Wednesday April 3, 2019

10 director of news Ross Dagan on audience growth, digital & CBS

Content discussions covered everything from Studio 10 to 10 Daily to the re-branded early evening bulletin.

In a new Mediaweek podcast recorded this week, Mediaweek editor James Manning visited Ross Dagan, 10’s network director of news content.

Dagan reinforced the broadcaster’s commitment to news, spoke about plans for closer ties with CBS and was frank about re-entering the breakfast TV space and extending primetime news coverage. Content discussions covered everything from Studio 10 to 10 Daily to the re-branded early evening bulletin.

Here are some highlights:

The 10 Network’s director of news content hasn’t quite completed 12 months back at his old network. But as he told Mediaweek in a podcast Tuesday, the first anniversary “is screaming towards me”.

10’s commitment to news

Dagan said that any perception people may have had about the broadcaster not being committed to news is not correct.

“10 is enormously committed to news in all its forms. The strict definition of news and how we have looked at it historically is whether it is a bespoke news bulletin. That is not the only test these days. We have an engine room of news content that it is growing and is larger than it has been for a long, long time at 10.

“We have made some strategically key appointments across multiple programs and multiple platforms and now more than ever the strength and the commitment of the news at 10 is enormous.

“We are very proud of our link to CBS where the news heritage is also very strong. I am very often in conversations where that commitment to news at CBS and 10 is loudly and proudly very real.”

Dagan said 10 provides content to CBS every day with stories regularly appearing on CBSN, the streaming news service of CBS in the US.

“As recently as the Christchurch massacre Dan Sutton, our senior reporter in Christchurch, was the lead story on the CBS Evening News. That is something almost unheard of for an Australian reporter. They were effusive in their praise for his work and Dan did a fantastic job.

We have also just announced our first CBS news secondment and we are keen for our people to benefit from the wisdom and the knowledge that the CBS news team can provide in New York. We will be sending a couple of our people to New York twice a year to get a better sense of how CBS News operates. We will also be giving them a sense of how we operate down under – there is a lot to learn on both sides.”

Ratings not the only measure of engagement

“It is our job and my job to produce the best possible product we can in a broadcast news environment and in an online news environment. We are ensuring we can get every eyeball we can and growing that audience.

I am pleased to say the audience share for 10 News First is up since our rebrand in October and I can also that is the case for Studio 10 since its fifth birthday last year.

“We are also enormously happy and proud of the enormous results 10 Daily has produced in close to its first 12 months.”

News and information for people under 50

“The 10 brand is different to the other brands and deliberately so. We have a different way of connecting and a different tone of voice.”

We asked Dagan if his job was different to that of the news directors at Seven and Nine in that he needs to find news for people under 50.

“We do have a different thought process around the substance of what we do every day. We are clearly achieving substantial demographic success for people under 50 with news and content elsewhere on the network.

I need to acknowledge that the largest possible growth demo for a news broadcast is people over 50. We have to dance that dance with content that is appealing to someone who is under 50 and is also interesting to someone who is over 50.

“There are other ways we can identify as a more youthful news product with a more dynamic presentation style and a set that helps as much as the content.”

Listen to the Mediaweek podcast with Ross Dagan here.

The Split: Westpac and Mamamia collaborate on a new divorce podcast

Following on from the award-winning pregnancy podcast Hello, Bump, the collaboration between Westpac and Mamamia is continuing with the launch of a new podcast series The Split.

The Split aims to support, inform and guide women through what can be one of the most isolating times of their lives – separation and divorce.

This new content produced by Mamamia, is part of Westpac’s ongoing Help campaign – highlighting how the brand can help during key life moments, including when separating from a partner.

The Split is hosted by comedian and writer Mandy Nolan, herself a twice-divorced mother of five.

Holly Wainwright, Mamamia’s head of content, said: “The Split is a perfect Mamamia/Westpac joint venture because exactly in the spirit of Hello, Bump, it’s guiding women through one of the most momentous milestones in their lives with honesty, empathy, practical advice and more than a few wry laughs. We’ve sourced so much of The Split’s content from our audience, and it’s already hitting such a nerve with them, we’re convinced it’s going to help an enormous number of listeners.”

Westpac group head of brand, advertising & media, Jenny Melhuish, said: “After seeing how Hello, Bump really resonated with women going through pregnancy, we knew that partnering with Mamamia on a podcast was a great way to have a helpful and meaningful conversation on the sensitive topic of separation. It also allows us to continue the conversations on important life moments.

The Split is a free podcast that people can listen to at a time and place that suits them. With three in five of those considering separating from a partner not knowing where to start, The Split complements the help we are offering via our range of free, easy to use checklists and resources to help couples navigate a separation housed on our online Separation hub.”

Read more of the week’s developments in podcast in Mediaweek’s Podcast Week, Thursdays in The Mediaweek Morning Report.

Top Photo: Mandy Nolan

TV Ratings Analysis: April 2

• Budget night sees MAFS couple Heidi and Mike reveal vows
• Cooking amid a love crisis on My Kitchen Rules
• Best of the rest: Ambo’s, The Treasurer and trains

Tuesday: Week 14 2019

By James Manning

• Seven News 1,057,000/1,024,000
• Nine News 845,000/866,000
• A Current Affair 818,000
• ABC News 692,000
• Treasurer’s Budget Speech 506,000
• ABC Budget News Special 425,000
• The Project 234,000/426,000
• 10 News First 371,000
• SBS World News 129,000

Breakfast TV

• Sunrise 274,000
• Today 189,000

Seven

After a strong start to the week on 740,000 Home And Away has backed up with 748,000.

As My Kitchen Rules seemed to venture into MAFS territory, frenemies Pat and Bianca hugged it out after a crowd-pleasing peasant soup, calamari and cannoli secured their place in the finals. Pete and Manu again had very different scores last night. Manu rated the mushroom lasagne an 8, while Pete thought it only worthy of a 3. Meanwhile, the table was rife with tension as friends with benefits Victor and Piper dodged the truth-seeking missiles launched in their direction. The Tuesday audience was 832,000 after 806,000 a week ago.

The final episode of the three-part Manhunt did 569,000 after audiences in the 500,000s for the first two eps. Episode two had an extra 174,000 in the consolidated-7 numbers taking its audience to over 700,000.

Nine

Child safety and then story about women who kill were featured on A Current Affair. After its second best night of the year on Monday with 924,000, the Tuesday audience dipped to 818,000.

Heidi and Mike have perhaps been the most underrated couple on Married At First Sight this year. They got some airtime last night though with the episode devoted to the tortuous journeys they went on before deciding on their vows. The Budget Speech didn’t seem to tempt away too many viewers with 1.388m watching, up from 1.225m a week ago.

Travel Guides was visiting Canberra on Budget day. Aussie holidays are nice, but it’s somehow not the same as leaving the country. The audience didn’t seem to mind though with the numbers down ever-so-slightly from 909,000 for the Israel trip, to 870,000 for the nation’s capital.

10

Hamish Macdonald was reporting on the battle for Tony Abbott’s seat on The Project. The episode did 426,000 after 7pm.

Ambulance Australia was then on 363,000, down on last week’s 414,000.

NCIS then did 286,000 followed by NCIS: Los Angeles on 214,000.

ABC

The Budget Speech at 7.30pm did 506,000.

An ABC News Special followed on the Budget with 425,000 watching.

It was then back to Louis Theroux’s special on drug addiction in the US with 287,000 tuning in.

SBS

Great Continental Railway Journeys was in Italy again this week with 248,000 watching.

Insight then spoke to people with HIV with 189,000 watching.

Week 14 TV: Tuesday
TUESDAY METRO
ABCSevenNine10SBS
ABC10.1%722.1%926.2%10 8.9%SBS One4.5%
ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY2.7%7TWO2.7%GO!3.0%10 Bold3.2%VICELAND1.3%
ABC ME0.6%7mate2.5%GEM2.4%10 Peach1.4%Food Net0.9%
ABC NEWS2.2%7flix1.8%9Life2.9%  NITV0.1%
  7Food0.5%      
TOTAL15.6% 29.5% 34.5% 13.5% 6.8%

 

TUESDAY REGIONAL
ABCSeven AffiliatesNine Affiliates10 AffiliatesSBS
ABC9.4%722.4%921.4%WIN9.1%SBS One3.0%
ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY2.9%7TWO4.3%GO!4.4%WIN Bold3.2%VICELAND1.9%
ABC ME1.3%7mate3.4%GEM3.9%WIN Peach1.6%Food Net0.8%
ABC NEWS1.6%7flix1.7%9Life2.5%Sky News  on WIN1.0%NITV0.2%
TOTAL15.2% 31.8% 32.2% 14.9% 5.9%

 

TUESDAY METRO ALL TV
FTASTV
87.9%12.1%
TUESDAY FTA
  1. Married At First Sight Nine 1,388,000
  2. Seven News Seven 1,057,000
  3. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 1,024,000
  4. Travel Guides Nine 870,000
  5. Nine News 6:30 Nine 866,000
  6. Nine News Nine 845,000
  7. My Kitchen Rules  Seven 832,000
  8. A Current Affair Nine 818,000
  9. Home And Away Seven 748,000
  10. ABC News ABC 692,000
  11. The Chase Australia Seven 607,000
  12. Manhunt Seven 569,000
  13. Budget 2019: The Treasurer’s Speech ABC 506,000
  14. The Project 7pm 10 426,000
  15. Budget 2019: An ABC News Special ABC 425,000
  16. Hot Seat Nine 423,000
  17. True Story With Hamish & Andy – (R) -Ep1 Nine 385,000
  18. The Chase Australia-5pm Seven 380,000
  19. 10 News First 10 371,000
  20. Ambulance Australia 10 363,000
Demo Top 5

16-39 Top Five

  1. Married At First Sight Nine 409,000
  2. Travel Guides Nine 267,000
  3. My Kitchen Rules  Seven 165,000
  4. Seven News Seven 147,000
  5. Home And Away Seven 143,000

 

18-49 Top Five

  1. Married At First Sight Nine 662,000
  2. Travel Guides Nine 439,000
  3. My Kitchen Rules  Seven 285,000
  4. Seven News Seven 254,000
  5. A Current Affair Nine 251,000

 

25-54 Top Five

  1. Married At First Sight Nine 732,000
  2. Travel Guides Nine 493,000
  3. My Kitchen Rules Seven 335,000
  4. Seven News Seven 306,000
  5. A Current Affair Nine 304,000
TUESDAY Multichannel
  1. Bluey AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 214,000
  2. Talking Married 9Life 189,000
  3. Peter Rabbit ABCKIDS/COMEDY 187,000
  4. Octonauts ABCKIDS/COMEDY 186,000
  5. Floogals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 169,000
  6. Rusty Rivets ABCKIDS/COMEDY 167,000
  7. Peppa Pig PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 166,000
  8. Kazoops! PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 159,000
  9. Andy’s Wild Adventures ABCKIDS/COMEDY 150,000
  10. Dino Dana ABCKIDS/COMEDY 149,000
  11. Death In Paradise 9Gem 147,000
  12. Wanda And The Alien PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 144,000
  13. Bluey ABCKIDS/COMEDY 140,000
  14. Peppa Pig AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 137,000
  15. Fireman Sam PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 132,000
  16. Bondi Rescue Ep 2 (R) 10 Bold 129,000
  17. Neighbours 10 Peach 121,000
  18. NCIS (R) 10 Bold 111,000
  19. Bob The Builder PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 110,000
  20. PJ Masks AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 105,000
TUESDAY STV
  1. Budget 2019 Sky News Live 73,000
  2. Budget 2019 With David Speers Sky News Live 64,000
  3. Live: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 55,000
  4. PML Later Sky News Live 54,000
  5. Budget 2019 With David Speers Sky News Live 51,000
  6. Budget 2019: Final Countdown Sky News Live 49,000
  7. What We Do In The Shadows FOX SHOWCASE 45,000
  8. Border Security: Australia’s Front Line FOX8 43,000
  9. Live: NRL 360 FOX LEAGUE 43,000
  10. Live: The Back Page FOX SPORTS 503 39,000
  11. Budget 2019: Final Countdown Sky News Live 39,000
  12. Criminal Minds TVH!TS 37,000
  13. Family Guy FOX8 35,000
  14. Live: WWE Raw FOX8 33,000
  15. Family Guy FOX8 32,000
  16. Jeopardy! FOX Classics 32,000
  17. The Simpsons FOX8 31,000
  18. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver COMEDY CHANNEL 31,000
  19. Shimmer And Shine Nick Jr. 29,000
  20. Border Security: Australia’s Front Line FOX8 29,000

Shares all people, 6pm-midnight, Overnight (Live and AsLive), Audience numbers FTA metro, Sub TV national
Source: OzTAM and Regional TAM 2018. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) without the prior written consent of OzTAM

Media News Roundup

Business of Media

ABC regional coverage bolstered in federal budget, SBS bonus too

The ABC has received a pre-election budget reprieve after the Morrison government committed $43.7 million to help fund the broadcaster’s rural and regional journalism for the next three years, reports The Australian’s Rosie Lewis.

The enhanced newsgathering funding package increases the ABC’s triennial base operational funding from $3.16 billion to almost $3.2bn just weeks out from the federal election.

SBS has also been given $29.6m over three years to “guarantee the ongoing quality of its television, radio and online services”, taking its triennial funding to $851.8m.

[Read the original]

Recommendation: Tougher Australian music quotas on horizon for radio

At least a quarter of all songs played on commercial radio should be Australian, according to a plan recommended by the federal government’s inquiry into the local music industry, reports The Age’s Broede Carmody.

The inquiry, chaired by Queensland Liberal National Party MP Luke Howarth, publicly released its highly-anticipated report on Tuesday – just hours before the federal budget was handed down. In it, cross-party MPs recommend a swathe of changes to assist those working in the “challenging and highly-competitive” music industry.

Among the recommendations is a plan to task the communications watchdog with ensuring all commercial broadcasters meet an Australian content quota of “no less than 25% of all music” played between 6am and midnight. A quarter of that figure is to come from music released within the last 12 months.

At the moment, the rules vary between different commercial networks. According to industry sources, a classic hits station, for example, is allowed to play fewer Australian songs than a top 40 station. However, around 20% of all music played on commercial radio is performed by an Australian.

[Read the original]

Labor won’t stand in way of Morrison government’s social media laws

Tough new measures designed to punish tech companies that fail to stop the spread of violent content on the internet are set to be rushed through Parliament, after federal Labor said it would set aside its concerns and support the legislation, reports The Sydney Morning Herald’s John McDuling.

Scott Morrison on the weekend promised the new laws would result in executives at social media platforms facing up to three years in jail, while tech companies could face multibillion-dollar fines of up to 10 per cent of their annual global turnover.

The bill is expected to be introduced to the Senate on Wednesday. There are only two sitting days left for the House of Representatives before an election is due.

Meanwhile, the lobbying organisation that represents Google, Facebook and Twitter, questioned the need for jail terms for tech executives, and criticised the rushed process around the proposed new laws.

“Announcing measures such as jailing staff at social media companies is inappropriate for a democracy such as Australia, and does not help the debate or solve the issue,” Digital Industry Group managing director Sunita Bose said in a statement.

[Read the original]

Andrew Bassat woos former bank boss Narev with COO role at Seek

Ian Narev says he feels he has nothing to prove to his critics and has taken his “share of accountability” for the problems that led to his departure from the nation’s largest bank, CBA, after taking on the new role of chief operating officer and Asia Pacific and Americas boss at online employment group Seek, reports The Australian’s Damon Kitney.

The move is a significant change for Narev, coming from a role where he ran the nation’s biggest bank, the Commonwealth, with a market capitalisation of $126 billion compared to Seek’s market value of $6.1bn.

“I understand there are people out there who are critical of me and my time at CBA. They have, in many cases, good reasons to be. This move isn’t about responding to that. It is not part of the mindset at all,” Narev told The Australian of his decision to take on the Seek role.

While Egon Zhender conducted an internal search, Seek CEO Bassat and Seek directors engaged with Narev.

[Read the original]

News Brands

Remembering Vic Carroll: influential agent of change

V.J. (Vic) Carroll, who died on Tuesday, was one of Australia’s most influential editors and an agent of dramatic change in Fairfax newspapers for 20 turbulent and creative years from 1964, reports former Fairfax editor Max Suich.

The 94-year old died after a short illness.

In two separate adventures, Carroll first rescued The Australian Financial Review (1964-75) when it faced a powerful threat from Rupert Murdoch with the launch of The Australian; and later, he began the rebuild of the editorial and commercial fortunes of The Sydney Morning Herald (1980-83) after a period of severe decline.

In the course of this, by force of example, persuasion and a strong streak of stubbornness, he played a major role in persuading the Fairfax family and management of the corporate and social benefits of allowing editorial diversity within and competition between the separate arms of their influential media empire. It is a tradition now lost to the centralisation prompted by the digital revolution.

In 1951 he was appointed finance editor of The Courier-Mail and in 1960 joined The Sun-Herald in Sydney as finance editor.

Despite the tensions of the relationship Carroll stayed at Fairfax for the rest of his working career, refusing at least one offer from Rupert Murdoch whom he admired but sensibly wanted to keep at arm’s length. “It’s a bit staccato over there,” he commented.

In the early 1980s Carroll worked the magic again, beginning the reconstruction of the editorial and commercial fortunes of the Herald by putting together another talented team, led by Chris Anderson, Eric Beecher, Paul Kelly, Valerie Lawson, Ian Hicks and the man he acknowledged as the “memory” of the Herald, Alan Peterson.

In his retirement he researched and wrote a book, The Man Who Couldn’t Wait, an account of the takeover of Fairfax by the young Warwick Fairfax in 1987, which subsequently lost the young man

his fortune and tipped the family out of the company for 20 years.

In later years he frequently slipped pertinent notes in to the letters page of the Financial Review and occasionally the Herald.

[Read the original]

The AFR pays tribute: Vale Vic Carroll, giant of journalism

Tributes have poured in for Vic Carroll, a legendary Australian newspaper editor and a significant influence on the emergence of the modern Australian economy, who died early on Tuesday morning in Sydney. He was 94, reports The AFR’s Andrew Clark.

According to Greg Hywood, a former managing director of Fairfax Media (since taken over by Nine), Carroll was “the Godfather of modern Australian journalism”.

Hywood, who is also a former editor-in-chief of the Financial Review and the Herald, said Carroll “fought for the editorial independence that the profession now takes for granted. Australians enjoy the benefits of his legacy every day”.

In a joint statement, Michael Stutchbury, editor-in-chief of the Financial Review, and Paul Bailey, the paper’s editor, said Carroll’s Financial Review was a “confident and substantial” newspaper “but also irreverent in an Australian larrikin sense”.

“Vic Carroll remains the foundation stone of The Australian Financial Review as Australia’s first national newspaper,” the two said.

He “recognised that the nation’s business publication had to cast its gaze beyond dusty and fusty financial scribbling to be about the development of the national economy and hence the nation itself and its relations with the world”.

[Read the original]

Television

SBS secures TV giants for new season of Who Do You Think You Are?

Eight of Australia’s most popular personalities will go on a journey to discover who they really are in series 10 of Who Do You Think You Are? premiering on SBS on Tuesday 30 April, at 7.30pm.

Marta Dusseldorp, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Jennifer Byrne and Kerri-Anne Kennerley join the cast of the celebrated genealogy series, which investigates the ancestry of prominent Australians. The all-new eight-part series also features Scott Cam, Casey Donovan, Kurt Fearnley and Rodger Corser.

They will trace their family history through global archives to learn more about their ancestors’ pasts, and piece together their family trees. Through these journeys, a rare insight into their lives behind the cameras emerges.

SBS director of TV and online content Marshall Heald said: “This year marks over 70 episodes and the landmark tenth series of one of Australia’s most loved series. Who Do You Think You Are? has uncovered eye-opening and emotional revelations about some of Australia’s most iconic personalities and this season is no exception. The stories reflect the rich diversity of Australia and demonstrate how we have evolved into the multicultural nation we are today.”

From Shanghai to Ukraine, and beyond, these eight Australians travel to parts of the world they’ve never been to in an attempt to uncover the histories that are both personal and universal. While one of the cast is shocked to discover they directly descend from English kings, another traces lost Italian roots. One learns about heroic wartime adventures and another gets insights into their Indigenous history.

Old wounds are healed, fighting spirits centuries old are uncovered and family secrets never explained are finally understood in this emotional new series of Who Do You Think You Are?

Who Do You Think You Are? is produced by Warner Bros International Television Production Australia for SBS.

• “Coming on this journey has really opened my eyes and my heart and it’s lifted a weight. It makes me feel like I belong” – Casey Donovan
• “I’m just a knockabout chippie… it would be bloody nice if we found some royalty!” – Scott Cam
• “I feel a lot more anchored now that I know about my ancestors and I can now appreciate why my parents were the way they were” – Dr Karl Kruszelnicki

Sports Media

No AFL penalty for Eddie McGuire after gaffe over coin tossing

The AFL will take no action against Eddie McGuire for embarrassing comments about the Swans’ No.1 ticket-holder Cynthia Banham when she was tossing the coin, reports The Age’s Jake Niall.

While Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham had initially called for the AFL to make a stand on McGuire, the league has decided there were no grounds for sanctioning the broadcaster and Collingwood president, who made mocking comments about the quality of the coin toss, without seeing that the coin tosser was Banham, who lost both legs in a plane accident in 2007.

While it is possible for the AFL to sanction McGuire as a club official, it is unclear how any formal penalty could apply to the Collingwood president, who was hosting Fox Footy’s coverage when he made the gaffe.

McGuire will return to hosting Fox Footy’s coverage of Friday night’s clash between Melbourne and Essendon and is also set to call the Western Bulldogs-Gold Coast game on Sunday for Fox.

[Read the original]

New role for editor-turned-director? Cricket set to hit the Go button

The waiting game to see who will replace David Peever and Mark Taylor on the board of Cricket Australia continues, with speculation whoever is appointed could be stepping into the role as chair if the incumbent, Earl Eddings, cannot win over the Victorian board in the next few months, reports The Australian’s Peter Lalor.

Marina Go, who stood down as chair of NRL club Wests Tigers last month, is on the short list to take over one of the most high profile positions in Australian sport.

Go currently sits on a number of high profile boards including EnergyAustralia and 7-Eleven.

Former Swans chairman Richard Colless has been approached to see if he was interested, as has former Cricket NSW chairman John Warn, who was one of the last two in the contest for the chief executive’s job now held by Kevin Roberts.

The organisation is using corporate head hunters Korn Ferry to find candidates to replace Peever, who was one of three independently nominated positions on the nine-person board, while Cricket NSW has a say in the replacement of Taylor.

[Read the original]

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