The Seven Network have today announced the launch of 7Mate on the 25th of September. 7Mate will be a male skewing digital multi-channel that will replace their 7HD service.

From the media release issued this morning, the content is largely general entertainment. The lineup seems reminiscent of the digital channel Dave in the UK, crossed with the US cable network Spike.  Shows will include:

Family Guy, American Dad, Parks and Recreation, Last Comic Standing, 3O Rock, How I Met Your Mother, That 70’S Show, Scrubs,  Crank Yankers, Caprica, Warehouse 13, Stargate Atlantis, Jersey Shore, Pawn Stars, Punk’d, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Monster Garage, Fifth Gear, The Universe, Life After People, The Boneyard, AX Men, Jacked: Auto Theft Taskforce, Mega Movers, Mega Structures, Air Crash Investigations and Shockwave.

Examining the list, one can only wonder what Seven will now screen in their 11pm timeslots. It’s also surprising that the show Hung hasn’t been announced to air on the channel. A show examining modern day notions of manhood seem like a natural fit for the channel.

The notion of a male-focused channel will be desirable to advertisers as males 18-35 are generally considered to be a difficult audience to target. What will be interesting is to see whether the audience will in fact be predominantly male. The content certainly seems blokey, but only just enough so as not to exclude the female viewership.

The announcement of the channel today was unexpected. It was widely accepted that we’d be waiting until 2011 for the launch of the new channels. What wasn’t unexpected was that the channel would skew male. In October last year there had been considerable talk of Seven registering the Mate trademark.

Now, we wait to see what Ten, Nine, and SBS offer for their third channel offerings. Lifestyle, General Entertainment, and Movies seem likely.

7Mate. Awkward name, but a solid fit for Seven.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfjX5EmVhvQ[/youtube]