Channel Seven has won the battle to be Australia’s most-watched television network for 2023, beating Channel Nine and Network Ten for the third consecutive year.

While the rankings won’t be officially confirmed until December 2, Seven says it is in an “unbeatable” position, with the Matildas to thank for its win.

Seven was No.1 nationally for 26 weeks, and has been No.1 in capital cities for 21 weeks in 2023.

Seven boasted that 17 million people tuned into its programming across broadcast and digital every month, in its ratings announcement. Over the year, 7plus has seen a 17 per cent rise in viewers and grabbed a 36 per cent share of the broadcast video on demand (BVOD) market.

Additionally, the top five most-watched programs for the year, so far, have all been on Seven.

“From breakfast right through the day and into the night, Australians vote with their eyeballs and turn to Seven more than any other network,” Seven West media managing director and CEO James Warburton said.

In the latter half of next year, Warburton says 7plus will be taken to a “whole new level” when it adds AFL and then cricket digital rights to the streaming platform.

Matildas score highly

The biggest win for Seven this year was the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Not only was the Matildas’ semi-final against England the most watched program of the year, with a total of 7.32 million TV viewers, but it was the most-watched TV program of the past two decades.

The match reached more than 11 million people and it was also the most streamed event in Australia, with 957,000 viewers tuning in on 7plus.

Across the tournament, 18.6 million Australians tuned into Seven to watch the action.

The Women’s World Cup semi-final clash between the Matildas and the Lionesses smashed Australian television viewing records.

As of October, the network’s sport coverage has reached more than 18 million people.

AFL was the most popular winter sport in Australia this year, with an average TV audience of 3.75 million people across the season.

The nail-biting 2023 AFL grand final between Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions reached 4.98 million people.

Australia’s thirst for reality TV

For the 20th year in a row, Sunrise is the No.1 breakfast TV program and The Morning Show also came out on top over its competitors for the mid-morning slot, as it has for the past 16 years.

7NEWS is Australia’s most watched news bulletin, both nationally and in capital cities, and Seven says it has the biggest lead nationally since 2019 in the nightly news stakes.

Dancing With The Stars, Farmer Wants A Wife and My Kitchen Rules were among the fastest-growing 7.30pm shows across all commercial networks this year, the network claimed.

Additionally, The 1% Club, which is hosted by Australian comedian Jim Jeffries, launched this year and was ranked the No.1 new entertainment series.

“The Chase Australia is the #1 game show and Home and Away and RFDS are the most-watched local drama series on commercial TV,” Seven said.

“Better Homes and Gardens is the #1 lifestyle show on commercial TV.”