Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner said that the company "wants to show more women's sport on television and will do so when ratings show it is merited," according to John Stensholt of the AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW. Buoyed by the ratings success of the Matildas women's national football team in the Olympic qualifiers, Worner said that Seven was in discussions with the Australian Football League "about coverage of the planned women's competition and the network would feature women's sport prominently in the 2016 Olympics." Worner said, "Wherever there is competitive sport aligned with our country or with strong clubs, as we're seeing in AFL, we believe fans will get behind it and support them. Particularly when we're seeing a high level of skill and standards as we've seen. So when the audience has an interest in it, we'll bring it to them." Seven's first Matildas broadcast last Monday "attracted an average 168,000 viewers across metropolitan and regional areas, peaking at 313,000." The Matildas helped drive a 34% ratings increase on 7mate "from the previous four Mondays of entertainment programming on the channel." Seven CRO Kurt Burnette said that the company was "pleased with the Matildas ratings numbers." Burnette: "They've been really strong. We hoped they would do well and they have, which is why we pursued the opportunity" (AFR, 3/7).
