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Multichannel Survey: 7TWO / 7mate

How do networks view their own multichannels? TV Tonight put questions to each of them in a series of articles.

How do our networks view their own multichannels?

It’s been close to two years since all of our Free to Air Networks have had three channels, but how have they evolved since their launch and what should viewers expect of them in terms of content?

TV Tonight has asked each network a series of questions about their target audience, programming, HD content and more. Each was asked to focus on recent, current and upcoming titles. Are they serious about first run episodes or are they primarily catch up channels?  And what’s coming up? Over the course of these articles you will see how they view their products.

First up is 7TWO and 7mate, with Seven answering the questions on its two multichannels.

NAME OF MULTICHANNEL:
7TWO

BRAND IDENTITY
Broad Drama and Lifestyle

TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC:
25+

RATINGS / PERFORMANCE RESULTS:
Topped 28 weeks this survey year equating to 80% weeks won. Lead all People for the year.

KEY FIRST RUN TITLES:
Escape to the Country, 60 Minute Makeover, Property Ladder, Bargain Hunt

UPCOMING FIRST RUN TITLES:
Country Calendar, Food Truck, Cowboy Builders, Britain’s Empty Homes, Gardeners World

RECENT SUCCESSES:
(Unanswered)

PREMIUM HD CONTENT:
N/A – not an HD Channel

ANY FIRST-RUN AUSTRALIAN CONTENT?:
The Travel Bug, All 4 Adventure

CATCH-UP SHOWS FROM PRIMARY CHANNELS:
not regularly

* * *

NAME OF MULTICHANNEL:
7mate

BRAND IDENTITY:
Comedy
Mantiques
Real-Life Characters
Auto
Structures & Engineering

TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC:
Men 16-49

RATINGS / PERFORMANCE RESULTS:
#1 Digital Channel with all young males demos, Men 16-39, Men 16-49, Men 25-54, Men 16-54 in 2012.
Growing across all male demos Year on Year
(Source: 5-City Metro, 6pm-Midnight, Consolidated, excluding Olympics)

KEY FIRST RUN TITLES:
Family Guy
American Dad
Turtleman
Swamp People
Hardcore Pawn
American Pickers
Full Throttle Saloon
AFL in Syd/Bris

UPCOMING FIRST RUN TITLES:
Auction Kings
Rat Bastards
Mounted in Alaska
American Restoration
Cities of the Underworld

RECENT SUCCESSES:
Turtleman, averaging 200,000 viewers.

PREMIUM HD CONTENT:
Majority of content in primetime is in HD

ANY FIRST-RUN AUSTRALIAN CONTENT?:
Outback Truckers
Upcoming: Big Australia

CATCH-UP SHOWS FROM PRIMARY CHANNELS:
(unanswered)

31 Responses

  1. How many episodes of Escape to the Country could they possibly have? Every time I flick past 7Two that show happens to be on.

    And they claim 7Two is aimed at 25+ age group? Would be more like 50+ I reckon given the pile of older skewing UK titles that dominate prime time.

  2. I have Foxtel in my lounge room and not my bedroom hence i only ever watch the free view channels in my bedroom! At least 80% of the shows listed above as key and upcoming “first run titles” are on Foxtel years before they are on 7Two and 7mate!

  3. I find it strange that last summer 72 repeated Escape and 60MM when the eps of Escape are 3.5 years d and 60MM is unknown.
    Repeating is ridiculous when we are so far behind!!!

  4. I just want to know…catch up websites are OK but with multi channels why can’t they do some of their catch up on their other channels
    9 did this with House Hubbies on Gem
    Ch 10 can’t you do the same with Homeland or Hawaii 5 O eps ?

  5. Another show I see sneak peeks on 7mate is “Bomb Squad Afghanistan”.

    Do you think those first run titles will be for Summer or when ratings begin again in 2013?

    1. Foxtel advises it has the following:

      ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY – LifeStyle channel has the Australian Premiere episodes
      60 MINUTE MAKEOVER – LifeStyle HOME has the Australian premiere episodes
      PROPERTY LADDER – LifeStyle channel finished airing the UK series some time ago. Or are they referring to PROPERTY LADDER USA? LifeStyle didn’t acquire this
      BARGAIN HUNT – LifeStyle channel has the Australian premiere episodes
      COWBOY BUILDERS – LifeStyle channel have already premiered S1-5 and S6 premieres on LifeStyle HOME early next year
      GARDENER’S WORLD – LifeStyle channel has the Australian premiere episodes

  6. 7Two is not for 25+, it is a repository for programs that are 25+ years old. 4ME has more entertainment value than 7Two.
    7Mate has some half decent (and out of the ordinary) programs although I agree with other comments about repeats of repeats. Is it just me or does anyone else get the impression that 7Mate schedule is done by a late teens female?

  7. Just to prove variety exists in Australian society… I am a 22 year old male and 7TWO would be one of my favourite channels. I like classic British content (lifestyle I can live without though). 7mate is something I hardly ever watch.

    I am not saying I am in the majority as I am obviously not but Seven’s multi channel strategy seems to work (as is doesn’t take away from their own channels) and provides something for a variety of people to watch. Successful in my eyes.

  8. Agree with Rick2. I have never watched 7Two and rarely watch 7Mate (jacked off with the Family Guy/American Dad confusion, too) but I have a clear image of each channel’s identity and they seem to have been pretty consistent right from when they started.

    Contrast that with “General Entertainment and Movies” – Go! has more movies than GEM and I guess “General Entertainment” means Friends, reruns, Friends, medical shockers and, er…. more Friends. Go! is also a bit of a mish-mash of reruns but does at least skew younger most of the time. I felt that it had a much stronger identity when it first started. I used to watch it quite a bit but now, hardly ever.

    Eleven still has quite a strong identity as far as target age but One’s has got more murky after sport was de-emphasised.

    @Rick2 – good luck with the Viagra business!

  9. I’d suggest that these two are the best defined, positioned & consistent of all the (commercial) digital channels.

    They have a character that the programming pretty consistently delivers. Either one may not be for you, but they serve their target audience pretty well while encroaching only a little on each other or Ch7.

    Try nailing down a character for Go or Gem or Eleven. One used to have it with sport but didnt gain enough viewers.

    And just btw, the older end audience on 7TWO offers excellent value for advertisers chasing the older demos. Our business uses it regularly & gets great response. (No we dont sell adult nappies) 🙂

  10. Got to commend the efforts of using the multichannels to show sport live and around the country. Showing some of the warm-up tournaments for the Australian, Wimbledon and away Davis Cup ties to give FTA viewers access to coverage they previously didn’t get. Well Done Seven.

  11. I’m pretty sure all of Seven mates shows like Swamp People and Pawn Stars are second run… I watch all the new episodes on A&E on Foxtel. They seem to be way ahead

  12. Only ever watch 7mate (stupid name) for AFL and V8 supercars. Nothing else on this channel appeals to me. 7Two seems to show a hell of a lot of reruns of shows that were shown time and time again on the ABC. Who wants to watch ABC reruns with commercial breaks thrown in.

  13. Seven should rename Seven Two as Seven UK. Or better still Seven Ancient UK. The endless primetime stream of creaky old dramas and comedies from the Old Dart, and “lifestyle” programs from the UK that are up to 10 years old are a joke. Seven, you’re really not trying that hard.

    Agree with Qubec too about Seven Mate. I’m a Family Guy / American Dad fan. But endless repeats of those wear thin. Especially as they’re the type of shows that tend to be downloaded the most.

    And don’t get me started about the incredible stupidity of showing unknown and crappy lifestyle shows on Seven Mate on recent Sundays when Bathurst and the V8 Supercars at the Gold Coast were on. it was like watching them through pea soup on Seven’s main channel in SD. Yet they were shot in beautiful HD, as we saw in replays on Speed on Foxtel afterwards. Why they weren’t simulcast in HD is beyond me. It’s hardly as if there’s a problem with audience splitting on a Sunday afternoon!

  14. 7two has disappointed me lately.They’ve stopped showing Bargain Hunt, well I presume they can’t show anymore episodes FTA from Foxtel. And 60 Minute Makeover is also in repeats. I do enjoy Escape to the Country and Homes Under the Hammer.

    I also watch American Pickers on 7mate which I really like.

    I just wish that they would replay some of the 7 shows on the multichannels. ie The Amazing Race!

  15. Why not have some male skewed drama on Mate to appeal to those not wanting the female shows on Seven. No interest in 7two, as Quebec said its all for the oldies which is fine with me but would like more variety on Mate. Cant wait to see what the others have to say. It will be interesting to see what happens at the end of next year.

  16. @DanR, “mantiques” are those Picker type shows like American Pickers, Canadian Cowboys et al where guys go around looking for interesting things in garages attics etc.

  17. 7Two is aimed at 25+ demographic? What a joke! It’s clearly a channel for middle aged to elderly individuals.
    Mate needs less repetitive programming. It seems like the same shows every night and the constant repeating of American Dad and Family Guy is ridiculous. I never know when it’s a new episode and have given up.

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