‘We’ve had a great first half, but there’s a lot to talk about in the next six months’: Nine’s Hamish Turner on going from strength to strength
After winning the first six months of 2020, Nine is showing no signs of taking the foot off the gas. With its production slate back to normal, following COVID-19 restrictions in the first half, and new opportunities like State of Origin in November, the network is ready to go from strength to strength.
Before I turn my recorder on, Nine’s program director Hamish Turner and I are discussing 2020 with an asterisk, or, the year of the ‘new normal’. But you wouldn’t know that to look at Nine’s results from the first half of the year.
Not only did Nine hold 27.83% in total people, above Seven’s 26.50% and Ten’s 18.70%, it also took 30.01% in the key advertising demographic of 25-54 and 28.98% with the 16-39s. Married At First Sight may have dropped 500,000 from 2019, but its finale still easily topped 1m metro viewers (1.478m) which isn’t a given in the current TV lineup. Plus, 2019 wunderkind Lego Masters also delivered a spectacular season.
The free to air network results for H1 [click to enlarge]
