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SBS is again the FTA home of the World Cup this year. However this tournament from Russia will see them in partnership with rights holder Optus. SBS this week revealed its ad partners for its coverage which starts with the first match on Thursday June 14.

Mediaweek’s James Manning spoke with Ken Shipp earlier today and asked him how is SBS able to again secure the world’s biggest sporting event.

By Kruti Joshi

This is what has kept Hit 105’s Stav Davidson and Abby Coleman going in the last seven years as members of the on-air team came and went. The duo first started hosting breakfast on the station, owned by Southern Cross Austereo, in 2011. Matty Acton joined the show at the beginning of 2017.

“Radio is a dying art form,” Davidson told Mediaweek, exhibiting the sarcastic sense of humour that he is known for.

“No, no, no, no,” Coleman said in quick successions, cutting her co-host off.

“We are enjoying the tail end of its life before it all goes onto podcasts and streaming. It’s been fun and I am now looking forward to the next challenge,” Davidson continued as his co-hosts laughed in the background.

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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 Kruti Joshi

This is the News Corp journalist’s longest investigative work in 30 years. He first reported on the case 17 years ago, when the first coronial proceedings into the disappearance had been finalised. The case remains a mystery, which Thomas is determined to make clearer. He has chosen to tell the story behind Dawson’s disappearance through a minimum of an eight-episode podcast series called The Teacher’s Pet.

“This case is a stain on the NSW justice system,” Thomas told Mediaweek.

Since the disappearance of Dawson over three decades ago, there have been two coroner’s inquests conducted, in 2001 and 2003, which concluded that she was murdered. Her killer was allegedly her husband, footballer and school teacher Chris Dawson. However, Lyn Dawson’s body was never found and no charges were ever laid.

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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.

The telco is wanting to take a major step to convince sports fans that Optus is the home of the best international football in Australia.

Ben White, managing director for product and marketing, said, “Our campaign, ‘The Good, The Bad and The Beautiful’, celebrates the dramatic moments of the World Cup.

“This campaign embraces the moments that lift us, unite us, confuse us and, occasionally, send us spiralling into a rage. Quite simply, these moments can come from any game, at any time which is why Optus Sport is excited to be sharing it all.”

Australian football fans wanting to catch every match of the World Cup will need to be either an Optus customer or pay a separate fee. The coverage on Optus Sport will be available on two 24/7 channels with all 64 matches both live and on demand.

For the first time, Optus Sport will be available to non-customers for a monthly subscription fee.

“We wanted a campaign that captures the spirit of the game, but also the sheer entertainment value of the tournament for all fans,” White said.

Optus Sport is the only place to watch all 64 games, with the tournament shown live and on demand.

For the first time, Optus Sport will be available to non-Optus customers for a $15 per month subscription fee.

The agency 72andSunny APAC created the campaign for Optus Sport.

“Capturing all the emotion of being able to watch every moment of the world’s most viewed tournament was a cool brief,” said Johnny Tan, executive creative director at 72andSunny APAC. “We hope the campaign shines a small light on the effect that football has on all parts of modern Australia.”

Watch the video commercial at mediaweek.com.au.

• Gone! Network Ten cancels any further Roseanne screenings and drags episodes from tenplay

While Network Ten was pulling a reasonable crowd, the absence of the show in the TEN schedule won’t be causing advertisers any major headaches.

The episode screened here last week on Sunday night May 20 had a metro audience of 400,000 and regional was 140,000. For the episode on May 27 the metro audience was 392,000.

Roseanne ranked #1 in the 18-49 category in the US. It wasn’t that powerful here. However, when taking out multiple appearances of the same series on the chart, Roseanne managed to make the top 20 in that demo here.

Roseanne was part of Network Ten’s recent ratings growth and in the 18-49 category was one of five shows that TEN had in the metro top 20 that appeal to advertisers targeting that demographic. The others are Have You Been Paying Attention?, MasterChef, Shark Tank and The Project.

Tomorrow is one of Australia’s largest, property-specific media buyers and represents an advertising budget of millions of dollars per annum for Domain, REA Group and many other media channels.

Catalano, who resigned from Domain Holdings Australia Ltd in January, has a long history with Tomorrow and its directors Anthony Bray, Ian Hickey and Lars Weisenberger.

“I am honoured and excited to be joining my friends Ian, Ant and Lars at Tomorrow, an agency which has always had a very special place in my heart,” Catalano said.

“Tomorrow helped Domain grow into an amazing business, and joining the partnership here feels like coming home. Ian, Ant and Lars have built an incredible team of people who really are leaders in their field. I am excited about playing a role in the further development of the agency to see where we can go next.

“Property is in my blood and I love nothing better than helping developers, marketers and agents grow value in their businesses. It’s a passion that Ian, Ant, Lars and I share.

“I am also looking forward to continuing my involvement with Domain via this role as its largest client.”

In addition to the media buying arm, Tomorrow also has a branding and design studio, headed by Weisenberger.

Tomorrow has 32 employees in offices in Melbourne and Brisbane. There are plans for national expansion, a move which will be aided by the inclusion of Catalano.

The agency represents clients such as Far East Consortium, C-Bus Property, AV Jennings, Colliers International, Knight Frank, Metro Property, SP Setia, Glenvill, Grocon, Little Projects, Frasers Property and Castran Gilbert.

The report also highlights a shift in advertising spend with marketers favouring General Display advertising over both Classifieds and Search & Directories.

While the overall digital advertising revenue increased 13% year on year, General Display advertising recorded 20.3% growth in the same period. Classifieds increased 11.2% year and Search recorded 8.8% year on year growth. Both video and mobile advertising were up (38% and 39% respectively) in Q1 2018 versus Q1 2017, with video reaching $320 million for the quarter, representing 42% of the total General Display advertising category.

Total revenues for Q1 were down 3.5% versus December 2017, reflecting a standard seasonal trend where the March quarter tends to be softer following the Christmas period.

The IAB / PwC Online Advertising Expenditure Report is now in its 11th year of revenue reporting for the digital industry.

The IAB said the data shows that the Australian market more closely resembles the UK than either the US or NZ markets, with Display advertising representing 36% and 35% of ad expenditure in Australia and the UK (respectively) compared to 50% of ad spend in the US. Similarly Australia’s share of video advertising as a proportion of total online advertising is 38%, in line with the UK’s 39% and significantly higher than both the US (29%) and NZ (23%).

According to the Q1 report, auto advertisers continue to be the largest investors in digital display advertising at 18.3% share of spend. However, the FMCG industry is increasing its spend and is now the largest advertiser category for video advertising at 12.2%.

Overall the range of industries investing in video has diversified over the last 12 months, with industries including Finance (10.8%) and Telecommunications (8.7%) increasing their video spends. The top five spenders in video who make up a combined 47.4% of the total market include FMCG, Finance, Telecommunications, Retail and Automotive.

The latest report shows Search & Directories continues to represent the largest proportion of the online advertising market in Australia at 45% ($937m) for the March quarter, with General Display at 36% ($767m) and Classifieds at 19% ($397m).

Mobile advertising expenditure decreased in the March quarter to $909.1 million after record growth in the December 2017 quarter during the Christmas retail period. 56% of mobile advertising expenditure is attributed to Mobile Search and 44% to Mobile Display.

Smartphones continue to attract a greater share of advertising expenditure at 90% compared to tablets’ 10% share, increasing their share from the prior December quarter (80% and 20% respectively).

Independent research company, CEASA confirmed in March 2018 that digital represented 50.7% share of the total advertising market expenditure of $15.6B for calendar year 2017.

Peer-judged and selected on the basis of journalistic excellence, the Mid-Year Awards suite includes the Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards, as well as the Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship, the Arts Journalism Awards and the Women’s Leadership in Media, Freelancer of the Year and Industrial Reporting Awards.

The 2018 finalists, in alphabetical order, are listed below.

Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards

These awards recognise and reward the hard work of our most outstanding young Australian journalists. They recognise the work of journalists aged 28 and under who demonstrate excellence in the fundamental tenets of the craft as well as the ability to present distinctive and original journalism that pushes the boundaries of the profession.

All media: Shortform journalism, Supported by ABC

• Daniel Conifer, AM, ABC Radio, ABC News online, ABC News, ABC TV, “Treasury documents expose negative gearing lies”
• Matilda Marozzi, ABC Radio Melbourne, ABC News online, ABC News, ABC TV, “Prestigious restaurant underpaid workers hundreds of dollars a week”
• Cassie Zervos, Herald Sun, “Investigation into illegal solariums”

All media: Longform feature or special,Supported by Fairfax Media

• Maddison Connaughton, Vice, “Seven Years of Syria”
• Bridget Judd, ABC Local Radio and ABC online, “Behind Bars: Female Offenders”
• Laura Murphy-Oates, The Feed, SBS Viceland, “Kids of Kalgoorlie”

All media: Coverage of community & regional affairs, Supported by UNSW

• Carrie Fellner, Newcastle Herald and Sydney Morning Herald, “The Sorrow on Cabbage Tree Road”
• Samara Gardner, WIN News Illawarra and WIN News Canberra, “The Tathra Inferno”
• Jamieson Murphy, The Northern Daily Leader, “Access Vikki Campion travel records denied for fear of misinterpretation”, “You’re drunk go home: women warned Barnaby before bum pinch” “Barnaby Joyce boycotts public debates and forums during campaign”

All media: Visual storytelling, Supported by Sky NEWS

• Eloise Grills, The Lifted Brow, “Articulating the Inarticulable: A review of Alice Chipkin and Jessica Tavassoli’s Eyes Too Dry: A Graphic Memoir about Heavy Feelings”
• Emily Verdouw, The Feed, SBS Viceland, “Dangerous Games?”
• Henry Zwartz, ABC News Regional, “The photo rich stories of Tasmania’s north-west”

All media: Public service journalism, Supported by News Corp Australia

• Carrie Fellner, Newcastle Herald and Sydney Morning Herald, “Deals and deception: the Awabakal investigations”
• Laura Murphy-Oates, The Feed, SBS Viceland and Dateline, SBS TV, “Young and Black” “Kids of Kalgoorlie” and “Vanished: Canada’s missing women”
• Emily Verdouw, HuffPost Australia, “Domestic Violence: Can Abusive Partners Change?”

All media: ​Student journalist of the year, Supported by Macleay College

• Christiane Barro, Monash University and The New Daily, “The cannabis oil ‘healers’ preying on Australia’s sick and dying” “Contaminants detected in unlicensed cannabis oil products” “‘It’s a disgrace’: Senator requests complete overhaul of medicinal cannabis regulator”
• Dylan Crawford and Lilly McKenzie, Griffith University, Brisbane Times and The Sydney Morning Herald, “Stolenwealth Games”
• Selby Stewart, Monash University, The Sunday Herald Sun and Mojo News, “Hoods on violent rampage” “Rooming-house closures not the answer, experts say” “Fred Negro’s St Kilda”

Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year, Supported by Jibb Foundation

Winners in each category will be announced on July 18. The winner of each category will be in the running to win the overall Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year Award. Thanks to support from a philanthropic grant from the Jibb Foundation, the Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year Award will receive a two-week trip to US newsrooms including the New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review and BuzzFeed, with return flights included.

The winners of all categories will also be matched with mentors to further boost their careers.

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See the rest of the finalists at mediaweek.com.au.

Top photo: Some of the winners from the 2017 Mid-Year Awards

• Budget 2018 and public broadcasters: ABC funding frozen, Modest boost for SBS
• ABC reviews spending: ‘We must maintain broadcast services for our large and loyal audiences’

The commentary appeared in Fairfax Media websites yesterday. Below are some of the highlights:

Australians should not be fooled by the current battle being waged against public broadcasting. Fringe political interests, populists and commercial media all have a shared interest in weakening the ABC and confining it to market failure activities. Each would benefit in their own way from a poorer, less capable, less nosey and less relevant ABC. The question is whether the people of Australia would be better served. The overwhelming majority of Australians, like me, would think not.

According to pollsters, with around 80% support, the ABC is the most trusted media organisation in the country by a very wide margin. It is one of the few organisations to maintain trust when confidence in institutions everywhere has declined.

This trust has been hard-earned over the ABC’s 86-year history. But as some in the banking community have learnt recently, that trust can be eroded very quickly. Some people delight in undermining trust in public broadcasting because they’d rather darkness where we shine light, or because their commercial interests are served when Australians have less media diversity and choice.

The commercial television networks and some newspapers peddle an ever more urgent message that the ABC is hurting their business and should be held back. They take delight in reviews into the broadcaster’s efficiency and business practices, hoping they will coalesce into a full-blown revision of the ABC’s Charter that relegates the public broadcaster to a “market failure” function limited to programming about fine arts, science, education or philosophy. This would likely spell the end for popular programming like Four Corners, Australian Story, Gruen or Sea Change because, the argument goes, these programs could be produced by commercial media and taxpayers would save millions. But this argument misses two points.

Firstly, the ABC’s existence is not and never was based on a premise of market failure. Our Charter, enacted by legislation, has always required much more of us. By fulfilling that Charter, we provide Australians with distinctive content, media diversity, a strong creative sector and more. Even better, the ABC costs each Australian half what it cost thirty years ago.

Secondly, the declining audiences reported by commercial media are not and never have been the fault of the ABC. What has changed for all media is the arrival of the FAANGs – or Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google – with their mega-billion-dollar production budgets and global-scale economies that have upended business models the world over.

None of the ABC’s past innovations are responsible for the fortunes of commercial media. To blame public broadcasting for the challenges they face today is just as wrong-headed as crediting us for the “rivers of gold” the commercial media enjoyed for decades. If there is any relationship between public and private broadcasting it is a positive one, because our investments make the entire sector more vibrant and viable for everyone.

Libbie Doherty, currently commissioning editor for ABC Children’s, will be acting head of Children’s during this time.

Heap departs this week after four years at the ABC. In 2014, she joined ABC Television as head of strategy & digital products and in 2016 became head of programming and digital. She was appointed head of distribution in February 2018.

David Anderson, ABC director of entertainment & specialist, paid tribute to Heap:

“I know our team and our industry partners will all want to join me in thanking Bec for the significant contribution she has made during her time at the ABC. Bec’s leadership across digital and programming has been invaluable.

“Bec has championed ABC iview, which remains the leading broadcast video on demand service in Australia, and under her leadership the team has grown monthly program plays from 20 million in 2014 to almost 60 million.

“In addition to her focus on digital products, Bec developed strategies to maximise our rights, programming and acquisitions to improve the reach and impact of the ABC. This included the rebrand and relaunch of broadcast channels ABC ME (formerly ABC3) and ABC COMEDY (formerly ABC2), and the development and launch of ABC KIDS iview – our fastest growing mobile app – and the ABC ME app.

“Bec has been a strong advocate for expanding our digital rights and for digital first commissioning to drive new audiences and develop fresh Australian stories and talent. Working closely with the content teams, this has delivered outstanding results in iview original programs such as You Can’t Ask That and The Katering Show.

“Bec is a passionate leader who has fostered a highly talented and engaged team, focused on delivering the best audience experience for ABC content across platforms. I’d like to thank Bec for her valuable contribution to the ABC and wish her all the best.”

Rebecca Heap said: “It has been an incredible privilege to be part of the national broadcaster and I would like to thank David Anderson, and my talented and passionate colleagues, for the amazing opportunity to manage ABC’s programming and digital products.”

As acting head of distribution, Michael Carrington will be responsible for the ABC’s TV channels – including ABC, ABC KIDS, ABC ME and ABC COMEDY – plus ABC iview, ABC listen, Radio National and a suite of children’s digital products.

SEE MORE: ABC Upfront – Programs coming to ABC TV in 2018

David Anderson said:

“Since joining the ABC as head of Children’s in 2016, Michael has reinvigorated our content by focusing on Australian programs that stimulate our audience’s imaginations and curiosity. He has championed multigenre programs underpinned by important themes, such as healthy lifestyles, gender equality, disability or diversity, while enabling our viewers to have fun and to laugh out loud.

“Michael has a wealth of experience, having worked for broadcasters and production companies in Australia, the UK, Europe and the US as a scheduler, program buyer, producer and commissioner. He has worked across commercial and public sector broadcasting, and has been the creative force behind many popular children’s programs and characters.”

Michael worked at the BBC as channel controller and creative director of the CBeebies preschool channel, where he devised and implemented the network’s editorial and digital strategy. He also commissioned and was executive producer on the BAFTA-winning programs In the Night Garden, Charlie and Lola and LazyTown.

His previous roles also include chief content officer at Turner Broadcasting, where he won an International Emmy Award for The Amazing World of Gumball. Carrington was also chief executive officer of Zodiak Kids Studios in the UK and France, which produced acclaimed television series such as Mister Maker and Floogals.

Libbie Doherty will be the ABC’s acting head of Children’s for Entertainment & Specialist, stepping up from her role as commissioning editor of award-winning content, such as Nowhere Boys, Mustangs FC, My Year 12 Life and Good Game SP.

Doherty joined the ABC in 2016, after working as a producer and director of development in the independent production sector. She will work closely with Jan Stradling, ABC Children’s executive producer of internal productions.

Schweppes ALT

Schweppes partnered with oOh! earlier this year to launch its new soft drink, ALT, to market. To engage the notoriously hard-to-reach millennial audience, oOh!’s online platform JUNKEE developed bespoke content that spotlighted unique individuals who lived by the brand’s “keep doing you” ethos.

This campaign was amplified across oOh!’s integrated online and offline ecosystem, including JUNKEE, LOCATE by oOh! (Universities) and EDGE (oOh!’s in-house experiential agency), which put the drink in the hands of the hard-to-reach audience.

Pictured top: oOh!’s EDGE team handing out drinks on campus

Officeworks

Officeworks, in partnership with oOh!, ran a multiplatform campaign engaging and educating students on the importance of saving on school supplies.

JUNKEE produced video content and written pieces on how “Smart Students Save”, which were amplified across oOh!’s online and offline ecosystem. Three simultaneous creative displays also ran across oOh!’s University network, allowing multiple messaging options for the brand to target different student audience segments.

Google Pixel

Google Pixel partnered with oOh! to deliver dynamic and tailored messaging across the oOh! FLY network. The brand was able to tap into live flight feeds through oOh!’s exclusive partnership with Qantas, targeting specific messaging to people depending on their travel destination.

Holden Commodore

A special build campaign for Holden saw oOh! produce a giant pair of custom working headlights to light up the iconic 170 meter-long Glebe Island Silos site all night long.

By James Manning

Nine managed the highest primary channel share on 18.8%, while Seven had the highest combined channel share for the third successive night.

Seven

After two nights close to or just better than 700,000, Home and Away was on 698,000.

On House Rules it was statement time with 714,000 watching the midweek episode after 682,000 on Wednesday last week.

Two episodes of Modern Family ran from 8.45pm with audiences of 364,000 and 310,000.

The season final of Back With The Ex saw the couples ready to make some big decisions. The audience dwindled to 171,000 last week and the series then ended on 161,000.

Nine

Bank brutality and a dodgy party planner were among the A Current Affair stories with 906,000 watching.

Two more Young Sheldon episodes filled the 7.30pm slot with audiences of 701,000 and 662,000 backing up the Tuesday results, where both eps did over 600,000.

Britain’s Got Talent was on 496,000 followed by an encore screening of Talkin’ ’Bout Your Generation on 236,000.

Love Island was on the primary channel after 11pm with 84,000 while 134,000 were watching on Go! earlier.

TEN

Aussie actress Yvonne Strahovski was the star attraction on The Project. The former Peter Helliar co-star talked about trying to film the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale while pregnant. The episode did 599,000 after two nights also around 600,000.

Gordon Ramsay on MasterChef

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares came to TEN’s MasterChef last night with a team challenge that threatened to go off the tracks. The episode did 863,000 after 813,000 last week. After the episode, Ramsay said he’d enjoyed his time on the show and indicated he would be up for a return in 2019.

US dramas then took over with Instinct on 392,000 and then This Is Us on 140,000.

ABC

Julie Zemiro visited Louis Theroux on Home Delivery, which did 591,000 after 638,000 when the program last screened a fortnight ago.

Gruen examined the marketing of mattresses with Todd and Russel joined by Carolyn Miller and Karen Ferry with 715,000 at 8.30pm.

The Weekly then did 605,000 with plenty of Barnaby Joyce references and a guest spot from Todd Sampson on Tom Gleeson’s Hard Chat.

SBS

Michael Mosley had another appearance with the final of the three-part Secrets Of Your Food on 205,000.

The Cocos Keeling Islands featured on the 8.30pm doco Australian’s Untold Islands: Untold Australia with 244,000.

The season final of The Good Fight featured a few mentions about Australia and its gun buy-back program for the audience of 119,000.