Business of Media
Betting firms pull $15m in advertising as crackdown looms
Australia’s major wagering firms have carved a $150 million hole in the advertising market as they pre-emptively pull back spending while the government mulls whether to ban online betting ads entirely, reports The AFR’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
Data from independent firm Guideline (formerly Standard Media Index), which tracks how much Australia’s advertising agencies spend in different areas, shows the gambling category has plunged from $300 million in 2022, to $251 million in 2023, and to $150 million in the past 12 months. This fall was particularly pronounced in the television sector, JPMorgan analyst Don Carducci said.
Sportsbet says it spent 21 per cent less on the NRL and AFL finals and spring racing this year. A spokesman said it had “reduced its advertising over the past two years, which we are evolving in line with community expectations”. A spokesman for Tabcorp reiterated the firm no longer advertised on free-to-air television between 6am and 8.30pm.
Perplexity CEO speaks at News Corp event days after lawsuit
On Monday, News Corp. filed a lawsuit against the artificial intelligence firm Perplexity, arguing that the AI-generated search company infringed on its copyrights by ingesting its work and repackaging it to its users, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
On Wednesday, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas appeared at a News Corp. conference, where he sought to address “the elephant in the room” right at the top of his conversation.
Srinivas was interviewed at the WSJ Tech conference, which is hosted by News Corp.’s flagship publication The Wall Street Journal. “They’re not the only publishers like that are worried about the AI products that are surfacing their content on their answers,” Srinivas said of the Journal.
“I would say that they reached out around June to talk to us, and we responded to them and said we are also open to talking to them, and are interested in a proper commercial discussion on how to use the content in The Wall Street Journal and other similar outlets owned by them. So we certainly were very surprised about the lawsuit, because we actually wanted a conversation,” he added.
How Warner Bros beat Netflix bid for Margot Robbie’s new Wuthering Heights movie
In the latest Hollywood movie bidding war, the battle between a theatrical and a streaming release could not have been more stark, reports The New York Times.
And in this case, theatres won out.
The project is an adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, seen through the warped mind of Emerald Fennell, the writer and director whose previous projects, Promising Young Woman and last year’s Saltburn, were viral, transgressive hits. The film will star Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi from Saltburn as the rageful Heathcliff. Based on Fennell’s past work, the R-rated film promises to be sexy, gothic and excessively modern.
Netflix was willing to pay $150 million to have it.
But Robbie, who is producing the film with her husband, Tom Ackerley, and their business partner Josey McNamara, wanted to maintain her track record of making movies for traditional studios that put them into theaters. Think Barbie 2.0 with less pink and much more sex.
Robbie’s company and its partner, independent studio MRC, have instead been won over by Warner Bros., the studio said on Thursday. The company offered them around $80 million plus a significant marketing commitment, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. (It helps that her company, LuckyChap, also has a multiyear first-look deal with the studio.)
Norway to increase minimum age limit on social media to 15 to protect children
Norway is to enforce a strict minimum age limit on social media of 15 as the government ramped up its campaign against tech companies it says are “pitted against small children’s brains”, reports The Guardian.
The Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, conceded it would be “an uphill battle” but said politicians must intervene to protect children from the “power of the algorithms”.
Social media platforms, the Labour leader said, were being misused by the industry and could make users “single-minded and pacified”.
The Scandinavian country already has a minimum age limit of 13 in place. Despite this, more than half of nine-year-olds, 58% of 10-year-olds and 72% of 11-year-olds are on social media, according to research by the Norwegian media authority.
Radio
Radio front and centre for ABC in strategy U-turn, as Audio breaks out of Content
ABC has reversed its recent organisational restructure, carving out a standalone audio division after chair Kim Williams repeatedly stressed the importance of the public broadcaster’s radio output, just 16 months after it brought all of its functions under two streams, reports Nine Publishing’s Calum Jaspan.
The third division will be led by ABC’s current head of audio, Ben Latimer, the broadcaster’s outgoing managing director David Anderson told staff on Thursday in an email seen by this masthead. The division will consolidate the current Audio and ABC Listen teams, which currently sit in the Content division.
Anderson said the decision to carve out the audio content put the medium at the forefront of the ABC’s future.
“This new team reasserts Audio as a vital part of the ABC’s future and a key tenet of our connection with all Australians,” he said.
The new division will include the capital city network and sport, music stations, podcasting, Radio National, ABC Classic, Jazz, Triple J, Double J and the ABC Country teams. The ABC’s audio app, ABC Listen, will also move from the Content to Audio division.
Television
Samantha Armytage to host Golden Bachelor as Nine rolls dice on love
Long-time Channel Seven star Samantha Armytage (pictured above) will host an Australian version of The Golden Bachelor for Nine, as the network looks to shift the focus forward, reports Nine Publishing’s Thomas Mitchell.
While the dust continues to settle on Nine’s independent review of its workplace practices and culture, following the release of the Intersection report, Nine has revealed the new shows it has planned for 2025.
The original Golden Bachelor premiered in the United States, where it proved to be a ratings success. The show reimagined the popular Bachelor format by featuring a 72-year-old widower, Gerry Turner, as its lead.
Nine’s decision to reboot the Bachelor franchise comes after Channel Ten walked away from its output deal with Warner Bros Studios, which included all iterations of the franchise.
Landing Armytage could yet prove a coup for Nine. The Sunrise host was with Seven for more than two decades before her contract expired last October.
Prime Video unveils first look images of new Amazon Original Series, Top End Bub
Prime Video, Goalpost Pictures, and ZDF Studios this week released first look images from the forthcoming romantic comedy series Top End Bub. The new eight-part series, co-created by Miranda Tapsell and Joshua Tyler, is a follow up to the 2019 movie, Top End Wedding. Slated to premiere in 2025 on Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand, Top End Bub will expand on Prime Video’s lineup of Australian Amazon Originals.
Top End Bub sees Miranda Tapsell (Love Child, The Sapphires, The Artful Dodger) and Gwilym Lee (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Great) return to reprise their roles as Lauren and Ned from the 2019 box office hit film. Also returning is Ursula Yovich and Huw Higginson as Daffy and Trevor, Lauren’s parents; Shari Sebbens as Ronelle; Elaine Crombie as Dana; and Tracy Mann as Annie, Ned’s mum. Joining the cast is Rob Collins, Brooke Satchwell, Guy Simon, Clarence Ryan, and making her acting debut as Taya aka ‘Bub’, is Gladys-May Kelly.
The new series is created, written and executive produced by Top End Wedding writers Joshua Tyler and Miranda Tapsell, and produced by Goalpost Pictures. Goalpost Pictures’ Rosemary Blight is Executive Producer, and the series is directed by Christian Van Vuuren and Shari Sebbens. Top End Bub is supported by Screen Australia, Screen Territory, and South Australian Film Corporation. The series was filmed in the Northern Territory and Adelaide, and will launch on Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand. Top End Bub will be distributed internationally by ZDF Studios.
Finally, trailer released for the return of epic TV series Yellowstone
Stan this week released the new trailer for the biggest show on television Yellowstone, ahead of its epic return to screens on November 11, same day as the US.
Yellowstone chronicles the Dutton family who controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the United States. Amid shifting alliances, unsolved murders, open wounds, and hard-earned respect – the ranch is in constant conflict with those it borders – an expanding town, an Indian reservation, and America’s first national park.
Yellowstone is co-created by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (Wind River, Hell or High Water, Sicario) and John Linson. Executive producers include John Linson, Art Linson, Taylor Sheridan, Kevin Costner, David C. Glasser, Bob Yari, Stephen Kay, Michael Friedman, Christina Voros and Keith Cox. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
[Watch the trailer]
Sports Media
NRL close in on club licence agreement with TV dollars key motivator
The NRL is on the verge of a landmark agreement with its 17 clubs that will guarantee their future in the competition and kill off any veiled threat of a breakaway competition for at least the next decade, report News Corp’s Brent Read and Michael Carayannis.
The NRL has been locked in talks for more than a year with the clubs over extending their existing licensing agreements, which are due to expire in just over a week.
It is understood they have now brokered an agreement which will guarantee them a place in the premiership for a further 10 years and give them increased sway when it comes to expansion and broadcast negotiations.
While the clubs won’t have veto rights over adding new teams or locking in fresh broadcast agreements, they will form part of an advisory group that will be kept abreast of talks with the television networks.
The existing broadcast deals are due to expire at the end of 2027 but it is understood if the NRL hasn’t already reached out to broadcasters, the day is fast approaching.
The clubs previously had no influence on broadcast negotiations but it is understood a hand-picked group of club chairs will be kept up to date on the talks by head office.