Monday May 21, 2018

The rise of Jamila Rizvi: From Mamamia early days to News to Future Women

• New job, new book – It’s all happening for columnist and author Jamila Rizvi!

By Kruti Joshi

Jamila Rizvi is a well-known name in the Australian women’s media landscape, having editorially led Mamamia in its early days – first as managing editor and then editor-in-chief. She was with the company for about four years so she has seen it flourish first-hand.

“I remember when I joined the company, you could fit the entire editorial team in my car. [Laughs] By the time I finished up, there were about 45 people working in editorial and the company had over 100 people working there. It’s an amazing growth story,” she told Mediaweek.

After leaving the women’s network, Rizvi worked for News Corp Australia as a columnist. She finished up a couple of months ago. Recently, she was named editor-at-large for Nine’s yet-to-launch subscription website Future Women. The new entity is aimed at professional women.

“It is a leadership role that is incredibly flexible. I expect to be one of the faces of the brand,” Rizvi said. “Given my experience in women’s media over the last five or six years – which includes working for a start-up – I will be able to play a supportive strategic role to the team who are going to be running the show.”

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

Network Ten commissions Warner Int TV to make Game Of Games

Network Ten has commissioned a new family entertainment series, Game Of Games, which will premiere on TEN and WIN Network later this year.

Game Of Games was a success when it launched in the US in January this year, attracting a weekly audience of more than eight million and ranking #1 in its timeslot in people 18 to 49.

The US series is produced by Warner Horizon Unscripted & Alternative Television in association with Telepictures and A Very Good Production, which is owned by Ellen DeGeneres, who is the host and executive producer of the show in the US.

DeGeneres said: “I’m thrilled that Game Of Games is making its way to Australia on TEN.

“And I’m already thinking of ways to make it better. For instance, in the US we drop contestants into vats of mashed potatoes, but in Australia it’s gonna be 100% Vegemite.”

Each hour-long episode of Game Of Games includes supersized versions of the most popular and action-packed games from the award-winning daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Contestants are pulled direct from the audience and have to manoeuvre massive obstacles, answer questions under crushing time pressure and face gigantic plunges into the unknown – all in a quest to win a big cash prize.

Network Ten chief content officer Beverley McGarvey said: “Game Of Games is a big new show that is light, fun and engaging. It’s a blast of great family entertainment that is perfect for the back half of the year.

Game Of Games is unique. It packed full of big fun, big physical entertainment, big laughs and big cash prizes.”

Games Of Games is a Warner Bros International TV Production Australia production for Network Ten.

WBITVP managing director Michael Brooks said: “Game Of Games is the biggest physical game show ever filmed inside a studio. It’s laugh-out-loud fun and madness from start to finish and we believe Australian audiences are going to love it.”

Game Of Games will premiere on TEN and WIN Network later this year.

TEN said the host will be announced soon.

Nova Entertainment gets into esports business as sales rep for global giant ESL

Nova Entertainment has announced an exclusive strategic partnership with ESL, the world’s largest esports company.

The partnership will see Nova Entertainment leverage its radio and digital platforms to promote ESL’s flagship event in Australia, IEM Sydney and the ESL AU & NZ Championships to the public.

In addition, Nova Entertainment will exclusively represent and sell ESL inventory for the ESL AU & NZ Championships in the Australian market.

Nathan Reay, Nova Entertainment’s head of M&A, strategy and partnerships, said, “We are excited to partner with ESL, a global leader in esports, with an established award-winning presence in Australia. As esports experience enormous growth, Nova Entertainment is committed to being at the forefront of their expansion in Australia.”

ESL has an extensive global digital footprint with over 2.2m followers on its Twitch streaming channel (ESL_CSGO) and over 1.6m Facebook followers on its global ESL page. IEM is the longest-running global pro gaming tour in the world.

The ESL AU & NZ championships will provide opportunities for brands to tailor sales and marketing opportunities for current esports fans while continuing to build audience.

Nick Vanzetti, ESL Australia’s managing director, said, “ESL has pioneered the way in esports live events and broadcast innovation in Australia and it is our mission to continue to develop the ecosystem here. Partnering with Nova Entertainment will provide the growth platform to bring mass audience to esports in Australia through IEM and the ESL AU & NZ Championships.”

Nova Entertainment’s head of M&A, strategy and partnerships Nathan Reay

About ESL

ESL, a part of the international digital entertainment group MTG, is the world’s largest esports company, leading the industry across the most popular video games with numerous online and offline competitions. It includes high-profile, branded international and national leagues and tournaments such as the IEM Sydney, ESL One, ESL National Championships and other top-tier stadium-size events, as well as grassroots amateur cups, leagues and matchmaking systems.

ESL covers a broad field of services in gaming technology, event management, advertising and television production, fully catering to the needs of the esports ecosystem. With offices in North America, Germany, Russia, France, Poland, Spain, China, and partners in many other countries, it has a global footprint (www.eslgaming.com).

ESL creates and promotes gaming experiences globally with its Australian flagship event, IEM Sydney, part of the longest-running global pro gaming tour in the world. The annual competition features the world’s best gamers in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive amongst other esports titles with over $7m in prize money to date.

Australia’s largest esports event, IEM Sydney, returned for a second consecutive year at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena in May, building on its online audience of over 8 million last year. Additionally, the nationally focused ESL AU & NZ Championships are entering their third year of competition in 2018.

Emma readership refresh: Renews Ipsos contract, adds Nielsen's CMV data

The Readership Works (TRW) has announced a renewed collaboration with the research agencies Ipsos and Nielsen which sees Ipsos continue to measure print audience readership for the next five years while Nielsen will “fuse” print data with digital ratings to provide cross-platform audience data.

By James Manning

Ipsos has been measuring print audience since 2013 and the inclusion of Nielsen Consumer & Media View (CMV) with the print and digital currencies (emma cross-platform) will offer cross platform readership, attitudinal, lifestyle and product data. This product will be branded emma CMV.

Monique Perry, Nielsen’s managing director, media, said: “Nielsen is ready to take total audience measurement to the next level. We are thrilled to offer, for the first time, a streamlined and simpler solution for the Australian market. There is nothing more powerful than bringing to life high-quality currency data with a greater understanding of Australian consumers’ increasingly unique and diverse attitudes, consumption preferences, ethnicity and purchase intention. We are delighted to see the Nielsen Consumer & Media View client base expand to include news media and magazine publishers.”

Brian Hogan, executive director emma at Ipsos, added: “Since launch in 2013, emma has established itself as a world class readership survey. Ipsos is proud to be able to provide continuity in readership measurement to Australia’s news media and magazine publishers, including the many regional, community and independent publishers that previously had no access to robust readership measurement. Ipsos’s state-of-the-art research techniques are developed around the world and our proficiency in delivering readership and core demographic data will continue to provide media and marketing decision makers with reliable and consistent audience data and insights for many years to come.”

Mal Dale, general manager of The Readership Works, told Mediaweek: “We are entering into a five-year contract with Nielsen. The reason we are doing this is to evolve emma and integrate it into Nielsen’s suite of insights and audience currency products. By including emma amongst the other products in the Nielsen CMV ecosystem we will be able to present a more streamlined product to market.

“Certain things will change and some things will stay the same. We will be retiring the Ipsos survey product data and taking the data from Nielsen’s CMV. We have been working on this change over the past 18 months. Rather than Ipsos having a separate sales force in market selling emma we are going to consolidate sales and support into Nielsen.”

Dale said the new data will remain available to various accredited software suppliers. “At launch it will be available through Nielsen’s Clear Decisions software which accompanies their CMV database.

“Because the data hasn’t changed and still comes from Ipsos, there will be no trend breaks. People can still use the data back to when emma started in 2013.”

Mediaweek asked if the changes will allow publishers to generate more revenue.

Dale: “By giving publishers better tools by which to present their sales pitches, it gives them a significantly improved opportunity to compete better. This is now a state-of-the-art measurement and insights tool which will allow them to compete better.”

Perry: “It is about streamlining the offering. All users will now be able to access all media measurement through the CMV hub. As publishers have assets across various different media – to be able to tell a total audience story is increasingly important for the publisher.”

With detailing how much, Dale said The Readership Works is investing more in the readership service.

Ipsos will continue to collect the emma print readership data, which constitutes the currency for magazines and newspapers, including newspaper inserted magazines, branded sections and regional and community newspapers.

However, Roy Morgan continues to measure both newspaper and magazine readership, which continues to be used by a number of publishers and media buyers.

Dale said at least for the short term there will still be two magazine readership measurements used by the major publishers – emma and Roy Morgan.

As to the agency groups who don’t use emma, Dale said: “This new offer is more compelling and we expect they will reconsider using emma. We are not going anywhere though – we have just signed new five-year contracts, we are here for the long haul.”

Top photo: [L-R] Brian Hogan (Ipsos), Monique Perry (Nielsen) and Male Dale (The Readership Works)

ARIA Charts: Childish Gambino, Arctic Monkeys top charts, Delta as Olivia #4

• Singles: Childish Gambino fifth artist to top chart, Jessica’s “We Got Love” returns
• Albums: Arctic Monkeys debut at #1, Delta new at #4, Charlie Puth #7

Mediaweek editor James Manning takes a look at the ARIA Charts for the week starting May 14.

Singles

Rapper Childish Gambino has become the fifth artist to top the singles chart in 2018 with the track “This Is America”, which is his first chart-topper in Australia. His previous best here was “Redbone”, which peaked at #27 in 2016.

5 Seconds Of Summer creep into the top five with “Youngblood” at #3 after five weeks on the chart.

The big chart news though is Drake has dropped to #4 with “Nice For What” on the chart, which is the lowest the artist has been since the end of January when “God’s Plan” entered the chart at #3.

The only new arrival in the top 10 was Amy Shark with “I Said Hi”, which hits a new chart peak at #9 after five weeks on the chart, gradually climbing each week.

Just one single debuted inside the top 50 this week – Selena Gomez with “Back To You”.

Jessica Mauboy’s “We Got Love” has returned to the chart for just its second week, reaching a new high at #31 after a disappointing weekend at Eurovision a week ago.

Two tunes found a place in the top 50 from lower down the chart:

#42: Hayden James with “Just Friends” featuring Boy Matthews after three weeks on the chart
#49: The Chainsmokers & Drew Love with “Somebody” after four weeks on the chart

Albums

Arctic Monkeys have landed their third album, “Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino”, at #1 on debut with three other artists finding a top 10 spot in their first week while four other artists debuted inside the top 50. It was The Monkeys’ third #1 album.

Delta Goodrem’s soundtrack album for “I Honestly Love You” has entered the chart at #4 as the second part of Seven’s miniseries screened just last night on Seven. Four of Goodrem’s previous five album releases have made it to #1, with “Child Of The Universe” climbing to #2 in 2012.

Also in the top 10 on debut were Charlie Puth with his second album “Voicenotes”, and metal all-stars Bad Wolves with their first album “Disobey” at #9.

The remainder of the top 50 debut albums were:

#14: “Eurovision Song Contest” compilation – Various Artists
#39: Beach House with “7”
#42: Esoterik with “My Astral Plane”
#49: Playboi Carti with “Die Lit”

TV Ratings Analysis: Seven wins the battle of Royal Wedding ratings

Seven was the choice of the biggest TV audience wanting to follow the royal wedding.

By James Manning

Seven partnered with ITV for its coverage and started earlier in the afternoon than other local options. Seven’s coverage was anchored by the ever reliable Melissa Doyle and featured plenty of guest commentators including UK TV icon Angela Rippon.

Seven had a combined metro and regional average audience of 2.59m watching the ceremony and a metro average of 1.95m.

Here are the average metro audiences for Saturday night:

Seven: Ceremony 1.95m, Arrivals 1.73m, Procession 1.50m, Countdown 1.41m, 7News 1.27m
Nine: Wedding 1.47m, Post 1.14m, Pre 974,000, 9News 800,000
ABC: News 524,000, Ceremony 506,000, Procession 427,000, Arrivals 410,000, Countdown 361,000
SBS: Ceremony 129,000, Post 112,000

All networks seemed to do a poor job of identifying many of the guests as they entered the church apart from the obvious household names like Oprah, Clooney, Fergie etc. It wasn’t a traditional red carpet arrival to be sure, but it had certainly been hyped like one in the lead-up. It is understandable some of the Australian commentators didn’t know who was who, but poor form from the British networks.

The Saturday night metro primary shares were:

Seven 36.4%, Nine 26.0%, ABC 9.9%, TEN 3.4%, SBS 2.9%.

On subscription TV, UKTV easily did the best with its BBC coverage attracting 180,000.

Sky News carried UK Sky News coverage and did 70,000, just days before the channel finally gets its dedicated home on the Foxtel platform.

BBC World News also did well with 52,000.

Breakfast TV Royal Wedding Week

The wedding might be over but there was still plenty of coverage live from London. Today’s Lizzie Pearl and Sunrise’s Edwina Bartholomew were both reporting from outside Buckingham Palace this morning.

At Nine, Sylvia Jeffreys and Ben Fordham were hosting Today with Karl and Georgie making their way back from Windsor.

At Seven, Sam Armytage is taking some time off after the wedding. David Koch managed to make it back after a massive weekend that saw him fly out of London on Friday to Shanghai to watch Port Adelaide win in China and then back on another plane to return to Sydney on Sunday.

The week 20 metro averages for the two commercial TV breakfast shows were:

Sunrise 247,000
Today 239,000

Both averages were down slightly on their previous week.

TV Ratings Analysis: Week 20 summary – How Seven won another week

It was the wedding – well, not just the wedding, but it certainly helped.

By James Manning

After six nights of week 20 Nine was actually 0.8 ahead in primary share, but after Seven’s big Saturday win Seven jumped ahead to claim the week.

In combined channel share, Seven was ahead all week with consistent performances from both 7mate and 7TWO. The only channel to fall below 3% all week was 7TWO on Saturday and that was because all the viewers were watching the primary channel.

The top seven week 20 shows were from Saturday night wedding coverage.

Just one entertainment show made the top 10 and did better than 900,000 – The Voice Sunday with 1.0m from May 13.

TV Ratings Analysis: Sunday May 20

• First live night of The Voice competition proves a winner for Nine
• Nigella helps bump MasterChef Sunday audience 90,000 week-on-week
• Here comes House Rules: Audience jumps 100,000, biggest this season

By James Manning

Seven

Sunday night on House Rules and the judges arrived in Queensland where the teams brought the Hamptons into Mel and Dave’s Gold Coast home. There were tears and low scores with wake-up calls for some of the contestants. The audience liked what it saw with the audience climbing to just under 800,000, the best for this season.

No audience growth though for the second week of Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted To You, which slipped to 488,000 after launching a week ago with 731,000.

Nine

The Voice went well over time with a finish after 9.30pm and Luke Antony and Brock Ashby sang off to survive. A strong performance secured Brock a spot in the next live final. There were some great and not-so-great singers last night with Boy George having the best grip on reality with his comments. The audience of 885,000 was down over 100,000 on a week ago and might slip further when time corrected as the show ran over by close to 45 minutes.

60 Minutes posted a figure of 777,000, which will possibly slip significantly as it started over 30 minutes late beginning with coverage from London with Allison Langdon.

TEN

Lisa Wilkinson was again reporting from London for The Sunday Project with 472,000 ranking it in the top 10, yet the show was just under last Sunday’s 490,000.

Nigella Lawson week started on MasterChef and she managed to keep the show #1 in the key demos. The all people Monday audience was up close to 90,000 week-on-week to 811,000.

Roseanne then did 406,000 after 298,000 a week ago.

NCIS was on 287,000.

ABC

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth met David Attenborough on The Queen’s Green Planet, which did 654,000.

The second of the three-part Agatha Christie’s Ordeal By Innocence was on 464,000.

A doco on the 2015 Met Gala took a long time to get here with special The First Monday In May featuring Baz Luhrmann and Anna Wintour in starring roles with 125,000 watching.

SBS

A repeat of Riddle Of Petra was on 193,000 at 7.30pm.

A repeat of Yeti Man, Myth Or Beast then did 182,000 at 8.30pm.

Week 21 TV: Sunday
SUNDAY METRO
ABCSevenNineTenSBS
ABC10.9%720.2%922.7%TEN14.2%SBS One4.4%
ABC 22.4%7TWO3.4%GO!4.1%ONE2.5%VICELAND0.7%
ABC ME0.8%7mate3.4%GEM2.8%ELEVEN2.2%Food Net0.4%
ABC NEWS1.1%7flix2.1%9Life1.5%NITV0.2%
TOTAL15.1%29.1%31.1%18.9%5.7%
SUNDAY REGIONAL
ABCSeven AffiliatesNine AffiliatesTen AffiliatesSBS
ABC10.3%720.9%922.0%WIN10.5%SBS One4.6%
ABC 22.1%7TWO3.4%GO!4.4%ONE3.1%VICELAND0.9%
ABC ME1.0%7mate3.6%GEM5.4%ELEVEN1.6%Food Net0.5%
ABC NEWS1.1%7flix2.2%9Life2.2%NITV0.2%
TOTAL14.5%30.1%34.0%15.2%6.2%
SUNDAY METRO ALL TV
FTASTV
85.3%14.7%
All People Rankings

Friday Top 10

  1. Seven News Seven 885,000
  2. Nine News Nine 842,000
  3. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 819,000
  4. Nine News 6:30 Nine 757,000
  5. ABC News ABC 617,000
  6. A Current Affair Nine 584,000
  7. Seven’s AFL: Friday Night Football Seven 565,000
  8. Better Homes And Gardens Seven 556,000
  9. The Chase Australia Seven 552,000
  10. Endeavour ABC 531,000

 

Saturday Top 10

  1. Royal Wedding: Prince Harry & Meghan-Ceremony Seven 1,950,000
  2. Royal Wedding: Prince Harry & Meghan-Arrivals Seven 1,735,000
  3. Royal Wedding: Prince Harry & Meghan-Procession Seven 1,508,000
  4. Harry And Meghan – The Royal Wedding Nine 1,475,000
  5. Royal Wedding: Prince Harry & Meghan-Countdown Seven 1,410,000
  6. Seven News Seven 1,272,000
  7. Harry And Meghan – The Royal Wedding –Post Wedding Special Nine 1,148,000
  8. Harry And Meghan – The Royal Wedding -Pre Wedding Special Nine 974,000
  9. Nine News Saturday Nine 800,000
  10. Royal Wedding: Prince Harry & Meghan Seven 629,000
Sunday FTA
  1. Seven News Seven 1,230,000
  2. Nine News Nine 1,113,000
  3. The Voice Nine 885,000
  4. MasterChef Australia Ten 811,000
  5. House Rules Seven 798,000
  6. ABC News ABC 786,000
  7. 60 Minutes Nine 777,000
  8. The Queen’s Green Planet ABC 654,000
  9. Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted To You – Part 2 Seven 488,000
  10. The Sunday Project 7pm Ten 472,000
  11. Agatha Christie’s Ordeal By Innocence ABC 464,000
  12. Seven’s AFL: Sunday Afternoon Football Seven 441,000
  13. Roseanne Ten 406,000
  14. Weekend Sunrise Seven 339,000
  15. The Sunday Project 6.30pm Ten 320,000
  16. Guiltology Nine 311,000
  17. Weekend Today Nine 300,000
  18. NCIS Ten 287,000
  19. Ten Eyewitness News Ten 276,000
  20. Sunday Afternoon NRL Live Nine 251,000
Sunday Multichannel
  1. Hey Duggee-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 179,000
  2. Peppa Pig-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 176,000
  3. The Big Bang Theory TX4 9GO! 174,000
  4. The Big Bang Theory TX3 9GO! 173,000
  5. Thomas And Friends-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 173,000
  6. The Big Bang Theory TX2 9GO! 167,000
  7. Dot.-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 165,000
  8. Border Security – Australia’s Front Line -7PTMWO 156,000
  9. Noddy Toyland Detective-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 155,000
  10. Fireman Sam-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 152,000
  11. Peter Rabbit ABCKIDS/COMEDY 151,000
  12. Bananas In Pyjamas-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 150,000
  13. Border Security – Australia’s Front Line- EP3 PM 7TWO 150,000
  14. Border Security – Australia’s Front Line – EP2 PM7TWO 149,000
  15. Border Security: International-E2 PM 7TWO 146,000
  16. Jamillah And Aladdin-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 145,000
  17. Olobob Top-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 145,000
  18. Border Security: International-PM 7TWO 144,000
  19. Play School-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 143,000
  20. M: The Bourne Legacy-PM 7mate 140,000
Sunday Subscription TV
  1. Live: AFL West Coast v Richmond FOX FOOTY 276,000
  2. Live: NRL Sharks v Bulldogs FOX LEAGUE 226,000
  3. Live: NRL Dragons v Raiders FOX LEAGUE 196,000
  4. Live: AFL Carlton v Melbourne FOX FOOTY 169,000
  5. Live: Bounce FOX FOOTY 163,000
  6. Live: AFL Brisbane v Hawthorn FOX SPORTS 503 3 145,000
  7. Live: Sunday Night With Matty Johns FOX LEAGUE 122,000
  8. Live: Supercars Winton Race 14 FOX SPORTS 506 6 119,000
  9. Live: Sunday Footy On Fox FOX FOOTY 118,000
  10. Live: Supercars Live FOX SPORTS 506 80,000
  11. Live: Supercars Live FOX SPORTS 506 79,000
  12. Live: Supercars Winton Qualifying 14 FOX SPORTS 506 72,000
  13. The Professor’s Farewell Tour FOX LEAGUE 67,000
  14. NCIS TVH!TS 67,000
  15. Live: NRL Sunday Ticket FOX LEAGUE 65,000
  16. Live: Supercars Winton Supports FOX SPORTS 506 64,000
  17. NCIS TVH!TS 63,000
  18. Live: Supercars Live FOX SPORTS 50 6 55,000
  19. Outsiders SKY NEWS LIVE 48,000
  20. Picnic At Hanging Rock showcase 46,000

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

Report oOh!media put forward a second bid for Adshel earlier this month

The $900 million listed oOh! Media is understood to have put forward a second bid for the outdoor advertising business owned by Here There & Everywhere, valuing the unit at about $450 million, reports Bridget Carter and Scott Murdoch in The Australian’s Data Room column.

Apparently the second approach by ooh! Media was made shortly before the annual general meeting on May 7.

There are suggestions rival offers for Adshel could come, with APN Outdoor and QMS the logical groups to show interest.

[Read the original]

Australian Reader’s Digest reveals 2018 Most Trusted Brands

Band-Aid tops Australian Reader’s Digest annual list of Most Trusted Brands in 2018. The results come from the Trusted Brands survey, which is conducted by Catalyst.

Each year the results appear exclusively in the Australian Reader’s Digest. More than 2,400 Australians took part in the poll.

Vegemite returned as the Most Iconic Australian brand. Meanwhile, Coles is the Most Trusted Supermarket, Bunnings is the Most Trusted Retailer and Guide Dogs Australia continues to be the Most Trusted Charity.

“As we’ve seen so clearly this year, trust can be hard earned and easily lost, and it can definitely be the difference between success and failure,” said Australian Reader’s Digest group editor Louise Waterson.

“It is built on quality, consistency, honesty and delivering on your promise. Trust matters, and congratulations to those who have managed to earn it. They enjoy a hard-fought competitive advantage in this day and age.

“This is our 19th annual Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey, and the importance of trust – in a digital age influenced by social media tribes – seems to get more important each and every year.”

The top 15 – across all trusted brands categories

1: Band-Aid
2: Dettol (First Aid)
3: Colgate (Toothpaste)
4: Gillette
5: Dulux
6: Dyson
7: Energizer
8: Cadbury
9: Weber
10: Bridgestone
11: Panadol
12: Aerogard (Body Insect Repellent:
13: Listerine
14: Vegemite
15: Cancer Council (Sunscreen)

MCN’s Anthony Fitzgerald says tech giants were now bullying TV networks

Google has paid Nine Network just $117,000 for video content on YouTube in the current financial year despite booking advertising revenue of $3 billion and banking a profit of $125.1 million last year, report The Australian’s Dana McCauley and Darren Davidson.

Lizzie Young, Nine’s content strategy director, is pursuing plans to secure a fairer share of ad revenue generated from content distributed on the platform but it is understood the two sides are stuck in an impasse over terms as Google plays hardball in negotiations.

Anthony Fitzgerald, chief executive of sales house Multi Channel Network, said tech giants were now bullying television networks after taking advantage of publishers.

“Silicon Valley has used news media and other traditional publishers for years and now they’re trying the same tricks with the broadcast industry,” Fitzgerald, who represents Ten and Foxtel in talks with advertisers, said.

[Read the original]

Antony Catalano reported to have sold $33m worth of Fairfax/Domain shares

Fairfax Media’s biggest individual shareholder, Antony Catalano, is believed to have offloaded more than $33 million worth of shares in the Nick Falloon-chaired outfit and its Fairfax-entangled property spinoff Domain, report Will Glasgow and Christine Lacy and The Australian’s Margin Call column.

Catalano, 51, is believed this week to have sold 30 million shares in the $1.72 billion Fairfax Media.

He is also believed to have sold 3 million shares in Domain, the $2bn property listings company Fairfax spun off in November and which the entrepreneurial former property reporter led until his January showdown with Falloon.

[Read the original]

2GB/4BC broadcaster Alan Jones tells Supreme Court “I don’t hate people”

Alan Jones is a man who hates no one and is motivated only by community concerns, the broadcaster repeatedly told a defamation trial, reports The Australian’s Mark Schliebs.

The broadcaster has already spent two days in the witness stand in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, and will return to it on Monday when lawyers for the Wagner brothers – who are seeking up to $4.8 million in damages – will continue their grilling.

Jones was repeatedly asked if he hated brothers John, Denis, Neill and Joe Wagner, each time answering, “I don’t hate people.”

[Read the original]

Google considering office towers near Central Station for new Aussie HQ

Internet giant Google is said to be casting a close eye over three office towers at Central Station, Sydney, as its new Australian head office, reports Fairfax Media’s Carolyn Cummins.

The combined space of the properties, owned by Rail Corporation, is about 90,000 square metres.

The property market speculation comes a month after the NSW Government rejected a proposal that would have seen Google anchor a new technology hub in Sydney.

The suggested new site comes as Google fits out two additional floors at one of its Pyrmont offices, which are being vacated by Accenture. Next year, Google will also expand in a building at Darling Island Road, when Fairfax Media, the publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald, relocates.

[Read the original]

News Brands

Promotions at The Australian for David Uren, Adam Creighton & Paul Maley

The Australian has announced three promotions:

David Uren moves from economics editor to associate editor (economics). Uren joined the newspaper in 2004 and is a former editor of Business Review Weekly (BRW).

Adam Creighton moves from economics correspondent to economics editor. Creighton joined the national daily in 2012 and is a former senior adviser to then-opposition leader Tony Abbott.

Paul Maley moves from national security editor to defence and national security editor, working closely with defence writer Rory Callinan. Maley first joined the newspaper in 2007.

The Daily Mail reported to have settled with John Ibrahim after claims

Nine months after The Daily Mail issued a comprehensive apology to Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, the fledgling British media import has reached an undisclosed settlement with him, understood to be worth several hundred thousand dollars, reports Fairfax Media’s Andrew Hornery in his Private Sydney column.

Ibrahim launched legal proceedings against The Daily Mail last year after it wrongly alleged he was involved in an international drug syndicate that led to a spate of raids and arrests across Sydney and Dubai.

Ibrahim did not comment to PS on the settlement when contacted this week, although it is understood to be at the upper end of defamation payouts, but less than $300,000.

[Read the original]

Fairfax & ABC will raise fresh allegations in Craig McLachlan case

Fresh allegations of bullying, harassment and indecent assault have been levelled against actor Craig McLachlan and will be used by the ABC and Fairfax to defend his defamation claim against them, the media outlets’ barrister has told the Supreme Court, reports Fairfax Media’s Michaela Whitbourn.

McLachlan, 52, is suing the national broadcaster and Fairfax Media, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, over a joint investigation airing allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct made against him by female performers relating to the 2014 production of The Rocky Horror Show.

The media outlets foreshadowed on Friday they will raise “in excess of 20” fresh allegations of bullying, harassment and indecent assault against him by unnamed witnesses when they file their defence to his claim next week.

In an affidavit filed in court, McLachlan’s solicitor, Mark O’Brien, said he had contacted the actor on Wednesday to inform him about the potential new witnesses and McLachlan had replied: “I cannot believe they still need to look for witnesses five months after ruining my life.”

[Read the original]

ABC spends money to promote royal wedding coverage, but less than $1,000

The government’s budget crunch has not stopped the Australian Broadcasting Corp planning to pay to appear at the top of Google’s “royal wedding” results page as part of its annual digital marketing budget.

An ABC spokesman said the broadcaster would be buying search terms for the royal wedding, but described the total amount spent on search engine marketing (SEM) as “very small”, reports Fairfax Media’s Jennifer Duke.

“For example, less than $1,000 would be spent on SEM for the ABC coverage of the royal wedding, for which we will have both television and news coverage available.”

Guthrie recently provided information to the Senate showing a $1.5 million spend on digital marketing in 2016. This included $1.05 million on social media marketing and $450,000 on SEM. All paid search activity is on Google, while 97% of the ABC’s paid social marketing spend is on Facebook.

[Read the original]

Television

Stan launching originals channel for Qantas inflight entertainment

Stan has extended its partnership with Qantas giving customers exclusive access to content on Qantas flights from June 1 2018.

The SVOD provider will showcase its original content of premium drama and comedy on Qantas flights and feature its own channel on the airline’s inflight entertainment.

The channel called “Stan Exclusives” will give Qantas customers a taste of Stan Original shows with episodes available from No Activity, Wolf Creek, The Other Guy, Romper Stomper and One Night Stan. More original shows will also be added in the future.

Fletcher Humphrys and Lachy Hulme in Stan’s Romper Stomper (credit: Ben King)

In addition to this, Stan will also offer Qantas customers who are new to the SVOD service a complementary three-month subscription with unlimited access to its library of content on all Qantas domestic, international and regional flights.

Qantas and Stan have been partners since the launch of Qantas’s first aircraft with Wi-Fi last year.

“The extension of our partnership with Qantas through an inflight entertainment channel reflects Stan’s strategy of being everywhere that people want to consume content,” said Stan CEO Mike Sneesby.

John Jarratt in Stan’s Wolf Creek (credit: Matt Nettheim)

“We are pleased to partner with Qantas and give customers access to original content both on the ground and in the air. There is great alignment between Qantas and Stan and we will continue to partner with brands that share our passion and values.”

Customers can access the subscription offer via the Qantas app or by logging into Qantas’ Wi-Fi on one of its domestic Wi-Fi enabled flights.

Award-winning cast announced for SBS and Lingo Pictures’ The Ropes

SBS has announced the cast of its upcoming four-part series The Ropes. The show, which is produced by Lingo Pictures, starts shooting today in Sydney’s western suburbs.

Keisha Castle-Hughes, Jack Thompson and Nicole Chamoun (credit: Tony Mott)

Logies Hall Of Famer and AACTA Longford Lyell Award-winner Jack Thompson features in the series alongside Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award-nominated Keisha CastleHughes (Game of Thrones, Whale Rider), acclaimed Israeli actor Igal Naor (Homeland, Riviera) and Nicole Chamoun (Safe Harbour, Romper Stomper).

Directed by Shannon Murphy (Offspring, Love Child), The Ropes is produced by Helen Bowden (Wake in Fright, The Slap) and Courtney Wise (Fragments of Friday) and executive produced by SBS’s Sue Masters and Lingo Pictures’ Jason Stephens. Writers include Tamara Asmar (Doctor Doctor, Love Child), Adam Todd (Wentworth, Sea Patrol) and Ian Meadows (House Husbands).

The story follows aspiring Iraqi-Australian boxing trainer Amirah Al-Amir (Chamoun), who has idolised her world champion father Sami (Naor) her entire life. While working in the family gym in Sydney’s west alongside her two brothers, Amirah negotiates a professional debut match for her hardnosed fighter Jess O’Connor (Castle-Hughes) with Sami’s longtime promoter Strick (Thompson). Furious that she has done this behind his back, her father threatens to cut her off. Desperate to chase her dream of transforming women’s boxing, will Amirah choose her fighter or her family?

SBS director of television and online content Marshall Heald said: “The Ropes continues SBS’s run of acclaimed provocative dramas that reflect Australian stories through a uniquely multicultural lens. This compelling and intense series is distinctly SBS, showcasing the complex and nuanced relationships of a migrant family alongside the physicality and deep-seated culture of misogyny in the sporting world.

“We are thrilled to be creating this stellar drama with the team at Lingo Pictures and an incredibly talented cast with a wealth of experience from all corners of the globe.”

Producers Helen Bowden and Courtney Wise said: “SBS has been supporting beautiful, daring drama and we are delighted to be working with them on The Ropes. The world of boxing is passionate and fraught with adversity and creating a female-driven story within this world is exciting. We are thrilled by the talented cast attached to portray this, including a fearless gang of women lead by Keisha Castle-Hughes and Nicole Chamoun.”

Also appearing in the series are Louis Hunter (Troy, Out of the Blue), Michael Denkha (Devil’s Playground, The Code), Tyler De Nawi (Doctor Doctor, Here Come the Habibs!), Neveen Hanna (Tidelands, The Principal), Nader Hamdan (East West 101), Priscilla Doueihy (Back in the Game), Setareh Naghoni, Claude Jabbour and introducing Bonanza Diab and Otis Dhanji.

The Ropes will premiere on SBS and SBS On Demand later in 2018.

Nine and ITV Australia preparing for Love Island launch on GO! next Sunday

Nine is gearing up for the launch of Love Island now less than a week away.

Beginning Sunday May 27 at 8.30pm on 9Go! and 9Now, what is being labelled as Australia’s sexiest cast is just days away from meeting each other for the first time in their own luxury villa in Mallorca, Spain.

The singles will play a game of love and lust in a format that last week won a BAFTA for Best Reality and Constructed Factual show.

Love Island Australia is hosted by Sophie Monk and is produced by ITV Studios Australia for the Nine Network.

Love island on socials: LoveIslandAU on Facebook, @LoveIslandAU on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.

Report ITV Studios to make Saturday Night Takeaway for TEN

TEN is planning a new variety show for Julia Morris & Chris Brown, reports TV Tonight.

Industry sources tell TV Tonight TEN will mount a local version of the big-budget Saturday Night Takeaway, one of the UK’s top-rating shows hosted by Ant & Dec. The network has recently been hinting at shiny-floor shows on the way.

The studio-audience show includes musical numbers, hidden camera pranks and prize giveaways, including a Win the Ads game where audience members win products featured in the commercial breaks.

If successful it could be the answer to viewers’ long-held calls for genuine variety back on TV, in a landscape crowded with reality shows.

The ITV Studios title was previously announced by Seven for 2016 as Sunday Night Takeaway but did not proceed, amid chatter Seven was hoping to secure Hamish & Andy.

[Read the original]

The West Australian’s Geoffrey Thomas on 60 Minutes’ MH370 disappointment

Some of the key experts on the 60 Minutes Australia program on MH370 aired last Sunday have been criticised for confusing speculation with facts, cherry-picking evidence to support pet theories while carefully omitting contradicting evidence, reports The West Australian’s Geoffrey Thomas.

The program, which claimed to solve the mystery of the crash with fresh “groundbreaking revelations”, in fact solved nothing and simply rolled out theories that have been around ever since MH370 disappeared on March 8 2014.

It was in fact almost a carbon copy of one aired by 60 Minutes in July 2016, say experts.

[Read the original]

Sports Media

SBS broadcasting Chelsea FC v Perth Glory, Optus Stadium’s first football match

SBS will exclusively broadcast FA Cup winners Chelsea FC’s clash against Perth Glory.

The match will be shown live, free and in HD on Monday July 23 from Optus Stadium.

It will be simulcast in Australia via The World Game website, The World Game app, and on SBS On Demand.

The one-off match will be the first football game to be played at the new multipurpose stadium in Perth and Tony Popovic’s first game as Glory Coach.

SBS director of sport Ken Shipp said: “We are pleased to be presenting the broadcast of Chelsea’s first game in Perth since 1974 live, free and in HD on SBS later this year.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Australian football fans to see one of our local sides go head to head with one of the most established clubs in Europe at a brand new, state-of-the-art stadium, with the trusted coverage and comprehensive analysis SBS is known for.

“We’re proud of our football heritage at SBS and we know the sport’s ability to unite Australia’s diverse communities will be more prevalent than ever in the wake of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.”

The match is slotted between the end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2018-19 Premier League season.

Broadcast schedule:

Monday July 23
SBS: Perth Glory v Chelsea live
9pm-11.45pm AEST (kick-off: 9.30pm), 7.25pm WST in Perth

Optus favourite to take out broadcast rights to Champions League football

Optus is firming as the favourite to take out broadcast rights to the Union of European Football Associations Champions League, reports The AFR’s Max Mason.

Optus chief executive Allen Lew told The Australian Financial Review the rights would allow Optus “to add another string to our bow” as the telecommunications provider tries to become the home of overseas football.

If Optus were to secure the Champions League, it would call into question incumbent rights holder beIN Sports Australia’s strategy. The Al Jazeera-owned sports channel, formerly known as Setanta, has struggled in Australia, despite being added to Foxtel’s main sports package.

[Read the original]

Shane Warne talks about his decision to quit Nine for Fox Cricket channel

Shane Warne talks to The Australian’s Darren Davidson about his decision to join Fox Sports:

“I was very lucky and grateful to Channel 9, Channel 7 and Fox Sports for all putting in substantial offers,” Warne said. “I nearly didn’t leave Channel 9 because I am a very loyal person by nature and they’ve been very good to me through the ups and downs. Twenty-five years is a long time with a network.”

Talks between Warne and Nine centred on potential commentating roles at the Australian Open and Masters Tournament.

“There were plenty of things I could have done at Nine, new TV shows as well. But in the end I made a call after speaking to Steve Crawley [head of television] and a few other people at Fox about how they want to revolutionise commentary.”

[Read the original]

To Top