Seven Network Upfront presentation held today reveals content line-up for 2022

The Seven Network has announced it’s strong content line-up for 2022, including some of the best and biggest news, sport and entertainment brands on TV.

 

After reclaiming the ratings crown in 2021, next year the Seven Network will deliver their line-up on TV with the two biggest sporting events in the world, Australia’s #1 TV news and public affairs portfolio, the #1 winter sport, the #1 regular series of 2021, the #1 local drama and much, much more.

The complete content slate was revealed at Seven’s 2022 Upfront presentation today.

Seven West Media Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, James Warburton, said: “Two years after we announced our new content strategy, including a clear focus on reaching younger viewers, we are currently back at #1 and that is where we are going to stay.

“With the best sport, news and entertainment on Australian TV, including some of the biggest TV brands in the world, Seven will win the 2021 calendar year in 25 to 54s, 16 to 39s, under 50s and total people. We are also #1 across the survey year, even excluding the incredible results we achieved with the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

“Our 7plus platform is #1 and smashed streaming records with its innovative coverage of Tokyo 2020,” he said.

“This year on Seven and 7plus, The Voice [Australia’s #1 regular series of 2021], Dancing With The Stars: All Stars and Big Brother VIP joined our stable of hit tentpole entertainment shows, plus 7NEWS, Sunrise, Home and Away, Better Homes and Gardens and the most popular sports on TV.

“Next year, we are committing an additional $30 million to $40 million to new local productions and we will have 52 weeks of proven content.

“That content will include a stellar collection of returning shows, the Olympic Winter Games Beijing, the XXII Commonwealth Games, the AFL, the Supercars Championship including the Bathurst 1000, significantly more horse racing, and over a dozen new local and international shows for Channel 7, with more for 7mate. It’s an incredible and unbeatable line-up,” Warburton said.

“As Australia re-opens, businesses and consumers are ready to kick start their lives. Seven’s impressive first quarter 2022 content, including the Olympic Winter Games Beijing, and our Kick Start 2022 packages will give our clients a real competitive edge and a strong share of voice.”

In 2022, Seven’s hit entertainment shows The Voice, Big Brother, SAS Australia, Farmer Wants A Wife and Dancing With The Stars: All Stars will be joined by The Voice: Generations – starring the amazing coaches from The Voice, Keith Urban, Rita Ora, Guy Sebastian and Jessica Mauboy – plus the new AGT, Australian Idol and the return of the most successful cooking show ever seen on Australian TV: My Kitchen Rules.

The fun and romance of Farmer Wants A Wife will be ramped up with the addition of “Sam’s Choice”, a special segment featuring acclaimed journalist and presenter Samantha Armytage.

Today, Seven also announced it will commission Apartment Rules, an exciting new twist on its long-running hit House Rules.

Seven Network Director of Programming, Angus Ross, said: “We have spent the past two years refreshing and reinventing our content across broadcast and digital, and the results speak for themselves. Seven is back where it belongs: at #1.

“Next year will be even bigger, with an amazing line-up of sport, our new and returning 7.30pm tentpole shows and the constant success of our content ‘spine’ of Sunrise, The Morning Show, The Chase Australia, 7NEWS, Home and Away – which is Australia’s #1 drama – and Better Homes and Gardens.

“The return of My Kitchen Rules is particularly exciting for us and for viewers. It was the biggest show on TV for many years and we’re taking it back to its roots. We don’t want to give away too much right now, but it will be the original and the best My Kitchen Rules, reinvented for 2022,” he said.

“In addition to the new tentpole shows, 2022 will bring the compelling new Australian drama Claremont, two new factual series in Strike Force and Code 1: Minute by Minute, and the best of new British drama from ITV.

“Special event TV is a key part of our content and next year will be no different, with more remarkable 7NEWS Spotlight specials, Carols In The Domain, the 94th Annual Academy Awards and – new to Seven in 2022 – the 64th GRAMMY Awards,” Ross said.

FRESH FOR 2022
My Kitchen Rules
The most successful cooking show ever on Australian TV is set to return in 2022, with all new judges (to be announced soon), a new batch of eager contestants, and all the fun and food that made it a huge hit for so many years. Australia’s favourite food show will go back to the original recipe and back into the contestants’ kitchens, with state competing against state.

The Voice: Generations
In a global television first, the world’s biggest singing competition – and Australia’s #1 regular series of 2021 – invites singers and musicians from different generations to perform together in The Voice arena. Australia’s most talented singers will be vying for Voice glory under the watchful eye of host Sonia Kruger and superstar coaches: Keith Urban, Rita Ora, Guy Sebastian and Jessica Mauboy. The Voice: Generations is an ITV Studios Australia production for the Seven Network.

AGT
After a false start this year (thanks COVID), AGT will be back on Seven and 7plus in 2022. In a world first, Aussie acts will take on some of the best Got Talent champions from around the globe and deliver all the spectacular, surprising and must-see moments Australian families love. Ricki-Lee Coulter returns as host, along with an all-star judging panel. AGT is a Fremantle Australia production for the Seven Network.

Australian Idol
The television icon returns to our screens after a 12-year hiatus, travelling around the country to find the next music superstars. The show that gave us Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy, Shannon Noll, Anthony Callea, Casey Donovan, Ricki-Lee Coulter, Matt Corby and many more will be back, bigger and better than ever. Australian Idol is a Fremantle Australia and Eureka Productions co-production for the Seven Network.

Apartment Rules
The mega-hit that was House Rules will be reborn and reimagined in an innovative twist to the format. Set in one of Australia’s biggest cities, the new series will take renovation to a whole new level. Stay tuned for more details in 2022.

Claremont
The disappearance of young women launches a 25-year investigation by the police and one tenacious journalist, all in dogged determination to seek justice. From the creatives behind Seven’s compelling drama Catching Milat, this four-hour investigative mini-series is a Screentime (a Banijay Group company) production for the Seven Network, with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Seven, with finance from Screen NSW.

Strike Force
Featuring some of the most gripping, heart-stopping, tense and nerve-racking police investigations, stings and taskforce operations in Australia, this new series provides an “all-access pass” into the real crime busts using footage shot by the police themselves. Every episode will showcase the meticulous planning, investigation and the incredible footage of police raids. Strike Force is a WTFN production for the Seven Network.

Code 1: Minute by Minute
For the first time, the stories of some of the most horrific events that are burned into Australia’s memory are told in forensic detail by the brave first responders who were first on scene. Each episode breaks down the weeks, the days, the hours, the moments and seconds leading to the event that made news headlines around the country. Code 1: Minute by Minute is a WTFN production for the Seven Network.

Fantasy Island
The American reboot of the iconic 1970s series takes place at a luxury resort, where literally any fantasy requested by guests is fulfilled, although they rarely turn out as expected. Delving into the “what if” questions that keep us awake at night – both big and small – each episode will tell emotional, provocative stories about people who arrive with dreams and desires and depart enlightened and transformed.

New from ITV
Seven’s long and successful relationship with ITV in the UK will deliver three big new shows in 2022: Harry Palmer: The Ipcress File, the TV series version of the classic Len Deighton novel starring Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Tom Hollander (The Night Manager); the legal drama Showtrial with Tracy Ifeachor (The Originals) and Celine Buckens (Free Rein); and the innovative and awe-inspiring natural history series A Year On Planet Earth.

THE HITS ARE BACK
The Voice
Seven’s fresh take on The Voice is the #1 regular series of 2021. It was the only series to draw more than one million overnight capital city viewers for every episode, with 2.42 million nationally tuning in to see Bella Taylor Smith crowned the winner. Australia’s favourite show is back in 2022, with host Sonia Kruger, superstar coaches Keith Urban, Rita Ora, Guy Sebastian and Jessica Mauboy, and a new line-up of stars in the making. The Voice is an ITV Studios Australia production for the Seven Network.

Big Brother and Big Brother VIP
Get set for another huge year of shocks, twists and drama as Big Brother welcomes a new team of housemates and some big surprises when it comes to who enters the house. Hosted by Sonia Kruger, the hit series had an average total audience of 1.1 million this year. The first season of Big Brother VIP does not land until next month, but we already know it will be back in 2022. Big Brother and Big Brother VIP are Endemol Shine Australia productions for the Seven Network.

Farmer Wants A Wife
The global phenomenon returns to Seven and 7plus in 2022 with host Natalie Gruzlewski, a new line-up of farmers and ladies looking for true love, and a very special new addition: Seven’s acclaimed journalist and presenter, Samantha Armytage, is joining in a guest role. Growing up on a farm and now married to a farmer, Samantha is perfectly qualified to help Natalie help the farmers and the ladies find love. This year, Australia’s favourite bush fairy-tale scored an average total audience of 1.41 million. Farmer Wants A Wife is a Fremantle Australia and Eureka Productions co-production for the Seven Network.

SAS Australia
The most talked about TV show in the country is back in 2022 with a brand-new line-up of star recruits, ready to take on the gruelling SAS selection course. Seventeen celebrities including Olympians Geoff Huegill and Melissa Wu, AFL star Wayne Carey, singer/actor Melissa Tkautz and reality stars Locky Gilbert and Anna Heinrich have volunteered for the toughest test of their lives. Plus, Chief Instructor Ant Middleton and DS Ollie Ollerton are joined by two new DS: retired US Navy Seal Clint Emerson and former British Special Forces soldier Dean Stott. SAS Australia is produced by Screentime (a Banijay Group company), based on a Minnow Films format, for the Seven Network.

Dancing With The Stars: All Stars
After its triumphant return to Seven and 7plus this year, the global sensation will burn up the dance floor again in 2022. Daryl Somers, Sonia Kruger and our legendary judging panel are back on board, along with 14 celebrities who are ready to strut and shimmy their stuff, including Kylie Gillies, Grant Denyer, Bridie Carter and Anthony Koutoufides. The 2021 series was a ratings smash, with an average total audience of 1.11 million, and next year promises to be even bigger. Dancing With The Stars: All Stars is produced by Warner Bros International Television Production Australia and BBC Studios, from a format created by the BBC and distributed by BBC Studios, for the Seven Network.

Home and Away
Fresh from recording its biggest audiences in more than two years – and being honoured with its own coin, no less – Australia’s #1 drama will be back in 2022 for its remarkable 35th season. And it will be bigger and brighter than ever before, with 45 weeks of all the drama, fun, romance, action, heartbreak and twists viewers have come to expect from our most successful drama series. Life is never dull in Summer Bay. Home and Away is a Seven Production.

Better Homes and Gardens
It has been Australia’s #1 lifestyle show for more than two decades and it returns in 2022 for another year of fun and inspiration. Every Friday night, Johanna Griggs and the team are invited into homes around the country to inform, educate and entertain. Cooking, gardening, home improvements, technology, health, fitness, motoring – the team cover it all and more. Better Homes and Gardens is a Seven Production.

The Chase Australia
The #1 game show in the country heads into 2022 with Larry Emdur at the helm and The Governess, The Tiger Mum, The Shark, Goliath and The Supernerd ready to put a new crop of contestants through their paces. Let the chase begin. The Chase Australia is an ITV Studios Australia production for the Seven Network based on the original ITV quiz show.

Homicide: With Ron Iddles
One of the surprise hits of 2021, with an average total audience of 1.04 million, this gripping special event series is coming back to Seven and 7plus. Each week, Australia’s greatest detective reveals the untold stories of his most challenging cases. Iddles worked on more than 320 homicide cases during his 25 years with Victoria Police and his success rate for solving murders was unprecedented. Homicide: With Ron Iddles is a CJZ production for the Seven Network.

Crime Investigation Australia
Australia’s most recent headline-making crimes will be told like never before in the all-new season of one of Australia’s most popular true-crime TV series. Hosted by 7NEWS’ award-winning reporter and presenter, Matt Doran, the new series will tell these stories from beginning to end, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats. Crime Investigation Australia is produced by Shadow Productions for the Seven Network.

Highway Patrol
Since it first hit screens in 2009, Highway Patrol has become a staple of Australian TV. The always-riveting factual series follows members of the Victoria Police Highway Patrol as they keep the roads and the people on them safe from bad and mad drivers. Highway Patrol is produced by Greenstone TV for the Seven Network with the cooperation of Victoria Police.

Border Security: Australia’s Front Line
The new season of the acclaimed factual series will again go behind the scenes of Australia’s customs, immigration and quarantine departments, focusing on the people who devote their lives to keeping Australia safe. After almost 20 years on air, it remains one of the most arresting and authentic observational documentaries on Australian TV. Border Security: Australia’s Front Line is a Seven Production.

Special Events
In 2022, Seven and 7plus will once again be the home of special event TV, from the 94th Annual Academy Awards and the 64th GRAMMY Awards (new to Seven and 7plus next year), to Carols In The Domain – which will celebrate its 40th birthday next year – Melbourne’s Good Friday Appeal for the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Channel 7 Telethon in Western Australia.

The Channel 7 Telethon is the world’s most successful TV charity fundraiser on a per capita basis and supports 65 different children’s charities from across WA. Underpinned by multi-million-dollar donations from the Federal and State governments and many WA businesses, philanthropists and the wider community, the Telethon has raised about $400 million since it was launched in 1968. The 2021 Telethon will be held this weekend.

The Big Hits From The US
The fifth season of the award-winning hit American medical drama series The Good Doctor starring Freddie Highmore will debut on Seven in 2022, along with new seasons of 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star, The Rookie and The Resident.

#1 IN NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Australia’s #1 line-up of news and public affairs content will return to the Seven Network in 2022, with 7NEWS, Sunrise, Weekend Sunrise, The Morning Show, 7NEWS Spotlight, The Latest from 7NEWS and 7NEWS.com.au set to keep the nation informed and educated.

The most trusted evening news bulletin, 7NEWS, ranks #1 nationally this year with an average 1.65 million viewers nationally Monday to Friday, 1.38 million on Saturdays and 1.69 million on Sundays.

7NEWS dominates the Perth and Adelaide markets, while on the East Coast it has halved the gap on its main rival and recorded its highest audience share since the one-hour news bulletin started in 2014. In fact, this year 7NEWS Sydney and 7NEWS Melbourne have achieved their highest shares since 2010.

Seven’s Director of News and Public Affairs, Craig McPherson, said: “From Sunrise and The Morning Show, to 7NEWS at 6pm and The Latest, and everything in between, Seven delivers the best, most comprehensive and most watched news and public affairs content on Australian TV.

“That’s why 7NEWS has been #1 nationally for the past six years, Sunrise has been #1 for 18 years and The Morning Show has been #1 for 14 years.”

YOUR HOME OF SPORT
The biggest sporting competitions in the world and in Australia will be on Seven in 2022, live and free.

In fact, they kick off before the New Year, when Seven’s 2021-22 summer of cricket swings into action.

Cricket fans are in for a very, very good summer. With the men’s and women’s Ashes series, the BBL and the WBBL, it is going to be the greatest ever season on Seven, Your Home of Cricket.

Cricket’s #1 commentary team just got even better, with Seven adding one of the game’s all-time greats – Lord Ian Botham – to its illustrious line-up for what is already shaping as an unforgettable 2021-22 season.

The straight-talking former England Test captain, and one of the best-ever all-rounders with 5,200 test runs and 383 wickets, will join Seven for all five Tests in Australia’s blockbuster Ashes series against England. Seven’s unrivalled team again be led by cricket’s most astute commentator, former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.

In February, Seven, 7plus and 7NEWS.com.au will present the Olympic Winter Games Beijing, live, free and across multiple channels.

Following the extraordinary success of this year’s Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Seven will deliver the most comprehensive coverage of a Winter Olympics ever seen in Australia, in a favourable time zone for Australian viewers (there will be a two-hour time difference between Beijing and the Australian east coast).

In addition to presenting the Olympic Winter Games from 4 to 20 February, Seven and 7plus will also cover the Paralympic Winter Games from 4 to 13 March.

Managing Director Seven Melbourne and Head of Network Sport, Lewis Martin, said: “Tokyo 2020 was an extraordinary event for the world, for Australia, for our amazing Australian athletes and for Seven.

“We are honoured and excited to be able to present another Olympics so soon after Tokyo. The Olympic Winter Games Beijing promise to be spectacular and unforgettable, in terms of the locations, the venues, the action and the incredibly talented athletes who will gather from around the world.”

Less than five months after the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games, Seven and 7plus will be in Birmingham as the official Australian broadcast partner for the XXII Commonwealth Games, which will take place from 28 July to 8 August.

The XXII Commonwealth Games will bring together more than 4,500 athletes from 72 nations and territories in a global spectacle. Underpinned by the core values of humanity, equality and destiny, the Commonwealth Games are often referred to as the “Friendly Games” and are renowned for inspiring athletes to compete in the spirit of friendship and fair play.

Back home, the AFL returns to Seven in 2022. An extraordinary 2021 season cemented the AFL’s position as the #1 winter sport in Australia, including a history-making Grand Final that drew 3.91 million TV viewers to become the #1 program of the year. The 2022 season is shaping up to be unmissable.

Before the new AFL season kicks off, Seven will present all the action and excitement of season six of the AFLW, starting in early January.

Australia’s #1 footy show, The Front Bar, returns in 2022 with the always sharp and smart insights of hosts Sam Pang, Mick Molloy and Andy Maher. Also returning next year are Armchair Experts on Friday nights and Sunday Footy Fest.

The Supercars Championship roared back onto Seven and 7plus this year, with the promise of six blockbuster events a year. From the moment the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown round hit the screens of Seven in June, the fans have loved the fact Supercars are back where they belong, with TV ratings up 39% year-on-year. With the Repco Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama set to fire up on 5 December this year and lockdowns coming to an end, the 2022 season is firmly back on track.

Thoroughbred racing has been part of Seven’s DNA for more than five decades and a historic new agreement will see the very best of it shown live and free every Saturday of the year.

Seven has partnered with Racing Victoria, Racing NSW, Racing Queensland and Racing SA in a historic, long-term deal that unites Australian thoroughbred racing like never before. The agreement runs to 2027 and means Australians will enjoy 52 weeks of elite racing across the nation, including the Golden Slipper, The Everest, the Golden Eagle, the Caulfield Cup, the Cox Plate, the Queensland Oaks, the Queensland Derby, the South Australian Derby and the South Australian Oaks and Goodwood Handicap.

Seven’s huge live and free sport line-up also includes the 2021 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, which we hope goes ahead from 26 December as planned, and the rest of the 2021-22 NFL season on 7mate and 7plus – culminating with one of the world’s greatest events, the Super Bowl, on 13 February 2022.

7MATE, 7TWO, 7FLIX
In 2022, Australia’s #1 multi-channels will continue to deliver the best of Australian and international content, with each channel curated for a very specific target audience.

Next year is shaping up as the biggest ever for 7mate in terms of bringing Australian stories to the screen. The channel’s key local content for 2022 includes:

Housos: The Thong Warrior: From the suburbs to the outback, the cast of Housos are back in a brand-new comedy. Franky is on a mission to stalk and thong slap all forms of authority, with Shazza in hot pursuit (Antichocko Productions).

Local Council: The new comedy from Pauly Fenech of Housos, Fat Pizza and Bogan Hunters fame is set in a dodgy council, with dodgy council workers, a dodgy mayor, dodgy developers and dodgy council officials (Antichocko Productions).

Gem Hunters Down Under: Set deep in the heart of Central Queensland, this new factual series follows the highs and lows of a community of passionate sapphire hunters working in extreme conditions (WildBear Entertainment).

Watch Dogs: A new comedy about two dysfunctional security officers trying to catch a serial offender who is attacking the locals in a beachside suburb (Oldboy Productions).

Extreme Tow Truckers: A new factual series in which Australian trucking companies battle it out to win the most extreme and lucrative towing contracts in the country (Fredbird Entertainment).

Adventure Gold Diggers: Follow a group of prospectors as they search for gold in some of the most remote and inhospitable areas of Australia (Fredbird Entertainment).

Desert Collectors: For the third season, the Collectors travel the Australian outback in search of unique treasures and meet the people who spend their lives collecting them (Desert Collectors Productions).

The 7mate slate also includes Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Storage Wars, Arctic Ice Railroad and Aussie Lobster Men, plus Hollywood blockbuster franchise action movies and comedy movies.

Next year 7two will again be the home of great British mystery dramas and classic comedies, including The Coroner, Lewis, Inspector Morse, A Touch Of Frost, Murdoch Mysteries, Doc Martin, Mrs Brown’s Boys, The Vicar Of Dibley and Father Brown.

The best in lifestyle TV also lives on 7two, with Escape To The Country, Bargain Hunt, Air Crash Investigations, Billy Connolly and Martin Clunes specials, Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages and much more.

The very best in animation is on 7flix – including The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad and Futurama – along with The Voice USA, Bridezillas, First Dates Australia, Marrying Millions and a lot of Gordon Ramsay.