Business of Media
Shareholders deliver first strike against Southern Cross Media leadership team
Major shareholders in the troubled Southern Cross Media Group initiated a first strike against the company’s remuneration report at Monday’s AGM, with chair Heith Mackay-Cruise telling the gathering it had been a “challenging and disappointing” year, reports The Australian’s Chris Herde.
The adoption of a remuneration report received a 27.8 per cent vote against it, qualifying for a first strike.
It is understood major shareholders are furious that such opportunities to reduce the company’s debt were passed over, particularly as its share price has been on a steady downward spiral for more than year.
In a tumultuous period, ARN Media and Anchorage Capital Partners put forward a cash-and-scrip takeover bid 13 months ago, valuing the company at 94c a share. It was ultimately withdrawn after a drawn-out negotiation. In August it was revealed that Australian Community Media was in talks to partner with ARN Media for a merger proposal, which SCA rejected in November.
See also: Inside the SCA AGM
Rear Window’s tip for the next chief executive of the ACMA
One could quibble at the effectiveness of the Australian Communications and Media Authority as a media regulator. But who could doubt its provision of well-paid end-of-career gigs for former media executives? asks The AFR’s Rear Window columnist Myriam Robin.
After six years as chief executive and deputy chair, ex-News Corp, Nine and Abbott government spinner Creina Chapman is stepping down from the regulator on December 10. The search for her replacement to the $454,154-a-year role is underway, spearheaded by ex-ABC host turned Derwent executive recruiter Emma Alberici. Widely expected to eventually replace Chapman is current full-time authority member Adam Suckling.
A formal handover is unlikely to occur before Chapman leaves next month, and the process is far from concluded. Still, Suckling is the obvious candidate and well-qualified for the role, having most recently served as CEO of the Copyright Agency. He also has current Comms Minister Michelle Rowland to thank for his position: she appointed him to ACMA last year.
‘Punitive regime’: X and others warn government social media ban won’t work
Elon Musk’s X has warned Labor its plans to ban children under the age of 16 from social media is likely unlawful, technologically ineffective and will infringe on human rights, reports The AFR’s Tom McIlroy and Sam Buckingham-Jones.
As Labor and the Coalition prepare to rush the bill through parliament this week, mental health experts told a hastily convened inquiry hearing on Monday the plan could push kids into unregulated online spaces such as message boards and encrypted apps.
MPs scrutinising the bill sat for just three hours, ahead of a final report on the bill being presented on Tuesday. The hearing was so rushed some witnesses were prevented from reading opening statements to their evidence and were told they could not take detailed questions on notice.
In a written submission, X said it was examining different age assurance options for its platform but held serious concerns about the government’s plan.
“There is no evidence that banning young people from social media will work, and to make it law in the form proposed is highly problematic,” the company said.
In Monday’s hearing, experts from youth mental health charity Headspace told MPs the proposed ban, designed to help parents protect their children from threats online, might backfire badly with younger Australians.
ITV share price leaps with takeover speculation surrounding broadcaster and ITV Studios
ITV’s share price has jumped after a report that several investors are considering making bids for the British broadcaster, reports The Guardian.
The Love Island broadcaster’s share price rose by almost 9% to more than 71p, as investors hoped for a bid battle between private equity companies and rival broadcasters.
The private equity investor CVC Capital Partners and a big European broadcaster, thought to be France’s Groupe TF1, are among those studying the merits of a potential offer, Sky News reported.
The RedBird Capital-owned All3Media – the maker of Googlebox – and Mediawan, which is backed by the private equity group KKR, were also named by Sky News as “potential suitors for the ITV Studios production arm”. However, it is not thought that any formal approaches have been made.
News Brands
The New Daily cuts jobs as Industry Super finalises sale
Industry Super-backed news publication The New Daily is shedding staff as its owner gets ready to offload the publication, with a deal expected to be finalised by year’s end, reports Nine Publishing’s Sumeyya Ilanbey.
The New Daily’s owner, Industry Super Holdings – the superannuation sector’s collectively held investment arm – put the publication on the market earlier this year, saying the loss-making publication was finding it harder to keep itself afloat.
Solstice Media, which publishes The New Daily at present through its subsidiary Motion Publishing, is in pole position to buy the publication, which has been steadily cutting staff.
Eight positions have been made redundant, while a handful of staff will be offered new roles, Motion managing director Paul Hamra said. Several others have left the organisation recently.
Rebel Wilson loses bid to have defamation case thrown out
The bitter legal feud between Australian actor Rebel Wilson and the producers of her film The Deb will have its day in court, following a ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court judge Thomas Long that the defamation case should proceed as planned, reports Nine Publishing’s Michael Idato.
Wilson accused the film’s three producers, Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden, of embezzlement in a video she posted to her Instagram account earlier this year. Ghost was also accused of sexual harassment. The account has more than 11 million followers.
They responded with a suit against Wilson for defamation. But the 44-year-old actor had hoped to have it thrown out by using a California statute designed to dismiss cases that attempt to stifle free speech which is in the public interest.
Radio
ABC’s OMG moment as radio boss rushes to restore calm
The ABC’s head of radio has moved to calm unrest and admonish “poor behaviour” within staff ranks as angry listeners flood the broadcaster with complaints about the surprise dumping of the Sydney station’s Mornings presenter Sarah Macdonald, report Nine Publishing’s Jordan Baker and Carrie Fellner.
Amid speculation that former Q+A presenter Hamish Macdonald is the frontrunner to replace her, employees told the Herald about festering concern that the radio division’s new bosses, both from commercial music stations, misread the ABC audience.
Listeners are still contacting the station with complaints four days after Macdonald revealed her exit. They say they are angry, disgruntled, sad and bewildered. One described the decision as an act of ABC self-sabotage. One called themselves an “ABC disbeliever”, another said they were “shocked and disgusted”.
“The last thing we want is commercial radio. Shame!” said another. Others asked for the decision to be reversed. They also criticised the mooted departure of weekend presenter Simon Marnie, who is still in discussions with management.
Petition to get Mark ‘MG’ Geyer back on Triple M after sacking
A Sydney man has started a petition to get rugby league legend Mark Geyer back on the air, having been outraged by the radio star’s sacking, report News Corp’s Elizabeth Neil and Brenden Wood.
Camden man Terry Foley, 59, started an online petition last Thursday, calling for Triple M to reinstate “MG”, after The Daily Telegraph revealed the station had sacked the former NSW State of Origin star.
Geyer, who played for the Panthers when Penrith won their first premiership in 1991, joined Triple M in 2009 and was one of the radio station’s longest-serving presenters.
He hosted breakfast shows with Stuart MacGill, Gus Worland, Matty Johns, Jess Eva, Chris Page and Ray Warren, along with his most recent co-hosts Mick Molloy, Cat Lynch and Natarsha Belling.
When Mediaweek last checked, the petition had around 100 signatures.
https://www.petitions.net/signatures/bring_back_mg_to_triple_m/
Plans to network Kyle and Jackie into Brisbane and Adelaide dropped with new moves
Former Brisbane Broncos star Corey Oates has revealed his next career move after announcing his retirement from rugby league earlier this year, reports News Corp’s Tayla Couacaud.
Oates announced his retirement from footy on the Robin and Kip KIIS 97.3FM in October, saying he had known for a while it was time to let go.
The 29-year-old has now announced a shock move to breakfast radio and will officially join the pair on air, despite rumours circling that the show could be in the firing line of a major overhaul.
Duncan Campbell, ARN Chief Content Officer said he is thrilled to welcome Oates to the KIIS 97.3 Breakfast team.
“Corey is a well-known and loved Brisbane personality, and his energy and humour make him a natural fit for Robin & Kip,” Campbell said.
“Corey has been a long-time friend of the show, and we know listeners will enjoy getting to know him in this new role. This team has fantastic chemistry, and we’re excited to see how they connect with Brisbane audiences.”
News Corp’s Nick Bond reports:
The announcement seemingly puts an end to speculation that Sydney breakfast hosts Kyle and Jackie O would continue their push into other cities in 2025. The duo’s long-running radio show launched in Melbourne earlier this year, with rumours rife that they’d continue to expand into other Australian capitals.
Ali Clarke announces she’s decided to leave Mix brekky show
Ali Clarke has made a major call on her radio career with Mix 102.3, announcing she is stepping down from the program, report News Corp’s Tara Miko and Anna Vlach.
The mum-of-three, who is currently co-hosting Max & Ali in the Morning with Max Burford, announced she would be leaving during Monday’s show.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
The announcement comes a week after Clarke returned to the show after undergoing a second mastectomy as a “safety” precaution. It is her second mastectomy since her cancer diagnosis.
Clarke said one of her biggest fears in quitting the show was it would be the death of local radio amid rampant industry speculation about Kyle and Jackie O replacing locally produced programs.
“I was terrified it would be the end of local radio for Mix with all the narrative that’s been going around with the Kyle and Jackie O Show,” she said.
“But it’s with absolute relief … that Max you’re around to stay and local radio is around to stay because I believe there is a huge role for local people telling local stories and for local jobs – especially in radio.”
See also: Ali Clarke to exit Mix 102.3 after three years as breakfast host
Television
Poisoned apple: Inside Netflix’s must-see Belle Gibson show
Apple Cider Vinegar, one of the most anticipated streaming television series of 2025, brings to the screen one of the most extraordinary – and fascinating – stories in recent Australian history: that of Belle Gibson, a “wellness” advocate who was swept up in a series of scandals, initially for fraudulent claims about charitable donations, and later exposed for falsely claiming to have cancer, reports Nine Publishing’s Michael Idato.
Apple Cider Vinegar is the story of how Belle Gibson rose to prominence and how her fame unravelled around her. “This is a story of large-scale deception; a tale that duped millions in the reckless pursuit of attention and fame,” wrote journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano in a Good Weekend cover story, published in 2017.
In April 2015, Gibson told The Australian Women’s Weekly she had fabricated her cancer claims. Netflix describes the series as “a cultural interrogation of the times, exploring the birth of Instagram [and] the allure and rise of wellness culture”.
In 2016, Consumer Affairs Victoria brought legal action against her for allegedly breaking Australian consumer law. The following year, Federal Court Justice Debra Mortimer ruled that Belle “had no reasonable basis to believe she had cancer”, and she was fined $410,000 for making false claims about her donations to charity.
In 2020 and 2021, police raided Belle’s home in Melbourne to seize items in the hope of settling the unpaid fines.