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By James Manning
Just six months after winning and re-signing major out-of-home contracts with Melbourne’s Yarra Trams and Telstra, JCDecaux Australia CEO Steve O’Connor has told Mediaweek: “We are in a good place and doing well, but we have a lot of work to do.”
The Yarra Trams win was the most notable, taking the business from Adshel and APN Outdoor who split the advertising opportunities.
However, the renewed Telstra contract is significant too – JCDecaux will install 1,800 new Telstra payphones with digital advertising screens over the next two years, representing the first major payphone redesign refresh since 1987.
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By Kruti Joshi
Fairfax Media’s newspaper inserted magazine Sunday Life is unashamedly female focused. Editorial director Pat Ingram gave it this direction soon after she joined the title in 2011.
“The readers of Sunday Life are slightly mature women, who are 40+. They are extremely well educated,” she told Mediaweek. “Fifty-five percent of our women are in the AB quintile, so she is affluent.
“We are about celebrating women and their achievements.”
This is what makes Sunday Life unique compared to other the newspaper-inserted magazines in the market, Ingram said.
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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.
By James Manning
The weekend total of $11.69m was the lowest weekend total since mid-March and only narrowly above the two weekends it narrowly beat.
The relatively quite weekend at cinemas came ahead of the anticipated big business that Deadpool 2 and then Solo: A Star Wars Story could write over the next two weekends.
An impressive total of $53.70m after just three weekends in cinemas. The movie shed 201 screens this week to 675 with a screen average of $7,870. The year’s other biggest performers have been Star Wars: The Last Jedi (which opened in late 2017) with $58m, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle on $48m and Black Panther with $40m.
The only new release in the top five was the latest from Melissa McCarthy. Opening on 297 screens, the movie had a screen average of $6,719.
The second weekend of the Simon Baker-directed screen version of a Tim Winton novel remained on 240 screens with a screen average of $3,000. Gross to-date is $2.41m.
After four weekends in cinemas the Amy Schumer release has taken $8.42m. It stays on close to 270 screens with a weekend screen average of $2,485.
Very strong performance from this arthouse special with close to $5m so far and a screen average of $2,258 from 248 screens after four weekends.
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Top photo: Avengers: Infinity War (credit: Film Frame / Marvel Studios)
By James Manning
The commercial TV breakfast shows continue to battle it out across Britain.
Nine’s Georgie Gardner lost her voice yesterday and Allison Langdon took over, throwing in a few cheeky gags including one about weddings Karl is anticipating as the Nine show broadcast from Covent Garden.
Meanwhile Seven’s Sunrise stayed close to the Thames, broadcasting from The Anchor Southwark pub with an audience of young Aussies enjoying a late Monday drink.
The ratings for the first day of the royal wedding broadcast saw Sunrise #1 with 255,000 (260,000 average last week). Today wasn’t too far behind with 231,000 (week 19 average 243,000)
Home And Away was on 677,000 after a week 19 average of 692,000.
Jess and Jared returned to their South Australian reno on House Rules with 673,000 watching after 607,000 when the series launched a week ago. Josh and Brandon were clear at the top of the leaderboard, Leigh and Kristie sat at the bottom. While they are showing week-on-week growth, the numbers are still trailing the opposition. Seven has an opportunity to convert some viewers tonight with no episode of The Voice.
Two sisters running a bakery called No Grainer were getting the makeover treatment from Mark Bouris on The Mentor. The business guru was making the bread rise, yet the audience, not so much. After 369,000 a week ago, the episode last night did 349,000.
The Resident then did 174,000.
A Current Affair had a strong start to the week with just over 900,000 after a week 19 average of 794,000. Laura Turner was reporting on the royal wedding and the show was offering viewers the chance to win Coles shopping vouchers.
The second episode of the Battle Rounds on The Voice settled on the top 12. The coaches head to the live shows starting next Sunday with three contestants each. The Monday episode did 881,000 after 950,000 on Monday last week.
Nine then repeated its Adele: Live In London concert where she also spoke to Graham Norton with 298,000 watching.
The channel had its best share on any night since a Thursday in February where Celebrity and Gogglebox delivered a share of 17.0%.
The Project ended with an appearance from the unlikely music duo of Ben Lee and Josh Radnor with the Aussie music star and the US sitcom star talking about their friendship and Aussie tour. The 7pm half of the show did 579,000 after an average of 524,000 last week, which was its best result since January.
It was time for the second elimination on MasterChef with the three cooks baking a Maggie Beer recipe, which was then judged by the great lady herself. Samira did an outstanding job and was safe, with Metter being sent home as model-turned-writer Michelle Walsh dodged a bullet. The second Monday episode did 820,000 after launching on Monday last week with 890,000.
The first episode of Have You Been Paying Attention? was a riotous affair with regulars Sam Pang and Ed Kavalee joined by Jane Kennedy, Anne Edmonds and Kitty Flanagan. There were plenty of Eurovision clips and questions with Isaiah as guest quizmaster, who worked beautifully with host Tom Gleisner. The first of what hopefully will be another long season did 808,000.
Australian Story featured the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir with 571,000 watching.
Four Corners was a feature from French broadcaster Arte and titled Banksters, which detailed the scandalous conduct of the global bank HSBC. The episode did 541,000 after 511,000 a week ago.
Budget cuts at the ABC, how to stage a paparazzi pic and the royal wedding countdown featured on Media Watch for the audience of 448,000.
A post-Budget edition of Q&A then did 354,000.
After a heady weekend of Eurovision contests and specials it was back to the Monday schedule.
Elizabeth: Strong And Steady was on 240,000 after 280,000 a week ago.
Olive oil was under the stethoscope on Trust Me, I’m A Doctor with 182,000 watching.
24 Hours In Emergency then did 215,000.
MONDAY METRO | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Seven | Nine | Ten | SBS | |||||
ABC | 13.2% | 7 | 16.6% | 9 | 20.2% | TEN | 16.0% | SBS One | 4.9% |
ABC 2 | 3.2% | 7TWO | 3.7% | GO! | 3.2% | ONE | 3.0% | VICELAND | 0.6% |
ABC ME | 0.6% | 7mate | 4.6% | GEM | 2.6% | ELEVEN | 2.4% | Food Net | 0.7% |
ABC NEWS | 1.1% | 7flix | 1.6% | 9Life | 1.5% | NITV | 0.2% | ||
TOTAL | 18.0% | 26.5% | 27.6% | 21.5% | 6.4% |
MONDAY REGIONAL | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Seven Affiliates | Nine Affiliates | Ten Affiliates | SBS | |||||
ABC | 11.9% | 7 | 20.4% | 9 | 18.1% | WIN | 12.6% | SBS One | 3.7% |
ABC 2 | 3.0% | 7TWO | 5.7% | GO! | 4.4% | ONE | 3.1% | VICELAND | 0.8% |
ABC ME | 0.9% | 7mate | 4.5% | GEM | 3.7% | ELEVEN | 2.2% | Food Net | 0.5% |
ABC NEWS | 1.3% | 7flix | 1.9% | 9Life | 1.1% | NITV | 0.1% | ||
TOTAL | 17.1% | 32.5% | 27.3% | 17.9% | 5.1% |
MONDAY METRO ALL TV | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FTA | STV | ||||||||
86.7% | 13.3% |
16-39 Top 5
18-49 Top 5
25-54 Top 5
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
Nolan has been with the agency since 2005, joining Starcom Mediavest Group (SMG) as managing director of the Melbourne office before being promoted to CEO of SMG group and then becoming COO of Publicis Media ANZ in 2016.
Publicis Media APAC CEO Gerry Boyle said: “I would like to thank Chris for his commitment and leadership contribution to Publicis Media in Australia over the last two years. He has helped drive Publicis Media into a position of strength and we will continue to build on this proposition and capability for the future. We wish him well in his future endeavours.”
Nolan is looking to new career opportunities and will be working with Publicis Media ANZ CEO Matt James to transition his responsibilities in the coming month. The COO role will not be replaced.
Nolan said: “I would like to thank my Publicis Media colleagues, both locally and across the globe, for their continued support over the last 13 years and I wish them all the best for the future. I would also like to thank the clients that I have worked with. Through helping to grow your businesses, I have remained inspired in all that you have achieved and I hope you continue to prosper. And to the publishers I have worked with, thank you for your partnership, support and encouragement.”
The drop in revenue generated means that while Telstra is adding plenty of new customers, the growth in subscribers is coming at a cost.
Telstra signed up 60,000 post-paid mobile subscriptions and 36,000 fixed-line customers in the three months to March 31.
However, its ARPU for post-paid mobiles slid 3.6% year-on-year to $65.35 for the March quarter.
Joining executive editor Lisa Wilkinson, managing news editor Sandra Sully and managing editor Melinda Cornford are deputy editor Chris Harrison, news editor Eoin Blackwell, deputy news editor Rashell Habib, senior news reporter Josh Butler, lifestyle editor Kelly Baker and senior entertainment reporter Mat Whitehead.
Contributors to ten daily include Wilkinson, Sully, Waleed Aly, Joe Hildebrand, Hugh Riminton, Sarah Harris, Angela Bishop and Matt Burke.
Cornford said: “We’ve established a strong editorial team to launch ten daily. The impressive names, faces and voices behind our compelling content will be what helps set ten daily apart.
“Our talented journalists each bring a wealth of digital experience, innovative ideas and energy to the newsroom, together with our influential mix of Network Ten journalists and presenters contributing to ten daily. I’m looking forward to showcasing our compelling content to Australian audiences via our brand new platform.”
ten daily is a short-form video-led, stand-alone, mobile-optimised website that covers news, entertainment, lifestyle, food, opinion and sport content. It draws on the resources of Ten, the home of MasterChef Australia, The Bachelor Australia, The Bachelorette Australia, Australian Survivor and The Project.
The four Wagner brothers are seeking up to $4.8 million in damages over 32 broadcasts by Jones. They allege they were defamed by imputations their quarry was responsible for the deaths at Grantham, that they engaged in a cover-up, and had broken the law when building the Wellcamp airport.
Jones is expected to give evidence later this week.
The Festival of O’Connell is coming to a halt this Friday when he signs off from Absolute Radio after 12 years with the Bauer Media radio brand. (As he hosts his last week of breakfast radio in the UK, Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa plus Kate, Tim and Marty are using Bauer Media studios to broadcast their royal wedding week back to Australia.)
In what is possibly one of the longest goodbyes ever in British media (because O’Connell gave his employers such a long period of notice), Absolute has branded his final days The Ultimate Week.
O’Connell has hosted farewell live shows and has also treated his colleagues to farewell events. The humour at the live shows was at times pretty raw, with O’Connell saying it would not be able to be broadcast.
There was a sing-along at the show with lyrics to the tune of Men At Work’s “Down Under”:
Fuck off to a land down under
Leaving Richie [co-host] will be a massive blunder
You’re like Batman, he’s your Boy Wonder
Well, off you run, you better take cover
He has also kept his listeners up-to-date about some of the challenges he has faced moving his family down under. “They love red tape in Australia,” he said one morning, as he started to workshop material that might be useful when he arrives at Gold. His transplant from London to Melbourne will give him much fodder. He joked this morning with one caller about something that was happening in the UK in October. “You never know, if it all goes horribly wrong I might be back here by then… doing overnights!”
O’Connell’s final day on air at Absolute is Friday May 18, giving him just two weeks off air before he arrives in Richmond to host his first Gold 104.3 show on June 4.
He has been busy searching for a place to stay in Melbourne and has fielded a number of suggestions from listeners over the past few weeks.
Part of the final week at Absolute will be spent deciding which song to go out on – something that will be a challenge as O’Connell broadcasts across seven different stations each catering to a different music style. He got the list down to five last week, but added another two over the weekend, his final weekend being spent in the UK.
*Mayday, Mayday, Mayday is a reference to a game of Battleships that O’Connell played on air recently at Absolute.
It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to one of our cherished Hey Hey family members who passed away from cancer yesterday morning.
Peter McCutcheon was not only an extraordinarily gifted musician, but the resident pianist on the show for many, many years because he was in tune with the comedic flavour of the program.
In the early 80s he was part of our first in-house band: a trio consisting of Wilbur on sax, Animal on drums and Peter on piano. This pre-dated our big band era, in which he also played a major part.
There’s nothing inherently wrong in going back to Joan Lindsay’s 1967 novel, in which the inexplicable disappearance in 1900 of a trio of private schoolgirls and one of their teachers at the Victorian geological formation roils all involved, even though it’s already been translated into Peter Weir’s magisterial 1975 Australian feature film. It’s rich source material. The problem is how it’s been adapted for the quality drama era. Opening up the text limits it.
What adds to the disappointment is that Foxtel has already made a local drama about a young woman trying to find answers in her unbalanced life amid the dislocating otherness of the Australian bush. It’s called The Kettering Incident and it’s original, incisive and compelling. It aired two years ago and very little in Picnic at Hanging Rock comes close to matching it.
Listen to the Mediaweek podcast on Picnic At Hanging Rock where Andrew Mercado and James Manning are joined by FremantleMedia’s director of drama Jo Porter, who is also an EP on the drama series.
Sean Bean won the BAFTA for Leading Actor for his portrayal of a priest at the centre of a troubled community, in the drama series Broken.
Graham Norton won the sixth BAFTA of his career, winning for Entertainment Performance, his third for The Graham Norton Show.
In the International category, the BAFTA was awarded to The Handmaid’s Tale, the adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel.
In the drama categories, Peaky Blinders won the BAFTA for Drama Series, and docudrama Murdered for Being Different was presented with the award for Single Drama.
Casualty was awarded the BAFTA for Soap & Continuing Drama, a category that recognises exceptional talent in delivering long-running continuing dramas. Casualty last one this award in 2007.
The BAFTA for Entertainment Programme was awarded to Britain’s Got Talent for the second time and Murder in Successville, with BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Tom Davis as one of its nominees, received the award for Comedy Entertainment Programme.
Love Island received the BAFTA for Reality & Constructed Factual, and Channel 5 won its first BAFTA since 2011, for Cruising with Jane McDonald in the Features category.
Ambulance received the BAFTA for Factual Series.
The BBC’s Blue Planet II won the publicly voted award, Virgin TV’s Must-See Moment.
Meanwhile, the Karate Kid sequel Cobra Kai has been performing well for YouTube Red with the series entering the Overall TV chart in Australia at #3. The series also ranks #1 on the Digital Originals chart in Australia and #3 in New Zealand.