2027 Channel 7 Upfront: Seven Media Group unites TV, radio and publishing – Southern Cross Media Group has unveiled Seven Media Group as the identity for its combined television, audio, streaming, digital and publishing business, with a 2027 strategy built around connected audiences and advertising.
For Australian viewers and listeners, the important distinction is that Seven Media Group is the umbrella business, not a replacement name for Channel 7, 7plus, the Hit Network, Triple M or LiSTNR. Those consumer-facing brands remain in the line-up. The listed company’s formal legal-name change has been put to a shareholder vote, as TV Central previously reported; today’s upfront establishes the trading identity and commercial strategy but should not be confused with the outcome of that vote.
Seven Media Group says its brands reach 20.4 million Australians each month and have more than 17 million registered users across their services. The group is pitching this scale to advertisers as a way to connect television viewing, radio listening, podcasts, news readership and streaming within one Australian media organisation.
What sits under Seven Media Group?
The television portfolio includes Channel 7, 7two, 7flix, 7mate, 7Bravo, 7plus and 7NEWS. In audio, the Hit and Triple M networks sit alongside LiSTNR. Publishing brands include The West Australian, The Sunday Times, PerthNow, regional papers and The Nightly. Seven says its combined business reaches metro and regional communities rather than relying on any one screen, station or masthead.
Managing Director and CEO Rohan Lund described the strategy as meeting Australians across different media rather than expecting one platform to replace another.
Our job is to meet Australians where they are. Across television, audio, publishing, and digital, we continue to grow and engage audiences across every platform.
Rohan Lund, Managing Director and CEO, Seven Media Group
For TV Central readers, the announcement also explains why Channel 7’s upfront includes separate radio and advertising stories. The new structure puts programming, audio, publishing and commercial data under a common strategy, even though the individual services keep their own names and audiences.
Channel 7 and 7plus in the new group
Seven says Channel 7 is the top commercial network year to date in 2026, claiming a 43.2% commercial share. It reports a 43.3% share across its broadcast channels and a 43.6% streaming share, while 7plus has passed 15.5 million registered users and averages more than 1.1 million viewers daily. These are broadcaster-supplied audience measures; they describe different bases and should not be added together.
News and morning television remain important to the business. Seven says 7NEWS averages 1.394 million viewers, Sunrise averages 442,000 and The Morning Show has led its morning timeslot for 19 consecutive years. On the entertainment side, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! moves to Channel 7 in 2027 with Ricki-Lee and Jim Jefferies, while Matt Shirvington hosts the new prime-time game show Stacks of Cash. Returning programmes include My Kitchen Rules, Australian Idol, Farmer Wants A Wife and Home and Away.
Live sport remains the largest shared draw across television, streaming and audio. The group points to AFL and cricket on Seven and 7plus, with Triple M carrying commentary. Brendon McCullum joins Seven and Triple M for the Australia-New Zealand Tests, Ricky Ponting expands to Triple M, and Stuart Broad returns to Seven for the 150th-anniversary Test against England in 2027. Seven also lists the Super Bowl, Tour Down Under, Supercars, horse racing and the World Surf League.
Hit, Triple M and LiSTNR
Seven Media Group says its radio and digital-audio services reach 9.26 million Australians aged ten and over. Its Hit Network will install Luisa Dal Din and Jack Archdale – Lu & Jarch – in national Drive from 4pm to 6pm on weekdays beginning 18 January 2027. Their We Mean Well podcast moves to LiSTNR. In Sydney, former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke joins Nath Roye and Emma Chow on 2DayFM Breakfast from 11 January, with appearances before then.
The Triple M sport operation is also expanding. Seven says Triple M’s AFL coverage reached a peak weekly audience of 788,000 across Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, while its Sydney and Brisbane NRL calls had a combined weekly audience of 517,000. It recently launched Triple M Racing, and Bruce McAvaney is part of its 2026 Melbourne Cup coverage. Ricky Ponting and Brendon McCullum join the summer cricket call alongside the network’s existing commentators.
LiSTNR says its podcast network reaches more than ten million monthly users and has 2.8 million signed-in users on its app. In 2027 it plans full-video episodes for major titles including Hamish & Andy, Life Uncut, The Imperfects, The Howie Games and Happy Hour with Lucy & Nikki. We Mean Well joins the network, and comedian Maddy MacRae is due to launch a new podcast. A reference to full-video podcast editions is not a public trailer announcement, so no inline player is supplied with this story.
Publishing and community events
In Western Australia, The West Australian, The Sunday Times, PerthNow and 19 regional papers remain part of the portfolio. Seven says The West Australian is read by two in three Western Australians monthly and PerthNow records more than 22.5 million pageviews a month. National digital title The Nightly is being developed with a quarterly executive magazine, The Nightly On, and travel brand ROAM.
The shared portfolio is also being used for events. The 2027 Channel 7 Telethon will mark its 60th anniversary after $101,277,705 was raised in 2026. The Good Friday Appeal returns with television and radio support; Seven says its 2026 edition raised $25,268,485. The Fox’s The Underdogs initiative and the TV WEEK Logie Awards also return, while Triple M Fest has become part of AFL Grand Final week in Melbourne.
Seven iD, Studio Seven and a new trading roadmap
For the advertising industry, the group is introducing Seven iD, which combines first-party audience relationships across 7plus, LiSTNR and The West Australian. Studio Seven is intended to bring strategy, creative and content partnerships together. Phoenix Exchange is a proposed technology-agnostic trading environment across broadcast, streaming, podcasts and digital; Phoenix Video is part of its multi-audience buying development. Seven is also extending its LANDMARKS ID partnership and introducing SCOPE, a planning platform linking consumer data with OzTAM’s VOZ total-TV measurement.
Seven Media Group Chief Revenue Officer Natalie Harvey said the aim is to make buying and measuring across the group’s services simpler.
Our commercial roadmap is built around solving real business challenges for our partners. By combining the scale of our first-party data through Seven iD with the creative capabilities of Studio Seven and the automated trading power of Phoenix Exchange, we are creating a simpler, more connected way for advertisers to engage Australia’s premium audiences.
Natalie Harvey, Chief Revenue Officer, Seven Media Group
The new name does not erase the individual channel, station and publishing brands. Rather, it clarifies the ownership and commercial organisation that connects them. For more TV Central Channel 7 coverage, head here, and visit the public 7plus service for Channel 7 programmes.