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