The Seven Network has taken around 42% revenue share in the commercial free-to-air market in April, while the major winner has been subscription television, which saw 15% revenue growth.
If SBS is not taken into account, Seven eclipsed its free-to-air competitors with 42.5% revenue share, according to data from Standard Media Index (SMI).
Nine trailed behind with 32.6% share while Ten struggled with 24.9% share.
Maxus chief operating officer Mark McCraith told AdNews: “Ten wouldn't be happy with those results. They are much lower than Ten's objective for the year. I'd expect to see Nine gain some more share in late May and into June as the higher audiences from shows like The Voice and The Block flows into revenue share.”
Last year Ten's then-chief executive Lachlan Murdoch said Ten would take at least 30% revenue share for 2012.
Seven director network sales Adam Elliott told AdNews the result was reflective of Seven's high rating product. However, he also admitted the share might change in the short term as a result of Nine's high rating programs. Nevertheless, he said Seven expected to maintain the dominant share.
Elliott also said the television market is looking very strong in general. “Forward bookings are looking good, there are good signs in the back half of the year. The total television market saw growth in April, so there are some good signs for television.”
The total television market grew 2.8% in April, with the strongest growth experienced by the pay TV sector, which grew 15%. Metropolitan television grew 1.2%.
MCN chief executive Anthony Fitzgerald said the results reflected a strong subscription television landscape.
“Compared to free-to-air, we still have a great capacity for growth, because our audience share is still behind our revenue share, so I expect this growth will only continue,” Fitzgerald said. He said much of the growth was driven by the launch of Fox Footy Channel, a dedicated AFL channel.
For the first four months of 2012, subscription TV has seen 13.7% growth, in a market which dipped 0.5%, with metro TV falling 3%.
For the financial year to date, subscription television has risen 8.7% between July 2011 and April2012, while metro TV fell 4.5%. The total television market fell 2.5% in this period.
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