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Growth Beats ROI: Why Effectiveness is the New North Star

Insights

Growth Beats ROI: Why Effectiveness is the New North Star

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Stewart Gurney

Director of Strategy and Effectiveness, Nine

At the 2026 Future of TV Advertising conference in Sydney, Stewart Gurney, Powered by Nine’s Director of Strategy and Effectiveness, delivered a compelling challenge to the industry: stop chasing efficiency at the expense of growth.

Watch the session now, or if you prefer a written summary, read the insights below.

Gurney opened with a hard truth for advertisers: while ROI has become the “shortcut for success” in boardrooms, it is often an efficiency metric that prioritises cost-cutting over profit maximisation. And, by focusing solely on ROI, brands are falling into an under-optimisation trap, missing out on an estimated $4 billion in potential profit.

This is the catalyst for The Growth Project – Nine’s commitment to proving Total TV’s contribution to driving bottom-line results.  

Gurney went on to outline three distinct growth pillars for advertisers to shift from this ROI, efficiency-obsessed mindset to an effectiveness mindset to reclaim lost that profit: 

1. Sales Growth: The Power of Scale and Saturation

The core of Gurney’s session focused on the inverse correlation between ROI and profit growth. Because ROI improves as you spend less, it often leads brands to underinvest in the channels that actually move the needle.

The Revenue Driver: Analysis from Mutinex revealed that Total TV (TTV) is the second-highest contributor to media-driven revenue, generating 22% of all media-attributed sales, double platforms like YouTube.

The “Gym Bro” Analogy: To illustrate the difference between efficiency and effectiveness, Gurney compared media channels to moving house, with digital performance channels as your “fast” friends, good at moving the small boxes, and TTV as your “gym bro mate”, capable of lifting the heavy furniture. If you prioritise  your “fast” digital mates moving you, you’re leaving the heavy furniture (profit) behind.

High Saturation Points: Unlike digital channels that get tired or reach a plateau quickly, TTV continues to deliver. With the highest saturation point in the Australian market, brands can invest significantly more in TV before seeing diminishing returns. Despite this, 83% of advertisers remain underinvested in the medium.

2. Brand Growth: Content, Context, and Co-Viewing

Two very powerful dynamics make TV superior at brand building, Gurney explained – the content advertising is associated with, and the context of the viewing moment. What someone watches and how they watch it is often a forgotten dynamic when it comes to cross-screen planning.

The Big Screen Advantage: Viewing on a TV screen produces 60% higher ad recall than mobiles or tablets, largely because viewers are in a more relaxed, receptive state.

The Power of Company: 40% of Australians watch free-to-air content with others. This co-viewing creates social resonance and memory structures, making audiences twice as likely to mimic an ad when watching with others.

The Trust Era: In an age of fake news, professionally produced content generates 60% higher recall and significantly more trust than user-generated content (UGC).

3. Short-Term Growth: Priming the Performance Pump

While TV is often viewed as a long-term play, Gurney highlighted its critical role in driving performance, acting as a primer that makes the bottom of the funnel work harder.

Supercharging Digital: TV investment leads to a 14% improvement in search and social conversations.

Bypassing the Search Trap: With AI tools like Gemini and ChatGPT disrupting traditional search, getting consumers to go direct-to-site is vital – 66% of TV-initiated searches are direct or organic, allowing brands to leapfrog expensive, generic search terms.

Action Driver: Data from Adgile confirms that 1 in 3 media-attributable actions (web visits or app interactions) are driven by TV, proving its immediate impact on the digital ecosystem.

Many of these insights require advertisers to think differently and challenge existing biases  However, the takeaway is simple: if growth matters to your business, effectiveness matters. And if effectiveness matters, then TV matters. 

Explore more Growth Project insights today

Source: Nine Project 2025 Mutinex/ Kantar/ Adgile, Thinkbox Context Effects Study

Looking for more efficient, effective and transparent ways to grow your business? Enquire today.

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Nine Dominates First Quarter with Record Audiences

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The combined power of the 9Network, 9Now and Stan ensures Nine is the ultimate growth platform for scale and engagement.

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9Network secures the No.1 position
across all key demographics and Total People

Australians have turned to Nine for news, sport and entertainment in 2026, ensuring the collective audience growth across the 9Network, 9Now and Stan has dominated viewing in the first quarter of the year.

As Nine’s Streaming and Broadcast division delivers on its promise to convert national cultural moments into commercial scale and high-value growth within a unified FTA, BVOD and SVOD ecosystem, the 9Network has officially dominated the metro market in 2026 calendar year-to-date, securing the No.1 position across all key demographics and Total People.

9Now is the nation's No.1 Commercial Free-To-Air (CFTA) BVOD platform, leading the year-to-date across all key demographics and Total People. Notably, the 9Network currently holds a 55% prime time commercial share in the P16-39 demographic, while 9Now commands the BVOD landscape with the same share in the P16-39.

With 2026 beginning with the Summer of Tennis and Australian Open, then followed by the Winter Olympics, Married At First Sight and the launch of the NRL season - all underpinned by 9News, A Current Affair and 60 Minutes - a strategy that connects Nine’s viewing platforms like never before is coming to life.

As audiences migrate between the 9Network, 9Now and Stan, a connected ecosystem has been supercharged through cross-platform promotion, on-air commentary and clear pathways for viewers that drive incremental engagement across every screen.

This model ensures that mass broadcast reach converts into sustained engagement on 9Now and subscriber acquisition on Stan/Stan Sport, maximising the commercial return on Nine’s content investment.

Nowhere is this strategy more successfully illustrated than the unprecedented success of Married at First Sight, delivering record audiences on Channel 9 and 9Now, and now also driving subscriber acquisition and engagement on Stan. The 2026 season of MAFS reached over 16 million viewers nationally across Total TV, up 5.9% on last year, and generated more than 9.3 billion Total TV minutes viewed.

Leveraging the power of the MAFS format led to the creation of the new Stan original MAFS: After the Dinner Party, to extend the commercial reach of the format. The launch of MAFS: After the Dinner Party is Stan’s highest ever single episode subscription driver in a 24 hour period, and has been the number one series on platform since launch. It is the highest reaching launch of the last 12 months.

Commercial Broadcast Television
6pm to midnight - 5 City Metro - 2026 Q1

 

Network
Network
Network
25-54 51.2% 28.9% 20.0%
16-39 55.9% 25.6% 18.5%
GS+CH 46.3% 35.9% 17.8%
Total People 46.4% 35.8% 17.8%

 

Source: OzTAM VOZ 5.0 Data, When Watched, 01/01/2026-13/04/2026, Share to Selected, 1800-MN, 5 City Metro, Broadcast TV only (including spill)

Broadcast Video On Demand - Commercial Shares
All Day - 2026 Q1

 

25-54 51.9% 35.5% 12.6%
16-39 55.5% 32.9% 11.6%
GS+CH 49.4% 37.3% 13.2%
Total People 49.7% 37.3% 13.0%

 

Source: OzTAM VOZ 5.0 Data, When Watched, 01/01/2026-13/04/2026, Share to Selected, All Day,, National, BVOD (including spill)

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Quarter 1
Ratings Highlights

SPORT

Australian Open 2026: The Australian Open delivered strong audience growth across 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport. The tournament reached over 14 million Australians while the Men’s Final achieved a record National Total TV average audience of 3.448 million (up 67% YoY). This broadcast scale saw huge growth on 9Now, with audiences surging to a record 924,000 (up 141% YoY) and Stan Sport recording viewership growth of 110% YoY.

Milano Cortina 2026: Nine’s coverage of the Winter Olympics has already been watched by more than half of the Australian population, reaching 14.4 million people across Total TV with a Broadcast TV reach of 12.1 million and a BVOD Reach of 4.5 million. 9Now has provided 19% incremental reach to broadcast TV, with 46% of People 16-39 watching the Winter Olympics via 9Now only. Stan Sport’s comprehensive coverage of the Winter Olympics supported this scale with over 200 million minutes watched. This contributed to the most weekly active users in Stan Sport’s history, as subscribers engaged with the full depth of the sport lineup, from the Winter Olympics to the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Super Rugby Pacific and Six Nations.

Wide World of Sports Momentum (NRL & WTA): The 2026 NRL season launch in Las Vegas delivered a timeslot-winning performance across all key demographics, with a 61.7% surge in BVOD streaming on 9Now.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

Married at First Sight  again broke records, proving the power of Nine’s Total TV strategy. Reaching a Total TV audience of 16 million viewers over 11 weeks, the series was up 5.9% on last year.  The season signalled a shift in viewing habits, with MAFS growing its streaming audiences on 9Now by 41.1% YoY. The episode screened on Sunday, March 1 has had a 28-day consolidated audience of 3.296 million, which is the highest Total TV National Audience the show has received in VOZ history.

This unprecedented scale on the 9Network provided the ultimate funnel for the Stan Original MAFS: After The Dinner Party, which set a new benchmark for customer acquisition, breaking the all-time 24-hour subscription record for Stan (previously held by Yellowstone) and resulting in an 81% increase in new Stan subscribers week-on-week.

Tipping Point Australia continues to dominate  the 5pm timeslot, delivering strong year-on-year growth of +1.7%, captivating a National Total TV Audience of 740,000 per episode. With a BVOD National Average Audience of 105,000, the show is up 71.4% YTD and remains Australia’s must-watch afternoon game show.

 

NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

9News 6.00pm bulletin Mon-Fri grew its audience by +6.6% year-on-year to date (National Total TV Aud of 1.225 million) with a 79.4% increase in BVOD viewership on 9Now (National BVOD Aud 179,000 per bulletin). Furthermore, 9News won its timeslot across the 5 City Metro and in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. It also achieved significant year-on-year growth across the markets:
5 City Metro +7.0%
Sydney +2.8%
Melbourne +1.6%
Brisbane +11.4%
Adelaide +20.1%
Perth +15.7%
Regional +3.9%

Australia’s most-watched nightly public affairs program, A Current Affair, continued to dominate, with viewership growing by +0.2% year-on-year to reach a National Total TV audience of 1.014 million each night.

60 Minutes has continued to deliver powerful investigative journalism that resonates with Australians, achieving a National Total TV audience of 853,000. 

Meanwhile, Today  attracts a National Total TV audience of 317,000 each morning.

 

Source: OzTAM VOZ 5.0 Data, TVMap VOZ Program Analyser, YTD to 20/04/2026 v STLY, Average Audience, Reach, National (inc Spill), Markets (excl Spill), Total TV, Con 28 & Overnight

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Amanda Laing, Nine Managing Director Streaming and Broadcast, said:

“From the Australian Open to MAFS we are seeing collective audience growth across 9Network, 9Now and Stan. By moving from siloed platforms to a connected system, we are leveraging our production, data, and distribution at every touchpoint to optimise our content investment. This isn’t just about record breaking audience numbers; it’s about a more efficient and sustainable model that allows us to deliver greater value for our consumers and more effective outcomes for our partners.”

“By designing our consumer experiences to be complementary rather than competitive, we are building a more sustainable business. The scale of broadcast TV is successfully converting into high-value engagement across our digital platforms. This is the Streaming and Broadcast strategy in action, allowing us to use our unique Australian reach to fuel our own growth engines. Our performance so far this year is the direct result of a structural shift in how we manage our assets and capitalise on what is the most enviable first quarter content slate in the country.”

Contact us for more information on how your brand can leverage the power of premium content on Nine to deliver real business outcomes.

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State of the Nation: Trust, Truth, and the Mental Dividend

Nine Publishing

Independence  |  stories that matter  |  commercial with integrity

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Insights from Nine's State of the Nation Panel //

Trust, Truth, and the Mental Dividend

April 23, 2026

Panellists

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Jordan Baker

Editor, The Sydney
Morning Herald 

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Katie Davies

Executive Editor,
nine.com.au

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Kylar Loussikian

Business Editor, The Australian Financial Review 

The current media landscape presents a striking irony: while information is more abundant than ever, certainty has never felt scarcer.

Earlier this week, Nine Publishing’s Managing Director, Tory Maguire joined industry leaders to unpack the state of the nation, and the critical forces shaping our nation’s future. Between fluctuating interest rates and the AI revolution, for marketers and business leaders, the desire to cut through the "noise" has never been stronger. 

The Flight to Fact: A Transfer of Trust

Ash Thomas, Nine Publishing’s Commercial Director, opened the session by revealing insights from the "News Nation" research by ThinkNewsBrands, and how with the rise of AI-generated content and social media scepticism, 74% of Australians are deeply concerned about misinformation. 

The result? A significant "flight to quality." Trust in national news publishers has climbed to 78%, with two in five Australians now using mastheads like The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review as a verification layer to fact-check their social feeds. 

"For brands, this provides a massive mental dividend," Thomas noted. "Readers slow down and lean in when they engage with our journalism. Ads in these environments see 6.4 times higher unprompted recall than anywhere else on the web." 

Navigating the Wild Ride of Current News

Host and Nine Publishing’s Managing Director Tory Maguire, took the room on a journey of her three-hour morning window, being served updates around global events, and how they can drastically change from moment to moment. Posing to the panel, how do newsrooms manage the sheer volume of global events, and curating desired content for each of their audiences?  

Jordan Baker, Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, highlighted the success of live blogging, noting that readers are personally invested in global conflicts. “They are fascinated with what we are going to wake up to, as current economic events such as the fuel crisis raises curiosity – will we still be driving our cars in a few months?” The news cycle is treated as both essential information and a high-stakes narrative, and the SMH has adapted by putting significant resources into the live team because the current state of global events is so consequential. 

Katie Davies, Executive Editor, nine.com.au emphasised that in a 24/7 cycle, it’s not about being “first” anymore but being "right", which is essentially the only way to maintain the 10 million-strong audience that relies on Nine’s mass-reach platform and trusted voice. 

Economic Resilience and Structural Shifts

On the economy, Kylar Loussikian, Business Editor, The Australian Financial Review provided a nuanced take on the current "optimism bias" in the markets. Despite the Strait of Hormuz closures and inflationary pressures, the ASX remains resilient. However, Loussikian warned that the full impact of global supply chain disruptions, affecting everything from PVC piping to resin, has yet to fully trickle down to company bottom lines. 

The panel also touched on the growing sense of "intergenerational disenfranchisement." Jordan Baker pointed to the housing crisis and the rising cost of education as drivers for a shifting political landscape, where younger Australians are increasingly seeking immediate change and "plain speaking" from leaders, hence the rise in “grievance parties."

AI: A Tool, Not A Replacement

The conversation concluded with a forward-looking discussion on Artificial Intelligence. The consensus across Nine’s mastheads was clear: while AI is a powerful labour-saving tool for data analysis and research, it cannot replace "boots on the ground." 

"AI can’t go to a crime scene, and it can’t have background conversations with sources to find the real story," Baker said. The panel noted that as AI becomes more prevalent, the value of "soft skills" – EQ, relationship building, and critical thinking – will become the most sought-after traits in the workforce. 

Key Takeaways

Verification Matters: Australians are hungrier than ever to validate the "truth" of what they see on social media. The role of responsible journalism in Nine’s newsrooms, and being the trusted voice for the nation, will remain at the core of everything we do.

High Engagement: Cost-of-living and practical "help" content (from budget winners to value-tested products) are driving record engagement across all brands.

The Trust ROI: Partnering with Nine Publishing brands delivers an average ROI of $3.90 for every $1 spent, driven by the "transfer of trust" from journalism to advertising.

For more insights, Nine has launched The News Effect, a five-part video series exploring the impact of premium news environments on brand outcomes.

Learn More

Consumer Pulse April 2026

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WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT

April 2026

The national mood is predominately negative, with a strong drop in Net Positive Emotions while Net Negative Emotions increase. Despite this, Nine’s audience value their health, life enjoyment, and family security but also show increased importance for a world at peace. While 1 in 3 are feeling a mix of optimistic and cautious due global unrest and rising costs, 1 in 2 are still feeling financially secure; all fuelling opinions and conversations this month.

Portrait of beautiful senior couple on bike ride in autumn nature. Taking break, drinking water from sport bottle and fastening helmet.

3 April - 6 April, 2026

Inside this month’s Consumer Pulse dip

Concept of male mental health, anxiety and depression at home.

Mood of the Nation >

Female friends sitting in cafe with mug of coffee, talking, support, friendship

CONVERSATION STARTERS >

Mood of the Nation

The national mood

The national mood has further declined with a dramatic decrease in positive sentiment while negative sentiment has seen a significant uplift. The net negative mood has reached a record high, even surpassing levels seen during COVID. Australians are feeling frustrated, anxious and unsure, with these emotions seeing an increase month on month, reflecting a shift into a more negative mindset.

NOTE: For the best viewing experience on mobile, please view landscape.

Dominant mood indicators

The top moods are dominated by negative emotions, with only the bottom 3 of the top 10 feelings including the positive sentiment of calm, relaxed and hopeful. Frustrated, anxious and unsure top the list this month as the top 3 feelings. The dominance of negative emotions continues further down the list with pessimistic, annoyed, stressed, and sceptical, occupying the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th  positions. The heightened negative sentiment across Nine’s audience reflects the escalating global unrest.

NOTE: For the best viewing experience on mobile, please view landscape.

NATIONAL MOOD BREAKDOWN

of the under 45 age group feel stressed

The top 5 feelings overall are dominated by negative emotions, a consistency across all age groups that reinforces the widespread impact of the current climate. However, those under 45 show stronger levels of stress (30%) and anxiety (38%) in comparison to older audiences. Additionally, males report strong levels of frustration (35%) and annoyance (30%), while females are more likely to be anxious (34%).

Burnout, stress and business woman in office feeling pain, exhausted or migraine. Headache, mental health and anxiety of tired female employee overworked, stressed and depressed in company workplace.

BRAND CONSIDERATION

Brands must move beyond mere visibility to provide a stability premium that counters widespread anxiety with reliability and combats demographic-specific frustrations through frictionless, hyper-accessible service.

Australian Values

Australians are secure but still concerned

When it comes to what matters most, health remains the most important value for Australians. This core value, along with enjoying life and family security, has continued to matter most year on year.

Other values have seen some slight shifts, with increased importance placed on a world at peace (up 9 percentage points) and national security (up 3 percentage points), reinforcing that the current global unrest is at the forefront of consumers' minds.

At the same time, the importance of well-being ideals such as mental health, and meaningful relationships through mature love and true friendship have seen a minor decline from the previous quarter.

NOTE: For the best viewing experience on mobile, please view landscape.

Conversation Starters

OUTLOOK ON THE YEAR AHEAD

of Nine's audience are feeling cautious

Outlook on the year ahead differs between demographics with older Australians feeling both optimistic and cautious  

While around 1 in 2 are feeling cautious about the year ahead, 1 in 3 are feeling a mix of optimistic and pessimistic. Younger audiences show a highly cautious outlook, while older audiences express a stronger mix of both optimism and caution. Cautious sentiment stems from global conflicts and instability, as well as increased financial stress due to price increases. Those experiencing a mixed outlook, attribute it to comfort and security within their personal world despite the instability globally, as well as some expressing the perception that the current issues are short term and will pass.

Young woman holding card in a cafe thinking

BRAND CONSIDERATION

To bridge the gap between global instability and personal security, brands should position themselves as reliable anchors that validate the caution of younger consumers through value-driven stability while tapping into the personal world optimism of older audiences by highlighting long-term resilience.

Financial security

of Nine's audience are feeling financially secure

Half of Australians feel financially secure despite global conflicts and rising prices dominating concerns 

Current concerns are dominated by global conflicts and their impact on fuel prices as well as national security (78%), and rising prices for essentials (70%). However, despite these concerns 1 in 2 are still feeling financially secure. Older audiences show less concern than those under 45 for high rent, rising interest rates, ability to buy a home and ability to afford non-essentials (e.g., holidays, dining out), reinforcing that they feel more financially secure and are likely to maintain their current spending habits. Additionally, females show higher concern over the cost of essentials, while males are slightly more concerned about political polarisation / social division.

BRAND CONSIDERATION

To succeed in a market defined by starkly different financial realities, brands must deploy a flexible value proposition that pairs empathetic, cost-conscious messaging for those feeling the squeeze with high-confidence, lifestyle-affirming engagement for the significant portion of the population whose spending power remains resilient.

Midsection of sommelier explaining about wine to smiling couple. Senior man and woman are sitting in restaurant for winetasting. They are spending leisure time.

NEWS CONSUMPTION

of Nine's audience are increasing the time they spend accessing news

Australians news consumption increased for 1 in 5, with Australians prioritising reliable and trusted sources 

In the last month, Nine’s audience expressed being more selective with their news sources (37%) and more reliant on trusted news sources (33%), highlighting the increasing importance Australians are placing on reliability and credibility. Additionally, news consumption has seen an uplift with 1 in 5 increasing the time they spend accessing news. The combination of these behaviours tells us that audiences are engaging more deeply with content they perceive as credible, rather than passively consuming a wide variety of sources.

Older audiences show strong engagement with news in comparison to younger audiences, with those under 45 tiring more so of the Middle East conflict coverage. Additionally, females are looking to counterbalance the prevailing negative mood, with 1 in 4 seeking out good news / lighter news stories.

A man holding a newspaper while standing outdoors in an urban environment. The image showcases leisure, focus, and information-seeking activities during a typical day in a city.

BRAND CONSIDERATION

In an era of rising news fatigue and heightened discernment, brands must prioritise placement within high-trust, credible environments to capitalise on deeper audience engagement.

March 2026 Data
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State of the Nation: The News Effect

This is The News Effect,

a brand-new series as part of our State of the Nation initiative.

In conversation with the editors of our mastheads and our talented journalists – on The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review – we pull back the curtain on how they curate news for the modern reader, anchored in the latest ThinkNewsBrands 'News Nation' data.

Hear from Nine Publishing's Managing Director Tory Maguire and Commercial Director Ashleigh Thomas as they run through what to expect.

Episode One //

The Verification Layer

With Jordan Baker – Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

With the continued rise of misinformation and social platforms acting as echo chambers, is it becoming impossible to differentiate fiction from fact?

Prefer to read?

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Episode Two //

The Gen Z Curator

With Lisa Muxworthy – Head of Growth Content

There’s a massive misconception that Gen Z has "checked out" of traditional news, but the ThinkNewsBrands data tells a completely different story. They are, in fact, the demographic most inclined to pay for a news subscription.

Prefer to read?

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Episode Two //

The Gen Z Curator

With Lisa Muxworthy – Head of Growth Content

There’s a massive misconception that Gen Z has "checked out" of traditional news, but the ThinkNewsBrands data tells a completely different story. They are, in fact, the demographic most inclined to pay for a news subscription.

Prefer to read?

See more

Episode Three //

The Context Dividend

With Cosima Marriner – Editor, The Australian Financial Review

If you’re a brand who has been avoiding the headlines out of caution, you might be missing your biggest opportunity yet. It turns out news journalism isn’t just safe for brands, it’s actually a superpower.

Prefer to read?

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Episode Four //

The Attention Economy

With Aimie Rigas – Director, Audience Growth

Imagine your brand being remembered six times more effectively than it is right now. It sounds extreme, but the recent ThinkNewsBrands data says it's the result of ‘The News Effect’.

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Episode Four //

The Attention Economy

With Aimie Rigas – Director, Audience Growth

Imagine your brand being remembered six times more effectively than it is right now. It sounds extreme, but the recent ThinkNewsBrands data says it's the result of ‘The News Effect’.

Prefer to read?

See more

Episode Five //

The Misinformation Counterweight

With Luke McIlveen – Executive Editor, Metro Mastheads

In 2026, influence is everywhere, but integrity is rare. With Australians now flagging influencers as a significant misinformation risk, brands are starting to ask: are we building reputation on solid ground, or shifting sand?

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Responsible Journalism

At Nine, we champion truth, depth and integrity to connect with an engaged, high-value audience. For advertisers, responsible journalism is a business advantage - explore our news brands and get in touch today.

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Let's talk about how Nine's premium publishing ecosystem can elevate your brand's impact.

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Automating the Admin to Reclaim the Art

Opinion

Automating the Admin to Reclaim the Art

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Karen Camus

Director of Digital Ad Operations

13th April, 2026

In 2026, the AdOps mandate is to kill the grunt work and get back to the strategy

For years in this industry, we’ve worn "manual" like a badge of honor. We told ourselves that in the world of direct-sold media "hand-held" service meant high-touch, premium quality. But let’s be honest: there is nothing premium about a brilliant digital specialist spending four hours squinting at VAST tags or chasing a broken creative asset through a fragmented email chain.

At Nine, I oversee the execution of campaigns across a massive, complex, media footprint. My team is made up of some of the sharpest minds in the business. And yet, for too long, the industry has hired young guns only to turn them into data entry clerks.

We must recognise that true premium execution isn’t defined by the volume of effort required to check a creative spec, transcode tags, or traffic a line item.

We’ve been confusing manual labor with value, and it’s time to stop.

AI Learnings: Why Automating the Right Thing Starts with the Human

Real sophistication lies in a seamless pathway for digital execution that is wired directly to the advertiser’s goal: speaking meaningfully to our audience. That is the premium standard our clients expect, and we must leverage the technology at our fingertips to protect it.

The admin is the noise, filled with repetitive spec QA and fragmented email chains. This is where the operational friction hits hardest. When we use AI to handle the grunt work of direct sales, such as instant, automated creative validation the moment a file is uploaded, we are protecting the advertiser’s right to a flawless launch.

By offloading these mechanical checks to AI agents, we gain something far more valuable than time: cognitive headspace. This shift allows my team to move from being traffic wardens to delivery strategists.

The future of AdOps is about automating the admin so we can finally reclaim the art.

From Data Gathering to Intelligent Orchestration

The complexity of today’s digital landscape has outpaced the spreadsheet. A single direct-sold campaign at Nine now breathes across a sophisticated ecosystem: the massive reach of 9Now, the high-impact environments of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Australian Financial Review, and the premium streaming of Stan and HBO Max.

Historically, simply glimpsing campaign performance across these silos was a manual marathon, hours spent extracting, cleaning, and organising data just to understand the baseline. Today, automating the right thing means moving to intelligent orchestration. AI removes the manual burden of tracking delivery and replaces it with a unified, ‘full picture’ view. This allows us to ensure an advertiser’s relevance is maintained, whether a viewer is immersed in a live cultural sporting moment like the Australian Open, streaming a primetime tentpole, or engaging with a breaking news exclusive.

The Humanity Moat

However, let’s be clear: AI operates in a vacuum. It can validate a technical spec in milliseconds, but it cannot understand the "why" behind a brand’s legacy or the subtle nuance of a breaking news cycle. In direct-sold advertising, clients are buying impressions; but they are also buying our judgment. They are buying the right to have an expert say: “The data suggests a pivot, but my contextual understanding of this premium environment says we stay the course.”

The New AdOps Mandate

The goal of automation at Nine is to sharpen the mind. We are building a future where our specialists aren't masters of platform user interfaces, but masters of the machine. By using AI to receive the right information at the right speed, we allow our people to do what they do best: lead with empathy, think with context, and own the craft of advertising that resonates human-to-human.

Explore the Nine Advantage today

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State of the Nation with Genevieve Quigley, Editor, Sunday Life

Nine Publishing

Independence  |  stories that matter  |  commercial with integrity

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Genevieve Quigley - Editor, Sunday Life

Our mission is simple: to elevate our readers’ day. We do that through a curated blend of style and substance. Whether our readers are diving in over a morning coffee or winding down on Sunday night with a glass of wine, Sunday Life is their ultimate passport to ‘me-time’. We don’t just report on the lifestyle, we define it.

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The “I Don’t Watch TV” Myth: Why Your “Screenager” Nephew and Local Tradie Are Actually Your Most Engaged Viewers

Opinion

The "I Don’t Watch TV" Myth: Why Your "Screenager" Nephew and Local Tradie Are Actually Your Most Engaged Viewers

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Kath Sroka

Director - Digital Commercial Strategy & Enablement

31st March, 2026

It’s time to stop defining TV by the device and start measuring it by the cultural currency of premium content. From MAFS to the Australian Open, the screen has changed, but the scale has only grown.

TV suffers from a perception issue. The "I don’t watch TV" statement has become fashionably cool, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Viewers who claim to be "raised on feeds" or who don’t own a physical TV set are very often the same people captivated by live EPL on a smartphone or hooked by streaming Love Island Australia on a laptop.

Premium content remains our ultimate connector. People haven’t stopped watching, they have simply changed how they engage. This past summer has opened my eyes to content as the latest social currency.

"I don't do reality TV"

The power of the MAFS franchise never fails to spark inspiration. Take my friend – a self-confessed "news and docos only" viewer. She’s currently planning a getaway to Wineglass Bay with her husband, entirely inspired by Stella & Filip’s Tasmanian honeymoon. Meanwhile, my own husband – who “only watches” because of me – is convinced this same friend is a double for another contestant. It’s co-viewing and closet reality buffs at its finest.

"We don't watch 'regular TV channels', Aunty Kath"

This summer while holidaying with family, my 21-year-old niece spotted me reading The Housemaid. She immediately linked the film adaption starring Sydney Sweeney to the American Apparel campaign and Euphoria too, launching with a new series in April.

Meanwhile, my other niece was busy earning kudos from her parents in mastering scramble eggs learned from TikTok. It’s hardly the same cred as dropping intel on Naomi’s jellyfish AO outfit, Bad Bunny’s half-time show, or Mariah Carey’s Winter Olympics live act – was that a lip-sync?

My screenager nephews also "raised on feeds" were locked to the couch watching the drama of the Big Bash Cricket and United Cup Tennis unfold, continuing now through to winter sports, drawn in by their big sporting icons and live scores.

Then there’s the "Platform Oblivious". A young tradie helping build our alfresco proudly shared he didn't own a 'TV set'. Yet he confessed to watching Love Island Australia on his laptop, content couch-surfing in friends’ living rooms, while following the wash-up on socials.

People don't "watch TV"? It might not be via an old-school set, but they’re still watching long-form premium content when they want it. Whether it’s live sport, entertainment, or news, premium content connects people with cultural moments across all devices.

The Power of Scale in a Fragmented Market

The appetite for premium video has never been higher. The challenge today isn’t a lack of audience, but the fragmentation of choice. At Nine, we are solving this by replacing complexity with scale. Our premium content solution integrates 9Now, Stan Sport and HBO Max collectively into a single gateway. Through one dedicated sales team, Nine offers clear behavioural strategies to reach diverse BVOD and SVOD audiences backed by a market-leading data proposition and ad products designed for seamless execution.

For brands, the magic is clear in the data. Live and On-Demand are a powerful duo for full-funnel outcomes. The "water cooler" effect of live viewing drives massive awareness; in fact, Live content sees an Ad Recall of 52%. This is particularly potent in genres like Live Reality, where recall hits a staggering 67%.

On-Demand is where receptive viewers turn into buyers. On-demand moments are more personal, engaging and in control. It leads the way in brand outcomes focused on action, with 51% of viewers showing high ad receptivity compared to 44% in Live. We see this translate directly to the bottom line, with On-Demand video exposure delivering a +7.4% lift in purchase intent.

In 2026, the commitment to long-form premium content is simple: deliver these engaged audiences and the metrics that brands crave.

From the high-stakes action of the NRL to the comfort viewing of Seinfeld, Nine continues to capture the hearts of all types of viewers. You might not call it "TV" anymore, but we’ve built the ecosystem that follows the audience wherever they are and however they choose to engage.

Source: Kantar Nine Live and On-Demand Research, 2025. Study commissioned by Nine to evaluate ad recall and consumer receptivity across live and video-on-demand (VOD) platforms (Base: n=3375 for ad recall; n=1557 for attitude and action).

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Nick Young Unpacks an Unlikely Programmatic Partnership

Opinion

Nick Young Unpacks an Unlikely Programmatic Partnership

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Duane Hatherly

Head of Editorial, Mediaweek

30th March, 2026

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Nick Young, Commercial Director - Digital

It’s not everyday that fierce competitors like Nine and Seven share a stage to announce significant industry collaboration. But when it comes to the programmatic supply chain, the two broadcasting giants have finally found common ground.

Last year, Nine's digital commercial director, Nick Young made industry headlines with a fiery critique of the programmatic ecosystem at the 2025 Future of TV Advertising conference.

Fast forward to today, and after wryly explaining that he has since made the appropriate apologies, Young and Seven’s national digital sales director Jordan King, are back on stage together talking up recent developments confirming they are teaming up on a programmatic joint venture.

The ultimate goal is to drive transparency and efficiency back into the buying process, so that more of every advertising dollar is directed towards delivery and advertisers can better measure the return on their investments. In essence, pushing back against an arguably bloated supply path.

Interestingly, this collaboration is aided by the fact that the two executives are familiar colleagues. Young and King previously worked closely together for years steering Nine's digital sales, so they’re already familiar with each other's ad tech playbooks.

Speaking on that panel at the 2026 Future of TV Advertising conference, and in a subsequent interview with Mediaweek, Young unpacked the technical challenges of a system that currently features more than 50 intermediaries.

Fixing The Broken Supply Chain

Young noted that while programmatic accounts for 60% of Digital Video Market, the current model leaks significant value.

“When we're getting 50 cents in the dollar, and another media owner is getting a hundred cents in the dollar,” Young explained on the panel, “Before you even start, our inventory - and this is a technical term - is gonna look shit.”

He went on to say that the sheer number of intermediaries reduces the final return on investment for publishers, making premium broadcast inventory look less effective to media buyers.

Young also pointedly called out the parity issues broadcasters face when competing against global digital platforms that bundle media assets with rich, first-party data.

He noted Amazon has already recognised this imbalance and built a product to address it in the US, but that it remains unavailable in Australia.

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Justin Lebbon (left), Jordan King (centre), Nick Young (right)

To stem the bleeding in the meantime, Nine has already taken aggressive individual steps. Young revealed that they have consolidated their Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) and actively removed non-transparent partners from their ecosystem. By dealing exclusively with transparent models and direct deals, Nine has managed to double its programmatic revenue in that specific pool over the past eight months.

Realising that a single publisher can only do so much to combat the global tech giants, Nine and Seven have found a way to collaborate. But it’s not a simple task in regulatory terms as they are direct competitors.

Notwithstanding those difficulties, the networks issued a Request for Information (RFI) to 13 Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) to evaluate crucial tech capabilities, including ID resolution, data privacy, and the specific treatment of live broadcast sports.

On stage, King said live sport presents a unique and massive hurdle for standard digital ad tech. Young explained to Mediaweek that traditional ad servers are fundamentally designed to deliver campaigns evenly across a standard seven day week.

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Justin Lebbon (left), Jordan King (centre), Nick Young (right)

Live broadcast audiences simply do not behave that way. When a live sporting event suddenly draws hundreds of thousands of concurrent viewers, standard ad servers struggle to keep up and fill the inventory during those instantaneous spikes.

The networks are now actively seeking tech partners capable of handling the immense scale of live broadcast without failing.

The Green Button Reality

The industry has been buzzing about a unified green button solution, which would act as a single frictionless gateway where an agency could buy across multiple television networks at once.

However, Young cautioned that a magic button is just one of many possibilities currently on the table. He confirmed there are at least six different options being evaluated in the current RFI process.

Crucially, Young clarified that whatever solution is chosen, it will not result in a blended pool of competitor inventory.

“It's not a pooling of inventory type scenario,” Young told Mediaweek. “We will always maintain our ability to have our own individual setups.”

Broadening the Tent to SVODs

While the two networks remain fierce rivals for advertising dollars and daily ratings, Young pointed out that collaborating on major infrastructure is not a new concept for the broadcasters.

“We've owned broadcast towers together, we've even owned helicopters together,” Young laughed, pointing to their joint work in establishing industry bodies like OzTAM.

Tackling the ad tech layer is simply the next logical step.

Both executives expressed a desire to broaden the conversation to include other local premium video providers like Foxtel and SBS. However, Young explicitly broadened the horizon.

With global streaming giants aggressively entering the local ad tier market, he stated the invitation to collaborate extends to all premium video providers, be they BVOD or SVOD.

Ultimately, the networks are aiming for a simplified, unified buying experience. Programmatic television is a key part of the equation, but it is undergoing a much needed reset to clear out the wastage created by years of rapid growth.

“The core of what we're trying to do is create transparency and efficiency, by creating an ecosystem that puts more money towards working media because that drives a better result,” Young said.

Keep on top of the most important media, marketing, and agency news each day with the Mediaweek Morning Report – delivered for free every morning to your inbox.

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Consumer Pulse March 2026

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WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT

March 2026

The national mood is generally more negative, with a continued drop in Net Positive Emotions while Net Negative Emotions has increased. Over 1 in 2 of Nine’s audience are feeling secure with their finances, however rising costs are still having an impact with 65% wanting to cut back on spending, particularly on unnecessary luxuries; all fuelling opinions and conversations this month.

A young couple checks their bank statements and mortgage contracts to determine their financial ability

6 March - 9 March, 2026

Inside this month’s Consumer Pulse dip

Smiling woman in her 30's standing in kitchen texting on smart phone, communication, wireless technology, the internet

Mood of the Nation >

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CONVERSATION STARTERS >

Mood of the Nation

The national mood

There continues to be a slight drop in positive sentiment in the national mood while negative sentiment has remained dominant, seeing a slight increase.

The top 3 moods are calm, relaxed and anxious, with people also feeling hopeful, frustrated, and safe. The contrast between these suggests that while people are feeling generally calm, emotions of anxiety and frustration remain.

NOTE: For the best viewing experience on mobile, please view landscape.

Dominant mood indicators

The top 10 dominant moods are an equal mix of positive and negative emotions. The top 3 feelings reflect this contrast with calm, relaxed and anxious topping the list this month. The mix in emotions continues through the list with hopeful, frustrated and safe, the 4th, 5th and 6th positions, and the lower half of the top 10 feelings including pessimistic, sceptical, annoyed and optimistic.

Conflicting emotions persist across Nine’s audience, while calmness remains, global unrest is contributing to heightened pessimism in comparison to last month.

NOTE: For the best viewing experience on mobile, please view landscape.

NATIONAL MOOD BREAKDOWN

of the under 45 age group feel stressed

While the top 5 feelings overall are a mix of both positive and negative emotions, those under 45 show stronger negative feelings. One third of younger audiences feel stressed (33%), anxious (32%), and frustrated (29%). Contrastingly, Nine’s audience over 45 show a higher affinity for positive emotions, with around 1 in 4 feeling calm (26%) and relaxed (25%). 

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BRAND CONSIDERATION

Shift your messaging from a "one-size-fits-all" positive tone to one that mirrors the specific emotional reality of each demographic.

Cost of Living

Australians are secure but still concerned

More than half (56%) of Nine’s audience are currently feeling financially comfortable, which is consistent with last quarter (57%) but an increase from this time last year (up 12 percentage points).  29% feel like they are “just managing”, and 15% say they are “feeling the pressure” when it comes to their personal finances, which remains in line with this time 6 months ago, suggesting that feelings of financial security have reached a stable level. 

Most are still being affected by the rising cost of groceries (71%), insurance premiums (70%), and utilities (68%). However, the impact of the rising cost of groceries on consumers has reduced in comparison to last year (down 7 percentage points).

NOTE: For the best viewing experience on mobile, please view landscape.

Conversation Starters

DISCRETIONARY SPENDING

of Nine's audience are cutting back on spending

While personal finances have stabilised, consumers are still looking at cutting back and reducing discretionary spending  

In line with last quarter, 62% of Nine's audience are cutting back on spending due to the rising cost of living. While consumers have not yet already started reducing their spending, they are conscious about it, with a growing intent to cut spending in the next 3 months. This reduction primarily targets discretionary spending on International or Domestic Holidays, Dining out and Takeaway Food. Pet(s) and Investments categories are seen as essential with 1 in 5 considering these products and services a “must have”, consistent with last quarter. However, even as consumers plan to cut back on unnecessary spending, 4 in 5 remain willing to spend more on products they perceive as high quality and superior, suggesting that value is important.

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BRAND CONSIDERATION

Even as 62% of the audience plans to cut back, the fact that 4 in 5 are willing to pay more for perceived high quality reveals that consumers are not looking for the "cheapest" option—they are looking for the "safest" investment.

Purchase Considerations

of those under 45 consider Education a "must have"

Willingness to cutback on spending differs between demographics  

Reduction on spending varies across ages, with audiences over 45 showing less concern than younger audiences to cost of living increases, maintaining spending on discretionary items such as subscription to news (34%) and International or Domestic Holidays (24%). Consumers under 45 have already reduced their spending on non-essentials such as Dining out and Takeaway Food, International or Domestic Holidays, and Apparel & Accessories. Nine’s younger audience are also more willing to reduce spending in the next 3 months on essential items such as Utilities and Insurance products. However, Education is considered a “must have” for 1 in 3 of those under 45. Additionally, Males show a willingness to spend on Investments.

BRAND CONSIDERATION

Brands must position products as "essential future-proofing" for cost-sensitive younger audiences while doubling down on "premium lifestyle preservation" for the more resilient over-45 demographic.

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SUBSCRIPTIONS

of consumers over 45 consider their subscription to pay-TV or streaming service a must-have expense

The value of subscriptions shift by age with news a must have for 1 in 3 of those over 45  

1 in 3 of consumers over 45 consider their subscription to ‘news’ a must-have expense, as do 1 in 4 for a subscription to pay-TV or streaming service. While for people aged under 45, a subscription to music streaming services or podcasts are more likely to be a ‘must have’. However, younger audiences have already reduced spending on subscription services, such as pay-TV or streaming service (41%), food delivery services (32%) and subscription to gym, fitness or wellness (22%).

RESIZED:Photo illustration with a TV screen overwhelmed with streaming apps. (Maggie Shannon for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

BRAND CONSIDERATION

Brands must prioritise "platform-specific loyalty" by positioning news and streaming as non-negotiable lifestyle anchors for the resilient over-45 demographic, while pivotting to low-friction, "high-utility" audio and wellness bundles to retain cost-cutting younger audiences.

February 2026 Data
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