Katie Finney, Jordan King.
Seven stands behind the "power of free-tv" as the network continues to accelerate broadcast video on demand and streaming offerings on 7Plus.
Chief content officer Brook Hall said that despite a growing audience — the Nielsen Consumer & Media View (CMV) survey revealing that linear still brings in 19 million Australians each week — the industry still underestimates the power of free-to-air.
"It’s almost seen in the media as an old term but it’s so many things now and digital is so much a part of us and the fact that our audiences are getting bigger - this is a growing market," Hall told AdNews.
"As an industry, particularly seven and nine…we are getting bigger and bigger each year - more audience consumption of younger audiences and it’s just how we break that perception in the market, not just the media but viewers."
National television sales director, Katie Finney, said total tv is growing and there is a "positivity in the market".
She recognises that key to this growth is how BVOD can optimise audience reach.
"How can we drive audiences at scale through linear but then precision targeting through BVOD," said Finney.
"Continuing to look at different assets across different screens and how we integrate specifically. That’s really important for brands.
"Combined Seven, Nine and Ten are up year-on-year when you look at total television. Seven from a total TV - we're up. We're growing in some really key areas too. So, there’s this confidence around screens and local media companies."
Digital sales director Jordan King said “total tv is up”.
Numbers reflect the strength of both linear and digital, supported by a "variety of audience and variety of content so they work so well together".
King said BVOD has entered a new era and more brands continue to see value in planning across both channels.
"BVOD, which is the thing I mainly talk about when I'm speaking about digital, has gone past its childhood and it's into adolescence," he said.
"You’re seeing the ability for the broadcasters to deliver at scale with BVOD complimented obviously with linear. So the two things together now are telling much bigger, bolder story than either on their own ever could.
"With BVOD you do have the increased targeting, increased sort of return path data, through various assets that you are able to draw out of it, which can sort of be tangible in terms of the real world outcomes immediately and more refined in terms of the targeting.
"But I mean the fact that they go together is so important and so important for our strategy as a sales team moving forward."
Seven has announced a new data partnership with Westpac Data X providing advertisers with insight into how ad exposure on 7Plus converts to sale outcomes.
Speaking on how linear and BVOD compliment each other, Katie Finney said advertisers need proof of how their campaigns will drive real results.
"They are wanting outcomes to be proved. We can do that at scale," she said.
This is through Seven's audience data and programming with diverse audiences and programs.
Key to this strategy is 7GeoPlus, said King, explaining how this “sophisticated” technology will distinguish Seven from its competitors.
"Geo-targeting is not a new thing, right, that's been around for digital for basically forever," he said.
"The quality of the data though, there is a real spectrum to it.
"IP is a little bit fragmented. Seven uses IP to a degree as does every broadcaster. We also used declared postcodes. So when a user logs in on 7Plus we get those declared postcodes and they are absolutely currently the best standard there is for geo-targeting, sort of that combination of the two."
"What 7GeoPlus is, is a third sort of tranche of geo-targeting, but it is the most sophisticated.
"To adhere to the AFL and 7NEWS standards for our users on 7plus, so we're giving the right people the right content, we've had to work with GeoComply to build a solution that is fit for purpose. We're now in a position to take that and build an advertising product off the back of it to be really accurate with the geo-targeting we're doing."
He said that the technology is "that level of data-deeper" which will benefit brands in the categories of utilities, state government and franchises who might need greater precision than declared postcodes.
Hall said the biggest attraction for advertisers going into 2026 will be "a hidden success and something new, and a big, warm authentic show."
This includes Seven’s fresh show formats with the untitled The Mick Malloy and Glenn Robbins comedy series.
"They want to keep part of the campaign as a tease," said Hall.
Advertisers are prioritising brand-safety with shows like Farmer Wants a Wife.
"In terms of advertisers…they like safe and proven shows," said Hall.
“Huge on broadcast, huge on streaming, and it’s really brand safe."
Speaking on Seven's news offerings, Finney said that "people want to go somewhere where they can trust and be informed and so the power of tv to deliver that and free-tv is so important today."
Sport continues to drive interest between marketers and publishers with more brands seeking opportunities to connect with audiences through big cultural moments .
"The demand for sport has never been greater. For brands to connect with cultural moments and audiences at scale across both linear and streaming, is delivering huge results for brands," said Finney.
She recognised the record-breaking success of the 2025 AFL and Supercars seasons with a growing demand for partnerships during the summer particularly with cricket and ahead of the 2026 Glasgow Games in July.
"They just want more and more of it, so that's really positive for us, given that right now we are in the market with the Ashes which only come around every four years and the big bash which had a huge audience growth last summer.
"But now we are all in on cricket and then starting to really engage clients in terms of major events such as the Comms games which we will be hitting the market for sponsorship as of week after next."
Finney says the industry remains excited about the merger between Southern Cross Austereo and Seven, however, it hasn’t spearheaded the strategy for next year.
"There’s certainly a lot of excitement in the market about the proposed transaction and that was really clear through a lot of commentary that came both from media agencies and marketers so certainly a lot of excitement about that. But in terms of the deals we are working on right now for 2026 they are specific stand-alone for Seven and SCA at this stage," she said.
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