Advertising revenue for television networks is down 2.7 per cent to $2.2 billion, according to figures for the July to December period released by industry body ThinkTV.
This is the first time ThinkTV has published the information instead of Free TV Australia. The new data also includes revenue for SBS and Multi Channel Network (part of Foxtel) and revenue from ads screened on video-on-demand (VOD). This means it is not comparable with Free TV's data, which included revenues only from networks Ten, Seven and Nine.
"We have come together through an unprecedented collaboration between free-to-air and subscription TV and we are delighted that all commercial TV operators, including SBS, have provided their data to allow us to reflect the true scale of advertising on TV," ThinkTV's chief executive Kim Portrate said.
Last week, Network Ten issued a profit warning to shareholders, telling shareholders the weak advertising market was putting the industry "under severe duress" and it might report an annual losses of $30 million for this financial year if the government did not cut licence fees urgently. And Seven revealed its underlying profit was down 30 per cent. Nine is expected to reports its half-year results on Thursday.
While the total market declined to $2.2 billion over six months, revenue from VOD and streaming was up 48 per cent to $38 million. The figures are compiled by KPMG using unaudited data supplied by the television networks.
The final figures released by Free TV Australia showed national revenue for the three networks was $1.7 billion in the January to June period last year, a 4.3 per cent decline. At the time, Seven enjoyed a 39 per cent market share, Nine 35 per cent and Ten had 25 per cent of the advertising market. ThinkTV does not provide a network market share.
ThinkTV was created by Ten, Seven, Nine and Foxtel in late 2016 to promote commercial television as an advertising medium. The industry is battling a perception inside advertising agencies and media booking agencies that marketing on television is expensive and ineffective when compared with cheaper digital advertising.
The Australian companies are hoping to copy the success of a UK body called ThinkTV, which reversed the trend to increase advertising spending on television by 7 per cent between 2014 and 2016.
