Australian Org ThinkTV Loses CEO and Major Backer

In Australia, TV industry body ThinkTV is teetering after a tough week in which CEO Kim Portrate departed and Paramount-owned Network Ten has now pulled out, leaving only two of the country's major networks, Seven and Nine, as members.

Portrate (pictured) had led the organisation since its inception in 2016, when ThinkTV had four backers, the fourth being Multi Channel Network/Foxtel. The body was formed to promote the benefits and reach of linear TV, amid the rise of digital platforms and the fragmentation of audiences. Among its services are a 'Total TV' metric, capturing all the advertising revenue spent across commercial TV, rolled out in 2017, and a free planning tool called the Media Engine, drawing on sales and campaign data from 60 Australian brands across ten categories, to help demonstrate media return on investment. Foxtel left the organisation in 2023 over issues including audience reporting approach and membership of OzTam. Ten apparently gave notice of its impending departure last June, and ceased its financial contributions in December.

The country has three separate industry measurement bodies - the others are OzTAM and Free TV Australia - and reports in media publication Mumbrella and elsewhere suggests some consolidation could be on the cards. Mumbrella this week quoted a Network Ten spokesperson confirming that the company 'remain(s) focused on optimising and deepening collaboration with fellow broadcasters and existing industry groups to effectively champion the power and importance of Total TV to the advertising market and community'. It is likely to continue its support for the VOZ Total TV measurement system, while Seven West Media's CEO Jeff Howard told investors this week that the network was reviewing its relationship to the industry bodies, but said it was working with leaders from Nine and 10 to discuss 'where we are doing things duplicate, or triplicate in some cases, and where we might be able to partner more effectively'.

Web site: www.thinktv.com.au .