Business of Media
Australians would get worse TVs under proposed law, manufacturers say
Australians would get fewer and worse quality models of television if a government proposal to promote local broadcasters’ apps like 7plus, 9Now and ABC iview on internet-connected TVs goes ahead, manufacturers have warned, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
Australians buy between 1.5 million and 1.8 million TVs every year, according to the Consumer Electronics Suppliers Association (CESA), which represents brands like Samsung, Sony, LG and Panasonic.
After the arrival of streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, the federal government announced plans to legislate a “prominence” law that makes sure local TV services can easily be found on television devices. Free TV, the group representing the major networks, has described prominence as “the single most urgent regulatory issue facing broadcasters”.
In a submission to the government review, CESA says imposing rules on TV manufacturers would have unintended consequences that would make brands think twice about the products they sell in Australia.
“It would generate significant costs for reconfiguring TVs here… this would also likely result in a much smaller range of TVs available to Australian consumers,” CESA wrote.
Reddit quietly axes local MD role as it eyes larger ad revenue
Social platform Reddit has quietly axed the role of its local boss just 18 months after installing an Australian figurehead, but says Australia remains a priority market as figures show it grew advertising revenue more than 600 per cent last year, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
As the platform prepares for an initial public offering – technology news site The Information reported Reddit was planning to go public as early as the second half of this year – the company has in effect made its Australian unit a sales outpost.
David Ray, a former Amazon and Woolworths executive who was appointed to lead the Australian team, left the business earlier this year. Sources at Reddit said there were no immediate plans to fill the role.
Ray referred an enquiry to Reddit, while Reddit declined to comment on the leadership shift. Despite the changes, Reddit has been growing rapidly in Australia, which is its fifth-largest market by user base.
Legal move by editor sacked after ‘anti-trans’ letter
A newspaper editor and former Liberal adviser sacked after publishing a letter attacked as “anti-transgender” is pursuing legal action, alleging harmful conduct by Australian Community Media, reports the Australian’s Matthew Denholm.
Mark Westfield was dismissed as editor of The Launceston Examiner newspaper on March 15 after he conceded a letter he published alleging a transwoman had undressed in front of young girls in a women’s changing room may have been bogus.
The Australian understands that Westfield, a former staffer to Malcolm Turnbull and Liberal candidate Katherine Deves, has since applied to the Fair Work Commission to pursue ACM for an “adverse action”.
Westfield and ACM would not comment but it is understood Westfield will seek redress under the Fair Work Act’s “general protections”, which defend people against harmful actions, including misrepresentation, by employers.
It is understood Westfield is unable to access unfair dismissal provisions because he was appointed editor of Tasmania’s second highest circulation daily only in January, making his tenure short of a legislated minimum.
Elon Musk memo suggests Twitter worth less than half of what he paid for it
Twitter is worth less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it six months ago having lost more than $20bn (£16.4bn) in value, according to calculations based on a leaked memo from the billionaire, reports the Guardian’s Anna Isaac.
Musk suggested in memo to the social media company’s staff that it is now valued at less than $20bn. This compares with the $44bn he paid for it in October 2022.
The company’s steep devaluation follows Musk’s turbulent takeover. Several large advertisers have left the platform and a major source of funds for Musk’s purchase of the company, the investment firm Fidelity, has written down the value of its stake by 56%.
The measure of Twitter’s worth was based on Musk’s offer of stock grants, according to Platformer and the Information, which first reported on the memo.
Radio
ABC taps commercial exec to review radio as audience slumps
ABC’s local radio network could shorten the length of interviews, change presenters and refresh music lineups in an attempt by the national broadcaster to modernise programs for younger audiences, reports Nine Publishing’s Zoe Samios.
The ABC has hired Cherie Romaro, the first female music director at Radio 2SM and more recently general manager at 2CH, to provide external advice on how to improve local and regional stations such as ABC Sydney and ABC Melbourne, which have endured a dramatic fall in audiences since the national bushfire crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Romaro, who is working with an internal advisory group on the review, said the process was not a cost-cutting exercise.
“It is a challenge given the choice and crowded audio offerings audiences can access at their fingertips,” Romaro said. “My involvement is to give an external perspective and provide added value to be able to assess the entire audio offering nationally and define where ABC Radio can grow their audiences and re-connect with listeners who have left us.”
Television
Foxtel’s television ratings data could be inflated by 40 per cent
Rupert Murdoch’s Foxtel may have inadvertently overstated audiences on key sports matches by as much as 40 per cent, an issue that has forced TV ratings provider OzTAM to rapidly update the way it measures the pay TV and streaming company’s data, reports Nine Publishing’s Zoe Samios.
Foxtel has fought claims of miscalculations since the first round of the NRL, when OzTAM chief executive Doug Peiffer contacted the group over concerns it may have overstated how many people watched the season’s openers. Foxtel has not issued a release about the NRL or AFL matches since the first round.
The issue, according to media sources, is with the panels OzTAM uses to measure Foxtel not being updated quickly enough to account for the rapid growth of its streaming services, including Kayo Sports, and new products such as the IQ5.
OzTAM tracks people watching subscription television through 2120 homes in metropolitan and regional Australia. The panel tracks the consumption of popular shows such as The Last of Us and The White Lotus, or the first round of the NRL, on a Foxtel IQ box, online video service Foxtel Now or Kayo Sports. A separate measurement system – VPM – also tracks Foxtel’s audiences on Kayo Sports and Binge. Foxtel also uses internal data to measure streaming consumption.
A combination of these factors means Foxtel’s audiences on sports and entertainment programs such as AFL and NRL matches are dramatically inflated in some instances.
Four more years for Antony Green
The man who has dominated ABC election nights for decades, Antony Green, caused a few heart palpitations when he responded early in the night whether he would call the NSW election for Labor and Chris Minns, reports the Australian’s Nick Tabakoff.
Green resolutely refused to make a premature call: “As I come to the end of my political career, I don’t want to go out on a howler.”
ABC insiders were a tad worried by the implication in the response the end may be nigh for Green – who is the biggest drawcard for the public broadcaster’s election coverage. So Diary directly asked Green, 63, if he’s on the verge of retirement.
The ABC election guru responded that while he was “not going on forever”, he has at least one full cycle of state and federal elections in him. “The next NSW election is in March 2027, and I hit the official retiring age of 67 that month. That means I’ve probably got one cycle of every state election, and a federal election, in me.”
BBC will not resume filming Top Gear series after Flintoff crash investigation
The BBC has said it will not resume filming the latest series of Top Gear after co-presenter former England cricket captain Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff was injured in a crash last year, reports the Guardian’s Harry Taylor.
The broadcaster said there will be a health and safety review on the motoring show, which has been running in its current iteration for 21 years.
In a statement, the BBC said it had finished an investigation into an accident at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Park aerodrome in Surrey in December.
Flintoff, who joined the show as a host in 2019, was airlifted to hospital on 13 December after his open-topped three-wheel Morgan Super 3 car flipped and slid along the track when he was driving at high speed. He and a crew member in the passenger seat were wearing helmets, but Flintoff suffered facial injuries and broken ribs.
Ethan Browne at home marking Home And Away milestone in Maori
As Home And Away gears up for its 8000th episode to air, star Ethan Browne admits he was just a little out of the loop, reports News Corp’s Lisa Woolford.
“You know, I didn’t even realise until I was asked in another interview,” he laughs.
“I should have known because the episode number is written on the front of the script. But I just don’t really take notice it seems – you just go ‘oh yeah, this is my script’.
“I’ll pay more attention next time.”
Unlike its one-time soap rival Neighbours (which notched up 8903 episodes before it was axed last year), the Aussie institution has traditionally kept its celebrations low-key. Instead, it’s business as usual as the massive production machine focuses continues to churn out two-and-a-half hours of television a week.
Ironically Brown is very much at the centre of the milestone episode as his on-screen ego Tane Parata finally marries Felicity Newman (Jacqui Purvis), after their first attempt went horribly awry.