Business of Media
News Corp boss Michael Miller urges government to prioritise survival of mainstream media outlets
News Corp boss Michael Miller says mainstream media outlets are the “engine room” of the nation’s news industry, and must be the priority of the federal government’s push to protect Australian journalism, reports The Australian’s James Madden.
“Australia is strong when Australian media is strong. To grow our country, Australians need a sustainable news media industry,” Miller, the executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, told The Australian.
Miller’s remarks follow the release last week of a government inquiry into social media which made 11 recommendations, one of which was for the government to develop a way to give money to publishers to “strengthen alternative income streams”.
But Miller warned that “government handouts” – which might sustain smaller, digital outlets that do not create news content – would not help mainstream media in the long term.
“The government is at risk of abandoning the engine rooms of Australian news, which is where the bulk of the jobs are and where the bulk of important Australian stories are told,” he said.
“The parliament’s primary focus should be those deals Meta has walked away from.
“The best way to sustain these media outlets – including the ABC – is by reaching commercial outcomes with Meta and not through government handouts, which are unlikely to be enough to fund journalism as we know it.”
News Brands
Seven boss Anthony De Ceglie slams government for not supporting media
The federal government has failed to follow through on its promise to hold social media platforms to account for the damage they have done to journalism, and to society as a whole, according to Seven West Media’s news boss Anthony De Ceglie, report The Australian’s James Madden and Sophie Elseworth.
In a speech to the Melbourne Press Club on Tuesday, De Ceglie will argue that the government has an obligation to ensure mainstream media remains financially viable.
“We are the shining light on the hill in an increasingly dystopian world of conspiracy theorists and deepfakes and anti-vaxxer cookers,” De Ceglie will say in his speech, an excerpt of which has been obtained by The Australian.
“Elon Musk doesn’t care about the truth. In fact, he revels in peddling lies and boasts about using his bin fire of a site to influence the US election.
“Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg is seemingly happy for Meta to profit off the page impressions that child sex offenders create when they routinely use his site to prey on their next victim.”
7News Queensland’s promo welcoming new co-anchor stirs up controversy
7News Queensland’s latest promotional campaign celebrating the arrival of new co-anchor Sarah Greenhalgh has reportedly stirred up controversy among industry peers, with insiders calling it “disrespectful” to past anchors and seemingly dismissive of veteran journalists at rival networks, reports The Courier-Mail.
In the new promo, 7News anchor Max Futcher introduces Greenhalgh, 34, with the bold statement, “You are going to have two people committed to the news like you’ve never seen before in Queensland.”
Sources have claimed this remark has ruffled feathers, with some interpreting it as a “jab” towards Futcher’s former co-anchor Sharyn Ghidella, who was let go by the network earlier this year and now leads the 5pm bulletin at 10 News First.
The phrase has also sparked speculation that it indirectly targets other respected Brisbane anchors, including 9News’s Melissa Downes and Andrew Lofthouse.
“Many see this promo as not only a jab at Sharyn but also a snub to veteran presenters who’ve been in the game for years,” an industry insider said.
Radio
Kyle’s big push for listeners to raise Melbourne ratings
Desperate times call for desperate measures with Kyle Sandilands putting a call out to his Melbourne fans, asking them to recruit one friend each as listeners to his KIIS FM breakfast show to help him rise in the ratings, reports News Corp’s Fiona Byrne.
And he also cheekily suggested a door-knocking campaign could be on the cards.
Sandilands came up with the grassroots campaign ideas this week after sending the show’s resident sports bloke, Cooper Johns, out to a “hater’s” house in Sydney to try to get the switched-off resident to tune into The Kyle & Jackie O Show.
Johns’ apparent success in winning over a “hater” saw Sandilands immediately grab on to it as a possible solution to his lacklustre performance in the Melbourne market.
“That is one Sydney listener that you have corrected, now you will spend the next nine and a half years in Melbourne door knocking,” Sandilands quipped.
6PR purge: Some staff axed, others flee the radio station
The revolving door at Nine Radio’s Perth arm, 6PR, continues to spin at a furious pace, with the departure of mornings host Gary Adshead, reports The Astralian.
Word is Adshead, a Perth media veteran, was pretty peeved after being told his broadcasting hours would be extended effective immediately and his timeslot changed.
Adshead is moving to ABC Perth to host its drive program in 2025.
The end of Adshead’s innings follows the dumping earlier this month of 6PR’s Julie-anne Sprague (afternoons host) and evenings presenter Tod Johnston.
The station’s content manager, Emily White, has also called it quits, with spies telling The Australian she was unhappy about being left in the dark about the abrupt announcement of changes at the station.
Retiring radio legend John Laws opens up about love, loss and regrets
The Sunday Telegraph sits down for lunch with John Laws, 89, at Otto, one of his and his late wife Caroline’s favourite restaurants. Laws still eats there almost every day, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
“It is very handy because I live just down there,” he says as he points to the end of Woolloomooloo Wharf. “I do like it, I am very fond of the people. I owned it once, I don’t know why I sold it. Apart from that, they are aware of my quite idiosyncratic behaviour.”
The veteran talkback host, known as “the Golden Tonsils”, will officially retire – for a second time – on November 8, when he finishes his shift on the airwaves at 2SM radio in Pyrmont. His final day will mark 71 years on air. Laws is pragmatic about the major life decision he says he made on the morning of the retirement announcement earlier this month.
He will fly to Italy for a holiday the day after hanging up his headphones.
“I hope I have (contributed), it would be terrible if I’d sat around doing f—all for 70 years,” he said. “I feel quite okay about it (retiring). Am I meant to feel any different? I don’t know what the next chapter is, I have no idea, I don’t think much about it.”
Laws never holds back and, when he speaks, people listen.
2SM looking for new presenters in a post-John Laws world
Super Radio Network (to which 2SM belongs) is trying to entice some household names – including Erin Molan, Melissa Doyle and Jason Morrison – to kick start the resurgence of the station, reports The Australian.
Molan, whose four-year stint on 2DayFM’s breakfast show ended in August, has been sounded out as a potential host of 2SM’s breakfast program, while Morrison – who has previously enjoyed success as a shock jock at 2UE – has been headhunted for the mornings talkback timeslot.
Former Sunrise presenter Doyle, who is currently a host on music station smoothfm, has been approached about a possible move to 2SM’s afternoons show.
Television
SA-made series Territory draws comparisons to hit TV dramas, #1 on Netflix
The new Netflix drama Territory, from Ronde and Easy Tiger, ranked #1 on the Australian TV chart on the streaming platform across the weekend.
Meanwhile, News Corp’s Antimo Iannella reports: A new South Australian-made Netflix show has drawn comparisons to hit TV dramas Yellowstone and Succession just days after its global launch.
But the man behind Territory, director Greg McLean, says another small-screen blockbuster was the real inspiration for the six-part series.
“We were originally looking at a Game-of-Thrones style power struggle in the NT with a Succession storyline,” said McLean, who also created Wolf Creek.
“But it’s been compared to two of the biggest shows in the world over the last few years so that’s not a bad thing. Hopefully their fans tune in.”
Much of the interiors were shot in Adelaide, with Walkerville, Mallala and the showgrounds among the locations featured in the production, which created almost 250 jobs around the state.
“It was a massive show. It’s the biggest thing I’ve been involved in, in terms of its scale. Just the amount of crew, planning and preparation,” said McLean.
“It was a cast and crew of almost 300 people, moving them from location to location… logistically, it was military-style operation.”
McLean said SA had becoming an increasingly attractive place for filmmakers, thanks to its positive attitude – led by the SA Film Corporation – and its “world class” post-production teams.
McLean will return to SA next year for the new Wolf Creek: Legacy movie, the third instalment in the horror franchise.
John Jarratt will reprise his role as Outback murderer Mick Taylor, with Sean Lahiff set to direct the film. It will begin production in the Flinders Ranges in the middle of 2025.
“It’s an awesome script and we’re super pumped about it. We can’t wait to get back to South Australia,” said McLean, who will produce the movie.
See also: How new Netflix original Territory is taking outback Australia to the rest of the world
Viewers are increasingly signing up to streaming services with advertising says Kantar
Streaming companies have experienced a surge in consumers signing up to monthly subscriptions that include advertising, new figures show, reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
Prime Video introduced advertising into its streaming services in July, prompting an almost immediate spike in demand.
New quarterly figures released by data and insight firm Kantar, which will be released globally this week, showed the percentage of total Australian households with advertising video on demand (AVOD) services climbed to 24 per cent in the September quarter.
This is up from 10 per cent in the same quarter last year.
Kantar’s consumer director Andrew Northedge said many streaming companies were boosting their advertising sales teams to help with the increased number of ads included in streaming plans.
“The pricing is so skewed towards people taking out a basic service with an ad plan,” he said.
Fak yeah: The Bear’s Matty Matheson cooks up a recipe book
There’s an element of the free-wheeling, eccentric soul of his character in The Bear in Matty Matheson. The chef-turned-actor plays handyman Neil Geoff Fak, long-time family friend of Mikey, Carmy and all the Berzattos, reports Nine Publishing’s Kerrie O’Brien.
Ironically, given he trained as a chef and runs restaurants, Matheson plays a mister fix-it in the show, rather than working the pans.
There are similarities between him and his onscreen character though, he says. “Fak is more vulnerable than me. I’m a big people pleaser, you know, I’m a very jovial person. I want to make sure everyone’s having a nice time, I want to make sure everyone’s happy, but I think Fak is a very soft version of who I am … I love my friends, obviously, but I think Fak, he cares so deeply,” Matheson says. “I am Fak and Fak is me, but there’s definitely some acting, you know, like we try to make Fak a very specific type of person that works within the means of what’s happening on that show.”
The hugely popular series is set in what was an Italian beef sandwich shop in Chicago (loosely based on the actual venue, Mr Beef). After the suicide of its owner Mikey, it’s overhauled by his younger brother, Carmy, into a fine diner known as The Bear.
A resounding success worldwide, The Bear won a record-setting 11 Emmy Awards from 23 nominations, the most in a single year for a series in the comedy categories.
Initially employed to work with the culinary producer on the show, Courtney Storer — sister of the show’s creator Christopher Storer — Matheson was soon invited to become one of the cast; he is also the show’s executive producer.
This week, the Toronto-based restaurateur releases his third cookbook, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches.
Netflix talent show featuring Liam Payne put on hold
Netflix has delayed the release of a talent show featuring Liam Payne, reports AAP.
The former One Direction star who died earlier this month at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires – finished filming Building The Band for the streaming giant just months before his tragic passing.
While the launch of the series has “definitely not been shelved”, the corporation will meet with his family to discuss a potential release at some point in the future.
On the show, Payne served as a mentor alongside Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger — who initially chose him to be a part of One Direction on the UK version of The X Factor in 2010 — and Destiny’s Child star Kelly Rowland as they oversaw 50 wannabe stars competing for the chance to be in a band.