Seven Network

The Seven Network is an Australian television channel in most Australian capital cities. Its parent company and namesake has, in recent years, grown into a diversified media company. Seven's main shareholder is the Westrac owner Kerry Stokes.

Diversified Media Assets

While originally focusing on running a television network, Seven has recently diversified into a range of other media areas over the past decade. Below are some of the businesses it has run, or is involved with:

• It was a former stakeholder in the Optus Vision consortium.
• It owns a small part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
• It owns a large stake in the Telstra Dome (previously Colonial Stadium) stadium in Melbourne.
• It was a former partner in the 7 internet joint venture with America Online and Telecom New Zealand subsidiary AAPT. This venture is now owned by Primus Telecom, but Seven continues to supply it with content.
• It owns a third of Sky News Australia, a subscription TV channel. The other equal partners are PBL (Nine) and BSkyB (Sky Television UK).
• It owns Ticketmaster7, a ticketing company.
• It owns a majority stake in B Mobile, a mobile phone retailer.
• It owns a magazine publishing business, Pacific Publications, which publishes the following magazines in Australia and NZ:
  • New Idea
  • Family Circle
  • That's Life
  • Monument
  • Golf Leisure and Lifestyle
  • Home Beautiful
  • Your Garden
  • K-Zone
  • Total Girl
  • Girlfriend
  • TV Hits
• It owned the (now defunct) i7 portal.
• It was a partner in Sports Vision, a company that ran the now defunct Sports Australia channels.
• It owns C7 Sports, which had a number of subscription sport channels and is continuing it's efforts to find carriage again. The service was originally available on Optus Vision and Austar plus Foxtel during the Olympics in Sydney
• It owned Australia Television (now ABC Asia Pacific), a FTA satellite service broadcasting to Asia and the Pacific.
• It and Granada Television each owned half of the Red Heart production company. The two companies retain close ties.

Television Network

While Seven has in recent years diversified into a range of other media businesses, its primary business is still owning television stations, and the Seven Network. In most areas, the network usually rates #2 overall (competing with the Ten Network), with the #1 ratings position usually going to Nine. However it regularly comes out on top in Perth.

It has a strategy of targeting females. This is one reason why it has more drama and less sport than the other networks. It also has more UK content than the other commercial networks (but much less than the ABC and SBS).

Most of its inhouse and commissioned programs have near exact copies on the Nine Network, due to copying by both sides. Nine's version almost always wins.

Seven Network Owned

Callsigns for Seven Network stations in the capital cities:

• ATN-7, Sydney
• HSV-7, Melbourne
• BTQ-7, Brisbane
• SAS-7, Adelaide
• TVW-7, Perth

Seven Network programming is also carried by the following affiliate networks:

Seven Network owned:

• 7 Queensland - Queensland regional aggregated market

Southern Cross Broadcasting owned

• TND-34, Darwin (ID's as 7 Darwin)
• 7 Central - remote central Australia (via satellite)
• Southern Cross - Tasmania (non-exclusive)
• Central GTS/BKN - Spencer Gulf, South Australia and Broken Hill, New South Wales (non-exclusive)

Prime Television owned

• Prime Television - Victoria, Northern New South Wales and Southern New South Wales regional aggregated markets; Mildura, Victoria region
• Golden West Network - Western Australia (broadcast terrestrially in all major regional centres, also available via satellite)

WIN Television owned

• Prime Television - Griffith, New South Wales region (WIN owns both commercial broadcasters in Griffith - one carries their own programming, the other is a feed from Prime Television)

External Link

• Official Website