Business of Media
Seven issues Endemol Shine legal letter over Big Brother “hold back”
Big Brother is never far from controversy…. this time it is behind the scenes, reports TV Tonight.
Plans to return Big Brother in 2025 caught Seven by surprise this week, especially given it still has a “hold back” on the format until mid-2025.
A “hold back” effectively prevents negotiations commencing with another broadcaster, “until the day after the hold back finishes. You can’t start production in the middle. You can’t be casting, you can’t be announcing hosts. You can’t be announcing deals,” an industry source said.
TV Tonight understands a legal letter has now been sent by Seven Network to production company Endemol Shine Australia after the surprise inclusion at this week’s Network 10 Upfront.
On Monday 10 announced the show would return home to the network where it all began in Q4 2025 with new host Mel Tracina. It was such a well-kept secret because the agreement had only been finalised in the days leading up to the event. It grabbed everybody’s attention, especially media and the loyal fan-base.
Instagram’s teen mode won’t stop new age laws: Rowland
The Albanese government says it doubts Meta and peers including TikTok will enforce user age restrictions, and will stick with plans to raise the age teenagers are allowed to access the services, while developing its own age verification technology, reports The AFR’s Sam Buckingham-Jones and Paul Smith.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland noted on Wednesday that Meta, which owns the Facebook and Instagram platforms, had introduced parental controls for teenagers, a week after the government reiterated plans to increase age limits from 13.
These were welcome changes, Rowland said, but they did not change her plans to introduce legislation this year to create a new minimum age for access to social media.
Inside the Murdochs’ secret succession battle
A secret court battle is under way in Reno, Nevada, which will decide the future of the Murdoch media empire. Rupert Murdoch, along with his son and chosen successor Lachlan, is facing off against three of his other children, Prudence, James and Elisabeth.
This week on The Fin podcast, senior writer Neil Chenoweth and media and marketing reporter Sam Buckingham-Jones speak about why Lachlan’s position as successor is in doubt, what Rupert is trying to do about it and whether he can win.
News Brands
Journalists vow: We will be fearless on panel celebrating The Australian’s 60 years
The Australian’s leading journalists have pledged to continue their fearless reporting into the issues that lie within the “grey” as they looked back at the debates waging within society and forward to how best to cover it, reports The Australian’s Alexi Demetriadi.
The journalists – all women – spoke at The Mint in Sydney on Wednesday night as part of the paper’s Future 60: Women in Journalism panel, moderated by The Australian’s editorial director, Claire Harvey.
Columnist Janet Albrechtsen, literary editor Caroline Overington and legal affairs correspondent Ellie Dudley weighed in on women’s and trans rights, the #MeToo movement, the justice system’s approach to sexual crimes, and actor Elle MacPherson’s recent cancer treatment claims.
Drawing on their positions as some of Australia’s leading female journalists, and their own reporting, the trio defended women’s rights but also painted a more complex picture of the debates surrounding it.
Liam Mendes tracks Nine executives to Taronga Zoo ‘to discuss elephants in the room’
Outgoing Nine boss Mike Sneesby has addressed the company’s senior management and editorial teams at an off-site staff meeting at Taronga Zoo, less than a week after announcing his sudden resignation from the under-siege media organisation, reports The Australian’s Liam Mendes and James Madden.
Sneesby, who will depart Nine at the end of the month, arrived at the Sydney landmark in a chauffeured Audi just after 9am on Wednesday, but declined to answer questions from The Australian on whether his resignation was related to the looming report into the company’s workplace culture. “Today’s all about our people that are in there,” Mr Sneesby told The Australian upon his departure, motioning towards the zoo’s function centre. “Focusing on the company, focusing on our strategy.”
The “strategy and people forum” – which according to a Nine spokesperson brought together the company’s “top 200 leaders from across all parts of the business” – was planned long before Mr Sneesby announced his departure, but it is likely the last time he will address his senior staff in his capacity as CEO, a role he has held for three-and-a-half years.
Director of television Michael Healy, chief sales officer Michael Stephenson, 60 Minutes executive producer Kirsty Thomson, news and current affairs boss Fiona Dear, director of morning television Steven Burling, and Corey Worgan, the longtime head of people and culture in Nine’s broadcast division, and Sydney Morning Herald editorial leaders Bevan Shields and Luke McIlveen were among the other senior executives.
Paul Kent and News Corp quietly settle unfair dismissal case
Nine Publishing’s CBD column reports on the trials and tribulations of controversial former NRL pundit Paul Kent, whose life has turned into a very public testosterone-fuelled train wreck, report Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook.
To recap, months after being cleared of domestic violence charges last December, Kent was filmed in a drunken brawl outside Totti’s Rozelle this year, the bitter chaser to a long Saturday sesh.
Kent pleaded guilty to affray and was placed on a good behaviour bond, but not before his employers at News Corp – he was a high-profile columnist with The Daily Telegraph and a host on NRL 360 – reported they’d parted ways with him.
Kent hit back by filing an unfair dismissal case in the Fair Work Commission, accusing his employers of 24 years of undertaking a “sham” sacking and seeking reinstatement of unpaid wages and entitlements, plus compensation for the deterioration of his mental health.
The parties have quietly and confidentially reached a settlement. The matter is now resolved.
“I’m not talking, mate,” was Kent’s response when we called on Wednesday before abruptly hanging up. We hadn’t even asked a question!
Television
Meet the rising star on series return of The Great Australian Bake Off
Beloved Foxtel lifestyle program the Great Australian Bake Off returned on Wednesday evening with a fresh batch of bakers ready to serve up some delicious desserts, reports News Corp’s Christine Estera.
Among the 12 talented bakers is 16-year-old Sydneysider Molly Cameron, who is the youngest in the mix this season.
“It’s a little bit weird to think I am one of the youngest! Whenever I tell people that I’m on Bake Off, they usually respond with something like, ‘Oh, the junior one?’ and I have to clarify that it’s not,” she tells news.com.au ahead of tonight’s Season 7 premiere.
At the end of each episode, which airs on Foxtel weekly from September 18, one contestant is named Star Baker while another is eliminated. One baker is ultimately left standing in the series and will be crowned Australia’s Best Amateur Baker.
In Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey, comics go back where they came from
Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey is not a show about Shaun Micallef. Rather, it’s about a roster of comedians – a different one in each episode – who Micallef takes on a journey to their ancestral homeland. The idea is to gain insights into the culture of the country and, more importantly, insights into the comedian, their relationship to their ancestry and what role that background has played in making them the person they are now, reports Nine Publishing’s Ben Pobjie.
Now, at first sight Origin Odyssey could be described as “comedians go on fun overseas holiday” – and that is, to a certain extent, accurate. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there is an awful lot of that about nowadays. Ever since Michael Palin broke down the barriers separating comedy from travelogue, the floodgates have let in a veritable tsunami of funny folk seizing the opportunity for some free travel so they can wander the world goggling at temples and marketplaces and exotic dances (not that kind). So if you want to make a comic’s gallivanting worthwhile, you do need a point of difference. What does Origin Odyssey have?
These two new cop shows are both local, yet worlds apart
Two new, locally produced crime series are worlds apart: in the way they look, the style of their storytelling, and their creative foundations, reports Nine Publishing’s Debi Enker.
One is a pragmatic clone of a proven crowd-pleaser and something of a laydown misère for its broadcaster; the other is a pioneering production that hasn’t received the attention or the kudos that it deserves. One is a relatively safe bet; the other is a gutsy gamble that pays off handsomely.
The former is Return to Paradise (ABC, Sundays, 7.30pm and ABC iview), a six-part Down Under offshoot of the globally successful whodunnit series Death in Paradise, which is regularly one of the ABC’s most popular programs. So a joint ABC-BBC effort, capitalising on the existing and enthusiastic audience and extending its footprint, is a monty for our national broadcaster. It’s not an audacious choice, but it is an understandable one. Early ratings seem to endorse the move, with the spin-off attracting more than a million viewers less than a week after its premiere.
Meanwhile, Stan, one of the few Australian streamers in a pool dominated by multinationals, has opted for something completely different with the gritty and uncompromising six-part Critical Incident. Set in Sydney’s tense west, it offers a darker view of the city than the one seen from the golden, tourist-magnet sands of Bondi. Created by Sarah Bassiuoni, a lawyer steering her first series, it opens by seamlessly setting the scene, introducing the Blacktown police station and its literal “poster boy”, senior constable Zilficar “Zil” Ahmed (Akshay Khanna), a celebrated face of the force.
Sports Media
Scott Pendlebury steps into commentary box for Seven’s finals series coverage
Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury is putting his footy brain to good use by joining Seven’s news sport team for the rest of the finals series, reports News Corp’s Jackie Epstein.
Pendlebury, the 403 game dual premiership and six time All-Australian champion, will deliver opinions and analysis, including on the grand final coverage as a finals expert.
Fresh from a holiday in Europe, Pendlebury was shown the ropes by 7News sport presenter Tim Watson on Wednesday.
“I am really looking forward to joining the 7News sports team for the AFL’s preliminary and grand final weeks,’’ Pendlebury said.
“The month of September is undoubtedly the best period in the AFL calendar. We have never seen a tighter competition and there will be a lot to discuss across the three upcoming games. “To reach ultimate success a lot needs to go in your favour, ever moment matters. I can’t wait to see where it lands this season.”
Chris Salter, 7News Melbourne’s Director of News, said: “He’s won two flags, a Norm Smith, and was on the podium just 12 months ago — if there’s anyone qualified to talk about September, it’s Pendles.”
Sports Shocker: Adrian Wojnarowski to retire from ESPN
In a sports world shocker, ESPN’s lead NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski will retire from the sports giant – and from the news business altogether – to lead the basketball program at his alma mater St. Bonaventure, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Woj, as he is known, was ESPN’s basketball scoop machine, breaking news about trades, injuries and signings before anyone else, gaining a huge social following as a result. He also talked frequently about the work required to break news, with a constant stream of texts and phone calls, coming in all day and night.
“This craft transformed my life, but l’ve decided to retire from ESPN and the news industry,” he wrote on X. “I understand the commitment required in my role and it’s an investment that I’m no longer driven to make. Time isn’t in endless supply and I want to spend mine in ways that are more personally meaningful.”