Business of Media
Striking Hollywood writers disrupt TV’s major ad event
As scores of marketers made their way to Radio City Music Hall on Monday morning for a major event hosted by NBCUniversal, they were greeted by dozens of striking writers marching near the entrances to the building, reports The New York Times’ John Koblin.
“NBC, you’re no good, pay your writers like you should!” they chanted.
As the writers’ strike enters its third week, demonstrators have set their sights on disturbing the so-called upfront week, a decades-old tradition where media companies stage lavish events to promote their lineups in an attempt to woo advertisers.
“This is why Saturday Night Live wasn’t on, huh?” one marketer remarked to another outside Radio City.
Even before Monday, when the upfronts officially started, the striking writers had already successfully shaken up the event. Netflix, which introduced commercials last year, was poised to have its first-ever upfront on Wednesday at the storied Paris Theater. But as executives grew concerned about the demonstrations, the streaming company abruptly canceled the in-person event late last week, and elected to make it virtual instead.
Other major media companies — including Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery — have decided to forge ahead. Still, media executives have been anxiously awaiting the fallout from the prospect of hundreds of writers assembling on picket lines.
See Also: NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino named new Twitter CEO as Musk steps down
Crew shortages a global problem
With the boom in production comes a shortage of crew availability across genres, productions and platforms, reports TV Tonight.
In July 2022 a survey of Screen Producers Australia members found 100% of productions had difficulties finding enough crew, with two-thirds saying it was one of their most significant problems. There were also jumps in crew costs, with salary rises in some positions of 75%.
The survey identified particular shortages of Production Accountants, Line Producers, Production Managers, Unit Managers, Location Managers, First Assistant Directors, Make Up, Post Production Producers, Editors, Special Effects, Visual Effects, Animation.
70% of all domestic productions considered that they were undercrewed, which in turn impacts on stress and mental health for those working.
But it seems the problem is not just unique to Australia.
News Brands
ABC coronation coverage to be investigated by ombudsman
The ABC ombudsman will investigate whether the national broadcaster’s controversial coverage of King Charles’s coronation breached editorial standards, after the taxpayer-funded media organisation was deluged with more than 1000 viewer complaints about the way it handled the historic event, reports The Australain’s James Madden and Nick Tabakoff.
The ABC’s coverage was widely panned for “misreading the mood” of its audience by focusing on issues relating to colonisation, the monarchy’s damaging effect on Indigenous Australians, and the republican movement, in the lead-up to the coronation church service.
The Australian understands that while the majority of the 1000-plus objections were from viewers who simply wished to express their “dissatisfaction” with the coverage, several complaints specifically registered concerns that the ABC broadcast had breached the media giant’s editorial guidelines.
One well-placed source said more than 1000 viewer complaints about any one program was “completely unheard of”.
Sunday Mirror ‘did dodgy stuff’ on every story, phone-hacking trial told
The Sunday Mirror’s editor personally taught journalists how to hack voicemails, a former reporter has told the high court, reports The Guardian’s Jim Waterson.
Dan Evans told the phone-hacking trial that illegal activity was “bog-standard” at the tabloid newspaper. “The paper did dodgy stuff on basically every story and that is how we operated,” he said.
Andrew Green KC, the Mirror’s barrister, suggested that Evans’s recollection of events might be affected by the reporter’s heavy consumption of alcohol and drugs while working on the Sunday Mirror.
Evans replied: “That would be common to pretty much everyone else who worked on those newspapers.”
Evans was giving evidence in support of Prince Harry and other alleged phone-hacking victims, who are suing Mirror Group Newspapers. They claim illegal behaviour was widespread at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People and was approved by top executives including Piers Morgan. Morgan has denied all wrongdoing.
Guardian UK editor reveals investigations and ‘legal attacks’ drive reader contributions
UK Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner has revealed that investigative journalism is a major driver of its contributions business, reports Press Gazette’s William Turvill.
Guardian Media Group reported revenues of £255.8m last year, up 13% on 2021, marking its biggest annual turnover since 2010. The growth, it said, was primarily down to digital reader revenues, incorporating contributions and digital subscriptions.
Speaking at the Sir Harry Summit, a conference held to honour the late Sir Harry Evans, Viner told of the commercial importance of investigative journalism.
“The harder the investigation, the more challenging, the more legal attacks we have, the more the readers come and back us,” she said. “And so I think it’s a really inspiring model for investigative journalism.”
She also said: “This voluntary contributions model that we introduced in 2016, to much hilarity – everyone sort of saying, ‘Why would you pay for something that you could get for free?’, begging bowl jokes and so on – but actually I think the readers really understood it.
“And what was very clear right from the beginning was that what readers really wanted to give us money for was the most serious, most difficult investigative reporting. It’s an incredibly inspiring thing that the readers have shown us the way.”
Television
Game of Thrones’ John Bradley is busting the brooding detective cliche on North Shore
The damaged anti-hero cop is a well-worn trope in detective fiction. We all know the type – they’re brooding, they’re compromised, and they never crack a smile. The world is dark and they’re merely another shadow. All they can do is try to catch the bad guy, but they have no real hope that change is possible, reports News Corp’s Wenlei Ma.
Which makes Channel 10’s North Shore something of an outlier.
Starring English actors John Bradley and Joanne Froggatt alongside an Australian cast that includes Kirsty Sturgess and Rob Carlton, the murder mystery features Bradley as a mild-mannered detective sent to Sydney to observe the investigation into the death of a politician’s daughter.
Bradley’s character, Max, doesn’t bluster nor does he try to intimidate. When it comes to attracting bees, he’s all about the honey.
“It’s become a bit of a cliché now that a detective in a crime show has to be sort of brooding and very serious, and look like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders,” Bradley told news.com.au. “I think it’s nice with this that we can approach that type of character from a slightly different angle.
“Somebody that is personal and hopefully charming, and sees the funny side of things because that’s just as valid a representation as a murder detective as anything else. You just don’t see it very often because it’s been hijacked by a brow-furrowing, haunted detective.”
Kate Winslett dedicates BAFTA award to daughter, Paddington and Queen Elizabeth win most memorable moment
The BAFTA TV Awards have wrapped up in London with Derry Girls, Bad Sisters, The Traitors and Paddington among the big winners, reports The ABC’s Shiloh Payne.
This year’s ceremony — which saw a performance from Lewis Capaldi — was held at the Royal Festival Hall, hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.
Kate Winslet won the BAFTA for leading actress for her role in I Am Ruth, while Ben Whishaw won leading actor for his performance of Adam Kay in the autobiographical drama This is Going to Hurt.
Anne-Marie Duff, who played Grace Williams in Bad Sisters, won supporting actress, and Adeel Akhtar won the BAFTA for supporting actor for Sherwood.
Derry Girls won scripted comedy, while The Traitors won in the reality and constructed factual categories.