Business of Media
‘Active means active’: News Corp says Foxtel discussions are on
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson says he is in “active discussions” about pay TV business Foxtel after putting a for sale sign on it three months ago and, so far, failing to find a buyer.
“As for the structure of our company, we continue to examine changes to maximise our overall value for shareholders. It is true to say we are in active discussions over the future of Foxtel,” Thomson said.
“We believe all who have studied the worth of our individual assets and our current share price can easily see that that price does not reflect the collective value of our businesses.”
News Corp also announced its long-time chief financial officer, Susan Panuccio, would leave the company at the end of the year, to be replaced by Diageo’s Lavanya Chandrashekar.
FMCG marketing: Red flag over Choice’s taxpayer-funded grocery price watch
Consumer advocacy group Choice has wildly overstated the difference in prices between the big supermarkets and discount retailer Aldi, analysis by a Wall Street investment bank has found, while Woolworths and Coles described the taxpayer-funded research as inaccurate and not useful, reports The AFR’s Carrie LaFrenz.
JPMorgan’s price check of some 100 home brand products across the big supermarket groups found the difference between Woolworths and Coles, and Aldi, was 8 per cent and 9 per cent respectively, well below the figures published by Choice in a survey commissioned by the federal government.
The latest Choice report used a basket of 14 commonly bought grocery items like milk, bread, sugar, pasta and fresh fruit and vegetables to conclude that Coles and Woolworths were about a third more expensive than Aldi. The survey included IGA for the first time, and found it much more expensive.
Social media’s too risky for kids but gambling’s OK? PM’s each-way bet stinks
The Albanese government is proposing a social media to be imposed on those 16 years or younger. It is compelling to hear the reasons proffered. The government questions the social licence of these media companies, saying they have failed to protect children, comments Tim Costello, advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, in Nine newspapers.
While my instinct is to support this measure, I am aware of the pushback. Companies and commentators say there are difficulties of age identification and the loopholes for enforcement. But what amazes me is that the Albanese government, in proposing this, still rejects these very same arguments that were part of the Murphy inquiry into online gambling.
The parliamentary panel – which included Labor, Liberal, National, Greens and independent members and was led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy – recommended a total ban on gambling ads, both online and via free-to-air media, phased in over three years.
News Brands
Sacked Nine news boss Amanda Paterson calls in the lawyers
A senior Nine news executive engaged lawyers within 24 hours of her sudden exit from the media giant last week, amid concerns that the staff clean-out – prompted by the devastating findings of the independent review of the company’s workplace culture – could be met with a wave of legal claims, report The Australian’s James Madden and Sophie Elsworth.
It is understood Nine’s Brisbane news director Amanda Paterson contacted high-profile employment and media lawyer John Laxon on Friday, after she was called into a meeting on Thursday at the station’s Mount Coot-Tha headquarters and immediately dismissed.
A Current Affair’s Queensland bureau chief Kate Donnison will act as news director on a short-term basis until executive producer Brendan Hockings returns from annual leave.
Insiders told Nine that the decision to put Donnison in the role temporarily had resulted in staff in Brisbane’s news team being “overlooked” for the position, and had “put noses out of joint”.
Sharyn Ghidella upbeat about move to Ten following axe from Seven
Sharyn Ghidella says the past four months have been a “rollercoaster ride”, having endured a brutal sacking after 38 years in the media industry only to be hired by a rival network weeks later, reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
Speaking exclusively to The Australian, Ghidella said being given the axe by Seven Brisbane news director Michael Coombes – when she was midway through a hairdressing appointment for a TV promo shoot for the station – was one of the most challenging moments in her long career.
“It was emotionally exhausting — the upheaval that it creates — it happens to people every day, they lose their jobs,” she said.
“It was a terribly difficult time for me, at my age, 58. You never know what the future is going to be in the media if you lose your job at that age.
“Thankfully Ten understands that experience counts so they saw the value in someone like me. But initially I thought it was probably the end of my media career and I wasn’t ready for that.”
Latest OzTAM data shows the average total TV weekday audience this year for the nightly news in Brisbane shows Nine ahead with 189,000 viewers, followed by Seven with 165,000 and Ten with 41,000.
Trump’s win cemented it: new media is leaving the old guard behind
The traditional gatekeepers of political discourse – TV networks and newspapers – are shrinking in influence as Americans turn to many more outlets for information, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The percentage of people listening to podcasts in a given month has more than tripled in a decade. In the social-media realm, more than half of TikTok’s users say they regularly get news on the platform, according to the Pew Research Centre. Elon Musk’s takeover of X has had a major impact, with political content, especially right-leaning posts, blanketing new users’ feeds.
TV news remains a massive draw for Americans in the biggest moments. But younger audiences have fled, and there were signs even on election night of an overall erosion in the medium. The main three cable channels were down 32 per cent in viewership collectively compared with 2020, to around 21 million, with CNN losing almost half its audience.
The upshot is that Americans are hearing very different narratives about current events from very different places. Many factors might have contributed to the election’s outcome, but the media world’s fracturing is hard to ignore.
Annette Sharp moving from The Daily Telegraph to news.com.au
Sydney celebrity columnist Annette Sharp is moving to news.com.au after 16 years with The Daily Telegraph and the Saturday and Sunday Telegraphs, reports The Australian’s Media Diary.
Sharp’s in-house transfer at News Corp will see her sticking to her bread and butter – commenting on celebs and the movers and shakers at the top end of town – but she’ll also be assigned to “some new projects”.
“After 16 years with The Daily Telegraph and its weekend sister papers The Saturday and The Sunday Telegraphs, I have decided the time has come for a new challenge,” Sharp told Diary.
“I’m delighted to be moving to the nation’s leading online news site news.com.au, where I look forward to celebrating and exploding the latest celebrity and socialite-related sagas while trying my hand at some exciting new projects.”
Today show employee under fire for election reaction
Today show social media producer Tahnee Maxwell is facing backlash from industry professionals after a series of social media posts criticising the Queensland election outcome on October 26, reports News Corp’s Georgia Clelland.
Following the announcement of David Crisafulli as the state’s new premier, Maxwell posted on her Instagram stories, referring to Crisafulli with derogatory terms and labelling Queensland a “racist bogan state.”
The posts, shared publicly on an account that identified her role with the Today Show, drew sharp criticism, with many questioning the appropriateness of such statements from a media professional.
Maxwell has since removed her job title from her Instagram bio.
While Maxwell’s posts have now been deleted, they sparked conversation about the responsibilities of media professionals to maintain impartiality, particularly on public platforms.
The Advertiser crowned SA’s best newsroom after dominating SA Press Club awards
The Advertiser and Sunday Mail has been crowned the state’s best newsroom after its journalists dominated South Australia’s media awards, reports the Adelaide daily.
News Corp Australia journalists won in four categories, including the coveted Gold award at a gala SA Press Club dinner in Adelaide on Friday night.
Chief court reporter Sean Fewster, editor Gemma Jones and state political editor Kathryn Bermingham scored a hat-trick of awards for their investigation into former opposition leader David Speirs.
Education and social affairs editor Lauren Novak, who won Gold last year, earned best feature for her harrowing SA Weekend piece “Emma’s story” about a domestic violence survivor.
Reporters Isabel McMillan and George Yankovich were runners up for Young Journalist of the Year behind Nine News’s Kelly Hughes.
Television
Billionaire splashes $15 million to buy all five houses on The Block
Billionaire Adrian Portelli has paid $15.03 million to buy all five houses at auction on this year’s reality renovation TV show The Block, reports Nine Publishing’s Elizabeth Redman.
Portelli capped the season with a knockout bid of $3.5 million for House 1 on Phillip Island, renovated by sisters Maddy Harry, 24, and Charlotte Harry, 22, making them the season’s winners with a $1.55 million profit.
The shared amenity convinced Portelli to come to the auctions again despite spending millions over the past two years. The Young Rich Lister is worth $1.295 billion after founding LMCT+, an online subscription-based club offering shopping discounts and giveaways of cars and houses.
“I wanted the royal flush,” Portelli said. “I really wanted the amenities and I don’t like sharing.
“I think that’s what actually sold me, so when I came down I actually wasn’t too keen on bidding this year, however when I did see the clubhouse and all the amenities involved I was like, ‘well, essentially if you buy all the houses, you own all the amenities as well’. So I bought these houses, a little bit for a premium, but I get all the amenities that come with it.”
Sports Media
Fox Footy signing spree continues with Tom Hawkins on board for 2025
Three-time premiership player and Geelong Cats games record-holder Tom Hawkins is the latest big-name star to officially join Fox Footy’s ranks ahead of the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
Hawkins’ recruitment coincides with the start of a landmark rights deal signed by the Foxtel Group and quickly follows the coup of Shaun Burgoyne who previously provided special comments for Channel Seven.
A regular guest on AFL 360 during his playing career, Hawkins will soon add his expertise and analysis to Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live coverage in 2025.
Super Saturday Live, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel, will be the only way to watch games live on Saturday until at least Round 8 of the season.
Fox Sports managing director Steve Crawley said: “With our expanded rights next year, we’ve been on the hunt for top talent and Tom Hawkins is a great get. He’s a great footy brain, he’s universally admired, and our audiences will love his raw and authentic opinions.”
Hawkins officially retired in September and is a five-time All Australian, a Coleman medallist, and Premiership champion who played 359 games and kicked 796 goals in a career that spanned 18 seasons.
Ray Hadley reveals the sporting highlights of an epic career
Legendary radio broadcaster Ray Hadley dropped a bombshell on Thursday that he was retiring from his top-rating program on 2GB, reports The Sunday Telegraph.
As a founding member of The Continuous Call Team in 1987, Hadley has called 99 State of Origin games, 35 rugby league grand finals, and thousands of club games. He’s also commentated at three Rugby World Cups, and seven Olympic Games, including this year in Paris.
In the wake of his decision, Hadley sat down with David Riccio to reveal the greatest player he has seen, the best and worst stadiums he’s called from, a radio comeback in the future and the media funny man who has a penchant for pies.
DR: The Continuous Call Team was such a huge part of your life. Rattle off some of the names that have been part of that success?
RH: It began with me and Ray Price and then Chippy (Peter Frilingos) and Bozo (Bob Fulton) joined. But we had Jack Gibson, Wayne Pearce, Peter Jackson, Laurie Daley, David Morrow, Greg Alexander, Paul Sironen … the list goes on.
DR: Do you view the Continuous Call Team as one of your great legacies?
RH: Well, if you pluck out callers today who started calling with us as young blokes, Andrew Voss (Fox League) and Andrew Moore (ABC) came through. Voss was working at the Sydney Turf Club and said he wanted to be a rugby league broadcaster. One thing he had was a tremendous work ethic.