Press release from Seven
Seven announced today the first phase of its programming for 2012, confirming an increasing commitment to Australian production as the network further strengthens its already top-rated primetime.
Seven‟s programme development for 2012 builds on the network‟s acknowledged leadership in Australian drama series and event television. It also reflects Seven‟s unparalleled depth of success in programming over the past twelve months with the unprecedented renewal of four Australian drama series and four major „tent pole‟ event television series.
Driving Seven in 2012 will be the network‟s expanding coverage of the Australian Football League – with Seven the only broadcast network for the AFL.
Announcing Seven‟s plans for 2012, Seven‟s Director of Programming and Production, Tim Worner, said:“We are proud of what has been achieved in 2011 but the very hard work to make 2012 a success is well under way. There are a number of new Australian productions we announce today. This is only the first step. Much more is in development and we're actually really looking forward to 2012 and revealing more new shows for Seven that build on our impressive portfolio.”
The new series include a new Australian drama series from the creators of Packed to the Rafters and Winners & Losers, the long-anticipated return to television for the creators of Kath and Kim and the commissioning of two new programmes from Working Dog, the creators of Thank God You‟re Here. Seven‟s leadership in factual programming will be further enhanced with the new series Wild Planet and the commissioning of Coastwatch: Australia. Also new on Seven: Billy Connolly‟s Route 66.
And on Seven in 2012 will be the major drama event Titanic, new series from the 2011-2012 United States television season, including Strike Back, Revenge and Good Christian Bitches.
These freshman series will be joined by new series for the biggest portfolio of successful returning programmes: Downtown Abbey, Home and Away, Packed to the Rafters, Winners & Losers, Wild Boys, Sunday Night, Grey‟s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Parenthood, Body of Proof, Australia‟s Got Talent, The X Factor, My Kitchen Rules, The Amazing Race, Criminal Minds, Bones, Castle, Beauty and the Geek, Dinner Date, Border Security, The Force, Highway Patrol, RSPCA Animal Rescue and Better Homes and Gardens.
Planning for 2012 reflects Seven‟s depth of programming and leadership.
More Australians watch Seven than any other television network. This is Seven‟s eighth consecutive year of leadership in breakfast television, seventh consecutive year of leadership in news and public affairs, fifth consecutive year of leadership in primetime, fifth consecutive year of leadership in morning television and sixth consecutive year of leadership overall across the 6:00am-midnight broadcast day.
Seven‟s broadcast television business has moved to a new level over the past twelve months, with our multiple channels on our digital broadcast platform confirming our leadership and driving audience growth across all key audience demographics. The new digital channels are designed to leverage and complement the success of Seven‟s primary channel.
Seven is number one for total viewers and in all key audience demographics: 16-39s, 18-49s and 25-54s in the 2011 television year. 7TWO is the most-watched digital channel for total viewers and people 25+. Following its successful launch twelve months ago, 7mate is number one in its target men 16-54 audience across the 2011 television season.
Seven‟s suite of television channels delivers more viewers than anyone else. Seven‟s broadcast platform is up in all key audiences on the same weeks in 2010. Seven is up 13.8% in total viewers, up 18.2% in 16-39s, up 14.3% in 18-49s and up 13.6% in 25-54s on weeks 7-38, 2010.
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AFL on Seven 2012
Headlining Seven‟s drive into 2012 will be the Australian Football League. Seven is the only broadcast television platform with AFL across 2012-2016 and will dramatically expand its coverage with four key franchises: Friday Night Football, Saturday Afternoon Football, Saturday Night Football and Sunday Afternoon Football. Seven will also be the only broadcast television platform for The Brownlow Medal, the AFL Finals Series and the AFL Grand Final.
Better Homes and Gardens moves to Thursdays in 2012.
New on Seven in 2012
Building on the successful launch of two new drama series, Wild Boys and Winners & Losers, Seven has given the green light to a new Australian drama series from the creators of Packed to the Rafters: A Place To Call Home.
The creators of Kath and Kim are back on Seven with a new project in 2012. Little more needs to be said than „welcome back‟.
Working Dog Productions, the creators of Thank God You‟re Here and The Panel, is back on Seven with two new series: Pictures of You and Sports Fever! Pictures of You is a relaxed, interview style show in which well-known guests are asked about their formative years. Sports Fever! is a weekly comedy program, celebrating sport from here and around the world.
Building on the success of Seven‟s Beauty and the Geek and Dinner Date comes a new programme from Granada, Please Marry My Boy, in which eligible guys look for love. The twist? They can only date girls who have their mum‟s seal of approval.
Good Christian Bitches is a wicked new drama from Darren Star (creator of Sex and the City) that shows that you can go home again… but only if you‟re ready to face the sins of your past.
Revenge from Australian director Phillip Noyce and executive producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey (Twilight) tells the story one woman who returns to her old neighbourhood, willing to destroy everyone for the sake of revenge.
Titanic is an epic mini series written by Julian Fellowes, the Oscar winning screenwriter of Downton Abbey and is the extraordinary re-telling of that doomed voyage, focusing on different characters ranging from steerage passengers to upper class guests. Each point of view will culminate in a cliff hanger as the ship begins to founder, building to an explosive conclusion which draws together each of the stories.
Strike Back from HBO is a high-octane, globe-spanning thriller with storylines ripped from today's headlines, Strike Back focuses on two members of a top-secret intelligence agency known as Section 20: a British sergeant on the elite counter-terrorism team and a former U.S. Delta Force operative who was discharged on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.