Seven Hoping To Attract Millennials By Bringing X Games To Australia

Seven West Media joined forces with Disney's ESPN to bring the X Games to Australia "for the first time," according to Darren Davidson of THE AUSTRALIAN. The deal will be part of Seven's "upfronts," the annual advanced TV ad selling season, set to be "one of the most tightly fought contests for ad dollars in years." Google and Facebook are "aggressively ramping up a two-pronged assault" on traditional TV's A$4B ($3B) advertising business with an "aggressive sales pitch to marketers and their agencies to secure bigger ad spend commitments." Produced by Seven, the event will also be "supported by a music and arts festival" as part of a strategy to target the "hard-to-reach millennial audience." Live sport will be a key part of Seven's programming lineup for '18, with the network having rights to big events including the Rugby League World Cup (THE AUSTRALIAN, 10/27).