Business of Media
Setback for ‘Right to Know’ as FOI changes kept secret from public
Possible reforms to improve the troubled Freedom of Information system have been kept secret, amid claims it is against the public interest for voters to know about them, reports The Australian’s Michael McKinnon.
In March, FOI boss Leo Hardiman abruptly resigned from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, saying he did not have sufficient powers to make changes “necessary to ensure that the timeliness of IC reviews and, consequently, access to government-held information, is increased”.
There are lengthy delays with appeals to the OAIC, with 34 dating back to 2018 and another 172 matters from 2019, according to evidence presented to a Senate hearing last week. There are 967 appeals at least two years old.
The Australian sought access to information about what additional powers and legal changes Hardiman needed, through an FOI application to the OAIC on March 12. But this masthead was advised in a recent decision letter that relevant documents cannot be released.
The Betoota Advocate’s former publisher in talks to leave satirical site
The Betoota Advocate’s former publisher, colourful Sydney media investor Piers Grove, is in talks to leave the satirical news site and sell his stake in the brand, reports Nine Publishing’s Nick Bonyhady.
Founded in 2014, Betoota has grown from a single webpage with a self-consciously ocker take on comedic headlines into a fully fledged media business with 1 million Instagram followers, a podcast, clothing line and upcoming television show.
Grove stepped down as publisher of Betoota in December 2021, when he became publisher of youth news site Junkee, but retained a minority share and a directorship.
Both sides cast Grove’s decision to leave as amicable, despite rumours of a falling out. “He’s had a tough run with his health,” said Antony Stockdale, Betoota’s commercial chief. “He’s told us he wants to leave and we’re going to do that in the best way for Betoota and for him.”
Betoota would be happy if Grove had stayed, Stockdale said, while Grove confirmed that he was looking for potential purchasers so he could exit the business.
Content quotas would spur next $700m MasterChef IP boom: ex-Nine CEO
Former Nine boss Hugh Marks is on the hunt for Australia’s next MasterChef-scale juggernaut, and he says forcing streaming companies to pay for more Australian content is a way to get there, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
Although the current MasterChef format was devised and produced first in Australia, the program itself was invented in the UK – it generates $700 million a year in licensing fees and other commercial revenue for its owner, Banijay Group, formerly known as Endemol Shine.
“I think ownership of intellectual property and selling that IP in the global marketplace is the next big area of development for media businesses,” Marks said.
The federal government has said it will introduce quotas on streaming platforms to ensure they make more Australian content. Network executives met with government officials on Friday to figure out how it should work.
The screen industry – including Marks – wants 20 per cent of local revenue spent locally, while TV networks say quotas are unnecessary because there is already record investment in Australian content.
Michael Pell, Seven’s top LA exec, absent at Hollywood’s big week
In March last year, former Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell landed a new gig, with an incredible job title, in Los Angeles – he’s Seven’s senior vice president for entertainment and content in North America, report Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones and Mark Di Stefano.
Pell’s time on Sunrise – 11 years – was marked by blockbuster ratings for the morning program. That made him a favourite of the network’s controlling shareholder, billionaire Kerry Stokes. Less enthused were some of his colleagues, who privately blamed him for leaks to The Daily Telegraph’s gossip columnists among other slights. He would be a “valuable new resource in our content development area”, Seven chief executive James Warburton said at the time Pell was dispatched abroad.
It’s been over a year now since Pell has been in Los Angeles, with plenty of speculation internally about how long he was staying. Rumours he would be moving into another role – or leaving Seven – started just months after he arrived in the US. For the record, Seven says he is not moving.
But here’s a curiosity. Pell was a no show at LA Screenings, the annual Hollywood marketplace for top entertainment content from studios like Warner, Paramount, and NBC Universal, held over the past week or so.
As a key conduit for sourcing content for Seven, it should have been fertile territory for Pell. The network even flew its London-based European programming lead Lucy Brodie to join its small team, which included Warburton and content chief Angus Ross. On LinkedIn, Brodie lists her role as covering content for both Europe and North America.
Outdoor
QMS and JCDecaux circle $180m gambling advertising cash cow
QMS and JCDecaux have joined TikTok in moving to grab sports gambling dollars up for grabs after a widely expected tightening of rules of wagering advertising on television, a $180 million market, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
The two companies, which own advertising space on billboards and street furniture, have been pitching wagering-specific ad strategies to betting companies in recent weeks, sources close to the betting companies – not permitted to speak publicly – said.
QMS denied it had created specific wagering products, while JCDecaux said its campaigns were all “effective and compliant”.
Gambling advertising is worth more than $300 million a year in Australia, according to measurement firm Standard Media Index, but is under pressure from a government inquiry looking at online gambling. Some $179 million of that total goes to the major television networks.
Gambling advertising underpins a sizeable area of revenue for media, sport and wagering companies, and their futures are inextricably linked as a result. The Coalition has thrown its support behind a ban on wagering ads an hour either side of sports, while independent MP Zoe Daniel introduced a bill last week to ban gambling ads on television altogether.
Radio
Nine’s surprise plans to cut Hadley from Brisbane
Nine has just shelled out more than $3m a year to keep Ray Hadley on its radio stations until the end of 2026, as first revealed by this columnist. But a potential big change could be in the winds for Hadley in 2024, reports The Australian’s Nick Tabakoff.
Diary is reliably informed that in a surprise move, Nine is currently looking at not broadcasting Hadley on Brisbane’s 4BC at all from next year.
Hadley is one of a handful of talk radio broadcasters to make a success of simulcasting into both the Sydney and Brisbane markets. He has of course won 148 straight Sydney morning radio surveys. Meanwhile, in the last Brisbane survey in April, Hadley went within a whisker of winning the morning ratings with nearly 11 per cent of the audience, despite broadcasting from Sydney.
So why change a successful formula? Diary is told the reason is Nine’s stated national strategy of making its radio stations “live and local”.
Nine Radio apparently sees 2024 as a critical juncture to cement the “live and local” philosophy for Brisbane, with two major elections to be held in the city next year: the mayoral election on March 16 in which Liberal Adrian Schrinner is seeking a second term as the city’s Lord Mayor, and of course Annastacia Palaszczuk’s bid to win a record fourth term in October 2024.
Television
10 to keep Lisa Wilkinson off TV screens until 2024
It’s almost exactly six months since Lisa Wilkinson made front-page headlines in late November by quitting 10’s The Project on air, citing “relentless, targeted toxicity” in the media, reports The Australian’s Nick Tabakoff.
Ever since that night, Wilkinson has continued to be paid her full salary by 10 (reputed to be in the seven figures under what is said to be a watertight contract) during what was initially meant to be nothing much more than an extended summer holiday. But as we are about to hit mid-2023, there has been no sign of Wilkinson returning to air – despite some vague whispers emerging out of the network that she could “soon” be recording some high-profile interview specials.
How “soon” will Wilkinson return to 10’s airwaves?
Diary has now received word that Wilkinson is unlikely to be back on TV screens until early 2024.
The reason is her continued involvement in the various cases involving the woman that Wilkinson helped to become a household name, Brittany Higgins, and Bruce Lehrmann.
‘Sitting in sadness’: Melissa Leong pens moving column after Jock Zonfrillo’s death
MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong has given her first detailed public comments about the death of co-star Jock Zonfrillo in her latest column for Stellar Magazine, reports news.com.au.
Zonfrillo was found dead by police in a Melbourne hotel room the night before the new season of MasterChef was due to begin on May 1. The show’s start date was pushed back by a week as his colleagues – including Leong and fellow judge Andy Allen – struggled to process the awful news.
In a powerful and reflective new column for Stellar, Leong opens up about how she’s navigating grieving for her friend and colleague.
“Sitting alone in my house and in sadness as I attempt to articulate some of my thoughts, I can tell you it is indeed a strange experience for someone who usually writes from the crystal-clear perspective of hindsight,” Leong writes of her struggle to pen this particular column.
“The passing of someone from life is a powerfully shared experience.
“Even more so when that person lived a huge life and touched the lives of many.
“In their passing, a community struggles to come to terms with saying goodbye. Outside of immediate family and ‘framily’ (friends who are like family) members, whose privacy and consideration are paramount, grief is beautifully democratic,” she writes.
See Also: “He will be greatly missed”: Industry reacts to the passing of Jock Zonfrillo
The Project host Sarah Harris says Jesus joke shouldn’t have aired, but religion can’t be off limits
The Project’s co-host Sarah Harris has conceded the lewd joke made about Jesus by a comedian earlier this year should never have aired on the prime time chat show, but she remains adamant that religious comedy shouldn’t be totally off limits for Australian television programs, reports News Corp’s Sophie Elsworth.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Matty Johns Podcast released on Monday, Harris admitted the crude joke made by comedian Reuben Kaye was inappropriate.
Harris told Johns in his latest podcast: “During the scandal that we had on The Project, it was sad and it was scary, the joke should have never gone to air and it kind of took us all by surprise.”
“I’m not defending having the joke on the show, it was absolutely the wrong context and wrong forum for that.
“But when we start talking about what you can and can’t joke about, are we going to move onto blasphemy laws next? It’s concerning for comedy as well.”