Business of Media
Seven gets the eyeballs, but not the advertising dollars
Seven has won the TV ratings race for 2024, attracting more eyeballs nationwide than its commercial rivals for the fourth year in a row, reports The Australian’s James Madden.
According to ratings measurement system VOZ, Seven captured 42 per cent of the free-to-air commercial TV market in 2024, ahead of Nine on 39.3 per cent, while Ten was a distant third with 18.7 per cent of the national audience between the hours of 6am to midnight.
The figures exclude the Paris Olympics, which were broadcast on Nine, as the Games dramatically skew the annual ratings.
The most-watched program of 2024 was Seven’s coverage of the AFL grand final between the Brisbane Lions and the Sydney Swans, with a total TV audience of 4.06 million.
Seven West Media managing director and chief executive officer, Jeff Howard, said the network’s ratings success was built on its “great content that connects with Australians and delivers results for our commercial partners”.
“Millions of Australians connect with one of our broadcast, digital or publishing platforms every day, every week, every month. To make that happen, every year we create, collate and curate thousands of hours of local content,” he said.
“This year, the number of people we connected with grew on both broadcast and digital thanks to content such as the AFL Grand Final, Farmer Wants A Wife, My Kitchen Rules and more, and our content line up for 2025 will ensure that growth continues,” he said.
News Corp’s REA sues Domain for allegedly scraping listings data
Online property listings company REA has sued Domain, accusing its main competitor of infringing on its copyright over property photos and floor plans displayed on its platforms, The AFR’s Campbell Kwan reports.
News Corp-backed REA, owner of realestate.com.au, has alleged in the Federal Court that Domain breached copyright by scraping exclusive listings and placing them on Domain’s Pricefinder and Insight Business platforms.
But Domain, which is defending the claim, has rubbished the action, arguing that REA’s lawsuit is a bid to exert uncompetitive market influence as the biggest classifieds company nationally.
“Of great concern is REA’s efforts to acquire controlling ownership of valuable data from the agents and vendors who paid for this photography,” a Domain spokeswoman said.
“This transfer of ownership should be deeply concerning to the industry, as yet another example of a dominant market participant taking actions that reinforce its position.”
The lawsuit is the latest battle between the classifieds duopoly, and comes as the $30 billion REA expands its lead over Domain.
Newsbrands
Nine news boss Amanda Paterson was ‘boned in seven minutes’
Sacked Nine Brisbane news boss Amanda Paterson has lodged a formal complaint to the Fair Work Commission, alleging she was unlawfully terminated by the media company’s director of news and current affairs Fiona Dear for minor transgressions that were completely unrelated to the organisation’s highly publicised review of its workplace culture, The Australian’s James Madden reports.
Paterson, who worked at Nine for 31 years – having started at the company as a 19-year-old – last week commenced legal action against Nine Entertainment and Dear, with the matter headed for a mandatory conciliation hearing in the FWC before proceeding to the Federal Court.
Paterson is seeking unspecified damages arising from unlawful termination. It’s understood that Nine wants Paterson to sign a deed of release to resolve the dispute.
Until 7 November, Paterson was news director of Nine’s Brisbane, Gold Coast and Darwin newsrooms. On that day, she was asked to attend a snap meeting in the boardroom of Nine Brisbane’s Mount Coot-tha headquarters.
During the seven-minute meeting between Paterson and Dear, who appeared via videolink from Sydney, the Brisbane news boss was informed that her employment was being terminated, effective immediately.
Murdoch’s Fox News, ‘bro’ podcasts the big winners from Trump victory
Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News has captured nearly three-quarters of all US cable news audiences in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election victory, as liberal Americans tune out of the former reality star’s transition to a second term in office, Anna Nicolaou reports in The AFR.
Fox’s daily audiences have surged 40 per cent since the November 5 vote, while viewership of the more left-leaning MSNBC and CNN have dropped 38 per cent and 27 per cent respectively, according to Nielsen figures.
Trump’s 2016 election win and chaotic first presidency spurred a boom across news networks and organisations. This time around, the potential for a “Trump bump” appears more nuanced.
However, one clear and early beneficiary is Fox News, the cable channel Mr Murdoch founded in 1996, where audiences have flocked in recent weeks.
Fox News averaged 2 million viewers a day from November 6 to November 22, up from 1.4 million for the year through November 4, according to Nielsen. Over the same period, MSNBC drew 526,000 viewers each day, down from 847,000 before November 5. CNN’s audience dwindled to 366,000 a day in that time, down from an average of 503,000 before the election.
David Rowe wins cartoonist of the year award for record 10th time
The Australian Financial Review’s editorial cartoonist David Rowe has won the Australian Cartoonists Association’s Gold Stanley for best cartoonist of the year for an unprecedented 10th time, the Nine publication reported.
Rowe was also awarded Bronze Stanleys for Caricaturist and Editorial/Political Cartoonist at the association’s 40th Annual Stanley Awards, held at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House in Canberra on Saturday night.
Rowe has been awarded the top prize more than any other Australian cartoonist. The late Bill Leak, an editorial cartoonist on The Australian, was awarded the Gold Stanley eight times.
“This clutch of awards demonstrates once again the power of David’s work to highlight his subjects’ underlying character and the nuances of complicated issues,” said Financial Review editor Cosima Marriner.
Rowe’s body of work this year has included striking portraits of local and world figures – such as returning US president Donald Trump, Chinese president Xi Jinping and US tech billionaire Elon Musk – and political cartoons about current issues in the news.
Sports
Cricket’s new age a hit with viewers
The first cricket Test of the summer between India and Australia drew record streaming audiences, with Foxtel Go, Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports, registering a year-on-year viewership spike of 35 per cent.
More than 243 million minutes were streamed on the three platforms across the four days of the Test, reinforcing the belief that the rivalry between the two cricketing nations is now as popular as an Ashes series, The Australian’s James Madden reports.
The success of the last week’s first Test was followed by strong streaming audiences for the AFLW grand final and the WBBL final, which featured on Kayo and also Binge.
Both streaming platforms are owned by Foxtel, which is 65 per cent-owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian.
Fox Sports executive director Steve Crawley said women’s sport was a “natural grower”.
“We’ve seen what happened with the NRLW. It’s massive. I reckon it’s among the top franchises in sport now,” Crawley told The Australian.
“The AFLW is going the same way, that will develop in years to come, and we’ve seen how big the Matildas have become.
“I think we’re still in the pioneer stage of women’s sport and I think we’ll look back in a few years and marvel and reflect on how big women’s sport is. And I rejoice in that.
“And add to that the fact that we’re seeing more and more women commentators across all sports.”
Television
Government passes bill for more access to VAST
The Albanese Government has now passed legislation that enables continued access to VAST (Viewer Access Satellite Television service) in remote and regional Australia, TV Tonight’s David Knox reports.
The Communications Legislation Amendment (Regional Broadcasting Continuity) Bill 2024 removes regulatory impediments so that more Australians can access the Viewer Access Satellite Television service, and broadcasters can move to more efficient transmission arrangements.
The Bill empowers the Australian Communications and Media Authority to declare an area to be ‘service-deficient’, which will allow audiences in the area to access services via satellite, should they wish to do so.
Outrage as UK MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace calls accusers ‘middle-class women of a certain age’
Outrage over Gregg Wallace’s alleged conduct has intensified after he dismissed his accusers as “middle-class women of a certain age”, following revelations that the BBC received multiple complaints about him over a period of 12 years, The Guardian’s Josh Halliday reports.
The corporation and other broadcasters are facing growing questions about how the MasterChef presenter was allowed to remain on screen despite a series of allegations of inappropriate behaviour dating back to at least 2012.
Vera Baird KC, the former victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, accused the BBC of being “in the dark ages” for “tolerating” allegedly sexually inappropriate conduct by its male stars.
Wayne Northrop, ‘Days of Our Lives’ and ‘Dynasty’ Actor, Dies at 77
Wayne Northrop, the actor known for roles on Days of Our Lives and Dynasty, has died. He was 77, The Hollywood Reporter’s Zoe G. Phillips reports.
Northrop died Friday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, publicist Cynthia Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s six years ago.
“He took his last breath in the arms of his family,” Northrop’s wife and fellow soap star, Lynn Herring Northrop, said in a statement. “We wish to thank the most caring and amazing place, the Motion Picture and Television Home, for taking such great care of him. Wayne touched so many people with his sense of humor and wit. A husband for 43 years, the best dad ever to his two boys, Hank and Grady, and a rancher who loved his cows and was a friend to many.”