Business of Media
Meta reports record revenue, slower digital advertising growth
Meta Platforms on Wednesday reported record revenue despite slower digital advertising growth, bolstering profits that helped fund billions in artificial intelligence and augmented reality investments, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The company posted US$40.59 billion in sales, an all-time high that slightly beat Wall Street expectations. The revenue growth of 19% compared with the year-earlier period was slower than the 22% growth in the three months ended in June. Advertising made up 96% of Meta’s META -0.25%decrease; red down pointing triangle third-quarter revenue.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, has poured immense resources into capitalizing on the AI boom, increasing spending to support ambitions that include having the most-used AI assistant in the world.
“Our AI investments continue to require serious infrastructure, and I expect to continue investing significantly there, too,” he said on an earnings call with analysts. “We haven’t decided on a final budget yet, but those are some of the directional trends.”
Too many influencers are spoiling the boom
Influencers are everywhere you look these days – including on America’s campaign trail. Some 200 social media stars attended the Democratic National Convention in August, where they were entertained at lavish parties and on boat trips. A few even got to chat with Kamala Harris, reports The Economist, in a feature republished in The AFR.
Donald Trump has likewise given interviews to influencer bros such as Logan Paul and Theo Von in an effort to appeal to their followers.
Politicians are not the only ones to have spotted the growing sway of social media stars. Over the past five years, American companies have roughly tripled the amount of marketing spend they lavish annually on influencers, to $US7 billion, according to eMarketer, a research firm.
Goldman Sachs estimates that as of last year there were more than 50 million influencers globally, from fashionistas on Instagram and comedians on TikTok to gamers on YouTube. It reckons that their ranks are swelling by between 10 per cent and 20 per cent annually.
Peacock loss narrows to $436m as revenue rises, subs jump to 36m on Olympics boost
Peacock, the streaming service of Comcast’s entertainment unit NBCUniversal, grew its third-quarter revenue and narrowed its loss to $US436 million from a loss of $565 million in the year-ago period, but the loss widened a bit compared with the loss of $348 million posted for the second quarter of 2024, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Boosted by the Summer Olympics in Paris, the streamer ended September with 36.0 million paying subscribers, compared with 33.0 million as of the end of June, the company also said on Thursday.
“Peacock revenue increased 82 percent (year-over-year) to $1.5 billion; adjusted EBITDA improved compared to the prior-year period,” Comcast highlighted.
Peacock had its best month to date in August, scoring the largest share of TV use in the United States in the streamer’s four-year history thanks to the Summer Games. However, the streamer previously also unveiled price increases that went into effect on July 18 for new customers and Aug. 17 for existing subscribers.
Comcast on Thursday also reported that its core cable and telecom business once again lost pay-TV and broadband subscribers in the third quarter. Video subscribers declined by 365,000, after a year-ago loss of 490,000, to more than 12.83 million; broadband users dropped by 87,000 to 31.98 million.
News Brands
Matt Peacock, former ABC journalist who investigated asbestos issues, has died aged 72
Former ABC journalist Matt Peacock, who had a decades-long career at the broadcaster, has died aged 72, reports ABC News.
Peacock was a senior journalist who worked for a wide range of television and radio programs after joining the broadcaster as a cadet in 1973.
He was the chief political correspondent for current affairs radio in Canberra, as well as the broadcaster’s foreign correspondent in London, Washington and New York.
Peacock was a staff elected ABC Board member from 2013 and he was instrumental in establishing the ABC Alumni organisation, which advocated against budget cuts in 2020.
He worked for radio programs AM, The World Today and PM, specialising in politics, environment and science.
Top New Jersey newspapers will end print editions, and one will close
The Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest newspaper and the winner of several Pulitzer Prizes, will stop publishing its print edition early next year, ending a lengthy run as a dominant source of print news in the region, its owners announced on Wednesday, reports The New York Times.
The shuttering of The Star-Ledger’s printing plant will cause its sister publication, The Jersey Journal, a Jersey City-based newspaper with a storied, 157-year history, to cease publication altogether. Its demise will leave Hudson County, N.J., a densely populated region that is as well known for political corruption as it is for being the birthplace of Frank Sinatra, without a daily newspaper.
David Blomquist, The Jersey Journal’s editor and publisher, said in a statement that the decision to close the printing facility, in Montville, N.J., had “forced us to assess the viability of continuing to publish The Journal.”
“Unfortunately, we have concluded that it doesn’t make sense to continue,” he said, adding: “This is certainly an emotional day for all of us.”
US Election
Sky News Australia sends ‘football team-sized crew’ to cover US election
Sky News Australia has sent a football team-sized crew to cover next week’s United States election for its MAGA-obsessed online US audience, as it works to make up for a dwindling broadcast audience in Australia, reports Nine Publishing’s Calum Jaspan.
The News Corp-owned network has 18 staff in the US, fronted by a mix of its opinion and news stars James Morrow, Paul Murray and Peter Stefanovic. Its model thrives off scale, speed and frequency, with the channel pushing the picture of a flailing Vice President Kamala Harris and a “rock star” Donald Trump as November 5 approaches.
Sky’s election team is significantly larger than that of other Australian media, highlighting that its strategy caters to an increasingly online and partisan American audience. Almost 40 per cent of Sky’s digital audience is based in the US, compared with 26 per cent in Australia, this masthead reported last year. It finds most of its reach on digital platforms, in particular YouTube, where it has nearly 5 million subscribers.
That’s in stark contrast to its broadcast audience in Australia, where locally recognised News Corp talent including Sharri Markson, Chris Kenny and Peta Credlin broadcast nightly to a declining customer base and marginal regional viewership.
David Speers and his Insiders executive producer Sam Clark will broadcast two shows from key swing state Michigan this weekend and Washington the week after, while breakfast host Michael Rowland is there, as is 7.30 presenter Sarah Ferguson, who will broadcast three shows.
How The New York Times home page comes together on election night
On election night, news comes fast and furious. House and Senate seats flip, hundreds of local and state races are called, and the nation edges closer to learning who will lead it for the next four years, reports The New York Times.
New York Times journalists around the country will cover it all, filing dispatches from battlegrounds, analysing and reporting real-time data, and putting all the chaos into context for readers.
The top news of the night — and there’s a lot of it — is displayed on The Times’s home page and in the Times app.
Programming the home page on any given day is no easy feat. A team of journalists across four cities and time zones (New York, Los Angeles, London and Seoul) is responsible for selecting the newsiest stories to populate the home page, while also keeping the page accurate, timely and engaging, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
And on election night, things are even trickier. The home page must seamlessly bring together work from different parts of the newsroom, including articles from political reporters; live results graphics and race forecasts from The Times’s election results team; and videos with reporters who break down what’s happening across the country.
“Elections are the most exciting nights in journalism,” said Steve Kenny, a senior editor who oversees news coverage and the home page at night. “I’ve been a part of them since 1980, and they never cease to be thrilling.”
Television
Australian Idol on the hunt for a label after record deal comes to an end
There is major news behind the scenes for future winners of Australian Idol, as Sony Music Australia’s partnership has come to an end after nine seasons over 21 years, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
Sony is not returning for the 10th season as auditions for Australia’s next big singing star get under way across the country.
Sony has provided a recording deal for each Australian Idol winner since the show launched in 2003 when Guy Sebastian was triumphant.
Additionally, winners have received a cash prize, most recently since the show was rebooted by Channel 7 two years ago, of $100,000.
With Sony no longer on board, it is understood producers are in the midst of negotiating next years prize package.
Inside The Block co-creator Julian Cress’ transformed 1980s kit home in Gisborne
in mid-2020, that The Block co-creator and executive producer Julian Cress and his wife Sarah Armstrong surprised even themselves by making a tree change with their young family. But this, of course, was an unprecedented time in history. And COVID had a way of dramatically reassessing priorities, reports Domain’s Jackie Brygel.
“We’d just come out of the first long lockdown, when we were all scared and worried about our future,” says Armstrong, a senior producer on The Block. “Being a country girl, the lockdowns also made me yearn for grass and wider outdoors for my mental health and the health of our two small boys, who were spending way too much time inside.”
Arriving at the property near Gisborne in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, just 45 minutes from Melbourne, the parents of Max, 11, and Charlie, nine, immediately felt they had been transported to a faraway world – a world so mesmeric that it seemed they had stepped into a dream.
“The entry to the property is in a towering pine forest. I was pretty sold by the time we’d driven up the driveway,” says Cress.
“We knew the house was never going to work for us as it was,” says Cress. “It didn’t even have any insulation. The renovation was always going to require a full strip-out, but that was fine. We prefer it that way. We got our Block architect Julian Brenchley onto it. We also brought in our good friend Matt Martino – who’s a brilliant interior designer/architect– as well as another former contestant from the show, Spence Thomson, who was our builder. It was definitely a Block family affair.”
Renewed: Australian Crime Stories – The Investigators
It may not have been on the highlights list at last week’s Nine Upfront, but Australian Crime Stories: The Investigators is returning in early 2025 with a second season comprising six new episodes, reports TV Tonight.
The series profiles Australian detectives looking back on some of their most fascinating cases. Produced by The Full Box, ACS The Investigators is the Australian awarded title in the Best Documentary – History category at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2024.
“We have six incredible stories for Series 2 of Australian Crime Stories: The Investigators and we’ve just commenced production for Series 3,” said Geraldine Coy, executive producer.
“We couldn’t deliver such in depth storytelling without the full support of the Police Forces across Australia, which we’re so grateful for.
“They have given us access to the detectives that lead each investigation. They’ve opened their files allowing us to deliver amazing details, including all the twists and turns, highlighting the determined work by the investigators that takes each case from beginning to end.”
Sports Media
Why Tabcorp’s Gill McLachlan has banned pollies and journos from the Birdcage
Enjoying the Birdcage at the Melbourne Cup Carnival this year will be a bit like threading the eye of a needle. Exclusive and luxurious, yes, but excessive and ostentatious could get you cancelled, reports The AFR’s Patrick Durkin.
Amid Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s widening Qantas seats upgrade scandal, most will probably avoid G.H. Mumm’s private jet theme this year.
Tabcorp’s CEO Gillon McLachlan has put a ban on politicians and media in his marquee for Saturday’s socially vaunted Derby Day and Melbourne Cup, relegating them to Stakes Day at the unfashionable back end of Cup week.
“The politicians, media partners’ main focus will be on Stakes Day, the first three days, it’s our key clients,” McLachlan, who recently ordered staff back to the office five days a week, told The Australian Financial Review at the Birdcage media preview on Thursday.
Nine, the publisher of the Financial Review, joins the Birdcage in place of Network Ten this year, after securing the television rights from the Victoria Racing Club and Tabcorp.
But amid a scathing independent review into Nine’s workplace culture, an internal battle to replace Mike Sneesby as CEO and the company’s AGM on November 7, guests are sure to be on their best behaviour.
How Fox Footy’s ‘Super Saturday’ deal will shape the AFL fixture
Clubs are bracing for the commercial impact of delayed free-to-air AFL coverage on Saturdays from next year as Fox Footy holds exclusive live broadcast rights of the game nationally for the first eight rounds, reports Nine Publishing’s Peter Ryan.
The AFL’s lucrative new broadcast deal starts in 2025 and runs for seven years, and it is having an impact on the schedule for next season, with the league working to release the fixture by mid-November.
The $4.5 billion broadcast deal has some restrictions on the number of games teams can play on Saturdays for the first eight rounds to share the load across the competition, but that desire to spread the number of games each team plays on a Saturday is also making the development of the fixture more complicated.
Clubs want clarity from the league as to how it will affect them, and their fans.
The deal means that supporters of teams playing anywhere in Australia on Saturday in the first eight rounds will need a Foxtel or Kayo subscription to watch them live, with free-to-air coverage on Seven to be delayed. Only the Anzac eve, Anzac Day and Dreamtime games will be shown live on free-to-air if they fall on a Saturday.