Is Astrology in the 6pm news really that much of a risk?

This article was originally published on AdNews and has kindly been contributed by StudioSpace agency Kaimera.

When it was announced that Seven would begin airing horoscopes on it’s nightly news in July there were a few snide comments on media sites. Seven News boss Anthony De Ceglie responded that he intended to “shake things up” and take some risks, but is astrology really that much of a risk?

People love to mock astrology and yet there is a reason why most news, lifestyle and entertainment sites have a horoscopes page - it’s a traffic driver! In recent years the popularity of astrology has been on the rise, especially on social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. With TikTok creators showing up daily to deliver their predictions by sign every month and educating their communities on how to read their own birth charts. Since it’s launched in 2020, the astrology app Co-Star has had more than 20 million downloads, one-quarter of those being women aged 18-25.

Gen Z and Millennials are important audiences for advertisers and can be difficult to reach outside of social platforms. In Australia, Gen Z represents 18% of the population (4.6 million), and Millennials 21.5% (5.5 million). According to Afterpay, Gen Z and Millennials currently account for 36% of total retail spending in Australia, with their share of retail spending estimated to grow to 48% by 2030, as more of Gen Z enters the workforce.

So why has the interest in astrology increased so much in recent years with younger audiences? During times of uncertainty, people want reassurance and guidance that everything is going to work out okay, and astrology is one way to help them make sense of a world that doesn’t seem to make much sense right now. Astrology is much more than your sun sign** and once you dive into the nuance of your birth chart (as so many have done thanks to TikTok) it can be used as a self-development tool, helping people understand themselves and tap into their potential.

Thanks to social media, consumer’s brains are now wired to be able to transition from a news story to a funny meme, to their astrology of the week within seconds. The idea that there is one place for news, and one for entertainment, left us a long time ago now, especially when it comes to youth audiences.

Whether an astrology segment works during the 6pm news or not, Ceglie is clearly listening to the interests of younger audiences and is willing to try different things to draw them in. And after hearing about the news in the world each night, don’t we all need a little hope that tomorrow is going to be a better day?