Tuesday July 24, 2018

Launch date and sponsors announced for The Bachelor Australia

Network Ten and Multi Channel Network have announced sponsors for the upcoming season of The Bachelor Australia.

Hyundai will return for the second year in a row, and will be joined by first-time sponsors TRESemmé, TRADIE, Blistex, Aspen S26 and Duramine.

The Bachelor Australia season six will premiere on Wednesday August 15 at 7.30pm with Australian international rugby star and underwear model Nick “The Honey Badger” Cummins embarking on a journey to find true love.

Network Ten executive general manager, revenue and client partnerships Rod Prosser said: “Aussies love nothing more than a good love story, and with The Honey Badger, this season will be like none other. Because of its family-friendly, highly integratable, brand-safe environment, The Bachelor Australia continues to be a compelling brand for advertisers to align with. It’s great to be working with Hyundai again for its second straight season and to have TRESemmé, TRADIE, Blistex, Aspen S26 and Duramine join The Bachelor Australia family.”

Ten’s social and digital show Bachelor Unpacked will also be returning this season. It will be exclusively available on The Bachelor Australia’s Facebook page immediately following the show and then on tenplay and ten daily from the following day.

MCN national director, content and brand partnerships, Tania Jones, said: “The local and international success of the format and the program’s ubiquitous effect means we engage viewers across multiple screens, making it attractive for all key demographics and brands looking for multiplatform opportunities. I’m certain The Bachelor Australia will once again capture the hearts of Aussies and, most importantly, entrench itself in pop culture. Its extensive social media footprint also means we can continue to build on the success experienced last season for the Bachelor Unpacked.”

Top photo: Nick “The Honey Badger” Cummins

Freemium to premium: Daniel Sankey on what’s working for The Australian

Moving from working for a free digital news outlet to a major subscription-based operation was a big change for News Corp’s Daniel Sankey.

By Kruti Joshi

Sankey was the editor of news.com.au before moving to join The Australian in 2016 as its digital editor.

“This is role is more strategic, whereas news.com.au was more fast-paced, where I was bouncing around from story to story to story, without having much bandwidth to plan how we execute that content,” he told Mediaweek.

Currently, The Australian locks about 95% of its content in digital behind a paywall. Sankey has played a vocal role in implementing this change.

“You don’t get people paying for content without having great content,” he said. “We are proud to say that 95% of our content is completely locked. We place a very, very high value on the journalism we produce. The good thing is that our readers are placing that value on it as well.”

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

Fox League celebrating Rugby League in the 90s during NRL Round 20

Sydney Roosters captain Boyd Cordner, South Sydney forward Sam Burgess and NRL legend and Fox League commentator Greg Alexander have helped launch Fox League’s Retro Round for 2018.

This year’s Retro Round will remember a golden era of rugby league, the 90s, with the theme brought to life on Fox League, only on Foxtel, throughout the week and across Round 20 in the NRL.

To celebrate, Fox League has partnered with the NRL and clubs to give rugby league fans the chance to attend NRL games at reduced prices this weekend.

For a limited time only, fans will be able to purchase tickets to every game in Round 20 at discounted prices.

Fans can redeem the ticket offer by logging onto nrl.com/tickets and entering the code word “retro” from midnight tonight (Monday July 23) to midnight tomorrow night (Tuesday July 24) for Sydney games and Wednesday night (July 25) for Queensland games.

Boyd Cordner, Greg Alexander and Sam Burgess

Fox Sports’ head of television Steve Crawley said: “Retro Round is a great Fox League initiative.

“It’s a terrific week when we celebrate the history of the game with a lot of fun. Our audience loves it and we love creating it.”

Across the week Fox League’s entertainment shows will celebrate retro heroes with special guest appearances and will reflect on some of the game’s biggest moments and characters from the 90s.

On Tuesday four-time premiership winning Broncos centre Steve Renouf joins Gorden Tallis, Justin Hodges and host Hannah Hollis on Queenslanders Only.

The Greatest with Mick Ennis will shine the light on an historic moment in rugby league on Wednesday, featuring the Warriors debut match against the Broncos from Round 1 of the 1995 season.

Renouf will also feature in commentary for Thursday night’s Super League Grand Final replay between the Broncos and Sharks at Suncorp Stadium, live and ad break-free during play on Fox League.

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy will also provide his expert analysis on the game in Bellamy’s Bunker.

Retro Round wraps up with a special edition of Sunday Night with Matty Johns featuring Manly premiership winners Geoff Toovey and Cliff Lyons.

See the Fox League Retro Round entertainment show lineup at mediaweek.com.au.

ARIA signs new deals for ARIA Awards with Nine and NSW Government

The 2018 ARIA Awards will return to the Nine Network this year, with the ceremony and ARIA Week also confirmed to remain in Sydney until at least 2020 thanks to the support of the NSW Government.

The 2018 ARIA Awards will be held on Wednesday November 28 and will be supported by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW, with the ceremony to be broadcast from Sydney on the Nine Network.

The 2017 ARIA Awards delivered the biggest audience since 2010, winning its timeslot in total people and all demographics, including both 25-54s and under 55s.

Denis Handlin and Guy Sebastian

Denis Handlin, ARIA chairman and chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Australia and New Zealand and president, Asia, said: “On behalf of the ARIA board, we look forward to another wonderful celebration of Australian music at this year’s ARIA Awards, as we recognise those artists that have captured the nation’s imagination over the past 12 months.

“ARIA is delighted to partner with the Nine Network again. After last year’s successful return to the network, we look forward to continue working with Nine’s CEO Hugh Marks and his team to produce another world-class event that celebrates all that is great in Australian music.”

Nine CEO Hugh Marks

Adrian Swift, head of content production and development at Nine Network Australia, said: “We are proud to be broadcasting the 32nd Annual ARIA Awards on Nine, following the fantastic success of last year’s event. We remain committed to Australian music and delivering the greatest live events and entertainment to viewers across Australia.”

ARIA chief executive Dan Rosen said: “We are thrilled to welcome back both the Nine Network and the NSW Government, through Destination NSW, and thank them for their passionate support of the ARIA Awards and ARIA Week. We look forward to partnering with them again in 2018 as we celebrate a remarkable year in Australian music, and onwards to 2020.”

oOh! Unmissable Awards open with $2m out-of-home prize package

Tourism Tasmania’s Feed Your Curious campaign, which featured across oOh!media’s Fly, Retail and Office environments, is the first entry in the running for a share of the $2 million worth of out-of-home media in the 2018 National oOh! Unmissable Awards.

The Awards have been launched this week and will recognise the best integrated campaigns across the oOh! Network of out-of-home assets.

All multi-environment campaigns that include native content, data and run on two or more oOh! assets between June and December will automatically be entered into the Awards, with the winner being announced in March 2019.

oOh!’s group revenue director Phil Eastwood said the Awards followed on from oOh!’s A World of Unmissable series of events where the industry heard from high-profile marketers from some of Australia’s leading brands on how oOh! helped them solve their business challenges and successfully tell their brand stories.

“It’s about getting the right creative in front of the right audiences in the most appropriate environments,” Eastwood said.

“Out-of-home campaigns are no longer just about creative on a digital or classic billboard. Today there’s powerful data available to plan the most effective campaigns, as well as native content and experiential used to engage in locations that are contextually relevant.

“Add to that, advertisers’ online and social strategies can be amplified with ease across all of oOh!’s digital formats to extend the campaigns’ reach even further.”

Eastwood cited a number of examples that illustrated the effectiveness of integrated campaigns.

“We helped brands tell their story effectively by expanding the way they planned out-of-home. Lion Dairy and Drinks utilised Quantium buyer graphic data for campaigns for Yoplait and Tasmanian Heritage brands to reach more of the right customers and reduce wastage,” he said.

Multiple campaigns can win the share of over $2 million worth of true media value across a variety of prizes to suit.

Three $500,000 media packages are up for grabs to national campaigns that use two or more oOh! environments with native content. There are also three $175,000 single market campaigns to be awarded that combine an oOh! environment with native content.

Eastwood said in addition to the $2 million worth of media, the judging panel, which will be chaired by the former chairman of Publicis Communications ANZ Andrew Baxter, will award the creative lead of the best campaign of all the winners with an all expenses-paid educational trip for two to the SXSW Conference and Festivals in Austin, Texas.

Stav, Abby and Matt locked in for breakfast at hit105 until the end of 2020

Southern Cross Austereo has announced new contracts for its hit105 breakfast hosts in this release:

They talk to the most interesting people in Brisbane, do things no ordinary Brisbanite would consider and in between they take the pulse of the city every morning, telling the stories that matter and bringing smiles to hundreds of thousands of faces – they are hit105’s Stav, Abby and Matt and their early morning wake-up calls will continue, with news the show has been locked in until the end of 2020.

hit105content director Mathew Eggleston said the news sent ripples throughout the station when it broke earlier today.

“We are so excited to have Stav, Abby and Matt confirmed as our hit105 breakfast show until the end of 2020. They have had a fantastic 12 months at the top of the radio surveys here in Brisbane so it’s not only brilliant for us as a station, but for all the listeners out there who tune in daily knowing their favourite show is locked in long term,” he said.

“We kicked off the year with a raft made from goon sacks and then Stav, Abby and Matt paddled it across the Brown Snake; we gave away a year’s salary; Matty broke his leg in a footy game; and Abby has just announced she is pregnant. So, keep watching this space – it’s going to be a fun ride.

Stav, Abby and Matt

“Waking up with Stav, Abby and Matt on hit105 means rolling over and hearing exactly what you need to know every morning – what’s happening in Brissie and the world, what’s hot, which celebrities have taken the worst selfies and who in Australia is creating all the fuss. Stav is everyone’s funny best mate, Abby is Mrs Brisbane and Matt is the cheeky family man. Together they are one big breakfast feast of fantastic.”

Southern Cross Austereo Queensland executive general manager Damon Rielly said: “With Brisbane being the most fiercely contested radio market in the country, and other Brisbane breakfast shows experiencing instability, locking in Stav, Abby and Matt was an important move to provide Brisbane consistency to start their day.

“Breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day, and we are thrilled to have Stav, Abby and Matt locked in until the end of 2020. This gives our listeners security, our partners and advertisers security and it allows our breakfast team to think long term and create some wonderful experiences for the city.”

The news follows a recent announcement by Southern Cross Austereo Brisbane that it would relocate from its current North Quay home to a new custom-fitted headquarters at The Barracks in 2019, representing what will be one of the largest and most technical moves in the country.

Wake up with Stav, Abby and Matt on hit105 from 6am to 9am weekdays.

Box Office: Mamma Mia! We have a hit again – $6m opening weekend

The box office haul for the top 20 movies was trading just under $20m again across the last weekend of the winter school holiday period.

By James Manning

The chart was topped by two new release sequels, which between them accounted for 50% of the top 20 takings.

The spoils were evenly split between studios with Sony Pictures and Walt Disney each having two entries in the top five while Universal had top spot and then three of the top seven.

#1 Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again $5.90m

Exactly 10 years after the original Mamma Mia! hit movie, the sequel has opened at #1. The sequel has narrowly outperformed the original, which opened with $5.32m. The new movie, with an impressive cast that includes Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Dominic Cooper, Cher, and Meryl Streep opened on 587 screens with a screen average of $10.06m.

#2 The Equalizer 2 $2.99m

Denzel Washington returned for this sequel after he starred in the original in 2014. Although the movie opened on 303 screens, the screen average was close to what Mamma Mia! 2 did – $9,892.

#3 Ant-Man And The Wasp $1.96m

The total earn has made it to $16.5m after three weekends. Screens were down from 536 to 367 with a screen average of $5,341.

#4 Incredibles 2 $1.75m

After six weekends the animated hit is still top five and is guaranteed to be one of the biggest releases of the year with $42.97m so far. Just over 300 screens were still showing the release with a screen average of $5,530.

#5 Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation $1.64m

The monster hit has hung in the top five for a fourth weekend and it has stashed just under $17m in the bank to-date. The film remains on 348 screens, which calculates out to a screen average of $4,717.

 

TV Ratings Analysis: Monday July 23

• Ninja Warrior and season finale of Big Bang help Nine to a win
• First episode of Pointless lifts TEN to close to half a million

By James Manning

Seven

Home And Away started the new week on 727,000 after a week 29 average of 669,000.

House Rules then did 829,000 to rank third in the 7.30 timeslot.

The premiere of Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours To Hell And Back did 403,000.

Nine

A Current Affair’s Steve Marshall was reporting on a relationship bust-up that included revenge porn and a weight-watchers affair. The theme music suggested the ACA team was having a bit of fun with the estranged couple in the NSW regional town of Goulburn. After an average last week of 777,000, the Monday night of week 30 started with 828,000.

Australian Ninja Warrior then did 888,000 after 939,000 on Sunday.

Nine’s The Big Bang Theory season finale featured Sheldon and Amy’s Big Bang wedding with 764,000 watching.

The late night footy shows followed:

100% Footy was on 61,000 with 30,000 in Sydney and 31,000 in Brisbane.

Footy Classified was on 126,000 with 84,000 in Melbourne.

TEN

The first episode of Pointless did 493,000 after the final week of Family Feud averaged 303,000 Monday to Friday last week. Mark Humphries carries the biggest load as host with help from Andrew Rochford, who is sort of an adjudicator on the sideline. The best thing about the series is its simplicity where it is almost Family Feud in reverse with contestants having to guess the least obvious, or pointless, answers from a survey. There was no mucking about at the start of the show. After a basic explanation of the format, a quick introduction to the contestants, Humphries was asking the first question by 6.02pm. There are three ad breaks across the half hour and subjects last night included phobias, Beach Boys songs and Aussie cuisine.

Beverley McGarvey, chief content officer, Network Ten said this morning:

“We know it is early days but we are very happy with last night’s Pointless ratings and are delighted audiences have welcomed the show into our lineup. We look forward to building the show further in the coming weeks and months and appreciate the great job that Mark and Andrew are doing.”

Mark Humphries and Dr Andrew Rochford in Pointless

The new game show should have got a few more watching the first half of The Project. And guess what? It wasn’t bad either. Franz Ferdinand were guests before 7pm with 361,000 watching. The stars of The Breaker Upperers were at the desk after 7pm with 549,000 watching. The week 29 averages for both halves were 330,000 and then 497,000.

It was the most difficult MasterChef pressure test ever for Sashi, Chloe and Jess on the second night of finals week. The cook didn’t go well for Sashi with his recipe catching fire as he worked his way through the massive list of stages. He managed to survive though, as did Jess, which means Chloe drops out. The timeslot and demo-winning episode did 918,000 after 815,000 a week ago. Ben and Khan compete tonight for perhaps a guaranteed place in the top three.

Peter Helliar was the eventual winner on Have You Been Paying Attention? as he defeated his colleagues Mick Molloy, Susie Youssef, Denise Scott and Ed Kavalee. The episode did 744,000 after 737,000 a week ago.

ABC

Back Roads visited the Tiwi Islands with 539,000 watching.

Four Corners did 562,000 at 8pm followed by Media Watch on 516,000 and then Q&A on 372,000.

SBS

The Tour de France had a rest day. However, there was a sports replacement in the Chelsea v Perth Glory game at 9pm. A very wet Optus Stadium was the venue with a metro TV audience of 117,000.

Earlier in the night a repeat of Inside Kensington Place did 282,000.

Week 30 TV: Monday
MONDAY METRO
ABCSevenNineTenSBS
ABC12.8%718.4%920.9%TEN16.5%SBS One4.5%
ABC 22.4%7TWO3.1%GO!3.5%ONE2.8%VICELAND1.1%
ABC ME0.6%7mate3.2%GEM2.7%ELEVEN1.6%Food Net0.9%
ABC NEWS1.1%7flix2.1%9Life1.7%NITV0.1%
TOTAL16.9%26.8%28.8%20.9%6.6%

 

MONDAY REGIONAL
ABCSeven AffiliatesNine AffiliatesTen AffiliatesSBS
ABC13.0%720.6%918.1%WIN11.8%SBS One3.4%
ABC 22.9%7TWO4.4%GO!4.4%ONE2.6%VICELAND1.1%
ABC ME0.7%7mate4.9%GEM4.9%ELEVEN1.7%Food Net0.8%
ABC NEWS1.2%7flix1.3%9Life2.0%NITV0.1%
TOTAL17.8%31.2%29.4%16.1%5.4%

 

MONDAY METRO ALL TV
FTASTV
87.0%13.0%

 

Monday FTA
  1. SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,114,000
  2. SEVEN NEWS / TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,060,000
  3. NINE NEWS 6:30 Nine 1,003,000
  4. NINE NEWS Nine 986,000
  5. MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 918,000
  6. AUSTRALIAN NINJA WARRIOR Nine 888,000
  7. HOUSE RULES Seven 829,000
  8. A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 828,000
  9. ABC NEWS ABC 767,000
  10. THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 764,000
  11. HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION? Ten 744,000
  12. HOME AND AWAY Seven 727,000
  13. THE CHASE AUSTRALIA Seven 722,000
  14. FOUR CORNERS ABC 562,000
  15. 7.30 ABC 559,000
  16. THE PROJECT 7PM Ten 549,000
  17. BACK ROADS S4 ABC 539,000
  18. HOT SEAT Nine 528,000
  19. MEDIA WATCH ABC 516,000
  20. POINTLESS Ten 493,000
Demo Top Fives

16-39 Top 5

  1. MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 275,000
  2. HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION? Ten 268,000
  3. HOUSE RULES Seven 203,000
  4. AUSTRALIAN NINJA WARRIOR Nine 199,000
  5. THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 187,000

 

18-49 Top 5

  1. MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 429,000
  2. HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION? Ten 398,000
  3. AUSTRALIAN NINJA WARRIOR Nine 358,000
  4. HOUSE RULES Seven 329,000
  5. THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 327,000

 

25-54 Top 5

  1. MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 461,000
  2. HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION? Ten 433,000
  3. AUSTRALIAN NINJA WARRIOR Nine 412,000
  4. THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 397,000
  5. HOUSE RULES Seven 370,000
Monday Multichannel
  1. THE BIG BANG THEORY 9GO! 205,000
  2. NODDY TOYLAND DETECTIVE ABCKIDS/COMEDY 201,000
  3. THE BIG BANG THEORY 9GO! 200,000
  4. PEPPA PIG ABCKIDS/COMEDY 192,000
  5. THE BIG BANG THEORY 9GO! 189,000
  6. TEACUP TRAVELS ABCKIDS/COMEDY 188,000
  7. SHAUN THE SHEEP ABCKIDS/COMEDY 175,000
  8. OCTONAUTS ABCKIDS/COMEDY 172,000
  9. PETER RABBIT ABCKIDS/COMEDY 167,000
  10. KAZOOPS! ABCKIDS/COMEDY 165,000
  11. BEN AND HOLLY’S LITTLE KINGDOM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 163,000
  12. ANDY’S PREHISTORIC ADVENTURES ABCKIDS/COMEDY 160,000
  13. FLOOGALS ABCKIDS/COMEDY 158,000
  14. FIREMAN SAM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 154,000
  15. NCIS E2 ONE 154,000
  16. DINOSAUR TRAIN ABCKIDS/COMEDY 153,000
  17. PJ MASKS ABCKIDS/COMEDY 152,000
  18. PEPPA PIG ABCKIDS/COMEDY 148,000
  19. THE BIG BANG THEORY 9GO! 146,000
  20. HEY DUGGEE ABCKIDS/COMEDY 145,000
Monday Subscription TV
  1. LIVE: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 93,000
  2. LIVE: ON THE COUCH FOX FOOTY 73,000
  3. LIVE: NRL 360 FOX LEAGUE 68,000
  4. THE BOLT REPORT SKY NEWS LIVE 51,000
  5. 24 HOURS IN EMERGENCY LifeStyle Channel 50,000
  6. AMERICAN DAD! FOX8 49,000
  7. NCIS TVH!TS 48,000
  8. AMERICAN DAD! FOX8 46,000
  9. CRIMINAL MINDS TVH!TS 46,000
  10. OUTSIDERS SKY NEWS LIVE 45,000
  11. JEOPARDY! FOX Classics 45,000
  12. CRIMINAL MINDS TVH!TS 45,000
  13. PAUL MURRAY LIVE SKY NEWS LIVE 44,000
  14. LIVE: BIG LEAGUE WRAP FOX LEAGUE 43,000
  15. FAMILY GUY FOX8 43,000
  16. NCIS TVH!TS 42,000
  17. THE SIMPSONS FOX8 42,000
  18. SELLING HOUSES AUSTRALIA LifeStyle Channel 39,000
  19. FAMILY GUY FOX8 36,000
  20. CREDLIN SKY NEWS LIVE 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

Creative media and communications company Cutting Edge for sale

Creative media and communications company Cutting Edge has polished plenty of television shows and movies for the likes of Endemol Shine and Warner Bros, but now finds itself up in bright lights, reports The AFR’s Street Talk.

Street Talk can reveal Cutting Edge’s shareholders have hired Sydney-based boutique adviser Greenstone Partners to find a buyer for the company, sending a teaser flyer to potentially interested parties in recent weeks ahead of an auction.

Cutting Edge was pitched to prospective acquirers as a vertically integrated creative media and communications company that creates content for production companies, media agencies and corporate clients globally, according to the flyer obtained by this column.

Tyrekickers were told the company was likely to have $4.6 million EBITDA in the 2018 financial year, increasing to $6.3 million next year.

It has offices in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney and Japan and employs 140 people, the flyer said.

[Read the original]

Nine Entertainment Co-backed LiteracyPlanet considering ASX listing

Nine Entertainment Co-backed online children’s learning business LiteracyPlanet is believed to be weighing a run at the ASX-boards, reports The AFR’s Street Talk.

The company is backed by Nine’s Nine Digital Pty Ltd, which has a 30% stake. Other shareholders include Ellerston Capital’s venture capital arm, with about 10%, and other founders and management.

A listing is not expected to be a material event or spark any major upgrades for the listed Nine, which failed to make mention of LiteracyPlanet in its annual report last year. LiteracyPlanet is part of the Nine Digital stable, which made $154.7 million at the revenue line and $28.9 million EBITDA in the year to June 2017.

[Read the original]

Norman Swan’s Tonic Media one of the backers of new Aboriginal Health TV

Indigenous health is about to get a digital shot in the arm, with the nationwide rollout of a TV network to capitalise on the time people spend in waiting rooms before seeing a medical practitioner, reports The Australian’s Stephen Fitzpatrick.

Aboriginal Health TV will have therapeutic value in its own right, featuring localised, culturally specific programming on screens in about 300 Aboriginal Medical Service facilities around the country and in mainstream services with high numbers of indigenous clients.

Noongar man Christopher Lawrence, an epidemiologist who has been at the heart of developing the project, said: “It will be an opportunity for people to tell their own stories, and encourage other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to take care of their health and wellbeing, but also for communities to see everyday people, not actors… chosen for their looks, or whatever.”

With a $3.4 million, three-year commitment to be announced by Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt, the network is being developed by Tonic Health Media, the communications powerhouse built by ABC medical broadcaster Norman Swan and psychiatrist and health services entrepreneur Matthew Cullen.

[Read the original]

Adshel New Zealand appoints Charlotte White new account manager

Adshel NZ has appointed Charlotte White as account manager following the departure of Robbie Coshan, who left the company on July 20.

Charlotte White

White joins Adshel from Y&R, where she held the position of media manager, working across some of the agency’s largest full-service clients. Prior to this White lived in the UK working for OMD in the role of planning manager, with a portfolio of global clients across varied sectors.

Adshel’s Auckland group sales manager Mark Banbrook said: “We are very excited to have Charlotte joining the Adshel sales team. Charlotte brings a wealth of media knowledge from her time working in agencies both in NZ and the UK. With her media agency background she brings the perspective of knowing the process and pressures of our clients and how to make their jobs easier.”

News Media

New York Times reporter covering Trump pulling back from Twitter posts

New York Times senior reporter Maggie Haberman wrote a piece on the weekend called Why I Needed to Pull Back From Twitter:

After nearly nine years and 187,000 tweets, I have used Twitter enough to know that it no longer works well for me. I will re-engage eventually, but in a different way.

Twitter has stopped being a place where I could learn things I didn’t know, glean information that was free from errors about a breaking news story or engage in a discussion and be reasonably confident that people’s criticisms were in good faith.

To be clear, Twitter is a useful and important platform. It’s a good aggregator for breaking news. I still check my feed to see breaking news developments, and I will continue to. And it is democratic – everyone gets to have a voice, whether they work for a local paper, a small TV station or one of the biggest newspapers in the world, or are not in the media business at all. The downside is that everyone is treated as equally expert on various topics.

[Read the original]

Publishing

Helen McCabe's Future Women launches with new podcast series

Nine’s women-focused digital subscription business Future Women (FW) has launched quietly with a formal launch expected in the coming months.

Nine digital content director Helen McCabe with Jamila Rizvi

The brand’s first digital newsletter was delivered to its subscribers inbox this morning.

“It is a soft launch, which gives us a chance to refine and work through any glitches that may appear. As part of that, we have announced an introductory offer but we are quietly pleased with the very early response,” said Nine’s director of digital content Helen McCabe. “It is an exciting time and thank you to everyone who has taken an interest.”

The first FW newsletter also introduced a new podcast series hosted by its editor-at-large Jamila Rizvi. The first episode of the podcast features ABC’s Annabel Crabb, activist Tracey Spicer and former magazine publisher Marina Go.

Read more at mediaweek.com.au

Peter Yates-chaired RiAus to be the new home of Cosmos magazine

The Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) will take custodianship of Cosmos magazine.

The quarterly publication joins RiAus’s expanding science outreach and educational activities: Australia’s Science Channel, SCINEMA International Science Film Festival, Ultimate Careers for students, and the teacher resource focused Education Platform.

With the addition of Cosmos into its activities, The Royal Institution of Australia will have an audience of more than 750,000 on websites, 600,000+ on social platforms, and a print readership in excess of 80,000.

Cosmos editor-in-chief Elizabeth Finkel said: “When we looked to find a new home for Cosmos, The Royal Institution of Australia was the natural choice. We share the same values around accurate and accessible science reporting, journalistic excellence, and passing on this craft to the up and coming generation of science journalists. As Australia’s only charity solely dedicated to communicating science, the Royal Institution also has the critical mass and funding structure to offer a sustainable model for quality science journalism into the future.

The chairman of RiAus is Peter Yates, a former CEO of Kerry Packer’s Publishing & Broadcasting (PBL), which is a former owner of ACP Magazines.

Read more at mediaweek.com.au

Syd Con reports Pacific poaching key staff from rival Bauer Media

Australia’s magazine wars are alive and well, reports Sydney Confidential.

Confidential’s spies inside the country’s top two glossy magazine publishers, Bauer Media and Pacific Magazines, have revealed an internal feud.

Following restructure plans at Bauer, it is understood bosses at Pac Mags have begun making offers to a number of staff currently working at their main competitor.

TV Week editor Thomas Woodgate is said to be furious with the situation.

The magazine is one of the hardest hit by the poaching, with many senior staff members said to be taking new roles at Pac Mags.

“Some Bauer employees are being made offers that are too good to refuse,” an insider said.

“People are being offered two and three times their existing wage to move.”

[Read the original]

Television

Ten’s Pilot Week: Network reveals mix of both sexes working on all shows

Channel 10 says it is disappointed in reaction to its Pilot Week lineup after criticism from prominent Aussie female stars that it is too male-skewed, reports News Corp’s Colin Vickery.

Ten unveiled eight shows – mostly comedies – that it will be trialling from August 19, with viewers getting a say in which programs could go to series.

But celebrities including Jane Kennedy, Magda Szubanski, Meshel Laurie and Wendy Harmer took to social media to slam the selection.

Ten program chief Beverley McGarvey, who commissioned the eight Pilot Week shows, has hit back saying she is proud to be doing something different.

“The reaction’s probably not surprising but we are a bit disappointed,” McGarvey said. “I suspect it is about providing context.

“We (Ten) have 21 new shows on air this year and Pilot Week is eight of them. On Pilot Week obviously there is a really amazing mix of male and female behind-the-scenes people – executive producers and showrunners.”

Ten’s new female-led drama Playing for Keeps – with Madeleine West, Olympia Valance, Annie Maynard and Isabella Giovinazzo – is currently filming in Melbourne.

Ten recently made headlines for poaching Jennifer Keyte from Seven to read its evening news service in Melbourne. Late last year Lisa Wilkinson switched from Nine to Ten to host The Sunday Project.

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In a separate piece of commentary, Colin Vickery writes:

Ten’s recent white male skew also seems out of step with the philosophy of new owner America’s CBS network.

CBS has purposefully expanded diversity in recent years. An example of that is its new two year first-look deal with NCIS star Wilmer Valderrama to create “culturally relevant projects”.

Ten’s worst nightmare would be if the backlash leads to a boycott of Pilot Week but the way anger is building I can see that happening.

Dave O’Neil is clearly worried, tweeting, “After doing comedy for 30 years I decided to have a crack at doing my own show. So I wrote it, produced it and paid for it myself. I shopped it around and Ch 10 said they would show it in Pilot Week. I was so happy. Please give it a chance.”

Pilot Week should have been an exciting initiative at a time when the commercial networks are happy to churn out carbon copy reality shows – more cooking, more renovation, more dating.

But I can’t help thinking that Ten’s all-male lineup has undermined that excitement. It is too easy to see it as either tin-eared or outright sexist.

Whatever the reason, it is not good enough in 2018.

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Michael Idato on Comic Con: Nicole, Supergirl, Dr Who and Walking Dead

From queen of the BMX bandits to queen of Aquaman’s undersea kingdom of Atlantis, Australian actress Nicole Kidman cut a regal figure as she took to the stage: for just one day the 51-year-old, who plays Queen Atlanna in Aquaman, was queen of Comic-Con, reports Fairfax Media’s Michael Idato.

The four-day pop culture fan convention has been a whirlwind of headlines and glimpses of new movies and TV series, but with Marvel and Star Wars sitting the year out, two Warner Bros-owned DC Comics titles took centre stage this year: Aquaman and Wonder Woman.

Other major reveals at Comic-Con include the Supergirl television series confirming it had cast transgender activist and actress Nicole Maines as television’s first transgender superhero, Dreamer.

Dreamer, who goes by the day to day name of Nia Nal, will be introduced in Supergirl’s fourth season. (In Australia, Supergirl screens on Foxtel.)

Other highlights included the convention debut of actress Jodie Whittaker who is playing the 13th Doctor in the new season of Doctor Who, a reunion for the cast of Breaking Bad, confirmation that the next season of The Walking Dead would be the last for its star Andrew Lincoln and a sneak peek of the new season of Star Trek: Discovery.

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Snapchat orders dating show from Elisabeth Murdoch’s Vertical Networks

Snapchat has ordered a new dating show from Elisabeth Murdoch’s Vertical Networks media startup, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Parental Guidance, in which parents serve as the secret wingmen for their children, will bow on July 24 on the app’s Discover platform.

In the show, a sort of Parental Control for the smartphone generation, parents who disapprove of their children’s dating habits get the chance to not only investigate their digital dating lives but also get to set them up on a date using their child’s actual dating profile. Each episode will end with the contestant going on a first date with the parent-approved partner and revealing that the parent was behind the initial messages.

Launched in 2016, the Snap-backed Vertical Networks first tested the Snapchat waters with male-focused Discover channel Brother. Its first push into original show formats was dating series Phone Swap, which is now being adapted for television with veteran reality TV producer Robin Ashbrook (MasterChef). Other Vertical Networks shows include Solve and Celebrity Binge Watch.

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New to the TV Demand charts: MasterChef Australia, Doctor Who

The Handmaid’s Tale had maintained a tight grip on most of the On Demand TV charts from the past seven days.

It has been replaced at #1 on the Overall TV chart in Australia though by Brooklyn Nine-Nine. New to that chart this week are MasterChef Australia and Doctor Who.

Returning to the Digital Originals charts in both Australia and New Zealand this week is The Grand Tour as season three gets closer and reports surface around the world of the hosts filming new segments. Most recent sightings included filming of a segment in China.

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