to destination for fans wanting the best Australian and international sports.

“To play out 1,700 hours of live sport on one weekend is quite an achievement. We had it all from the IPL and Queensland’s dominant performance in the Sheffield Shield Final in cricket to the best motorsports with the Supercars Tasmania SuperSprint, Portuguese MotoGP and Formula One in Imola, together with Mick Fanning’s comeback at the World Surf League’s Narrabeen Classic, the A-League, and Australia’s most winter popular sports codes in AFL, including the AFLW Grand Final, and NRL.

“Our shows are also knocking it out of the park. Fox League’s Sunday Night with Matty Johns delivered an overnight cumulative audience of 142,000 on Foxtel, while on Fox Footy, Sunday night’s episode of Bounce hosted by Jason Dunstall saw overnight cumulative audience of 152,000.

“Our selection of sports is unrivalled, we are working hard to deliver an outstanding product that people love, and we have a commentary and production team and the personalities that are the best in the business. It’s seeing Fox Sports audiences continue to grow across the Foxtel Group.”

See also: Fox Sports celebrates women’s sport with FoxW pop-up channel

The Australian Box Office has grossed $11.6 million this week, averaging $2,954 over 3,923 screens. Overall this is down 14%, with last week bringing in $13.4 million.

Peter Rabbit 2 was looking dangerously close to taking the top spot last week, and this week it has achieved number one. Godzilla Vs. Kong has been knocked down to second spot, but with both films cracking $2 million, the team behind Godzilla Vs King certainly won’t be feeling snubbed.

Dropping out of the top five this week are Nobody which made $1.02 million last week to come in fourth, and The Courier which came in fifth with $809,003.

Re-entering the top five this week is Raya and the Last Dragon which temporarily dipped out, but has returned at number four. New film The Unholy has debuted at number five.

#1 Peter Rabbit 2, $2,882,271

Taking the top spot in its fourth week, the sequel starring James Corden made an average of $5,823 on 495 screens. The film has made a total of $17.6 million.

#2 Godzilla Vs Kong, $2,358,826

The monster flick may have dropped from the top spot, but the fall hasn’t been quite as dramatic as a giant ape falling into the ruins of Hong Kong. Averaging $5,173 across 456 screens, the Godzilla Vs Kong is still having a strong run.

#3 Tom and Jerry, $1,843,252

Staying steady in third place this week is the latest imagining of Tom and Jerry. The pair have been chasing each other since the 1940s, but people are clearly still showing up to watch their antics. This week the film averaged $5,022 across 367 screens.

#4 Raya and the Last Dragon, $823,362

Directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, the Disney film dipped out of the top five over the last two weeks. Clawing its way back in, Raya and the Last Dragon made an average of $2,962 on 278 screens.

#5 The Unholy, 762,879

Debuting in fifth position this week, The Unholy averaged $3,331 over 229 screens.

Primetime News
Seven News 1.047,000 (6 pm)/ 1,018,000 (6:30 pm)
Nine News is 981,000 (6 pm)/ 962,000 (6:30 pm)
ABC News 677,000
10 News First 349,000(5 pm)/ 287,000 (6pm)
SBS World News 179,000 (6:30 pm)/155,000 (7 pm)

Daily current affairs
A Current Affair 769,000
7:30 537,000
The Project 342,000 (6:30 pm)/517,000 (7 pm)
The Drum 179,000 

Breakfast TV
Sunrise 232,000
Today 221,000
News Breakfast 162,000

Late Night News
ABC Late News 131,000
The Latest 92,000

Nine

Even without Married at First Sight, Nine has continued its Monday winning streak with a 22.0% primary share and a 28.4% network share. 

The driving force of this win was Nine’s new 7:30 pm program Lego Masters which was the top non-news program last night (838,000) despite stiff competition from Dancing with the Stars: All Stars and the launch of MasterChef.

While Lego Masters was the top entertainment program last night and #1 in all key demos, its launch episode still suffered a significant dip. This was the lowest launch audience in the shows three seasons after 1.372m in 2019 and 1.239m last year.

This was followed by the second episode of  Law & Order: Organised Crime with 341,000 which was down on its launch audience of 414,000.

Seven

Dancing with the Stars had 644,000 viewers, up on last Monday’s 558,000 as Tom Williams, Kyly Clarke, Lincoln Lewis, Matty J and Bec Hewitt hit the dance floor. In a world-first, the teams took to the floor for a marathon dance that tested their endurance and technique to secure an extra 10 bonus points from the judges. Bec Hewitt grabbed the top score, placing her at the top of the leaderboard, with Matty J and Tom Williams going home in a double elimination. 

Home and Away provided a strong lead in to DWTS with 624,000 viewers.

10

10’s longest-running 7:30 pm franchise, MasterChef Australia, returned last night with 670,000 viewers tuning in. This was down on last year’s launch which brought in 1.23 viewers. While the linear tv numbers were down, the digital numbers were up after having the biggest ever live stream launch and was up 26% on last year’s live stream launch.

The show has returned to its roots as it unearthed a new talented bunch of cooks, returning to amateur chefs after using an all-star format last year.

Hughesy We Have a Problem followed MasterChef with 254,000.

On The Project, 342,000 (6:30 pm) and 517,000 (7:00 pm) tuned in as the show covered what a royal commission into veteran suicide means for the grieving families, and also talked to the MasterChef judges.

10 Bold was the top multichannel with 3.8% thanks to multiple episodes of NCIS.

ABC

The ABC aired its current affairs line up with 7:30 leading the way with 537,000 this was followed by Australian Story (495,000), Four Corners (494,000) and Media Watch (468,00)

SBS

The top show on SBS last night was Secrets of the Tower of London with 159,000 viewers.