Seven Network will pursue a digital-first strategy with its international TV shows including the highly anticipated legal drama Suits LA in 2025.
Suits LA is a spin-off of Suits, the 2011 series that ran for nine seasons and launched Meghan Markle’s acting career, and will premiere exclusively on 7Plus early next year before airing on linear TV.
Suits LA was commissioned by American network NBC following the immense success of the original series on the US streaming platform in 2023, when it set a new record of 57.7 billion minutes watched, according to Nielsen.
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The series will star Arrow actor Stephen Amell as Ted Black, a high-flying lawyer in Los Angeles. Lex Scott Davis, one of the show’s stars, previously said that a cameo from the original series cast is “not impossible”.
Suits LA’s release strategy Seven is part of a “bonfire and fireworks” approach to its streaming platform, acknowledging that the strategy is borrowed from Netflix. This is highlighted by 7Plus’s library of titles including The Rookie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Americans and Law & Order, the bonfire part, mixed with spikes from buzzy premieres each month, the fireworks aspect.
The network has committed to releasing at least one new exclusive international title every month on 7Plus in 2025.
These include Grosse Pointe Garden Society, a murder mystery about a group of people at a garden club that has Desperate Housewives and Why Women Kill vibes, as well as the upcoming medical procedural doc and comedy St. Denis Medical, starring Fargo. Starring Allison Tolman and Australian Josh Lawson. ,
Gerard Roberts, group managing director of Seven Digital, told The Nightly that the network saw a surge in new viewers when it moved a full season of Mr Bates vs The Post Office to 7Plus earlier this year.
“Those tests gave us confidence in the strategy and that 7Plus approach, especially when it came to first-run exclusives that could really attract new audiences,” he said. “And younger audiences will flock to the platform to find great content.”
According to data provided by Seven, 45 percent of 7Plus viewers watch programming that is only available on streaming, not broadcast, and 74 percent of those viewers are between 18 and 54 years old. Daily active users are growing 20 percent year-over-year.
“Business is all about maximizing audiences on every platform,” Roberts said. The most amazing thing we’ve found with 7Plus – and we’ve always been of this view and all the data supports it – is that the viewership it brings is complementary to broadcast.
“They’re not abusing broadcast, they’re additive, not instead of it, and they’re generally younger consumers who are coming in at different times for different reasons to watch different things.”
Angus Ross, group managing director of Seven Television, said he becomes frustrated by talk that television audiences have declined. “That’s simply not true, our (broadcast) ratings have now stabilized and digital numbers are continuing to grow,” he said.
Ross said the business is working to change the perception that 7Plus is a catch-up service. “We’ve done a pretty good job of marketing the library that’s there,” he said. “Clearly this 7Plus-first approach is a real change to alert people to the premium video content we will be releasing every month.
Ross said that with the addition of live sport on streaming next year, he expects 7Plus to become the dominant free-to-air streaming platform in 2025, overtaking Nine and the ABC.
The 7Plus strategy was part of its advance presentation, showcasing its 2025 programming which included a new unscripted commission called Once in a Lifetime, on a series of wildlife trips around the world with Australian celebrities including Kate Ritchie, Amanda Dr. Chris Brown will be attending. Keller and Mick Molloy.
There is also Stranded on Honeymoon Island, a reality series that blends survival and dating, a Jimmy Barnes documentary called Working Class Man, and a Jim Jefferies stand-up special.
Returning series include Farmer Wants a Wife, Australian Idol, My Kitchen Rules, The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, The 1% Club, Better Homes & Gardens, The Great Outdoors, The Hunters, Highway Patrol and The Chase Australia.
