Business of Media
Seven West Media profit warning in “soft & short” ad market
Seven West Media yesterday advised the ASX it expects underlying group EBIT for the year ending 30 June 2019 to be in the range of $210 million to $220 million versus $235.6m in the prior year.
Financial year 2019 group net cost reduction will be at the top end of the $30 million to $40 million range provided at the 2019 half year results in February, it added.
Seven has grown revenue share this financial year, including a 41.3% share of the metro FTA market and 42.5% share of BVOD market in April, however, this revised guidance reflects the soft conditions and short market experienced across the advertising sector, and the economic uncertainty surrounding the Federal Election.
In a trading update earlier this month, Nine claimed a January – March 2019 revenue share of 40.9% and that January – June share would be over 40% too. Nine also warned the “market remains soft”.
At its first half results, Seven said it was confident of achieving the biggest share of metro advertising in the second half of the financial year – January to June 2019.
Seven’s statement yesterday continued:
Seven West Media continues to transform its business at pace, over-delivering on cost-savings and investing in strong growth areas.
Seven Studios will achieve strong EBIT growth and 7Plus will grow revenue over 40% this financial year.
Seven West Media remains focused on improving balance sheet flexibility and will reduce net debt by approximately $75 million in FY19.
Ad spend: Clive Palmer powers $81.8 million election record
A record $81.8 million was spent on federal election advertising across commercial free-to-air television, radio and newspapers by the four main parties, led by billionaire businessman Clive Palmer, reports The Australian’s Lilly Vitorovich.
Palmer’s United Australia Party splashed out $53.6m in the period from September until election day last Saturday, according to data and analytics group Nielsen. But his party failed to win a single Senate seat.
Palmer’s huge outlay dwarfs what Liberal and Labor spent on advertising, which came to $14.5m and $13.3m, respectively. The Australian Greens, meanwhile, spent $320,000.
In the last week of the campaign, Palmer’s UAP spent more than $8.9m, compared with the Liberals’ $2.7m and Labor’s near $3.1m. The Greens spent $140,000.
The figures tracked by Nielsen capture advertising bought across TV, print and radio. But they do not measure advertising on social media, including YouTube, and outdoor advertising such as billboards.
News Brands
Sunshine Coast Daily apologises for concern over front-page imagery
Sunshine Coast Daily editor-in-chief Craig Warhurst has admitted the newspaper made a mistake with its front-page image and accompanying text on Monday. The editor published this apology on Tuesday:
Our front-page imagery in Monday’s edition of the Sunshine Coast Daily – of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in the crosshairs – has been the cause of a lot of concern by our readers.
Today I was inundated with letters saying we got it wrong and we needed to apologise for our actions.
Many of the letter writers said our front page could incite attacks on women and politicians and glorified gun violence.
At a time when domestic violence was so high on the agenda, it was unacceptable, they said.
What the front page was seeking to highlight was Labor’s poor performance in the federal election in Queensland, and that the State Government is now in the political sights of the conservative parties in Queensland. A lot of that centres around the Adani process.
That is all the front page was intended to signify to readers. It reflects the sentiment of the outcome of the federal election in Queensland and the way many Queenslanders voted. It was a sentiment that proved decisive in determining the election.
It will be a shame if one very small image on our front page detracts from the debate this State needs to have. It will be a double shame if other media let themselves be distracted.
That said, in retrospect, I agree it was a poor choice of imagery on the front page. We could have got the message across in a different way.
In no way does the Sunshine Coast Daily condone any sort of violence against women or politicians.
For those of you in the community who feel let down and betrayed by the image, I apologise.
We won’t be re-running it and you’ll notice we are happy to publish the criticism. We give it, we have to take it and learn from these things.
Radio
Hughesy pranked: Radio star morphs from Stellar cover to studio
Last Sunday Dave Hughes was noting his radio co-star Kate Langbroek was featured on the cover of Stellar magazine. The feature was about Kate and her family moving to Italy for 12 months while she also juggles her radio commitment as the co-host of the Hit Network drive show.
But on Monday, Kate turned up in the Melbourne studio to prank her co-host sho thought he was speaking to her from Bologna. She secretly flew in from Bologna late last week, hid at home all weekend and was placed at the other end of the radio station on a different floor from Hughesy in a studio that had been created to look exactly like the one she does Hughesy & Kate from in Italy.
Kate is spending the week on air in Melbourne and return to Italy on the weekend where the family will be waiting for her. While in Melbourne she also took the opportunity to have a colonic!
River Lives: ABC Radio SA focus on our Murray-Darling communities
This week, ABC Radio in South Australia takes a journey of discovery from the Menindee Lakes on the Darling River through to the Murray mouth at Goolwa to examine the state of the ancient river lifeline.
The entire ABC Radio broadcast team across South Australia and Broken Hill will join forces to meet the locals, share the challenges and celebrate the beauty and grandeur of life on the river system.
ABC Radio presenters Peter Goers, David Bevan, Sonya Feldhoff, Ali Clarke, Jules Schiller, plus regional presenters Cassie Hough, Michael Condon and Narelle Graham will all take their programs out of the studio during the week.
Starting at the community celebration “Dancing on the Darling”, broadcast locations include Burke and Wills Park in Menindee, ABC Broken Hill studios, Wentworth – the junction of the Murray and the Darling, Renmark, Tailem Bend and the Murray mouth at Goolwa.
Listeners can share the exploration of the state of the Murray-Darling, and implications for all South Australians, across broadcast, online and social media from May 24 to 31.
Sports Media
Colin Vickery: Nine will suffer if it rushes into a new footy show
Have a rest. That is what I’d say to anyone at Channel 9 who is tempted to try to get another football program up and running in the short term, comments News Corp’s Colin Vickery.
When Nine announced a fortnight ago that it was axing The Footy Show, it came with a qualification.
“We remain committed to the AFL and creating great AFL content, and we will continue to focus on new ways to engage audiences who love the code,” Nine Melbourne managing director Matt Scriven said.
Since then, Shane Crawford and James Hird, former regulars on The Footy Show and currently doing a podcast together have shopped around an AFL-based TV series – they’d prefer it be at Nine.
The very worst thing Nine could do at the moment is start sweating on creating a new prime time footy show which then goes on to be a ratings flop.