Monday February 18, 2019

Macquarie Media reports revenue and profit down, radio ratings strong

Radio broadcaster Macquarie Media has released its half-year results.

Both EBITDA and net profit were down by 4.9% and 6% respectively.

Group revenues, excluding discontinued operations, fell to $68.2 million, a decrease of $0.3 million or 0.4% on prior year. Advertising revenues were flat year on year.

The radio broadcaster is majority owned by Nine Entertainment Co.

Commenting on the results, Macquarie Media Limited (MML) chief executive officer Adam Lang said:

“The six months to 31 December 2018 featured the delivery of sustained audience leadership by our top rating stations 2GB in Sydney and 3AW in Melbourne. 4BC finished the year with the best audience result since 2013 and, in 2018, 6PR has proven to be capable of leading the talk radio audience in Perth. We are well set up to build on that success in 2019.

“Our Macquarie Sports Radio network was launched in April 2018 and has been refined throughout the year. We are pleased with the development of the format to date and confident that our audience and revenue will continue to grow as we head into the football season.

“Our sales team has improved customer service to advertisers by connecting our large and affluent audience with an increased range of solutions on our broadcast and digital assets. We have grown revenue on our News Talk network of stations by 4% over the prior period. We also continue to see the benefit of our advertisers connecting with both the News Talk and Macquarie Sports Radio audiences through live sport.

“We have seen a contraction, below prior year period, of advertising spends in the December, January and February months and a shortening of booking cycles. Whilst we are now seeing more positive signs for March to June revenues, it is extremely difficult to forecast the impacts of the NSW election in March and the expected federal election in May, a subdued housing market, and variable business and consumer confidence.

“Our HY 2019 earnings (underlying EBITDA) were 4.9% below the prior year result driven by a 0.4% decline in revenue and a 1% increase in costs. We maintain a very high focus on cost saving and efficiency opportunities in order to consistently deliver a strong return to our shareholders in this fiscal year.”

Pacific launching branded content and marketing agency Eve

Pacific has announced the launch of Eve, a branded content and marketing business spearheaded by Simone Bartley and award-winning executive creative director Andrew Cameron.

Bartley, former CEO of creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi, said: “Eve’s mission is to grow brands at the speed of culture, by creating meaningful connections through engaging branded content, experiences, events and consulting services. This will be achieved through the simple and powerful formula of Data + Insights + Ideas, all delivered at scale.”

Eve will work with Pacific’s insights team headed up by Rebecca Alexander-Head, head of insights & strategy, and Malcolm Miller, cultural insights manager.

Gereurd Roberts, CEO of Pacific, said: “While there are publishers that have in-house content solutions, creative is often an add-on to the media buy. We believe there is a bigger need and opportunity for a premium content and marketing offering that brings together strategy, ideas and marketing capability with audience intel and content DNA. This is Eve’s clear point of difference.”

Cameron, who joins Eve from branded content agency Emotive, said: “The merging of brands and culture continues, and our team of multi-platform creatives understand the significance of using genuine insights to create entertainment-led, culturally relevant advertising as a value exchange for our audience’s time spent engaging with brands.”

Top Photo: [L-R] Rebecca Alexander-Head, Malcolm Miller, Simone Bartley and Andrew Cameron

Sports Week: NBL’s Larry Kestelman, TV ratings BBL, SuperRugby & more

The National Basketball League hosted its final regular game of the season yesterday. Then last night the League handed out its season awards including MVP, which was won by Sydney Kings star Andrew Bogut, and Coach of the Year, won by Melbourne United head coach Dean Vickerman.

By James Manning

NBL: Larry Kestelman with Mediaweek on Your Money

The special guest on Mediaweek TV on the Your Money channel last week was NBL owner Larry Kestelman.

The investor and sports fan spoke to Mediaweek about why he bought the League:

“I’m sure a lot of people thought that I was completely crazy in investing this much time, money and effort into a sport that generally to commercialise is very difficult. I have to say it’s proven even more difficult than I thought. I thought [owning a] club was hard. But turning the League around was even harder, but I feel very much that in three and a half years we’ve built an amazing team. We work with some of Australia’s best brands now that have showed the same sort of belief in the product that we’ve created as we have. We have worked with five out of the five most trusted brands in Australia in the sport.”

NBL income streams

Kestelman: “The number one thing that has to be done for any business is to actually fix the pillars, the basics of the business, and the first one or two years was really figuring out what business we were actually in. What is the product? We’re actually in the business of entertainment, so we look at ourselves as an entertainment product and part of that entertainment is the quality of the game on the court. We had to fix what was happening on the court and then off the court for corporates, fans, both at the game and on the TV screen. That’s been the labour of love and a lot of hard work.

“A big part of it is in sponsorships and partnerships. How do we get outcomes for our business partners, for their businesses? That’s how we live and breathe as a business to understand their business and to get them outcomes through a platform that everyone loves, which is sport.

“The difference with us is, because it’s owned by business people, we really dive into understanding their businesses a lot more and figuring out how we can use our product to get outcomes for them.”

On new team owner Crocmedia

“They’re enjoying it and it’s certainly great for Melbourne United because they expose them to the range of clients that they have. Crocmedia is led by Craig Hutchison, who is very, very creative and he finds ways to bundle products together to expose new people to the game. I think they are a happy owner and the club is very happy as well.”

Watch Your Money’s interview with Larry Kestelman here.
• Hear him speak about NBL media rights and what he learnt from Patrick Delany.

Big Bash League Ratings

The Big Bash League has wrapped up with a memorable grand final that saw the Melbourne Renegades snatch an improbable victory as the Melbourne Stars looked like cruising to a win.

The semifinals ratings late last week saw metro crowds of 527,000 on Thursday and then 548,000 on Friday.

Seven’s BBL audiences have never matched what Network 10 did the previous year. Even when factoring in the additional numbers watching Fox Cricket (which 10 never had to compete with), the total viewing this season hasn’t matched the 10 2017-18 numbers since January 6 – until the finals.

The grand final numbers on Seven on Sunday are as follows:

• 1st Session: 681,000 (Metro 475,000 Regional 206,000)
• 2nd Session: 877,000 (Metro 600,000 Regional 277,000)
• Post Game: 1,164,000 (Metro 777,000 Regional 386,000)

Start of Super Rugby season

There was some commentary about the poor state of rugby ratings on television recently.

However the first weekend numbers for the launch of the SuperRugby season were strong for Fox Sports. Whether or not this new momentum can be retained as other football codes move in remains to be seen.

• Friday: Brumbies v Rebels 56,000
• Saturday: Waratahs v Hurricanes 106,000, Blues v Crusaders 58,000

First NRL game of 2019

An early season game of rugby league screened on FTA and STV on the weekend. The Friday match in Melbourne featured Australian Indigenous All Stars V New Zealand Maori Kiwis.

The audience watching on Nine was 468,000 (Metro 307,000 Regional 162,000).

There was an extra 84,000 watching on Fox League.

W-League Grand Final

The W-League Grand Final was a cracking match with some great skills and plenty of goals.

The TV broadcasters had 22,000 watching on Saturday afternoon via Fox Sports and then less than 50,000 tuning in on Viceland on FTA.

ARIA Chart Report: Welcome to Ariana World

• Singles: Welcome to Ariana World: #1, #2 & 10 other tunes chart
• Albums: Ariana and Sticky Fingers only new releases to chart

Singles

It’s another week at the top for Ariana Grande making it a month leading the chart for 7 Rings. The Ariana track is joined by 11 other tunes in the top 50 from Ariana’s new album this week.

The most popular of those is Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored at #2 which gives Ariana another rare chart moment – the top two songs on the chart.

Two other artists managed to break into the top 50 on debut this week:

#24 Khalid with Talk
#28 The Chainsmokers with Who Do You Love featuring 5 Seconds Of Summer which charts just days before The Chainsmokers arrive for a Nova Red Room and festival appearances in Sydney and Melbourne.

After a memorable performance at the Grammy Awards on Monday, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper climb back up the top 10 as their former #1 Shallow sits at #6 after 10 weeks.

Albums

Ariana Grande tops both charts this week – here with her fourth album Thank U, Next. All 12 album tracks have infiltrated the singles chart this week.

Also pushing in amongst the chart-hogging superstars this week is the fourth album from Sydney band Sticky Fingers, Yours To Keep. Three of those four have now peaked in the top 10 with Land Of Pleasure at #3 in 2014 and then Westway (The Glitter & The Slums) at #1 in 2016.

Grammy movers this week included Dua Lipa’s self-titled debut album returning to the chart at #13 following her Grammy win for Best New Talent.

Cardi B jumped 19 places to #26 with her top 5 album Invasion Of Privacy following becoming the first female to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album.

Top 10 Game Charts: Kingdom Hearts stays on top

It’s no surprise to see Kingdom Hearts III retain its spot at the top of the charts for a second week.

The long-awaited action-RPG has sold millions out of the gate, and offers a denouement to narrative threads that date back to the first game… which was released in 2002. It’s convoluted but largely successful, and very much a love letter to Disney and Pixar, taking players to the worlds of Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Winnie the Pooh, Frozen, Tangled, Big Hero 6 and more.

There’s very little movement elsewhere in the top 10, with only two games that weren’t in last week’s chart – the newly-released Monster Energy Supercross 2, which creeps in at number eight, and the return of Just Dance 2019 at the very tail.

There’ll most certainly be a shakeup in the coming weeks, however. Much-delayed Xbox One exclusive Crackdown 3 has finally seen the light of day, even if it has proven to be rather disappointing, while the tense, post-apocalyptic shooter Metro Exodus sets a new benchmark for the series. Ubisoft has also just launched Far Cry: New Dawn, which follows on from Far Cry 5, taking players back to Hope County 17 years later.

It’s also worth discussing Apex Legends, which is arguably the biggest phenomenon in gaming right now, but isn’t represented on sales charts. This free-to-play battle royale from the studio behind Titanfall builds upon the likes of PUBG and Fortnite, but innovates with intuitive squad-based gameplay, well-designed player archetypes and a superb map. The game hit 25 million total players in about a week, with two million concurrent players at its peak. It’s been very well-received by fans and critics alike.

TV Week 7: Nine takes first week of survey 2019

Another strong week of Married At First Sight ratings was key to Nine winning another ratings week, but importantly also the first week of survey.

Nine won the first four nights of the week and then Saturday in both primary and combined channel share.

The closest Seven got on any of those nights was Tuesday when it trailed by just 1.4 in primary share.

Seven won Thursday and Friday nights with the help of the Big Bash League semifinals. Seven’s primary share bobbed above 20% on the first six nights of the week, only sinking under 16% on Saturday.

It’s hard to get away from the fact that 10 had a shocker and a first week of survey it would like to put behind it. Share hovered around 11% on the first three nights of the week, less than half of what each of its FTA competitors rated. The biggest miss was on Wednesday though when Changing Rooms returned nearly two decades later with a new host on a new channel and only managed to crack 200,000. The second episode did a little better, but by the end of the week 10 bumped the remaining episodes to Fridays and Saturdays.

The year-on-year comparisons are worth noting. Seven dropped dramatically, Nine was up on 10 was exactly where it started survey 2018. (A stat that was helped by a near record 10 Saturday low share of 4.9% in week 7 last year.)

Week 7 primary shares 2019 (Week 7 2018 in brackets)

• Nine- 22.8% (19.35)
• Seven -21.4% (27.3%)
• 10- 9.8% (9.8%)
• ABC- 12.6% (10.8%)
• SBS- 3.8% (3.7%)

Week 7 2019 Best of the week

Nine

• Married At First Sight Monday 1,297,000
• Nine News Sunday 938,000

Seven

• My Kitchen Rules Sunday 1,046,000
• Seven News Sunday 951,000

10

• I’m A Celebrity Sunday Elimination 649,000
• I’m A Celebrity Monday Elimination 600,000

ABC

• Death In Paradise 658,000
• ABC News Sunday 645,000

SBS

• Secrets Of The Manor House 233,000
• Michael Portillo’s Abandoned Britain 222,000

TV Ratings Analysis: February 17

• Big Bash League Grand Final combined audience up, FTA down
• MAFS delivers again for Nine, starts second survey week on top
• I’m A Celebrity final: Richard Reid a winner, 10 ratings steady

Sunday: Week 8 2019

By James Manning

FTA TV news/current affairs

• Seven News 960,000
• Nine News 935,000
• 60 Minutes 661,000
• ABC News 628,000
• Sunday Night 416,000″
• 10 News First 235,000
• Insiders 285,000,000
• The Project 196,000/356,000
• Offsiders 162,000,000
• SBS World News 118,000

Breakfast TV

• Sunrise 227,000
• Today 187,000

Seven

Seven has calculated that the combined audience watching the Big Bash League Grand Final was 703,000 (national average Seven + Fox Cricket). That means the total audience was up 8% on 10’s broadcast in 2018. However the FTA average was down.

In primetime, My Kitchen Rules started its week on 905,000, down on the previous Sunday’s season high of 1,046,000.

Sunday Night then returned to the schedule, much earlier than usual, with 416,000.

Nine

Married At First Sight again took top honours with 1,291,000, which is the second-biggest audience of the year.

60 Minutes was a timeslot winner, but its audience of 661,000 was down on 788,000 last week.

10

The grand final night of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! helped 10 lift Sunday share week on week from 10.4% to 12.8%.

The year-on-year numbers for the Winner Announced also recorded modest growth. (The grand final was screened in Week 11 in 2018.)

The numbers for last night (and last year in brackets)

• I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Winner Announced 896,000 (870,000)
• I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Grand Finale 684,000 (696,000)

Earlier in the night The Project did 356,000 after 7pm, up from 298,000 a week ago.

Later in the night NCIS was on 308,000.

ABC

Part two of Magical Land Of Oz did 515,000 after launching on 552,000.

Episode three of The Cry did 481,000 after is started on 574,00 and did 486,000 for episode two. The UK drama continues to be one of the hottest FTA properties on BVOD via iview.

SBS

Another Sunday and another Sinkhole doco according to our printed TV guide. However a repeat doco on Pyramids was screened at 7.30pm with 171,000 watching.

The first of the two-part The Kennedys: A Fatal Ambition then grew the audience to 196,000.

Week 7-8 TV: Friday-Sunday
FRIDAY METRO
ABCSevenNine10SBS
ABC14.8%722.9%917.4%10 8.4%SBS One4.0%
ABC 22.8%7TWO4.0%GO!4.1%10 Bold3.7%VICELAND1.9%
ABC ME0.4%7mate3.2%GEM2.4%10 Peach2.1%Food Net1.0%
ABC NEWS1.3%7flix2.7%9Life2.5%  NITV0.1%
  7Food0.4%      
TOTAL19.4% 33.1% 26.4% 14.2% 6.9%

 

SATURDAY METRO
ABCSevenNine10SBS
ABC14.4%715.5%919.4%10 7.3%SBS One3.8%
ABC 23.7%7TWO3.7%GO!6.0%10 Bold2.1%VICELAND2.1%
ABC ME0.5%7mate3.1%GEM3.5%10 Peach3.0%Food Net1.0%
ABC NEWS1.6%7flix5.6%9Life2.8%  NITV0.1%
  7Food0.7%      
TOTAL20.2% 28.6% 31.8% 12.4% 7.0%

 

SUNDAY METRO
ABCSevenNine10SBS
ABC12.2%718.4%924.2%10 12.8%SBS One4.8%
ABC 23.3%7TWO2.4%GO!3.2%10 Bold1.9%VICELAND0.7%
ABC ME0.5%7mate3.8%GEM3.1%10 Peach1.8%Food Net1.1%
ABC NEWS1.1%7flix1.7%9Life2.4%  NITV0.1%
  7Food0.5%      
TOTAL17.2% 26.8% 32.9% 16.4% 6.7%

 

SUNDAY REGIONAL
ABCSeven AffiliatesNine Affiliates10 AffiliatesSBS
ABC13.0%719.3%919.2%WIN11.9%SBS One4.9%
ABC 23.6%7TWO3.2%GO!3.9%WIN Bold1.8%VICELAND1.4%
ABC ME1.0%7mate3.3%GEM4.8%WIN Peach1.3%Food Net1.1%
ABC NEWS1.3%7flix2.0%9Life2.4%Sky News  on WIN0.4%NITV0.1%
TOTAL18.9% 27.8% 30.3% 15.4% 7.5%

 

SUNDAY METRO ALL TV
FTASTV
87.1%12.9%
All People Rankings

Friday Top Ten

  1. Seven News Seven   794,000
  2. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven   764,000
  3. Nine News Nine 688,000
  4. Nine News 6:30 Nine 668,000
  5. Abc News ABC 624,000
  6. Gardening Australia: 30 Years Abc 579,000
  7. Seven’s Cricket: Big Bash League Sf2 Melb Ren V Syd Sixe Seven 548,000
  8. Seven’s Cricket: Big Bash League Sf2 Melb Ren V Syd Sixe Seven 533,000
  9. The Chase Australia Seven   462,000
  10. Seven’s Cricket: Big Bash League Sf2 Melb Ren V Syd Sixe Seven 458,000

 

Saturday Top Ten

  1. Seven News – Sat Seven 735,000
  2. Nine News Saturday Nine 665,000
  3. Death In Paradise ABC 658,000
  4. ABC News-Sa ABC 558,000
  5. David Attenborough’s Dynasties Nine 479,000
  6. Agatha Raisin ABC 399,000
  7. Crocodile Dundee Ii Nine 356,000
  8. Getaway Nine 282,000
  9. Weekend Sunrise – Sat Seven 245,000
  10. M- The Day After Tomorrow Seven 233,000
Sunday FTA
  1. Married At First Sight -Sun Nine 1,291,000
  2. Seven News – Sun Seven 960,000
  3. Nine News Sunday Nine 935,000
  4. My Kitchen Rules – Sun Seven 905,000
  5. I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! The Winner 10 894,000
  6. Seven’s Cricket: Big Bash League Grand Final-Post Gam Seven 777,000
  7. I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Grand Finale 10 684,000
  8. 60 Minutes Nine 661,000
  9. ABC News Sunday ABC 628,000
  10. Seven’s Cricket: Big Bash League Grand Final-S2 Seven 600,000
  11. Seven’s Cricket: Big Bash League Grand Final-Inn Brk Seven 567,000
  12. Magical Land Of Oz ABC 515,000
  13. The Cry ABC 481,000
  14. Seven’s Cricket: Big Bash League Grand Final-S1 Seven 475,000
  15. Sunday Night Seven 416,000
  16. Mrs Wilson-Le ABC 365,000
  17. The Sunday Project 7pm 10 356,000
  18. NCIS 10 308,000
  19. Insiders AM ABC 285,000
  20. Murder, Lies & Alibis -Encore Nine 261,000
Sunday Multichannel
  1. Pocoyo AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 145,000
  2. Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom ABCKIDS/COMEDY 140,000
  3. Peter Rabbit ABCKIDS/COMEDY 138,000
  4. Dino Dana ABCKIDS/COMEDY 136,000
  5. M- Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets 7Mate 133,000
  6. Ready, Steady, Wiggle! AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 129,000
  7. Doctor Strange 9GO! 128,000
  8. Fixer Upper 9Life 128,000
  9. Play School AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 126,000
  10. Bananas In Pyjamas AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 124,000
  11. Luo Bao Bei AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 124,000
  12. Octonauts ABCKIDS/COMEDY 123,000
  13. Midsomer Murders 9Gem 122,000
  14. Bluey PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 121,000
  15. Dot. AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 120,000
  16. Rita And Crocodile AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 119,000
  17. Peppa Pig AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 115,000
  18. Hey Duggee AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 113,000
  19. Penn And Teller: Fool Us ABCKIDS/COMEDY 111,000
  20. Rusty Rivets ABCKIDS/COMEDY 111,000
Sunday STV
  1. Live: BBL: Final FOX CRICKET 342,000
  2. Live: Between The Innings FOX CRICKET 319,000
  3. Live: BBL: Final FOX CRICKET 287,000
  4. Live: BBL Post Game FOX CRICKET 286,000
  5. The Cricket Tragic FOX CRICKET 109,000
  6. Live: B4 The Bash! FOX CRICKET 97,000
  7. Live: NBA All-Star Saturday Night ESPN 50,000
  8. The Simpsons FOX8 47,000
  9. NCIS TVH!TS 46,000
  10. NCIS TVH!TS 45,000
  11. Paul Murray Live Sky News Live 44,000
  12. The Simpsons FOX8 42,000
  13. Criminal Minds TVH!TS 39,000
  14. Keeping Up Appearances FOX Classics 38,000
  15. The Simpsons FOX8 37,000
  16. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 37,000
  17. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 36,000
  18. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 36,000
  19. Kid-E-Cats Nick Jr. 36,000
  20. Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 36,000

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

David Anderson “the ideal choice” as search for new ABC MD begins

Pressure is building within the ABC for the public broadcaster to appoint a “back-to-basics” managing director focused on content and advocating for the corporation, after the headhunting process for the role formally got under way on Friday, report The Australian’s Nick Tabakoff and Andrew White.

In newspaper ads the ABC last week said it was seeking a “strong collaborative leader”.

Many see current acting managing director David Anderson as the ideal choice in this context, because of his previous role as the ABC’s director of entertainment and specialist, and a career of nearly 30 years in broadcast TV and production.

[Read the original]

Scott Morrison could announce new ABC chairman this week or next

Prime Minister Scott Morrison could appoint a new ABC chairman as soon as this week, with speculation mounting that the government is primed to make the prized appointment as the public broadcaster begins its search for a new managing director, reports The AFR’s Max Mason.

Sources close to the process said no final decision had been made in terms of timing, but there has been talk within the government regarding when the appointment should be announced.

They said the Prime Minister’s Office was handed a shortlist of three candidates in January by the nominations panel.

Holding Redlich national managing partner Ian Robertson is considered a favourite to take out the job.

[Read the original]

DAN’s new boss seeks success by keeping the customer satisfied

Dentsu Aegis Network’s new local boss, Henry Tajer, has vowed to simplify the media marketing and advertising agency’s myriad of brands and operations as the industry faces intense competition from the tech sector, reports The Australian’s Lilly Vitorovich.

Tajer, 48, who has spent more than 20 years in the ad industry, most recently at tech giant Amazon, said “more and more so, clients want simplicity”.

“I don’t think our clients care that much about our brands, I think they’re more focused on their own brands,” Tajer said.

[Read the original]

Foxtel and Netflix sign partnership, one-stop iQ box in the works

Foxtel and Netflix will co-produce an Australian TV show for the first time and have inked a ground-breaking deal that is expected to see Netflix shows and movies streamed on Foxtel boxes later this year, reports News Corp’s Jack Morphet.

Foxtel boss Patrick Delany has confirmed Foxtel and Netflix have signed a partnership, which will mean Foxtel subscribers will be able to stream Netflix on their pay-TV set-top boxes.

Viewers could switch between Foxtel’s hotly anticipated Game Of Thrones series finale and the third season of Netflix’s royal drama The Crown with the touch of a button on a Foxtel iQ remote.

[Read the original]

Foxtel ‘wants it all’ for IQ4 customers as marketing campaign launches

Foxtel says it is well ahead of targets for upgrades and new customers wanting its IQ4 set-top box ahead of its season launch and wants to get them to as many people as possible as part of a new customer-retention strategy, reports The Australian’s Andrew White.

Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany said the new boxes and the upgraded IQ4 had much higher “attachment” rates and lower churn than their predecessors, which had less storage and fewer features.

“So we really want to get as many of those IQ4 boxes out there as possible. And being proactive rather than reactive with our customers is a really big theme,” Delany said.

Foxtel could also soon be streaming Netflix series and movies through their set-top boxes after Delany confirmed the two companies were in talks.

Delany said there had been criticism from customers that they never heard from the company and that the company wanted to address that as part of its renewed emphasis on customer retention.

[Read the original]

NewsMediaWorks pushes for tax deductible news subscriptions

Publishing industry body NewsMediaWorks is asking the competition regulator to further explore a proposal to make personal subscriptions to news media publications tax deductable as a means of helping the sector boost the number of people paying for journalism, reports The AFR’s Max Mason.

New submissions were due on Friday, although a number of parties have secured an extension. The ACCC will give its final recommendations to the government in June.

[Read the original]

Network 10 confident of selling a summer alternative to sport

Network 10 chief executive Paul Anderson is confident the CBS-owned broadcaster can take a larger slice of advertising revenue next summer after kicking off its entertainment schedule early this year when it lost broadcast rights to the Big Bash League, reports The AFR’s Max Mason.

“We have a strategy of 50 for 50; general entertainment for under-50-year-olds for 50 weeks a year. I think what we have proven over the summer is there is clearly a big audience for general entertainment programming at that time of year and there’s an audience there that are willing to watch that don’t want to watch sport.”

[Read the original]

News Brands

News Regional Media publishes flood relief wrap on Townsville Bulletin

As the after-effects of the catastrophic floods continue to be felt by the people and businesses of Townsville, News Corp’s regional media national sales and 10 national corporate brands joined forces on the weekend to publish a 16-page wrap on the Townsville Bulletin, generating funds for the local community.

News Corp said 25% of revenue generated from the wrap is being donated back to Townsville.

Heidi Sayers, sales director at News Regional Media said: “With such a strong presence in regional Queensland, known as the voice of the region, we felt it was vital for News Regional Media to assist the region, helping to keep the spirit and hope alive within the local community.”

Jenna Cairney, editor of the Townsville Bulletin, said: “As someone who was also personally impacted by the floods, I’m so grateful to my colleagues in the national sales team who took the initiative to call on our clients for help. Collectively, we’ve created something that will give back to our local community in every way, and we thank you.”

Broadcasters Seven, Nine and Ten push for journalism tax breaks

Australia’s biggest broadcasters have called on the competition regulator to provide tax breaks for newsrooms and to force Google and Facebook to identify trusted publishers in news feeds and search results, reports The Sydney Morning Herald’s Jennifer Duke.

 

In a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission made by FreeTV as part of the world-first inquiry into the impact of the digital giants on media companies, the broadcasting lobby group asked for additional rules that would give them more control over their content and advertising on the tech platforms.

[Read the original]

‘People not regulators should decide’: Facebook on calls for crackdown

A senior Facebook executive has defended the social media platform against criticism it negatively impacts news publishers and slammed the idea of a new regulator for algorithms, saying it would not help media companies fight digital disruption, reports The Sydney Morning Herald’s Jennifer Duke.

In an upcoming blog post seen by The Sydney Morning Herald, Facebook’s vice-president of policy for Asia-Pacific, Simon Milner, criticises additional regulations on algorithms proposed by the Australian competition watchdog as part of a world-first inquiry.

“The ACCC has not made a case or provided any evidence for why they believe an algorithm regulator is a necessary, effective and proportionate response to the business model challenges facing news media,” Milner says.

“More importantly, people, not regulators, should decide what they see in their news feeds.”

[Read the original]

Heart Foundation launches ‘Serial Killer’ campaign with News Corp

The Heart Foundation has launched a brand campaign aiming to break through the complacency about the country’s number one killer – heart disease.

Created with the Heart Foundation’s new media partner News Corp Australia, “Serial Killer” taps into audience fascination with true crime stories by highlighting the criminal behind a horrifying 51 deaths per day in Australia.

The four-week integrated print, digital and broadcast media and marketing campaign, led by News Corp’s media and marketing solutions division newsamp, features high impact wraps of News Corp’s Sunday metro newspapers, and a takeover of the True Crime Australia site, revealing the “criminal” as heart disease – the nation’s worst ever serial killer.

News Corp Australia chief operating officer, publishing, Damian Eales said: “We are proud to partner with the Heart Foundation to help stop the nation’s worst killer and save lives.”

“Serial Killer” will run for four weeks across News Corp’s print and digital mastheads, with a homepage takeover on news.com.au and sponsorship of the True Crime Australia site, supported by TV and radio ads, and editorial and educational videos about heart disease on News Corp Australia and Heart Foundation platforms.

As part of the high impact creative, prominent individuals have been commissioned to share their personal experience with heart disease, including retired NSW Police assistant commissioner Clive Small and editor of The Sunday Telegraph, Mick Carroll.

Television

My Kitchen Rules promos use “trans” as “unforgiveable word”

Seven’s My Kitchen Rules yesterday revealed the word “trans” was at the centre of its on-air promotion as an “unforgiveable word”, reports TV Tonight.

It followed controversy around the “C word” being censored by Married at First Sight.

The moment happened when Group 2 contestants were reflecting on their first impressions of one another.

On social media Seven came under fire for ignorant language and sensationalist promos.

While shows like All Together Now have done much work for inclusivity in an early evening timeslot, it didn’t take long for MKR to overlook it for the sake of a reality controversy.

Seven has also previously signed an industry Diversity Charter:

We aim to actively reflect the diversity of Australian society at every level of our workforce, by gender, age, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion and disability or geographic location, both in our employees and the stories we tell.

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I'm a Celebrity: King of the Jungle Richard Reid begged to be cast

Richard Reid has been crowned King of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! 2019, but almost didn’t make the cut.

The gossip guru, who beat runner-up Yvie Jones, a former Gogglebox star, and retired AFL great Shane Crawford to take the top spot, said he “hounded 10 for the last couple of years to be on the show”.

“Last year, I got in touch [with 10] again and asked, ‘would you consider me?’” he said.

“They were like, ‘sorry we are all full up’. But if you don’t raise your hand in this world, no one is going to call on you, [so] I didn’t give up.”

For the first time in five seasons, the finale was pre-recorded with the cast and crew all flown home before the show had even gone to air on Sunday night.

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MasterChef Australia: 10 cooking show to film in Queensland in 2019

MasterChef Australia will film in Queensland for the first time in the top rating television show’s 11-year history, with cameras set to roll in areas including Brisbane and the Gold Coast over the next fortnight, reports News Corp’s Kristy Symonds.

Cast including judges Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan, and a full crew will jet in to film episodes for the 2019 season of the Channel 10 reality cooking competition as part of “Queensland Week”.

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Married At First Sight’s foul behaviour a headache for TV execs

Married At First Sight’s foul-mouthed contestants may have blown ratings sky high but its popularity is at a new low with outraged Nine boss Hugh Marks, reports Sydney Confidential.

The behaviour on the hit show has been so controversial that Marks is understood to have demanded episodes be re-edited to tone down some of the outrageous conduct for fear it will damage the network’s broader reputation.

Marks is understood to have called a meeting of key executives, including director of television Michael Healy, following an episode in which “husband and wife” Ines Basic and Bronson Norrish engaged in an ugly screaming match.

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Sports Media

Rugby facing TV test as World Cup rights remain unsold

Rugby union’s status as a top-tier TV sport in Australia is about to be tested, with negotiations over rights to air the Rugby World Cup kicking off amid tepid interest from broadcasters, report The Sydney Morning Herald’s John McDuling and Jennifer Duke.

Just over six months out from the 2019 edition of rugby’s showpiece event in Japan this September, rights to broadcast the tournament in Australia remain unsold. While this has raised eyebrows within both the TV industry and in rugby circles, World Rugby, which is handling the process together with sports agency IMG, insists negotiations are on track.

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