Roundup: Facebook’s record profit, Googles tax bill, Sam Armytage’s Seven contract + more

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• Plus: Social media giants facing hefty fines, New Gold Mountain, Bert Newtown, and media diversity

Business of Media

Facebook hits record profits, but warns of Apple and COVID impacts next quarter

Facebook reported $29.01 billion in advertising revenue in the third quarter, missing Wall Street expectations. Advertising revenue was $28.3 billion, up from a year earlier, but down from the prior quarter. Profits topped $10.4 billion, a record for the company, report The Hollywood Reporter’s J.Clara Chan and Alex Weprin.

In Q2, the company’s ad revenue hit $28.6 billion, comprising the majority of Facebook’s $29 billion in revenue. But with changes to ad targeting, most notably from Apple’s iOS update that allows users to opt out of ad tracking, Facebook has previously cautioned that “increased ad targeting headwinds” would impact revenue in Q3 and Q4. (Snap, reporting its earnings last week, said its earnings fell short of projections because of the iOS privacy changes and supply chain delays.)

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Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd paid just 7.6 per cent tax on billion-dollar profit in 2020

As more than 130 nations work to implement a deal that would tax multinationals at a rate of at least 15 per cent, it can be revealed that the Singapore-based Google company that hoovers up billions of dollars of the tech giant’s Australian revenues every year paid less than 8 per cent tax on its profits in 2020, reports News Corp’s John Rolfe.

Financial statements obtained by The Daily Telegraph show Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd had a tax bill in Singapore of just $US123m ($165m) on a profit of $US1.62bn ($2.17bn) last calendar year.

That effective tax rate of 7.6 per cent is about one quarter of Australia’s corporate tax rate. Singapore’s official tax rate is 17 per cent, compared to 30 per cent in Australia.

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Social media giants face hefty fines for breaches under proposed privacy measures for kids

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other social media companies would face fines of up to $10 million if they failed to obtain parental consent for users under the age of 16 under proposed laws although it remains unclear how permission would be verified, reports SMH‘s Lisa Visentin.

Most social networks require users to be 13 to open an account but changes in the draft online privacy bill would give the information commissioner powers to set up a mandatory code for social media companies, data brokers and big online platforms such as Apple, Google and Spotify in consultation with the tech industry.

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Entertainment

Bert Newton’s special family reunion

TV legend Bert Newton has been reunited with his grandchildren in hospital, reports News Corp’s Jackie Epstein.

Newton’s wife Patti posted a heartwarming picture on Sunday with the caption “That’s what Happiness Is”.

Bert was beaming with his trademark smile while surrounded by five of his six adorable grandchildren. Daughter Lauren and her husband Matt Welsh are parents to Sam, Eva, Lola, Monty, Perla and Alby.

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Television

Was Sam Armytage offered “new” Seven contract?

According to the magazines, Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr is ‘surprised’ that Seven has offered Sam Armytage a new contract after her comment about her comments the TV industry was ‘full of sociopaths and narcissists’, reports TV Tonight.

But is any of it true? Daily Mail quoted Woman’s Day as the story source.

Barr has given no such quotes to any journos, but that hasn’t stopped gossip stories after Seven announced Armytage would be part of Farmer Wants a Wife in 2022.

Armytage, who married Richard Lavender earlier this year, will feature in “Sam’s Choice” segments in which she plays rural matchmaker.

Why? Because, as Seven sources confirmed to TV Tonight, she is still contracted to Seven. That’s about the sum of it.

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A New Gold Mountain spin-off?

A spin-off from New Gold Mountain could be on the cards for SBS, reports TV Tonight.

Creatives behind the SBS period drama are in early discussions for more around the lead character Leung Wei Shing played by actor Yoson An.

Director Corrie Chen recently told TV Tonight the series was self contained but there are some discussions underway.

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Sport Media

Australian sports media: ‘There’s this pigeonholing of Indigenous voices’

Shelley Ware, an experienced media personality across television and radio and Yankunytjatjara and Wirangu woman, recently posted to Twitter: “I’ll be honest the lack of diversity in media in 2021 is unsettling and the fact that, as an Aboriginal woman – even though I have 20 years of experience – I don’t even cross mainstream media’s minds. We have a long way to go…”, reports Guardian Australia’s Marnie Vinall.

Research by Media Diversity Australia and four Australian universities found that as of August 2020, 75% of presenters, commentators and reporters in Australia have an Anglo-Celtic background, while only 6% have an Indigenous or non-European background. Additionally, a report by MEAA on women in media also found that in Australia only 10% of sports reporters are women.

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