Business of Media
Outgoing music chief on ARIA Awards and how industry kept entertaining
Australian Recording Industry Association chief executive Dan Rosen will attend his final ARIA awards as industry boss on Wednesday night after 10 years in the role, reports The AFR’s Max Mason.
“It’s been an unbelievably challenging year. I’ve been very proud of how the music community has come together and what ARIA has been able to do working directly with government to get support for the industry,” Rosen said, referring to the government’s Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) fund.
“Despite all of it, the artists were still putting out great music, making sure that Australians stayed entertained through the difficult times.”
US TV advertising up 3% in 2020 Q3: Analyst: “That was unexpected!”
US TV advertising revenue rose 3 percent in the third quarter, even though national spending fell 3.5 percent, MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson calculated in a report published on Tuesday, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
In the report, entitled “That Was Unexpected!,” he cited the return of sports and the elections as driving ad revenue despite the coronavirus pandemic. His team estimates that TV station advertising rose 22.9 percent in the latest period, pay TV companies’ ad revenue increased 12.8 percent, and cable networks spending climbed 2.3 percent, while broadcast ad revenue fell 13.2 percent.
The decline in national TV ad spending came in better than Nathanson’s expectation for a 6.6 percent drop. And overall, TV ad revenue even edged up to $11.01 billion, the analyst calculated.
For the current fourth quarter, he said “we expect growth to continue, at a 2 percent clip.”
Gemba appoints Adam Hodge Divisional Manager – Marketing Strategy
Gemba has appointed Adam Hodge (pictured) to the newly created role Divisional Manager – Marketing Strategy.
Hodge joins Gemba after nearly nine years at Octagon, one of the world’s largest sport and entertainment marketing practices. In his most recent role as Head of Planning and Strategy (APAC), Hodge was responsible the creative and commercial strategy for all Octagon clients across the region.
Hodge will take the reins of the Marketing Strategy team at Gemba – a team that helps leading brands shape and manage their investments in sport and entertainment. This team counts Toyota, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Sanitarium, Westpac Group, adidas and Transport for NSW among its clients.
Andrew Condon, Managing Director of Gemba, said: “We are thrilled to have found someone of Adam’s calibre. He’s a quality leader who buys into our vision for the industry and our group of companies. Adam has a brilliant feel for how fans engage with their passions and a proven ability to translate this into quality work for his clients.”
Adam Hodge: “I’ve admired and respected Gemba for many years and have always been impressed with their insight-led creative thinking. I’m looking forward to working with the exceptional team here and with some of the world’s most innovative and exciting brands. The revised business and management structure places Gemba in a very strong position for ongoing growth – which I’m excited to contribute to.”
Gemba provides insights, strategy and communication services to the sport and entertainment industry. With offices in Sydney, Melbourne and London, Gemba’s clients include FIFA, World Rugby, City Football Group, Cricket Australia, Football Federation Australia, Toyota, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Sanitarium, Westpac Group, adidas and Transport for NSW.
News Brands
Journalist Alan Ramsey’s last word after a life writ large
Respected political journalist Alan Ramsey has died, aged 82, reports The Australian’s Imogen Reid.
Ramsey, who was described by his peers as fearless, courageous and relentless in his pursuit of a story, spent much of this year in a nursing home on the south coast of NSW.
His 56-year career in journalism began in 1953 as a copy boy and included a stint as the deputy editor of The Australian, and a lengthy period writing a weekend column for The Sydney Morning Herald.
In 2017, Ramsey’s mark on journalism was recognised when he was admitted to the Australian media’s hall of fame.
“Ramsey didn’t much care whether people loved him or hated him – each category was oversubscribed – but Ramsey’s journalism meant nobody could survive to lunchtime without having read his column,” The Australian newspaper’s editor-at-large Paul Kelly wrote at the time. “For 50 years he stalked the halls of power, driven by a compulsion to expose self-interest in the public interest.
In late 1973 Ramsey was forced out of The Australian – he was told to transfer to The Sunday Telegraph and refused.
Ramsey had three children with his first wife Jeanette; with his second wife, journalist Laura Tingle, he had a daughter.
Ramsay and Tingle, the ABC 7.30 program’s chief political correspondent, were married until their divorce in 2017.
See also: Fearless, courageous, uncompromising: journalist Alan Ramsey dies, aged 82
Herald legend whose columns were a mix of insight, venom and grace
A third act is rare in journalism, but Alan Ramsey completed one of Australia’s most accomplished careers with a 21-year stint as the Herald’s national columnist that surely made him the most readable man in the country, writes The SMH’s Damien Murphy.
Ramsey had already gained fame as a war correspondent and a chronicler of Australia’s march from Menzies to modernity when he took over the Saturday column from Peter Bowers in February 1987.
Loathed and feared: ‘Powerful force’ was a must read, Keating says
Alan Ramsey was “a particularly powerful force in journalism”, said former prime minister Paul Keating, himself one of the long-time Herald columnist’s favourite subjects and sparring partners, reports The Sydney Morning Herald’s Jacqueline Maley.
Ramsey’s Saturday column on politics was a “must read”, Mr Keating said, and Ramsey was “always his own person … his effective and attractive manner of writing was a joy to readers”.
Television
Neighbours veteran Stefan Dennis wins his first individual award
Neighbours veteran Stefan Dennis has won his first individual award after 40 years in the industry, reports News Corp’s Jackie Epstein.
Dennis was named Best Daytime Star while Neighbours won Best Daytime Soap in the UK Inside Soap magazine awards overnight.
“This is a very special prize during what has been a hard year for many people and a big thank you to our UK fans who have stuck with us through thick, thin and COVID,” said Dennis, who is the only remaining original cast member from the first episode of Neighbours in 1985.
The long-running soap notched another milestone on Monday night when its 8,500th episode aired.
MasterChef, Love on the Spectrum nominated in Real Screen Awards
MasterChef Australia and Love on the Spectrum have both been nominated in the 2021 Real Screen Awards, reports TV Tonight.
The awards recognise the best in unscripted and non-fiction programming from around the world across 21 genre-specific categories.
MasterChef Australia is nominated for the Lifestyle Competition category against Nailed It! Holiday!, Making It and Beat Bobby Flay while Love on the Spectrum is up for DocuReality against Jay Leno’s Garage, Cheer and Taken At Birth.
Eureka Productions are also nominated for Netflix series Dating Around.
Sports Media
Cricket traditionalist Mick Molloy hit for six while filming cricket special
His glory days as a “reasonably good schoolboy cricketer” long behind him, Mick Molloy has been bowled over while attempting heroics at the crease, reports News Corp’s Nui Te Koha.
Molloy, co-host of Channel 7’s The Front Bar cricket specials, airing on Thursday, and December 3, padded up for practice on Tuesday, while reflecting on his favourite cricket memories.
As a boy, he watched ABC-TV’s one camera cricket coverage. “Every second over, you wouldn’t see the ball delivered, caught, or anything,” Molloy said. “It was primitive.”
Molloy is a cricket traditionalist.
“I don’t want to sound like an old bastard, but I love test cricket,” he said. “I can’t believe we make all this time for one days and T20. For me, test cricket is the epic nature of the game. The other stuff is like UFC compared to heavyweight boxing.”
The Front Bar cricket specials, co-hosted by Molloy, Andy Maher and Andy Lee, will feature guests Merv Hughes and Tim Paine.