Leckie: “I’m sick of all this crap…. We are #1.”
The always-colourful Seven CEO says the demos don't matter. And says a few other things as well....
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Seven CEO David Leckie has given an interview with today’s Australian Financial Review, and he isn’t happy.
It would seem too much media has been written about Packer, Murdoch, Gyngell …..and demographics.
“I know everyone is talking about Packer and Murdoch and Gyngell, but the bottom line is Seven has delivered,” he says.
“Because of everything that’s happening in the media recently, people aren’t remembering Seven is No. 1.
“I’m sick of all this crap. It’s very important for us to say we are No. 1.”
The always-colourful Seven boss pushes the network line that it has won news, public affairs, breakfast TV and ad revenue.
“We’ve called the year. We’ve killed the other networks. We are miles ahead of the other guys and we are proud of what we’ve achieved.”
Seven will finish the year in first place for Total People, but Nine looks set to snare the key demographics, aided in no small part to GO!’s performance.
“I don’t care what anybody says about demographics,” he said.
“Look at the scoreboard. We are No. 1. Full stop. The big red train is moving along.”
End of year figures from networks, due in just two weeks will be full of various spin, wins, rises, victories, interpretation, with / without Olympics, with / without Commonwealth Games, with / without digital channels, with / without the primetime zones of 6 -10:30pm.
One source tells the newspaper that Leckie is looking forward to taking on a “Packer-controlled TEN.” Leckie famously had a run in with James Packer last year at 70th birthday celebrations for former Nine executive Sam Chisholm, when Packer decided70th to throw a few cross words his way. Others have speculated who might replace him when he eventually exits Seven, including when that might occur.
Meanwhile Leckie adds that TEN has been saved by “one cooking show,” declining to name it, and says Nine has two good shows: Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory. No more thoughts on Seven’s own Cougar Town?
Seven has certainly ramped up its output this year with a long list of local shows. The most successful of them, My Kitchen Rules, will return next year, but the jury is still out on Iron Chef Australia and The X Factor.
“We’d love to have them back,” he said.
Source: Australian Financial Review
44 Responses
Seven is succeeding because it is run by 2 guys who understand media in Leckie and Stokes. In many ways they are like the old Channel 9 under Kerry Packer who hardly ever spoke to an ordinary Australian but had an innate understanding of what they wanted to watch on TV.
Ten and 9 are run by bankers and accountants with little feel for the market. James Packer may change 10 but I believe he wants it profitable and if that means lots of Simpsons repeats he will be happy. He will be just as happy if his involvement at TEN succeeds in pushing more people to Pay TV.
Well, 7 are #1 while “daily” share is calculated on primetime only – whether this would stil be the case over 24 hours is perhaps something else altogether. I would call the winner of daily share #1… if it were calculated over 24 hours instead of just 6 – anything else is up for debate.
“I’m sick of all this crap”, interesting comment considering the crap that is on 72 and 7mate.
The 18-49 demo is what generates money. Overall ratings make for great press releases (case in point, right here with Leckie, what a child) but 18-49 does bring in money.
Jerome, your comment is full of such ignorance, I do not know where to begin. Demos are the most important in America and timeslot wins are determined by the highest demo rating as, I’m repeating myself here, that’s what makes the most money. Fox does not “always win” the 18-49 demo, CBS is miles ahead of Fox in the 18-49 demo, hence why they have more advertising revenue.
The proof? Well, ever looked at the US ratings? Ever wondered why a show with 10 million viewers gets cancelled? The 18-49 demo determines whether a show is renewed or cancelled in the US.
As others have pointed out, with Australia having such a small market, I do not believe the demos have as great importance. To say they are meaningless though, as Leckie seems to state, is a bit ridiculous.
Is he forgetting that Nine also have Underbelly??
As for TEN, how dare he say “one cooking show” It’s more like a cooking franchise. Plus TBYG with Undercover Boss, Modern Family and Biggest loser still having some steam.
Not to mention TEN shaking up primetime with more News and ELEVEN taking a slice out of the digital channel share. Along with James Packer wanting to bring more Sports to TEN
Ten might actually take away from Seven’s share which in turn could give Nine back the win for 2011.
And if demos don’t matter… what on earth is 7mate doing?
Formula for CEOs commenting on shows in Australia….
Ratings down = Demos are the most important thing.
Ratings are up = What’s a Demo??.
No Demo + No Rating = Global Warming / Internet / Something involving a Pie Chart.
Encore = We found something people will watch so chuck it on again.
Relaunch = Maybe someone will watch it this time.
Changing of viewer habits = No one is watching it.
Giving a rest to = We can make more out of the set as scrap.
May come back in the future = Harold Holt
G1 Gronk.
Talk about attention whores…
“Because of everything that’s happening in the media recently, people aren’t remembering Seven is No. 1.”
He needs to stop acting like a 9 year old. The kids from that “one cooking show” seem to be more mature than him.
Typical arrogance we saw from Channel 9 only a few years ago. Breed too much arrogance and watch them slip from #1 in everything..
Janey makes a good point, re: cost per share point. Just Look at the huge spend on X factor for a modest return. The flipside of all these points of view is, if Nine wants to dominate and restore themselves at Number One – then they will have to dramatically increase their production spend, and be bolder in experimenting with new idea’s.
Spot on about Nine Mr Leckie. That network is useless. At least at Ten they are trying new things all the time. Seven continue to deliver and in this country demo’s are pretty useless compared to the US.
I am glad they are number 1. Remember Nine was #1 for so long and its good to see Seven stay at the top. People have always said Seven will fall off its perch next year after year since it took the #1 spot and well it hasn’t happened. Seven are #1 and its good to see. All my shows i watch are either on Seven, Ten or Seven’s digital channels and the only show i watch on Nine is Big Bang Theory.
Nine are useless when it comes to shows. Sorry but its true. The only thing Seven have been sour on for me is their V8 coverage. Its been poor. The Melbourne Cup Carnival was just awesome but the V8’s? Something needs to be done here.
There is a lot less Australian content on 7 than there was 5, 10 or 15 years ago. Leckie has overseen a reduction in Australian production to a point that the ACMA quotas have become a limit rather than a bare minimum.
As a former 7 employee says, “shame, shame, shame”
@Bruno. so you work at tv station hey
I guess being from Channel Nine originally and now Channel Seven he never realised how irrelevant I and probably most other people find the ‘We’re No. 1’ boast. All I care about is some decent shows, reliability and being on time. Due to chasing ratings often the first two things suffer. Plus due to a ridiculous amount of ads the latter seems impossible. It’s all a big turn-off. Literally.
I’ll admit that’s why I prefer some of the secondary channels more. Except the ABC and SBS. As they are reliable and try for quality. I’m thankful.
I will admit I probably watch Ch. 7 more than the other two commercial main channels. But it’s nothing to boast about as it’s limited. Which is: Channel 7 News (all the ABC would have to do is put Classic Doctor Who on for that to change), the end of Castle and Air Crash Investigations. I also watch stuff on Ch. 73 on Saturday and Thursday.
Missing from the original article in the AFR is the Fact that the advertising revenue is 7-38%, 9-33%, 10-29%…
So armchair experts…. go jam your demographics ….
You may be #1 in ratings, but until you get the sporting coverage (especially the Footy) to a standard that is remotely acceptable, there will only be ONE decent channel for the sports fan (Pun Intended).
I love him.
@alex. it’s it second at it and i wouldn’t call it a ratings winner and all the money 7 put into. they would have been expecting bigger numbers for every show.