Business of Media
Hywood, Catalano make millions in property tech sale
In mid-2014, Jordan Catalano and Tom Hywood took a leap and did what most men in their 20s wouldn’t: they went into competition against their fathers, reports Nine Publishing’s Zoe Samios.
Catalano and Hywood, the sons of then Domain boss Antony Catalano and Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood, could see an opportunity to make money from specialising in selling off-the-plan apartments. They launched AD Group, a business which has since expanded to offer developers and sales agents technology that helps track transactions.
“I was studying entrepreneurship at uni and in the very early stages of house hunting,” Catalano said. “The market was going pretty strong, but there wasn’t a dedicated portal to buy off-the-plan property. When we first approached developers, they were crying out for their own portal. The bread and butter for the two major [portals] was always established real-estate.”
This week the business sold for $32 million. The deal, worth $8 million in cash and $24 million in scrip, will bring AD Group into View Media Group, a collection of real-estate companies amalgamated by billionaire Alex Waislitz and his business partner, Antony Catalano, over the past year.
The 31-year-old co-founders said there were options to sell in previous years, but the timing wasn’t right. Catalano said VMG was a “natural fit” because of the group of companies that formed it.
Banned Twitter accounts will not be reinstated until after US midterms
Banned Twitter accounts including Donald Trump’s will not be reinstated until after the US midterm elections at least, the platform’s new owner, Elon Musk, has said, reports The Guardian’s Dan Milmo.
The Tesla chief executive’s statement came as a study revealed that Twitter had taken down six disinformation networks on the platform linked to China and Iran that had been tweeting about the 8 November elections.
Musk said anyone barred from the social media platform for violating content rules would not be allowed back on until a process for doing so has been put in place, which would “take at least a few more weeks”.
Twitter’s new owner added that the recently announced Twitter content moderation council, which will adjudicate on reinstatements and content decisions, will include members of the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fuelled violence.
ITV Studios acquires Lingo Pictures
ITV Studios has acquiring a majority stake in Australian production company, Lingo Pictures founded by drama producers Helen Bowden and Jason Stephens, reports TV Tonight.
Lingo titles have included Upright, The Secrets She Keep, Lambs of God, On The Ropes and Wake In Fright.
Upcoming titles include Queen of Oz, starring and co-written by Catherine Tate; The Messenger, based on the best-selling novel by Markus Zusa; and Prosper.
Helen Bowden, previously founder and Managing Director of Matchbox Pictures, and Jason Stephens, formerly Head of Development and then Creative Director at Fremantle Australia, will continue to head up the business based in Sydney. As part of the wider ITV Studios Group, Lingo will sit under the international production arm led by Managing Director, Lisa Perrin.
Agencies
BMF welcomes Max Lom-Bor and Max Lowe to its creative department
BMF has further strengthened its creative capabilities with the appointments of Max Lowe and Max Lom-Bor, following a series of strong creative hires.
Prior to BMF, Lowe and Lom-Bor held creative roles in London for over five years, most recently at independent creative agency The Corner.
They have also spent time at Gravity Road and Havas London and worked with clients including Adidas, Three Mobile, Heathrow, Jackpotjoy, Anglian Water and Sofology.
The creative duo’s ‘It’s Coming Hame’ print campaign for Adidas picked up three Creative Circle awards this year, bringing home two Golds and one Silver.
In addition, Lowe and Lom-Bor also grafted a personal project in response to Brexit and the stockpiling of foreign goods in the UK by making, and plastering, 50 boxes along The People’s Vote march in London.
Their work picked up the attention of the media worldwide and found its way into the Guardian an hour after the boxes were stuck to the walls.
Ogilvy announces the launch of its new sustainability practice in Australia
Ogilvy has announced the launch of its sustainable practice in Australia.
This launch comes as brands face increasing pressure to communicate their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and progress.
Ogilvy’s new practice brings together a team of experts from Ogilvy PR, Ogilvy Consulting and Cannings Strategic Communications and offers strategic counsel, reputation management, investor relations, stakeholder engagement, behaviour change and crisis support.
Ogilvy is drawing expertise from across the brand from specialists such as Nino Tesoriero, Jacquie Potter and Brian Corrigan; plus Toby Harrison from Ogilvy Consulting; Luis Garcia from Cannings Strategic Communications; and Dane Smith representing Ogilvy’s behavioural science expertise.
News Brands
‘Racist harassment’: ABC refers abusive email sent to Tony Armstrong to police
ABC presenter Tony Armstrong is adamant that it’s his responsibility to “step up” and use his platform to highlight issues facing Indigenous Australians after a racist email he received was referred to police, report Nine Publishing’s Carla Jaeger and Osman Faruqi.
The email sent to his ABC work account made direct reference to his appearance on Channel 10 show The Project where Armstrong condemned media coverage of the Netball Australia sponsorship saga and the death of an Indigenous teen in Western Australia.
Armstrong, who is a proud Gamilaroi man, tweeted a screenshot of the email early Tuesday evening, which used racial slurs and described Armstrong as “scum” and “uneducated”.
On Wednesday, he elaborated on his motivation to speak out.
“It feels like it’s been a really tough time recently and the weight of being asked to step up and do what’s right is heavy. But it’s a call that we’re all ready to answer. I’ve got a platform so it’s my responsibility to use it as best I can, as tiring as that can be at times,” Armstrong said.
Paramount hits nearly 67M global streaming subs as Paramount+ grows to 46M
Paramount Global reached nearly 67 million streaming subscribers worldwide as of the end of September, up from 63.7 million as of the end of June. But streaming investments and cord-cutting dragged on the bottom line, with several financial results falling below analysts’ expectations, report The Hollywood Reporter’s Georg Szalai and Etan Vlessing.
Paramount’s stock was down nearly 9 percent in Wednesday pre-market trading as of 7 a.m. ET.
“This is a tough quarter for Paramount as linear pressures appear to be worsening while direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenue growth is slowing,” Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall wrote in a first reaction. He had forecast Paramount+ net additions of 2.5 million for the third quarter, compared to a Wall Street consensus of around 3.4 million. “Expenses are running hot, both profit & loss and cash, with earnings significantly down year-over-year. On the call, we think management will be looking to provide efficacy of the pivot to streaming.” He added: “A key question will be what peak losses look like in ’23, and what the path thereafter entails.”
The New York Times company adds 180,000 digital subscribers
The New York Times Company said on Wednesday that it had gained 180,000 online subscribers in the most recent quarter, and that it was improving its profit forecast for the full year, reports The New York Times’ Katie Robertson.
In financial results for the latest quarter, the company said the revenue from those new subscribers made up for the higher operating costs from The Athletic, the sports news website that The Times bought in January.
Overall, The Times recorded an adjusted operating profit of $69 million for the quarter, up from $65 million in the same period last year. The Athletic had operating losses of $9.6 million. It has lost nearly $29 million in the three quarters since it was acquired.
Meredith Kopit Levien, the chief executive of The Times, said the company now expected to end the year with a total adjusted operating profit of $320 million to $330 million, at the top of the guidance range provided in February.
Streaming
Launching new streaming services tough in ‘noisy, busy’ market
The Australian subscription streaming market is “very noisy, very busy”, with viewers confused about where to find their favourite shows across the more than a dozen services on offer, according to a senior executive at pay TV provider Foxtel, reports Nine Publishing’s Edmund Tadros.
Amanda Laing made the comments on Wednesday as she formally announced Foxtel had done a deal with US studio giant NBC Universal for part of its slate of content.
Foxtel will show the NBCU movies and TV shows across its pay TV service and streaming services Foxtel Now, Binge and new service Flash.
Laing, who is the chief commercial and content officer at Foxtel, would not comment on the cost nor the terms of the NBCU deal. She said it was critical the company had access to the best international content.
“There is no substitute for excellent content. We at the Foxtel group will do the right deals with the right partners to secure the best content,” she said.