Business of Media
Ex-Nine boss Hugh Marks in the frame for top ABC gig
Speculation about who will run the ABC is, for newspaper columnists, what speculation about an election date is for political editors: an old and faithful friend, report Nine Publishing CBD columnists Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman.
Nevertheless, CBD has learnt that former Nine Entertainment chief executive Hugh Marks has emerged as a contender for the role of managing director of the ABC, which David Anderson is vacating just one year into his second five-year term.
Marks led Nine (publisher of this masthead) from 2015 to 2021. He left after revealing he was in a relationship with another Nine executive.
Meanwhile, another name in the frame, SBS managing director James Taylor, was approached by the headhunters but is not interested, we heard on the media grapevine. And why would he be? Why upgrade your salary and stress levels to run the ABC and face the parliamentary headkickers at Senate Estimates in search of clickbait? In his SBS role, Taylor can, like his SBS predecessor Michael Ebeid, treat estimates much like a gathering of the parliamentary friends of Eurovision fanclub. Taylor declined to comment.
Australian Traffic Network owner GTN’s takeover to end this week
The chairman and independent directors of media company GTN have urged shareholders to reject a $91m takeover bid due to close this week, reports The Australian’s Anthony Keane.
ASX-listed GTN, the biggest supplier of traffic information reports for radio stations in Australia, Britain, Brazil and Canada, has been facing a 46.5c per share offer by investment management company Viburnum Funds, which so far owns more than 67 per cent of its target.
Viburnum was already GTN’s biggest shareholder when it launched its unconditional cash offer in September and earlier this month it extended the deadline to November 20.
GTN chairman Peter Tonagh said he and GTN’s independent directors continued to urge shareholders to reject Viburnum’s bid.
Viburnum describes itself as an “active ownership investment manager” and its co-founder, Craig Coleman, is a GTN director. GTN’s Australian Traffic Network and overseas businesses provide radio affiliates with money and traffic reports in exchange for 10-second advertising spots adjacent to the reports. The spots are bundled together and sold to advertisers.
Tonagh is deputy chair of the ABC and is a former CEO of Foxtel, REA Group and News Corp Australia (publisher of The Australian).
Former TikTok executive wants a strict social media ban after family experience
It took 12 years for Felicity McVay’s daughter Milly to grow into a confident, gung-ho and outgoing kid. It took six months, finely honed social media algorithms and a map on Snapchat for it to come undone, reports The AFR’s Sam Buckingham-Jones. The 47-year-old Sydney mum has become an unlikely public supporter of a blanket ban on social media for children under 16, inspired by her own family experiences and her time at TikTok.
Felicity McVay and her husband, prominent commercial property agent Sam McVay, introduced strict rules around technology. The phone went into a drawer the moment daughter Milly arrived home from school. Their two other children, Isabelle, 12, and Eloise, 9, don’t have one. Their only personal access to the internet is two iPads kept in a shared living space.
“Milly is thriving now,” McVay says. She plays touch football, swims, plays piano, and spends very little time online.
This whole ordeal was complicated by the fact that McVay, until early 2023, had been one of the loudest evangelists for the positives of social media. After a career in M&A law, US and Australian TV licensing, and years in the heady early days of YouTube in Australia, she had joined TikTok and been promoted to be its global head of entertainment.
From her home in Sydney, McVay was responsible for convincing worldwide studios such as Disney, entertainment groups like Universal, and even sporting codes such as the AFL and Tennis Australia to go all in on the platform.
VC-backed video start-up 90 Seconds fields interest, hires advisers
A video creation platform backed by a host of venture capital funds and pre-IPO investors is headed for the auction block, reports The AFR’s Street Talk column.
The New Zealand start-up 90 Seconds is in discussions with several potential acquirers including a Nasdaq-listed company. There’s no certainty that the transaction will close, but expectations are it could be finalised in the first quarter of next year.
This column understands 90 Seconds’ owners including venture capital heavyweight Sequoia India – now known as Peak XV Partners – along with AirTree and pre-IPO investor Bombora Investment Management have hired Singapore-based boutique investment bank Sansa Advisors to field inbound inquiries and oversee the diligence process.
AirTree first backed 90 Seconds in 2016 when it was among the first locally to build a marketplace for design and video work, leading its $10 million Series A funding round alongside Sequoia.
Social Media
The 101 ways Google serves up Australians to known scammers
Google searches are delivering Australians into the arms of fraudsters, as websites and advertisements belonging to scammers are prominently served up to users on the world’s most popular search engine, report Nine Publishing’s Aisha Dow and Charlotte Grieve.
In some instances, Google searches provide some scam victims false reassurance that they are investing in legitimate companies.
Once they’ve lost their money, scam victims searching for help on Google are then being shown ads that direct them to a new set of criminals, known as recovery scammers, who claim they can retrieve people’s lost money for a fee, but instead disappear with the cash.
The findings are part of a months-long investigation into how investment scammers use some of the world’s biggest tech companies to find victims.
This masthead found that Google presents scam sites to users, even after those scams were the subject of explicit government warnings.
The social media site picking up a lot of X refugees in Australia
Social media platform Bluesky has racked up more than 2 million new users since the US election, surging in popularity and posting its highest-traffic day to date as a growing number of users migrate across from Elon Musk’s X, reports Nine Publishing’s David Swan.
Bluesky closed out last week as Australia’s top-ranked social media app in both Apple and Google’s app stores, firming as the social media website of choice for local X refugees.
The platform was conceived as a decentralised Twitter clone by Twitter’s then-CEO Jack Dorsey in 2019, and launched to the public last year, promising almost identical functionality to Twitter but without the baggage and drama surrounding current X owner Elon Musk.
After a somewhat slow start, the platform is now catching on with users. It added 1 million users on Friday alone, climbing past 16 million in total, but faced temporary outages due to what the company blamed on a faulty fibre cable.
Meanwhile, Threads (owned by Instagram’s parent company Meta) is also on the rise. It’s been adding more than a million users a day this month.
Kayla Medica, a start-up industry veteran and author of marketing book The Mehdeeka Method, said that Twitter had long closed its Australian office, signifying a lack of interest in the local market.
News Brands
Ray Hadley says he has not yet signed an agreement for Sky News TV show
Outgoing 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley continues his dance with Foxtel and Sky News Australia, getting them all excited, reports Nine Publishing’s CBD column.
Daily Mail Australia reported the big fella recently spent an hour “in deep conversation” with Sky News chief executive Paul Whittaker and head of programs Mark Calvert.
“Despite what might have been written, I have not signed a deal with anyone,” Hadley told CBD. Not even a handshake? “No.”
But life can spin on a dime and if Hadley does sign up, who in the vaunted After Dark line-up is going to move aside? That would be a right royal Game of Thrones scenario involving Sharri Markson, Peta Credlin, Andrew Bolt, Chris Kenny and Paul Murray.
Seven Network quietly settles case with former Spotlight producer Amelia Saw
Seven West Media has quietly settled a Fair Work case brought by ex-Spotlight producer Amelia Saw which threatened to expose the network’s “dirty linen”, following a confidential mediation in the Federal Court, reports Ellie Dudley.
The case’s publicly accessible court listing says the matter has been “resolved” and the mediation file has been closed, ending a drawn-out dispute over “embarrassing” allegations Saw levelled at the network.
Neither Saw nor Seven wished to comment on the settlement.
The resolution comes after Federal Court judge Nye Perram granted a suppression order over key details of the matter.
The suppression order was supported by Seven but opposed by Saw and three other media organisations – the ABC, Nine and News Corp Australia.
Seven barrister Kate Eastman, SC, last month argued the release of the documents would prejudice the administration of justice, and said the chances of settlement would be enhanced if Saw’s allegations were not aired publicly before mediation.
The Australian’s James Morrison departs after 42 years
James Morrison, this masthead’s legendary World Editor, has left the building after almost 42 years with The Australian, reports that paper’s James Madden.
The Shakespeare Hotel, one of Morrison’s many beloved watering holes in inner Sydney, was overflowing on Saturday as well over 100 colleagues, past and present, attended his farewell.
Morrison was one of those journalists who was more than just a noisy presence in the newsroom (although, of course, he was that as well). He was generous, humble, funny, irreverent, supportive, and bloody good at his job. The industry is poorer for his departure, but he’s earned a rest.
Father, friend, farmer, and ‘classic journalist’: Ean Higgins farewelled
The life of Ean Higgins, a veteran journalist who worked for The Australian for three decades, was celebrated on Saturday at a memorial in Nimmitabel, a small town on the NSW far south coast near where the award-winning scribe spent so much time on his beloved farm, reports James Madden.
Last month, the NSW deputy coroner found Higgins died in non-suspicious circumstances when he disappeared in Sydney on July 8, 2020, aged 62.
More than four years after he went missing, Higgins’ loved ones and former colleagues gathered at the weekend to say their formal goodbyes.
Higgins’ career in journalism began at The Australian Financial Review as a graduate cadet in the mid-1980s, before he moved to The Australian’s Sydney newsroom in 1988. He enjoyed successful stints as the newspaper’s Europe correspondent, environment editor, industrial relations writer, foreign news editor, Sydney bureau chief, and rural reporter.
Television
Gordon Ramsay filming US version of MasterChef in Melbourne
Superstar chef Gordon Ramsay is filming the US version of MasterChef in Melbourne, reports News Corp’s Nui Te Koha.
The Michelin-star chef, prolific restaurateur and reality TV star will be based here until shooting wraps in mid-December.
“We’ve been filming (most days) from 4.30am … so it’s been long days, but the studio is set up here and ready to go,” Ramsay said.
“I’m here until December 18, and then I’m going back to the family and kids at home. It’s been great being back here again. I love the people, and the weather has turned it on.”
MasterChef USA is usually filmed on a soundstage in LA, but the production has opted to shoot the latest season at MasterChef Australia HQ in Flemington.
Meanwhile, Ramsay hosted a VIP event at Southbank on Friday to launch HexClad, a US-based cookware brand he co-owns.
VIP guests, including Melbourne chefs Andy Allen, Scott Pickett and Shannon Martinez, were treated to seafood platters, sizzling barbecue meats, and spicy language from the F-bomb master.
The Block billionaire Adrian Portelli spends $40,000 in Maccas on McHappy Day
Melbourne billionaire Adrian Portelli has spent more than $40,000 on a double cheeseburger meal at a western suburbs McDonald’s, reports News Corp’s Fiona Byrne.
Portelli, a prolific buyer of houses on The Block and luxury European cars, the founder of the LMCT+ promotions and discounts business and owner of a $36m penthouse in the Melbourne CBD, was serving behind the counter at McDonald’s in Derrimut in support of McHappy Day on Saturday at 11am.
After his stint selling burgers alongside his business partner Troy Candy, he bought a $12.60 large double cheeseburger meal with fries and a vanilla coke.
With the opportunity to make a donation, he did, adding $40,000 to the bill and bringing his total for the midday snack to $40,012.60.
Money raised on McHappy Day goes towards the Ronald McDonald House Charities, which support families with seriously ill children.
Radio
What next for Sydney’s talkback stations as titans bow out
At the apex of their influence and mega salaries, Sydney’s talkback kings would fight among themselves like the gods on Mount Olympus. The egos were so big and the rivalries so intense that they didn’t try to hide it, reports Nine Publishing’s Jordan Baker.
John Laws v Ray Hadley. Hadley v Alan Jones. Jones v Laws. The late Stan Zemanek v Phillip Adams and Mike Carlton (they were all men). The animosity was genuine and intense. “I think he’s a boring little turd,” Zemanek said of his evenings rival Adams, prompting Adams to retort that Zemanek had an intellect the size of a pea, then apologise to peas.
Once, Jones’ agent was so convinced that Laws had a bigger office that he marched in with a measuring tape (they were the same size). The power of these “emperors of the air” was a given. “I know for sure that there were occasions when the entire Labor cabinet sat around listening to Alan Jones before they held a cabinet meeting to decide what to do about a certain issue,” says Mike Carlton.
Sydney’s talkback heyday was the ’80s and ’90s, when it was new, empowering (call in and talk to the prime minister!) and everyone had a radio. Its primacy over the following decades owed much to those big stars and their loyal audiences. But this year, when four stalwarts of the AM dial depart, may mark the beginning of the end of 60-odd years of talkback as a political force.
Laws hung up the microphone this month after 71 years. Hadley goes after more than 40 years in December, having lost his first ratings survey in two decades on Thursday. Phillip Adams – who first sat in a studio in 1977 – retired a few months ago, and Richard Glover bows out this month after 28 years at the ABC. (Jones left 2GB in 2020, but his legacy was badly tarnished late last year by accusations he indecently assaulted young men.)
Triple M star announces shock exit from national radio show
One of Triple M’s most popular female presenters has made a shock announcement, reports News Corp’s Andrew Bucklow.
Loren Barry revealed on Instagram yesterday that she was no longer a member of The Marty Sheargold Show. “All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately my time on The Marty Sheargold Show has done just that,” Barry wrote.
“Because of our listeners, this show has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life … I’ve loved, loved, loved my time on the show but I am excited for what the future holds.”
Barry had been missing from the national Triple M show for more than a week, with listeners questioning online what had happened to her.
Sheargold addressed her departure on Thursday’s podcast, saying, “her time as a producer on the show has ended”.
“She’s going to be looking at a couple of really good options for herself moving forward that’ll test her skill set more than I can offer her here, which she’s absolutely entitled to do and will do well,” he said.
Sports Media
3AW moves: Jimmy Bartel to go daily?, Marko says no to TV as podcast takes off
Melbourne radio station is adding Thursday night football to its weekly schedule of AFL games, reports News Corp’s reports Jon Anderson.
Writing in the Sunday Herald Sun, Anderson also noted that 3AW is working on a replacement for the soon-to-depart Wide World of Sport host Sam McLure. Anderson reports the busy former Geelong star Jimmy Bartel is the favourite to replace McLure. Candidates name to host 3AW’s Thursday AFL are Bruce Eva and Matt Granland.
Anderson also reports that 3AW breakfast fill-in co-host, Mark Allen, will not be heard during TV coverage of major golf tournaments on TV this summer. Allen is putting all his energies into a thriving podcast he runs with Nick O’Hern.
The podcast is called Talk Birdie To Me and has attracted sponsorship upwards of $300,000 with the pair in talks to expand. The weekly Spotify audience is reported to be in excess of 30,000.
Netflix says 60m households worldwide watched Paul-Tyson
The weekend Mike Tyson-Jake Paul showdown apparently packed a major punch across the world, reports ESPN.
Streaming giant Netflix said that 60 million households tuned in live to watch YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Paul, 27, cruise to a unanimous decision over Tyson, the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight peaked at 65 million concurrent streams.
In addition, Netflix said 50 million households globally watched the co-main event, which saw Katie Taylor retain her undisputed women’s lightweight championship with a controversial unanimous decision over Amanda Serrano. That number, according to Netflix, likely would make the fight the most-watched professional women’s sporting event in United States history.
According to the website Down Detector, nearly 85,000 viewers logged problems with outages or streaming leading up to the fight, resulting in many viewers to express their frustrations on social media.