Business of Media
Vote for new probe into Luna Park ghost train fire
The NSW upper house has voted narrowly to support the establishment of a special commission of inquiry with royal commission powers to investigate Sydney’s Luna Park ghost train fire and subsequent police investigation, reports News Corp’s Troy Bramston.
The private member’s motion moved by Greens MP David Shoebridge, adopted with a 20-16 vote of MPs, was supported by Labor and Fred Nile’s Christian Democrats but opposed by the Coalition and Mark Latham’s One Nation.
The government has ruled out establishing a commission.
Shoebridge praised the recent ABC documentary on the fire and criticised the original police investigation. He said families had waited too long for justice and “the broader community is also demanding answers”.
Daryl Somers sues ex-manager over claims of ‘nasty dispute’
Aussie TV personality Daryl Somers is suing his former business manager, who accused him of treating him “appallingly” and “cruelly”, reports News Corp’s Rebekah Cavanagh.
The triple Gold Logie award-winner and his wife Julie are set to have a Supreme Court showdown with Alex Mathey after he went public with the allegations of poor treatment.
In a writ filed with the court, Somers, 69, is claiming damages over the “defamatory matter”.
The popular former Hey Hey It’s Saturday host is also seeking a permanent injunction restraining Mathey from “further publishing, republishing or causing to be published or republished” the material.
News Brands
CNNPlus, anyone? Cable news preps for streaming future
Cable news channels are at a tipping point. Fox News, CNN and MSNBC are coming off a record-smashing news year, propelled by a wild 2020 election (and its aftermath), not to mention an ongoing pandemic. And yet, with the cable TV business in a state of decline driven by cord-cutting, all three channels are planning for a post-cable world, one in which Americans primarily stream their news, reports The Hollywood Reporter‘s Alex Weprin.
“It’s an enormous opportunity for the news brand that gets it right,” says former CNN U.S. president Jon Klein, who subsequently founded two direct-to-consumer streaming businesses. “The beauty of streaming is that you can have near-perfect knowledge of your audience, in a way that cable distribution has never allowed. That is the pot of gold waiting at the end of the streaming rainbow for news networks.”
Publishing
Chief executive Annette Thomas to leave Guardian Media Group
Guardian Media Group has announced that its chief executive, Annette Thomas, has decided to leave the company at the end of June, reports The Guardian.
Thomas joined the parent company of The Guardian and Observer as chief executive in March last year.
In April 2021, the Scott Trust, the sole shareholder in GMG, began a review of the trust and GMG’s governance and structures, a process that GMG said Thomas had supported and to which she contributed.
Keith Underwood, the chief financial and operating officer, will lead GMG on an interim basis as acting chief executive.
Television
A new breed of serial TV takes up where CSI and Law & Order left off
“Here’s what we know so far,” a senior agent will urgently and repeatedly declare in an episode of FBI, bringing both the assembled American law enforcement officers and the worldwide viewing audience up-to-date. It’s a shortcut for a show that needs them because it never slows down – in a 40-minute episode, the Bureau’s New York office might respond to a mass shooting, test (but never break) moral boundaries, pursue suspects, explore personal setbacks, stop a bombing, and forge a bond between new partners. It turns out this show needs you to know a great deal, reports SMH’s Craig Mathieson.
Series such as FBI and 9-1-1, as well as their respective spin-offs FBI: Most Wanted and 9-1-1: Lone Star, aren’t just the successors to the previous generations of police procedurals that included the CSI empire and the slowly fading NCIS, they’re the first line of defence for television networks confronting streaming services. The nascent franchises tend to commence – FBI on 10, 9-1-1 on Seven – between 9pm and 10pm, after a headline reality series has dropped an episode. They’re meant to tie down a chunk of viewers as the Netflix itch grows.
ABC’s flagship arts show not working yet
The ABC’s flagship arts program Art Works has struggled to find an audience since it launched last month, attracting fewer than 30,000 metro viewers an episode on the ABC Plus second channel, reports News Corp’s Matthew Westwood.
The half-hour weekly program hosted by Namila Benson has a magazine format and includes interviews with artists, behind-the-scenes footage, and mini features that explore an artist’s practice.
Segments on the program have featured a pageant for Indigenous drag queens, the garamut drumming tradition from Manus Island, Opera Australia soprano Natalie Aroyan, and Melbourne photographer Atong Atem.
Loki is a wildly ambitious, visually impressive and deliciously gleeful Marvel TV series
Taking the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most compelling villain and giving him his own six-part Disney streaming seems like an absolute no-brainer, reports News Corp’s Wenlei Ma.
Who doesn’t want to follow the adventures of renowned trickster Loki, the God of Mischief? Especially as embodied with delicious glee by Tom Hiddleston, whose six-foot-two-frame pours into that Asgardian leather costume so perfectly.
So, it shouldn’t surprise that for many Marvel Cinematic Universe fans, Loki is the Disney+ series they are most excited to devour. And devour it they will – week-by-week, though no less voraciously.
Seven dismisses Idol rumours
Seven has rejected a media report that suggested Australian Idol would not air in 2022, reports TV Tonight.
On Monday New Idea fuelled speculation the rebooted talent show had been nixed amid some disagreement between Fremantle and Seven over the series being pre-recorded.
An unnamed source suggested Fremantle “wouldn’t budge on the format of relying on the Australian public to vote on a weekly basis.”
A Seven spokesperson told TV Tonight, “As we announced in October last year, Australian Idol will be on Seven in 2022.”
How to watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians finale
The curtain is falling on the Kardashian family’s 15-year reality TV reign, reports News Corp’s Lexie Cartwright.
The last ever episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians will air on Friday, and it is set to tie up a few loose ends – namely Kim and Kanye West’s split – as well as celebrate their milestone moments on air over the many years.
From marriages, divorces, births and everything in between, the Kardashians have opened their homes to the entire world for their E! reality show, which has since landed them all a place in pop culture folklore.
Why COVID has delayed Home Delivery
A new season for ABC’s Home Delivery is still some time off with host Julia Zemiro explaining that COVID restrictions have made production too challenging, reports TV Tonight.
The CJZ produced show has enjoyed 8 seasons with Zemiro lovingly interviewing guests in cars. But it’s not just a confined space that is part of the problem.
“We had a meeting about it at the end of last year and they’ve been terrific at ABC,” Zemiro tells TV Tonight.
“They love the show, but they’re saying ‘We just don’t think we’ll be doing anything in the first half of the year.’
“So maybe in the second half or maybe next year. But at the moment it’s just so compromising if we set up the shoot anywhere, and then we can’t get away or can’t get back.”
Sport Media
Australians taking part in Relief Run to raise funds for COVID-stricken India
World Vision Goodwill Ambassador and professional endurance athlete Samantha Gash will lead a global relief run to raise lifesaving funds for the people of India devastated by COVID-19.
Gash, a social entrepreneur and former Survivor contestant, is the co-creator of Relief Run, which last year raised more than $1 million in support of Australian bushfire relief efforts.
The running star has been moved to respond as the second wave rips through a fragile health system and cases surge past 28 million, leaving vulnerable communities most at risk.
Relief Run will be held over the weekend of June 11,12 and 13 and will be a virtual run allowing participants all over the world to run (or walk) 5km, 10km or half a marathon at a location and time that suits them. Groups across schools, corporates and communities are encouraged to create an event and support the cause.
All funds raised will go towards the World Vision’s COVID-19 India crisis appeal, which is responding to lifesaving needs for equipment and supplies including beds, oxygen concentrators, food vouchers and tents for temporary COVID-19 care centres.
Gash’s connection to India is personal. In 2016 she completed Run India, an incredible 3200 km run from the west to east of India to raise funds for World Vision education initiatives. During her three-month journey, she visited some of the country’s most poverty-stricken corners, forging lasting relationships with the families and children she met.
AIA Australia has the support of all of their AIA Vitality ambassadors across Australia and New Zealand to spread the event and take part in runs over the June 11 – 13 weekend. Including Bec Judd, Sylvia Jeffreys, Laura Henshaw, Steve Hooker, Anabelle Smith, Alisa Camplin and Marika Day, and New Zealand AIA Vitality ambassadors Dame Valerie Adams and Ian Jones.
AIA’s Global Ambassador, David Beckham, will also be encouraging people across Asia to participate.
“The situation across India has been heart-breaking to see. Whatever we can do to help in any way is really important and I’m proud to support Samantha and this great initiative to raise vital funds and awareness for the relief efforts across India,” he said.
More information about Relief Run here.
ITV criticised for not banning gambling ads during Euro 2020
The head of the social policy group Care has written to the chairman and chief executive of ITV criticising its decision not to suspend gambling adverts during the Euro 2020 football tournament, which starts on Friday, reports The Guardian’s Rob Davies.
ITV said last week that the number of gambling adverts would be “significantly reduced” but critics have pointed out that the broadcaster has not taken any new action to limit them.
While the number of betting ads will be lower than during the 2018 World Cup, that is due to the gambling industry’s voluntary “whistle-to-whistle” ban on ads shown during live sports events before 9pm.