Seven delivered a slate of new announcements at its 2023 upfront event on Tuesday, held at Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter.
See Also: Seven Upfront 2023: Every Announcement
The broadcaster revealed a raft of new and returning content announcements, a new channel, and new partnerships.
Yesterday, Mediaweek published its chat with Seven CEO and managing director, James Warburton, which can be read here.
Today, we catch up with Seven’s chief revenue officer, Kurt Burnette, to discuss what these announcements mean for revenue generation at the company.
“We’re building for growth, not just into next year, but well beyond that,” said Burnette when asked about the core message of this upfront. “The first key factor to that is the AFL, extending that to 2031. The next big one – which is a huge game changer – is the NBCU content deal where we will be launching a brand new linear and live stream channel, 7Bravo. We believe that this will grow our share of audience next year. If you think about the fact that 7mate with men 18-39 does a 7% share on the linear channel, we believe this will be the same for women 18- 49 on 7Bravo. The content of Below Deck, Real Housewives, and a whole lot of other things will be new to Seven and the only place to get it for free.”
When asked what the elevator pitch is to advertisers, Burnette reiterated that it is all about growth.
“Building for growth and partnering for growth, giving certainty in an uncertain world where people are looking to go to a product like Seven that can give them what they need – which is a big audience on mass and the ability to integrate a story into a brand. We can target this very specifically with our addressable capability through 7plus and 7REDIQ.”
NBCU and 7Bravo
One of the biggest announcements at the Seven Upfront was that the company has signed a content deal with NBCUniversal. This will see a new channel, 7Bravo, launching on 15 January 2023, with content such as Below Deck Down Under (S1), Below Deck Adventure, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip (S1), The Real Housewives of Dubai, The Real Housewives of Miami, Love Without Borders, Southern Hospitality, and Real Girlfriends in Paris, among others.
Burnette said that Seven’s lead focus begins and ends with content and the audience that it creates.
“NBCU was one of the biggest content deals outside of sport. The deal was an absolute priority as it set us up for now and into the future. It was a strategically sought-after content deal. Strategically, females under 50 is where we wanted to go.”
The Women’s World Cup
Seven has acquired the Australian free-to-air rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, which will take place from July 20 to August 20.
Seven will deliver every game of the Matildas in the tournament as the free-to-air exclusive deal covers broadcast and digital rights, ensuring comprehensive live and free coverage.
Burnette said that this was a deal that Seven really wanted because they felt they could broadcast it better than anyone else.
“There’s only going to be 10 brands in that six weeks. We’re partnering with Optus Sports, it’ll be a one-stop shop. It is the most compelling marketing platform in 2023 when you consider that if you want to see the World Cup, this package can deliver everything. That’s the first time that it has ever been presented in that fashion. That’s actually a very big deal in respect of how it’s been presented and sold.”
With a large amount of live sport on Seven and the fact that Australian Idol is returning to a live format on Seven, Burnette said that live broadcast is still an attractive proposition to advertisers.
“Clients are really interested in connected television, it is growing exponentially. It is now over 70% of the streaming that takes place, it’s no longer the mobile phone, it’s actually the connected television. So many live broadcasts are linear live streams of the broadcast. They’re merging and converging very quickly. It’s a very powerful proposition that brands want to be next to because you can have the mass reach of broadcast with the dynamics of digital live streaming. More targeting has also led us to launch our own ad units, a new digital ad product where you can swap out the creative in real-time.”
Supercharging 7CODE+
The first phase of Seven’s new digital and broadcast converged trading platform, CODE 7+, will start in 2023.
Announced last year as the network’s largest-ever technology transformation project, CODE 7+ is a new converged media planning and campaign tracking solution, which transformed and enhanced Seven’s audience automation solution, CODE 7, adapting it for total video audience buying.
The second phase of the rollout of CODE 7+ will start next year, and in 2024, the full total video audience delivery system will launch.
In a global first, Seven will bring together the technologies of both Salesforce and Imagine Communications, a leader in video infrastructure, advertising systems and workflow management solutions.
CODE 7+ will also be underpinned by the new industry total audience measurement VOZ, along with data from Seven’s market-leading audience intelligence platform 7REDiQ.
“This technical stuff is sometimes hard to get across in a press release,” said Burnette. “Last year, we announced CODE 7+ where we replaced our digital order management platform. We used a Salesforce company called Media Cloud. That will go live in February of next year. That was on the digital side, and now we’re moving into the next stage, which is the broadcast component. We’re completely swapping out our back-end system there. It’s the first time that we have brought Salesforce and Imagine together in the way that we’re doing it. We believe that when it is fully operational it can save 30% of time and process for our customers and ourselves in bringing audiences together across Seven and 7plus.”
Seven invests in gaming and technology business, Aura
Seven has announced a strategic investment with Australian media gaming and technology business, Aura, to deliver engagement across its BVOD service, 7plus.
The investment will also see Aura’s next-generation technology integrated into 7plus, creating an immersive experience.
Aura uses video game technology that can stream content. Its immersive platform enhances the screen experience for viewers and advertisers with an interface that is completely interactive.
Operating like a video game, Aura’s advanced technology aggregates content, data, social and transactional capability into one environment, allowing the viewer to take full control of the experience.
Burnette said that personalization means a better viewer experience which means a better ad experience.
“We want to find new ways to keep our audience engaged and to find ways to bring in the younger audience. We know they love gamification. They want live interactivity whilst watching the show on several platforms. That’s what Aura brings – it’s the very latest in technology. They’re going to help develop what we do for next year, but also, we’re working with them on what we do with the AFL in 2025. Ecommerce, gamification, stats, interactivity, all of those things are what Aura can bring and that’s why we invested in them. That famous ad, we like the company so much, we invested in it.