Why Nine prides itself on being ‘The Home of Christmas’

The story behind a 38 year broadcast event switching networks. EXCLUSIVE: When Nine staged its 2027 Upfront in September one of the biggest surprises was long-running Seven network event Carols in the Domain was moving to Nine. For 38 years the Sydney event has screened on Seven, in one of TV’s longest-running broadcast rights deals.

From next month that all changes, with Seven sources confirming it was a financial decision on their part. On December 19, Ally Langdon and James Bracey will host the event Live from The Domain, Sydney, just a week before Nine broadcasts Melbourne’s iconic Carols by Candlelight , hosted by David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys.

Executive Producer Michael McKay of ActiveTV says the switch to Nine was an easy decision. “We were watching what Nine were doing from a Christmas point of view. We loved their enthusiasm for Christmas, the way they talk about Christmas, and I noticed that their sales department do a lot of analysis, a lot of industry leadership around Christmas, and we’ve been watching that for the last two years,” he said.

Adrian Swift, Nine’s Head of Content, Production & Development said, “We aspire to be the home of Christmas. In a world where every streamer can programme various versions of Home Alone every Christmas, Free to Air is still the place where we can all sit around the television and watch something together.” He continued, “There’s always been this slight disconnect in television, in as much as the ratings period ends right about the time when brands really want to reach all their customers.

Having big shows that lots of people watch works for all concerned. We help a charity, and we do that thing that Free to Air does best, which is, it gets a family to sit around a television and enjoy a moment that embodies Christmas. “Celebrating Christmas every year is kind of a marker in the sand every year, that puts you in a certain place in Australian culture that is difficult for a streamer or a cable channel or YouTube influencer to do.” McKay was coy around whether Carols left Seven or Seven left Carols , only indicating “it takes two hands to clap,” but had no qualms about moving to the network which was already home to Carols by Candlelight.

“Nine can absolutely claim to be the home of Christmas now. We felt that ( Carols in the Domain ) just makes it stronger. Often you’ll see a fast food chain on one corner and another one on the other corner, and they tend to do that for a reason.

That’s where the business is in that street. So it didn’t concern us at all, I guess, because we run before Carols by Candlelight. We haven’t really considered that as competition, and so for us, we think it’s nice that we’re on the same network,” he said.

Indeed Nine is also home to South Australia’s Christmas Pageant (November 14) and Brisbane’s Lord Mayor’s Christmas Carols (December 12) while Seven retains Adelaide’s St John Carols by Candlelight (December 12) and Christmas with the Salvos (December 6). Nine was also interested in adding to its festive portfolio despite being home to the Melbourne event.

“Michael came to me and said, ‘Look, this is potentially available. Are you guys interested?’ And I instantly said, ‘Yes, we are interested,’ because the Sydney one is important, particularly as we have Brisbane, Adelaide and the big one, Carols by Candlelight ,” Swift continued. “ Carols by Candlelight is just a wonderful, slightly cheesy, fabulous Institution.

It’s echoes of Moomba, it’s an important cultural icon, and I don’t think the Sydney one’s got quite the same place in the consciousness of Sydneysiders. Do I think we could get it there? Yes.” “The Sydney Carols is different to the Melbourne Carols ,” McKay acknowledges.

“It’s got a different tempo and pacing, as it should. So that’s another reason why being on the same network didn’t concern us at all because for people who watch the shows, you’ll detect quite a different mood and vibe. “Our ratings were up (in 2025).

I think they were the highest in years, and our catch-up streaming was 30 million minutes viewed, which is amazing, and that’s well up. “We even survey the patrons after the event, and there was an 86% enjoyment level for those who attended the event. So every KPI we had was up, which was wonderful.

“We’ve got over 18,000 Carols Club members, and we love the passion that they show us. When we ask them any other comments, some will write everything they saw that day. We got over 2000 responses, which gets shared back to our management team, and we really dig into those that 14% to tweak improvements.” Carols in the Domain has a core team of around 30 hardcore people but swells to hundreds on the day, including a cast of about 650.

Performing this year are Mark Vincent, The Wiggles, Silvia Colloca, Sam McClymont, Charli robinson, Budjerah, Kaylee Bell, with a segment on Cat in the Hat, plus Chong Lim as conductor and choreography by Kym Johnson-Herjavec. Nine has also been broadcaster for annual Delta Goodrem specials but with the performer currently in the UK, Swift indicated “Stand by for news on that.

We’re still talking.” He sounds like he would be happy to make that happen too. Does Christmas bring out the softy in even the most seasoned TV execs? “I am a sucker for Christmas!” Swift declares.

“If ever you were going to cluster around a TV set it is that moment when Denis Walter comes on. I can’t confirm that Denis is on, but you know what I mean? It’s your Rhonda Burchmore moment!” Carols in the Domain Saturday December 19 on Nine Carols by Candlelight Thursday December 24 on Nine