I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! has given 10 a strong start to the year. Season 7 of the show achieved its highest ever commercial shares with an average of 853,000 national viewers, its biggest total audience since 2017. The season is #1 in all key demographics.

However, it’s not just in the TV ratings that the show is kicking goals with Network 10 also enjoying a strong commercial start to the year with I’m a Celebrity sporting a robust sponsor list which includes BCF, McDonald’s (2nd year), Plush, Mitsubishi, Oz Lotto, Youfoodz, Origin (3rd year), Bedshed (2nd year), Carnival (2nd year) and Youi.

Read more: Antelope to Kangaroos: Stephen Tate on I’m a Celebrity’s wild ride in 2021

Mediaweek caught up with Network 10’s national sales director Lisa Squillace to discuss how the commercial team made the most of its launch program.

Commercial Results

Squillace said that 10 was happy with the commercial results that I’m a Celebrity has achieved to kick start the year. The show has gained six new sponsors while only losing one from 2020.

“We have had a fantastic start to 2021, continuing our momentum from 2020 and have had an amazing launch platform in I’m a Celebrity to launch our other programs, which is super exciting.

“This year we have not only been able to commercialise this format but to do it with super relevant clients who are extremely happy and have seen success.”

Producing I’m a Celebrity during Covid

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, I’m a Celebrity went from the South African jungle to the North Queensland bush, using the same set as the UK and German iterations of the show, which Squillace said has worked out well.

“We truly believe that being based in Australia really plays into our overall strategy in 2021 of coming home – with everything being based in Australia.

“It also allowed ease of product being delivered as well. When the show was based in South Africa, we would get so far down the road that we were ready to go and we just couldn’t get the product over in time.”

Appealing to Advertisers

Squillace said that the ratings, paired with the feeling of old-fashioned family entertainment, has been part of the broad appeal to sponsors. The Effect team also worked hard to incorporate the commercial elements into the show without affecting the product.

“Those guys are really married up to our production team, as well as our programming team, and are our conduits between the marketers and programming. We have a range of brilliant processes which craft the briefs together with the agency and collaborate the whole way through. What is also distinct to 10 is that we allow clients to view and see the sets and integration highlights before the shot goes to air – which doesn’t happen everywhere – to avoid nasty surprises.”

Case studies

When asked for a few examples of this year’s integrated partnerships Squillace offered up a few examples the first was the show’s partnership with Youfoodz, who featured in a hungry games trial but also had digital sponsorship and Premium Pause activation on 10 Play.

“They were a new sponsor this year which we tied into the general theme of hunger. Those celebrities are really hungry, and with the relevancy of a food challenge and supplying a Youfoodz meal to the celebrities enabled authentic comments and they were genuinely excited, and this elevates the association.”

When asked for comment on the partnership CMO, Simon Jarvis, from Youfoodz said: “We had direct and consistent communications with the team to get our product exposure to the standard we needed. Within the first week of our activation appearing in the program, we saw a considerable increase of new visitors, helping drive conversions and achieve KPIs for the week in review. Overall, this activation delivered a strong and positive impact for Youfoodz weekly performance.”  .”

Another example offered by Squillace was Origin, which has benefited from being associated with I’m a Celebrity for three straight years.

“It was their third year on the show, and they keep coming back which is really good because they can capitalise on their association from a multi-year partnership.

“We did a whole heap of research with the marketing science group which shows recall of returning sponsors is 11% higher than new sponsors as well as a 15% increase for returning sponsors on purchase and consumption.

“Origin tied into the cultural goodness of the show and have demonstrated energy being used in a good way.”

Jeremy Weiss, group manager, marketing and third party sales at Origin said of the partnership: “The program is delivering some good old fashioned family-friendly entertainment, and the ratings are proving this is what people are looking for right now. Through our partnership with the program, 10 ViacomCBS have helped us to bring to life, in a fun way, the type of good energy we try and bring to customers every day when they move to a new house with us.”

The third case study that Squillace mentioned to Mediaweek was the cushy sponsorship that the show had with Plush, which was able to feature in the show in a few different ways.

“Plush has quite a large swivel chair and Dr. Chris and Julia have hosted off that swivel chair several times throughout the series and that showed the comfort and the features of the chair.

“We also used the product as a clue for intruders. When we had Simon and Adam who are ex-Goggleboxers, we actually used the Plush swivel chair to hint at who they were.”

When asked how these campaigns help clients like the ones listed above Squillace said that audiences who are super engaged are more receptive to relevant brand messaging.

“The more aligned you are to the show you are watching the more receptive you are to those brand messages. The reason why business keep coming back to sponsorships is that they get a business outcome, and they work.

“What is really important from I’m a Celebrity is that it has bucked the traditional summer trend of ‘sport only’ and in its seventh year it consistently delivers, and it consistently delivers double the ratings of the Big Bash League.

“It also allows clients to not be held back by sporting code deals, and allows traditional summer clients to have a really loud voice on a very successful show.”

Designing A Legacy screens on Tuesday, February 2, 8.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.

Ross originally had various ideas about how the content could be delivered. “I had explored every idea from six half hours to two one hours,” he told Mediaweek. “We shot a bit pre-Covid which made it a little easier to finish as just one hour.

“Doing a program where you travel across the country has been pretty hard. We managed to get in and out of Queensland in a two-week window we had last year.”

The program features properties designed by legendary Australian architects including Robin Boyd, Esmond Dorney, Gabriel Poole, John Andrews, Chancellor & Patrick and Ken Woolley.

That list by no means exhausts the pool of architects or properties: “There is more in the tank for future projects,” he noted.

The program starts at the amazing Esmond Dorney house high above Hobart. “I first got inside the house when I performed there once. That is where I met his son Paddy who is featured in the episode at the house.”

One of the highlights of the program is some of the archival footage Ross has managed to unearth. “I was once doing something at RMIT and they told me about some old films they were digitising. I soon realised what an amazing archive they had relating to the building of modernist homes in the 1950s. We use the ABC archive which of course is also amazing.

“The National Archives is also a treasure trove and they love their content being seen. So much of our precious history just isn’t on show.”

Ross was a jack of all trades on the project including being chief researcher. He co-produced and co-wrote Designing a Legacy with Andrew Garrick who also directed. “Andrew and I were previously working on a pilot for something we were sure was going to get up, but it didn’t happen. On that we developed a good friendship and working relationship.”

As to the Tim Ross business model post his radio career, we asked if it meant doing a bit of everything. “yes,” he laughed, “don’t we all?”

He added: “I try and only work on projects I really like. I have a really small team working for me on everything from podcasts to publishing. We have an active little production company Modernista Films.

“Last year we did projects for the Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Archives and Brickworks. Lots on architecture and design. Exhibitions are a large part of what we do.”

With his days of daily radio behind him as Rosso, with and without Merrick Watts, Ross seems very happily occupied. “I absolutely love what I do. We have great partnerships with really interesting people and lots of work with cultural institutions.

“One of the downsides has been a bunch of overseas projects that have been put on hold. They will happen at some stage when we are allowed to travel again.”

Tim Ross: Could he be a TV judge?

With this experience in design and architecture, Ross would make a good judge for one of the various TV shows that touch on the subject.

“I’ve never been asked,” he explained. “Never.”

He’s not a big TV watcher. But he’s a fan of Grand Designs and its host. “I like Kevin McCloud a lot. He’s a wonderful bloke and an incredible presenter. We did a couple of shows with him at the Opera House a couple of years ago.”

Ross also likes Restoration Australia on ABC.

Are his radio days really over?

Ross: “You never say never. But it is not something I really think about. I haven’t had any offers in just over a year. It is only Covid that has stopped me from planning the next couple of years. So when I get an offer [for regular radio work] it can be hard as there is usually over a year of work planned. My priorities are always film-based projects like Designing a Legacy.

“They take so much time and so much love goes into them. And ultimately, they are the most rewarding. These projects you can finish too.

“Radio is like a race that never finishes. You can finish a marathon and then start again the next day. It is a nice change to work on a single project and finish it.”

For the time being, you can only hear his very occasional radio appearances on ABC’s Double J.

For the past five years, the movie theatres have generated $1.2 billion+ in average annual box office turnover and employed around 13,000 Australians nationally.

Following a buoyant January period where box office was up by 9% versus 2019, the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in March resulted in forced cinema closures, capacity restrictions, the postponement of film releases and public health concerns about attending theatres.

Despite an almost 70% decline in earnings from 2019, the total 2020 box office of $401m was a testament to the Australian public’s ongoing love of seeing movies on the big screen. This result is especially encouraging given the acceleration of audience fragmentation through growing digital content services coupled with stay-at-home trends during the pandemic.

Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) was the top grossing film in 2020, followed by 1917 (Universal) and Bad Boys for Life (Sony). Of the top films, only two were released after cinemas re-opened in June 2020: Tenet (Warner Bros.) and Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros).

Brian Pritchett, chairman of the MPDAA and MD Paramount Pictures Australia, said: “The death of cinema has been heralded each time a new technology shifted traditional business models. However the unquestionable enhancement of seeing a film on the big screen as well as the sentimental attachment to the communal experience of going to the movies with family and friends has proven to be robust and durable. And the outlook is bright with an abundance of great films releasing in 2021.”

Many of the 39 Australian films released in 2020 had garnered acclaim at festivals and markets prior to the pandemic. While their box office performance was severely impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions, they grossed a total of $22.6m in 2020 with Universal’s The Invisible Man earning over $9m and Roadshow’s Rams taking $4.4m and still screening.

Now and throughout the pandemic, distributors and exhibitors have provided an essential and valued cultural and community resource and a much-needed escape from the stress of this pandemic. With the support of the Government’s JobKeeper scheme, they have also continued to employ thousands of Australians.

2021 has started with terrific results for a stellar line-up of diverse films including Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros.) and The Croods: A New Age (Universal). Australian film The Dry (Roadshow) starring Eric Bana in an adaptation of Jane Harper’s 2016 bestselling debut novel, has earned almost $13m (and is still screening) and Penguin Bloom (Roadshow) grossed $2.5m in its opening week.

Cinemas are reporting a wide range of Australians attending in 2020 – from young families to older adults – as the enhanced state-of-the-art experience endures as a good value and popular out-of-home social occasion.

As a global business, the movie industry will continue to be impacted by cinema restrictions in key overseas territories, particularly the United States. However, the movie-going experience will survive the Coronavirus pandemic and there is optimism about the many highly anticipated titles that will be released in cinemas in 2021, providing audiences with the irreplaceable collective experience of watching great content on the big screen, together.

Disney+ has unveiled full details of Star, its new general entertainment brand, launching on the streaming platform on 23 February.

Star will nearly double the amount of content available on Disney+ in Australia, launching with hundreds of seasons from 155 TV series, almost 450 movies and a slate of 4 exclusive Star Originals at launch.

To keep Disney+ suitable for audiences of all ages and maintain the Disney+ experience parents expect, new parental controls will also launch on 23 of February and will include the ability to set limits on access to content for specific profiles based on content classifications and the ability to add a PIN to lock profiles with access to mature content.

TV series available on Star

Disney+ subscribers will be able to stream hundreds of seasons of TV series like Alias, Felicity, Desperate Housewives, Bob’s Burgers and Ugly Betty.

The Emmy Award and Golden Globe-nominated comedy series black-ish starring Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross and Yara Shahidi, Shonda Rhimes’s critically-acclaimed legal drama Scandal and feminist comedy Dollface created by Jordan Weiss will also be available for subscribers to watch.

Movies available on Star

Award-winning movies available at launch include James Cameron’s Titanic, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Grand Budapest Hotel, along with classics like Pretty Woman, Die Hard, The Devil Wears Prada, and Moulin Rouge.

Introducing Star Originals

From launch, Disney+ will become the exclusive home of Star Originals. Titles streaming on Disney+ include crime thriller Big Sky from visionary storyteller David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, The Undoing), Love, Simon spin-off series Love, Victor written by the film’s original writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (This Is Us) and adult animated sitcom Solar Opposites, co-created by Justin Roiland (Rick & Morty) and Mike McMahan.

Drama series Helstrom, executive produced by Paul Zbyszewski along with Karim Zreik and Jeph Loeb, will also be available at launch. Other projects premiering in 2021 are premium series Dopesick and The Dropout and new content from the Kardashian Jenner family among many more.

Kylie Watson-Wheeler, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand, said: “From the day Disney+ launched in November 2019, Australians have welcomed us into their homes and have been blown away by the depth and breadth of our content.

“The launch of Star marks the beginning of an integral new part of Disney+, making it bigger, bolder and even more exciting. The arrival of almost one thousand blockbuster movies and seasons of iconic television series, plus exclusive Star Originals promises to make Disney+ the ultimate choice for high quality entertainment with even more to explore for everyone.”

From 23 February Australian customers can access the new Star content by subscribing to Disney+ for $11.99 per month, or $119.99 annually.

Full details on how to subscribe will be available on disneyplus.com. Current prices for existing subscribers (prior to 23 February) will be honoured for six months, with the price change taking effect on the next monthly or annual renewal date for subscribers following 22 August 2021.

The penultimate episode of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! saw a double elimination last night as Adam and Dippa departed last episode on the Australian set. The Thursday installment was the winner in the timeslot, under 50 and in all key demos. The regular episode was on 725,000 last night and the elimination audience climbed to 762,000.

The seven remaining celebrities will now be reunited on a live series finale to screen Sunday night on 10. The channel’s next best last night was The Project on 460,000.

Nine managed to win the night with the best primary and networks shares. Nine News and A Current Affair were both top five with ACA a timeslot winner at 7pm. Getaway didn’t win its timeslot, but its audience of 345,000 was part of Nine’s winning schedule. As was another iconic Australian movie. After The Castle and The Dish, Nine went with Crocodile Dundee last night with 252,000 watching. The Friday Aussie classic will be Crocodile Dundee II.

Seven had its first taste of football this year with the launch of the AFLW season as Collingwood took on Carlton. The game screened on Seven and 7mate across different markets. The audience was 198,000 with 124,000 in Melbourne.

Laura Tingle hosted her final 7.30 last night with 485,000 watching before the return of Leigh Sales next Monday. Another final last night was the end of Rick Stein’s Secret France with 289,000 pushing it into the top 20.