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By Ingrid Willinge and James Manning

The chief executive of Southern Cross Austereo Grant Blackley was a guest on the Mediaweek TV segment on Sky News Business this week.

Blackley was asked initially if he was seeing good trading conditions as recent SMI data seemed to suggest.

“Yes, we are, and it is certainly better than the previous six months. There is improvement broadly in the radio sector and that seems to be strengthening on a quarter-by-quarter basis.

“Radio is a very resilient medium. In regional television we are growing at a reasonable clip because of the transition we have made as a Nine affiliate and the continued effort to get the full values of those ratings and revenue.

“We are also seeing our PodcastOne business getting some returns after an initial investment period.”

As to a question about the strength of regional revenues for the business, Blackley reminded viewers: “We are the only media company with assets in both television and radio. Regional is still under-represented with investment from agencies and advertisers.

“We have had a concerted effort to educate the market about the 40% of Australia that is being undercooked. National advertising was up about 12% for the December 2017 half and we are seeing that continue this year.

“Advertisers are starting to see the economic benefit of further investment in regional Australia.”

Media law reform triggering M&A activity

“We were pleased with the final outcome, which was debated over many years.

“A lot of people are getting their house in order with respect to where they want to be this year. We have a clear view of what we want to do and a clear strategy.

“Just about every media company would be running the numbers on each other. It is certainly not consuming our company and we are very comfortable with the organic development.

“We are acutely aware of media assets that could be attractive to us, but there is no burning desire to commit to them at this point.”

When asked if he thought SCA could be attractive as an acquisition, as a group or broken up, Blackley replied: “We have always been attractive. [Laughs]

“We are the largest radio group in Australia with 84 stations that have been rebranded and it is a scaled and simple business. We have the largest range of local clients out of any media.

“We have very strong television assets as well, affiliated with the Nine Network. Our audio-on-demand development also makes us attractive.

“But we are getting on with business – we are not waiting for any other event.”

PodcastOne and digital radio plans

“We sit on around 50% of the spectrum available. We previously had an unorganised brand strategy. We have organised that brand strategy with four brands under Triple M and three brands under Hit Network – with a fourth to come.”

Blackley explained how SCA is giving all its radio advertisers extended reach on those digital brands.

SEE ALSO: Brian Gallagher on a Southern Cross Austereo brand on the move

“Regarding PodcastOne, the beauty of the model – and we seem to be alone with this at this point – is that it is original content. We hit 10m downloads in the first 22 weeks from launch in April 2017. It took us 12 weeks to hit the next 10m. It has become investable media because we have sustained growth with 35 original authors, which we expect to grow to over 50 this year.

“The revenue is starting to flow. In the first six months it was in an investment phase. In the US it took about four years to get some scale. In Australia in a few years we might have a $50m market and we want to be a substantial player in that market.”

Gambling ad regulations

When asked how the ban on gambling ads during live sport could hurt Southern Cross Austereo, which covers much live sport on TV and radio, Blackley responded:

“The short answer is no.

“We have known about this for some time and have been prepared. We supported the Government on this. The concern we have is that advertisers are confused about the process. We have been very aware of the potential impact on us and we have worked with clients to mitigate wherever we can.”

Sports rights on SCA regional TV

When asked about Nine getting a deal with Tennis Australia, Blackley replied: “I think Nine should buy the cricket as well.” That’s one wish not getting fulfilled.

He did note however: “We are delighted with the tennis. We have always admired the tennis and Seven has proven that it is a successful launching pad for the start of the year.”

—

Top photo [L-R]: SCA’s Grant Blackley (right) with Sky News Business anchor Ingrid Willinge and Mediaweek’s James Manning

Seven West Media’s magazine and digital publishing division Pacific has appointed Emma Nolan as editor-in-chief of New Idea.

Nolan will also continue working with the Who brand as editor-in-chief. A recruitment process is under way to find a new editor for Who.

Louisa Hatfield, Pacific’s general manager, entertainment and family, comments: “With a multiplatform footprint of more than five million every month, New Idea’s power to entertain and connect with a huge community of Australian women is stronger than ever.

“Emma has strong commercial credentials, great creative vision and a powerful reputation for growing brands. I couldn’t think of a smarter and more talented journalist to take the helm of our flagship brand and evolve it into the future.”

Emma Nolan joined Pacific in September 2017 as editor of Who. Since commencing the new role, she has overseen the launch of Women Who, a video-led campaign in partnership with Holden to recognise inspiring Australian women, and next week will unveil Who’s first pop-up magazine, The Crown, a collector’s special edition for fans of the Royals and the top-rating Netflix show.

Nolan was previously editor of TV Week and played an instrumental role in driving the TV Week Logie Awards for the last 15 years.

Nolan commented on her appointment: “This is such an exciting time for New Idea and I look forward to playing a key role in the brand’s continued multiplatform growth. The opportunity to work with the incredibly talented and creative team here is a privilege.”

New Idea’s total audience footprint currently stands at over 5.2 million, with its digital audience climbing 78% over the last 12 months. As part of a diversified audience and revenue growth strategy, the team produces a weekly print magazine, website and 12 special editions every year, in addition to the social media sites New Idea Food and The Flawsome Mum, a new series of podcasts and originally created editorial and branded video.

With an official announcement pending as we publish this, Cricket Australia is expected soon to announce a new partnership with Foxtel via Fox Sports and Seven West Media.

Cricket Australia is believed to have secured a $1 billion+ package for its new rights deal, which could cover seven years of the sport.

Fox Sports will become the home of cricket as much of the sport – domestic and international – will now be available to Foxtel subscribers only.

Fox Sports is expected to launch a Fox Cricket channel at the start of the 2018/19 summer, which will feature every ball of Test cricket, International One Day games and International Twenty20 plus every game of the Big Bash League.

As it retired from cricket after a long innings, a Nine spokesperson said this morning:

“Nine is immensely proud of our decades-long association between Wide World of Sports and the game of cricket in this country. We wish Cricket Australia and its new broadcast partners well for the future success of the game.

“Cricket will continue to be a part of Nine’s schedule into the future with current deals in place covering the next Ashes series from England in 2019, the ODI World Cup in the UK in the same year and in 2020 the T20 World Cups to be held in Australia.

“But most of all, Nine is excited by our new partnership with Tennis Australia – a partnership that enables us to further evolve our business model into a new future, a partnership built on common values and vision to mutually build the game and Nine’s business as we connect with more audiences the way they choose.

“Our focus remains on the cross-platform opportunities in front of us and finding the best ways to continue to create value for our shareholders into the future.”

Mediaweek will have more detail about the new rights deal shortly.

Network Ten has issued the statement below in relation to cricket television rights negotiations.

Network Ten chief executive officer Paul Anderson said: “We are disappointed that our bid for the cricket television rights was rejected.

“Network Ten turned the Big Bash League into the television phenomenon it is today and one of the most popular sports in Australia, a sport that all Australians were able to enjoy for free. We had planned to extend that innovation to other forms of the game.

“Network Ten and our BBL team led by David Barham revolutionised the way cricket is broadcast in Australia and attracted new, younger viewers to the game. At the same time, we invested heavily in the Women’s Big Bash League, broadcasting matches in primetime for the first time and raising its profile significantly.

“We are proud of everything we achieved with the BBL and WBBL,” he said.

Sky News has announced the debut of a refreshed Sunday night lineup that will see the launch of a new national affairs program anchored by News Corp columnist Chris Kenny and the return of Foxtel’s #1 talk show Paul Murray Live to Sunday nights.

Leading political commentator and associate editor of The Australian Chris Kenny is back on Sky News as anchor of Kenny on Sunday, a new two-hour program premiering this Sunday at 7pm on Sky News Live.

Direct from the Sky News Centre Kenny is promising a lively end to the weekend and a jump-start on the week ahead. Kenny and his panel will wrap up the day’s news and sport, take a look at what’s happening in the media, as well as what’s making us all laugh.

Chris Kenny said: “I’m excited to be returning to Sky News. I’m planning to welcome again some of my favourite guests and also new talent, providing viewers with the very best in news and views. While most of us relax with family and friends on Sundays, the Sabbath is crucial for newsmakers. The polls are published, the politicians head back to Canberra and it’s a day for major announcements, set-piece interviews and setting the agenda for the week ahead.”

Returning to Sunday is the top rating Sky News program Paul Murray Live, which will join Kenny on Sunday.

Award-winning broadcaster Paul Murray will fire up for two hours each Sunday night with Paul Murray Live at 9pm followed by PML Overtime at 10pm, taking an alternative look at the day’s news and featuring special guests and exclusive interviews to dissect and discuss the issues affecting all Australians.

Sky News’ Paul Murray

Paul Murray said: “Sundays give us a first crack at the issues that will dominate the week and I can’t wait to end the weekend with a good old-fashioned fire-up. I love the idea of people starting the day with First Edition and ending it with Paul Murray Live. The new timeslot gives us a chance to talk about all the big news, rip into sport and take extra time to talk to some really interesting people.”

Angelos Frangopoulos, CEO of Australian News Channel, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Chris Kenny back to the Sky News lineup and to see Paul Murray bring his unstoppable program to Sunday evenings. Sunday nights on Sky News will be dynamic, informative and must-watch viewing.”

Further announcements regarding the Sunday night lineup will be made soon.

• Kenny on Sunday, Sundays at 7pm
• Paul Murray Live, now Sunday-Thursday at 9pm, PML Overtime, now Sunday-Thursday 10pm
• Exclusive to Sky News Live, Foxtel Channel 601

Day 1: Andrew Denton and Jon Casimir on Seven’s interview format
Day 2: How Andrew Denton handcuffed himself to Kerry Stokes

So far this week, host Andrew Denton and executive producer Jon Casimir have explained the strategy and the concept behind interview.

Denton has also discussed with Mediaweek how he pulled off the Seven deal, explaining how handcuffing Seven West Media executive chairman Kerry Stokes in the past might have helped!

Jon Casimir

As well as being a significant figure onscreen across the past 30 years, and longer on radio, Denton has been busy behind the scenes too as a production company executive. The Zapruder’s Other Films business merged with Cordell Jigsaw in early 2012 to form what the partners branded CJZ – ”super indie”.

Just over 12 months later Denton departed CJZ and retired from television.

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This is an excerpt from the full article, which appears on Mediaweek Premium. Read the full article here, or subscribe to Mediaweek Premium here.

Producing the 2018 season of Married At First Sight Australia was a “rollercoaster” experience for Nine’s executive producer John Walsh. He described the journey as an “incredible” one.

“The 2017 season was the first time we supersized it, which went pretty well. It exceeded our expectations. We had hoped to improve on that this year, but we still had MKR and I’m A Celebrity, so we knew it wouldn’t be easy,” Walsh told Mediaweek.

Nine took a gamble in 2017 when it decided to air the first season of the supersized Married At First Sight Australia format against Seven’s juggernaut My Kitchen Rules. It was a gamble that paid off with the former giving the latter a tough competition in the overnight ratings. Looking at this result from 2017, Nine decided to replicate its scheduling decision for the format in 2018.

Once again, this proved to be a wise decision for the network. As reported by Mediaweek editor James Manning in his daily TV Ratings Analysis on March 22, 2018, “The series has been the #1 program for six of its eight weeks on air. The first episode did 914,000 and the audience dipped to 835,000 on its first Sunday, but that grew to 1.35m a week later and the series was flying high.”

One of the primary reasons why the past two seasons of Married At First Sight Australia have been a hit with the audience is that the couples taking part in the “social experiment” have more opportunities to meet each other at events like dinner parties and commitment ceremonies.

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This is an excerpt from the full article, which appears on Mediaweek Premium. Read the full article here, or subscribe to Mediaweek Premium here.

Court officials front Phnom Penh Post to collect $340,000

There were dramatic scenes at the Australian-owned Phnom Penh Post last Thursday when police and court officials entered its offices to enforce a court judgment to collect more than US$264,836 (A$344,814) that was awarded to former Post CEO Chris Dawe – a former Victorian Liberal Party candidate – in an unlawful dismissal case that is on appeal.

After negotiations, officials gave the Post 20 days to pay, with the new deadline being April 24. Assets at the Post’s newsroom and at its printing factory were inventoried so they could be seized and sold in case of nonpayment.

In mid-February this year the Post lost an appeal, and the Appeals Court ordered a “temporary implementation” of the judgment. This allows authorities to collect money or to confiscate property, for example, even if a final appeal decision has not been reached at the highest court.

The Post does have another appeal under way with the Supreme Court. The company also filed a request to delay the enforcement of the court’s ruling last week.

Defamation case against Cambodia Daily

A public defamation case hearing against Cambodia Daily deputy publisher Deborah Krisher-Steele is set to continue in Phnom Penh Municipal Court today.

The hearing began on March 23 when the court began trying the case against Krisher-Steele, who accused Cambodian tax officials of leaking a copy of the paper’s US$6.3 million (A$8.2 million) tax bill and other confidential tax documents to the Fresh News website.

The Khmer Times reported that in an email Krisher-Steel urged people to come to today’s hearing. “Please come to my trial, even though it is the day before Khmer New Year, and you will be able to find out what I think about this case,” she said.

The Cambodia Daily ceased operating in September after 24 years.

Time Out in Chinese for Hong Kong

Time Out launched its quarterly traditional Chinese language Time Out Hong Kong magazine on April 10, with a circulation of 150,000 copies aimed at both visitors and locals.

The launch of Time Out’s first local language print publication in Hong Kong follows the relaunch of the English language Time Out Hong Kong magazine and the launch of its traditional Chinese website last year.

Tim Webb, MD Asia of Time Out Digital, said, “The new title complements the existing digital platforms, social media and English language Time Out Hong Kong magazine and will offer our advertisers further opportunities to reach an engaged, experience-hungry audience, of which 95% go out and do something after engaging with Time Out.”

English-language MasterChef Singapore

Content investment and rights management company Motion Content Group and Singapore’s Mediacorp have announced that MasterChef Singapore will premiere this year on Mediacorp’s Channel 5. Motion Content Group, part of GroupM, had earlier acquired the rights to produce and broadcast MasterChef Singapore from Endemol Shine Group. The rights deal was negotiated by Fotini Paraskakis of Endemol Shine Group, Cathy Payne of Endemol Shine International and Steven Murphy of Motion Content Group, Asia Pacific.

MORE: Endemol Shine International CEO Cathy Payne talks content

In February it was announced the show was set to air on Chinese-language Channel 8 in Mandarin as English rights were originally not available. When potential applicants were asked online to rate their fluency in Mandarin, controversy erupted because Singaporeans felt it discriminated against non-Chinese-speaking participants and viewers. Singapore has four official languages – English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil – but people mainly communicate in English.

Motion Content Group then announced that “following further negotiations” the program would now air in English “and reach a more diverse audience”.

iflix launches short-form studio

Video streamer iflix has launched Studio2:15, its new creative production business for short-form (“Nothing over 15 minutes”) video content, led Craig Galvin. The new studio will create short-form content for the iflix platform, commissioning and producing collaborative projects between international, regional and local creative.

iflix’s Craig Galvin

The studio’s website promises to create “highly snackable, highly addictive, bite-sized content for the Sweet ‘Ain’t nobody got time for that’ Browns of the world”.

Before iflix, Galvin was executive producer on global campaign, Louder Together, for the NGO, Global Citizen. He was also founder of Australian digital company, The White Agency, now whiteGREY.

Astro net profit well up, revenue slightly down

Astro Malaysia Holdings’ net profit rose 25% to RM181.79 million (A$61.1 million) for the fourth quarter ended January 31, 2018, due mainly to lower net finance costs because of favourable unrealised forex gain. But its revenue was 0.7% lower at RM1.39 billion YOY.

During the period, Astro’s total customers grew by 7% to 5.5 million, an increased TV household reach from 71% to 75%, primarily driven by NJOI, Malaysia’s first subscription-free satellite TV service, which had a revenue growth of 21% for the year.

mm2 partners with SPH for launch

Singapore-based Entertainment company mm2 Asia is partnering with Singapore Press Holdings to create a lifestyle, entertainment and news portal. mm2 announced that it had entered into a binding term sheet with SPH to set up a joint venture which will engage in digital editorial and video creation under the AsiaOne brand. mm2 and SPH will hold 51% and 49% equity interest respectively in the joint venture, which will have a paid-up capital of S$1 million (A$992,000).

mm2 last year announced a deal to buy Cathay’s cineplexes subsidiary, which runs eight cinemas in Singapore, after its attempt for a 50% stake in Singapore’s Golden Village cinema chain owned by Australia’s Village Roadshow fell through.

Beach House Pictures partners with CCTV9

Beach House Pictures, a Blue Ant Media production company, has partnered with China’s CCTV9 to co-produce a new five-part docu-series Art of Craft, which celebrates the inspiring lives and brilliant minds of the world’s top craftsmen. Supported by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the series will be Singapore’s first co-production with CCTV9, China’s national channel on factual programming.

Art of Craft, now in production, will be broadcast on CCTV9 later this year and is available for pre-buy at MIPTV 2018 via Blue Ant International.

SPH second-quarter net profit plunges

Singapore Press Holdings’ net profit for its second quarter fell 25% from the previous year. Net profit for the three months ending February 28 was S$40.2 million (A$39.6 million) compared with S$53.5 million YOY. Group operating revenue fell 1.8% YOY to S$233.7m. Revenue for its media unit dropped 7.4%. Ad revenue fell 9.3% and circulation revenue was down 7.5%.

Fake news is big news in region

Indonesian Communications Minister Rudiantara last week threatened to shut down Facebook if it fails to crack down on fake news during upcoming elections, or if there is any evidence that the personal data of citizens is being collected. “If I have to shut them down, then I will do it,” Rudiantara said, noting Indonesia had earlier blocked the messaging app, Telegram.

Malaysia and Singapore have also unveiled plans to tackle fake news.

On April 2, Malaysia passed a law that would punish citizens on social media or those working at a digital publication for spreading fake news with a 500,000 ringgit (A$168,000) fine and a possible a prison sentence of up to six years.

In Singapore, activists criticised a parliamentary committee that is examining possible legislation to combat fake news. A 10-member committee was set up in January to tackle online falsehoods, which the government says can threaten national security.

Thai ad spend drops in Jan-Feb

Nielsen reports that Thailand’s ad spend had dropped 7.15% in the first two months of 2018, but the Media Intelligence company predicts a rebound this year. Media Intelligence director Pawat Ruangdejworachai forecasts total 2018 ad spend of 91 billion baht (A$3.7 billion), an increase of 6% from last year, which he said “was considered the worst level the industry has seen since 2010”. Nielsen reported that the 2017 ad spend was 101 billion baht, 10 million baht higher than Media Intelligence’s prediction for this year’s growth. Nielsen also reported that 2017 ad spend, although down 6%, was an improvement on 2016’s ghastly 12% ad spend plunge.

Mediaweek Asia In Brief

• The governor of Thailand’s Chiang Mai wants criminal charges laid against English-language magazine Citylife Chiang Mai for posting a “blasphemous” painting on Facebook showing ancient kings wearing pollution masks to promote a rally to tackle the annual toxic haze. The Bangkok Post reported that police were investigating the case, while the magazine said its Right to Breathe campaign was cancelled.

• Shares in iQiyi, Baidu’s Netflix-style Chinese video streamer, dropped in their trading debut after the company raised $2.25 billion in a US initial public offering on March 29. IQiyi’s filings showed it had 421 million mobile users at least once a month with 126 million logging in at least once a day, making it the most popular video streamer in China.

• TicToc, Bloomberg’s 24/7 Twitter news service, which launched on December 17 last year, has now expanded into Asia with a dozen journalists working out of the Hong Kong newsroom.

• Astro is Malaysia’s official broadcaster of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, with coverage on Astro, Astro GO and NJOI Prepaid. Astro has also launched its World Cup Channel Pass, which gives all 64 live matches in HD.

• The newly launched BBC Studios is developing new production opportunities in Beijing. Executive producer Matthew Springford, who has extensive program-making experience, will be based at the BBC office in Beijing with the BBC Studios’ distribution team and will be working with Chinese TV stations and digital platforms to co-develop and co-produce original programs and new formats.

• iflix is premiering the Korean breakout hit, Grand Prince, and will feature new episodes weekly every Monday and Tuesday, 24 hours after the initial TV broadcast by TV Chosun in Korea. iflix group chief content officer Sean Carey said, “This is yet another attempt to satiate the unending appetite for historical Korean drama we observed around the region.”

• China will merge its state television and radio stations to create a new broadcaster that will be one of the largest in the world. Chinese state media reported the merger of China Central Television (CCTV), China Radio International and China National Radio under a single network to be named Voice of China, echoing its US counterpart, Voice of America.

• KKR-backed pan-Asian media and entertainment investor Emerald Media has bought a significant minority in Global Sports Commerce for about $80 million (A$104 million). This comes a month after GSC and affiliate Techfront received funding to support acquisitions of Screencorp in Australia and Oled & Carnegie in New Zealand. GFC is partnered with many world sports bodies, including NRL Australia, AFL, New Zealand Cricket, and Cricket Australia.

• iflix has appointed Luis Duran as global head of partnerships to help accelerate the company’s growth. Duran previously worked at Portuguese mobile payment service provider TinWe Group, and before that he was with Delta Partners for 10 years.

iflix’s Luis Duran

• Regional video streamer iflix has launched Coconuts TV on iflix, an edgy six-episode documentary series highlighting Southeast Asia’s weirdest stories, from the Miss Tiffany’s transgender beauty pageant in Pattaya to midget boxing in Manila.

By Peter Olszewski

And while the many of the people milling at Thailand’s international airports may not have heard of him, they certainly hear him now, loud and clear – over the PA system.

“I’m the dulcet Australian tones you hear while waiting for your number to be called at immigration,” he told Mediaweek.

He’s also about to embark on a big project of video on demand teaching courses online, plus there’s talk of a new TV show.

“Oh, and I’m about to star in a Thai horror movie,” he says, “Actually it’s a comedy-horror, about a foreign couple being haunted by Thai ghosts.”

Just reading Biggs’s CV is exhausting. His first Thai media job was with news outfit Nation Multimedia Group, where after a bit he launched a junior magazine for high schoolers. He hosted Thailand’s first English talkback radio program in 1995, and in 1997 wrote a best-selling Thai-language book, which he followed up with another, which sold 200,000 copies. All up he’s now written 19 books, all in the Thai language, except for one.

He hosted a morning TV program, Talk of the Town, for nine years, and hosted Weekend News on TV for three years, portrayed himself in the movie SARS Wars, won two awards for excellence in using the Thai language (a first for a westerner both times), hosted the daily English Minute TV program as well as various news and educational radio shows, writes columns for the Bangkok Post newspaper, Filmax magazine and Kom Chad Luek newspaper, and starred as a monk in a Thai TV comedy series The Digital Monk, which ran for two years. And he’s hosted radio shows on two FM stations.

He owns and runs the Andrew Biggs Academy that teaches English at all levels and runs workshops and seminars, and owns Khroo Chang Publishing.

He’s done a lot, but says he probably most enjoyed the morning TV show, Talk of the Town.

“That ran for nine years and shot me to alleged stardom,” he says. “I shared a stage with a puppet, a bird that sat on the window ledge as I taught English. It was a lot of fun, though after nine years I was happy for it to end.”

Biggs began his media career in Brisbane, where he grew up, with a cadetship at The Courier-Mail, which then sent him to Melbourne as its correspondent for two years. He worked in Sydney for The Sydney Morning Herald, then back to Brisbane for Macquarie National News radio for a short time, then back to The Courier-Mail.

In 1989 he left Brisbane, bound for London. But his initial two-day stopover in Bangkok morphed into two months. He then went to London, but returned to Bangkok after a week and taught English at a school for a year before being hired by The Nation newspaper.

That job led to TV work – Biggs was sitting in the editor’s office when a sales rep said a Bangkok bus network wanted to make a daily TV show that teaches English. Biggs says, “The editor turned to me and asked, very casually, ‘Could you do that, Andrew?’

“I suggested I had a face that was ideal for radio but yes, I’d give it a try. And suddenly Bangkok commuters were asking who was this bald-headed foreigner teaching them how to tell foreigners to buzz off, and other stuff.”

Part of Biggs’s success is the knack of being in the right place at the right time.

He’s a columnist for the Bangkok Post’s Sunday edition, and in a column in March he explained how he first became a columnist.

In July, 1993, Longman published a new English dictionary, defining Bangkok as a city known for “its Buddhist temples and a place where there are a lot of prostitutes”. This prompted academics to suggest book burning and police to ban the publication.

This March, Biggs wrote, “A weekly political magazine asked me to write a column, in Thai, about my take on the whole thing. It was my first attempt at a column in Thailand, and talk about starting off with a bang, if you’ll excuse the pun.

“In that short column I argued that Longman was wrong to define Bangkok as it did… but could you blame them?”

The notoriety of Biggs’s comments on top of the notoriety about the dictionary’s comments helped establish Biggs as a columnist, and almost a decade ago he began writing the Bangkok Post English-language column.

“I guess I’m also proud that I’ve been able to churn out a weekly column, in English, for nine years,” Biggs says. “That’s a long time.”

Of course, with all that high-profile media activity, Biggs attained celebrity status.

“I think it’s hilarious that I am perceived as a celebrity,” he says. “I admit I went through a period, some 10 years ago, where I think it had an adverse psychological effect on me.

“But I’m older now, and I think it’s kind of funny. The only downside is I can’t really get drunk and dance with lampshades on my head – not in public, anyway.”

By James Manning

Seven

The pole vault and diving were some of the sports on offer Thursday as Australia and Seven won more gold. Australia leads the medal tally by a long way, just as Seven leads the ratings by a massive amount after eight nights of competition and another with the Opening Ceremony.

A Commonwealth Games edition of The Front Bar screened late in the night with 319,000 – 54,000 in Sydney and Perth and 126,000 in Melbourne.

Commonwealth Games on Seven

April 4: Opening Ceremony 2.0m, Primetime primary share 43.8%
April 5: Night 1 1.23m/1.16m, Afternoon 554k, Day 418k, Primetime primary share 33.0%
April 6: Night 2 1.01/1.09m, Late night 566k, Afternoon 468k, Primetime primary share 30.7%
April 7: Night 3 979/973k, Late night 499k, Afternoon 583k, Day 471k, Primetime primary share 32.3%
April 8: Night 4 1.24/1.24m, Afternoon 710k, Day 482k, Late night 466k, Primetime primary share 31.4%
April 9: Night 5 1.33/1.45m, Late 539k, Afternoon 458k, Day 321k, Primetime primary share 29.2%
April 10: Night 6 1.24m/1.48m, Late 624k, Afternoon 515k, Day 341k, Primetime primary share 34.2%
April 11: Night 7 1.15/1.19m, Late 474k, Afternoon 428k, Primetime primary share 31.5%
April 12: Night 8 Night 1.09/1.16m, Late 742k, Afternoon 447k, Day 277k, Primetime primary share 32.2%

Nine

A car hoon, an insurance fail and the dangers of public Wi-Fi filled out most of A Current Affair with 681,000.

The NRL clash between the Roosters and the Rabbitohs was on 301,000 with 207,000 in Sydney and 93,000 in Brisbane.

The Footy Shows had a metro network audience of 284,000. Sydney did 71,000 while Melbourne was on 131,000.

TEN

Maude Garrett was with The Rock on The Project with 411,000 watching.

Week four of Show Me The Movie! followed with 374,000 after 370,000 a week ago. Guests included Sam Simmons, Chrissie Swan and Michala Banas. Chrissie sparred wonderfully with Captain Creasey, but it is Jane Harber who is often the funniest.

Meave O’Mara’s SBS food show was one of the programs watched on the final episode of series seven of Gogglebox. Dope smokers caught on RBT also featured on the show before the viewing families left their respective TV rooms until later in the year. Gogglebox finished the season on 533,000 for TEN.

ABC

The first of the four-part Kiri starring Britain’s best actress Sarah Lancashire started at 8pm with 424,000.

Then it was time for series one, episode one of Wentworth, which did 203,000.

SBS

Great British Railway Journeys again led the way with 221,000.

Next best was Luke Nguyen’s Food Trail on 125,000 and World News on 124,000.