Future Media Forum: How appointment TV is supercharging BVOD in Australia

The rise of on-demand streaming and social media has fragmented TV audiences and led many to declare the end of “appointment viewing” but broadcast video on demand (BVOD) is proving that big cultural TV moments are far from over.

This was a key theme at last week’s inaugural Future Media Forum in Sydney, which brought together brand marketers, agencies, publishers and tech professionals.

Discussing the evolution of TV, Nine’s national sales director for total television, Nikki Rooke, said BVOD has an important role to play in an increasingly fragmented market. As personalized viewing experiences become more of a focus for advertisers, those in the industry lamenting the loss of “appointment TV” and cultural milestones that were synonymous with linear TV need look no further than BVOD, she said.

It’s on BVOD that livestreaming of sports and hit shows like Married at First Sight are creating the same sense of community and high levels of audience engagement that was once the domain of linear TV, she added.

“We’ve never seen more engagement with sport than what we’re seeing right now, in terms of audiences but also [in terms of] advertiser appetite for it. And why is that? Because people are engaged at such a high level — they’re watching live, it’s not something that you can delay, it’s a shared experience. And those shared experiences have become more valuable in a society that is potentially a little bit lonely, a little bit disengaged,” she said.

Rooke also built a case for BVOD’s “catch-up” audiences. Noting that 60% of 9Now’s viewership was drawn to livestreaming, with the remaining 40% drawn to catch-up viewing, she said advertisers who see BVOD catch-up as less valuable than ad-tiered global streamers in terms of audience reach are missing out on a significant opportunity to build their brands.

“[Live and catch-up] both have great value, and they both have really different ways of engaging quite different mindsets — and that will influence the attention of both,” she said.

“This matters because BVOD is gaining at great scale now and it is our future. … If you’re ignoring that audience because [you think] BVOD is somehow not as valuable, you’re actually just missing a trick and you’re missing an audience.”

It’s no surprise BVOD was a hot topic at the event, with recent earnings reports from Australian media companies Seven and Nine highlighting strong growth in ad revenue for the second half of 2024 for their respective BVOD platforms, 7plus and 9Now.

Pointing to these results and the launch of AFL and cricket livestreaming on 7plus, James Bayes, The Trade Desk’s VP of Australia and New Zealand, predicted the Australian BVOD market will see accelerated growth this year despite underwhelming investment in recent years.

“More importantly, [AFL and cricket livestreaming] will introduce millions of people each weekend to the habit of streaming on 7plus … [bringing] in light TV viewers that the network can then convert to more regular viewers and promote their programming to,” he added.

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk Inc.