Business of Media
Profit of $4804: how Musk’s takeover crushed Twitter in Australia
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, now known as X, left the company’s Australian outpost riddled with under-investment as it defends itself against the Labor government in a free speech row over the Wakeley church stabbing, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
Twitter’s Australian operation reported just $3.4 million in revenue in the first half of 2023, plunging more than 80 per cent, new documents filed with the corporate regulator show, representing its final submission before being taken private.
Seven’s Weekend Sunrise overhauled after naming wrong man as Bondi killer
Channel 7’s beleaguered Weekend Sunrise program has been overhauled after the network wrongly identified a 20-year-old university student as the Bondi Junction mass murderer, report The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth and James Madden.
Sources have told The Australian that multiple staff have since left the program, including two producers, as the investigation into the disastrous errors on the show’s April 14 program continues.
News Brands
News Corp restructure ‘savings’ soar as editors talk strategy
Still no official word from News Corp Australia boss Michael Miller about a proposed mega-restructure at the publisher. But what is now well known is that global chief executive Robert Thomson will be Down Under in May to look over the proposal, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
We’ve previously reported that News is locally set to be sliced and diced into three new divisions. There’s the free content unit housing news.com.au and websites like news.com.au’s “checkout” (a New York Times Wirecutter knock-off); a second division holding the city-based tabloids and sports; and a third team managing prestige products such as The Australian, Vogue Australia and GQ.
Radio
Battle of Melbourne breakfast radio spills on to city streets
The battle of breakfast radio spilt out on to Melbourne’s streets with a KIIS bus plastered with giant headshots of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson trying to crash a Nova event at the South Melbourne Market, reports News Corp’s Fiona Byrne.
The Saturday showdown developed as Nova’s Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips prepared for a live cross to the Today show. As they waited for the cross the bright pink KIIS bus — which has been decked out as a mobile studio for the Kyle and Jackie O team — came around the corner and crept along Cecil Street. The timing seemed too good to be true.
Television
Streaming customers sign up to services with advertising to lower monthly costs
Streaming customers in Australia are increasingly signing up to services that include advertisements in exchange for cheaper monthly plans, new data has found, reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
Research from data and insights firm Kantar, to be released this week, found the number of Australians with advertising video on demand services has more than doubled in the past 12 months, reaching 12.5 per cent in the March quarter, up from 5.6 per cent in the same quarter last year.
The secret MasterChef tribute to dearly missed star Jock Zonfrillo
A secret tribute to much loved chef and TV identity Jock Zonfrillo has been embedded into the MasterChef show this season, reports News Corp’s Fiona Byrne.
A simple, but poignant memorial honouring Zonfrillo, a beloved judge on the hit cooking series, has been created among the herbs, citrus trees, and beds of edible flowers in the enclosed MasterChef garden at the front of the studios at the Melbourne showgrounds where filming takes place.
A plaque in Zonfrillo’s memory reading “In life you should give more than you take” has been attached to a rough-hewn wooden seat that is set among the lush, peaceful greenery.
Actor Orpheus Pledger was cast on Seven’s SAS Australia amid ‘escalating drug use’
A former Home and Away star accused of “stomping” on a woman’s head was starring in Seven’s reality show SAS Australia while battling “declining mental health and escalating drug use”, according to court documents, reports News Corp’s Jack Evans.
Orpheus Pledger, 30, is accused of a violent alleged assault of a woman on March 25.
His whereabouts were unknown for three days after he absconded from a Melbourne hospital on Tuesday morning while on remand.
He was arrested again on Thursday.