Business of Media
Biden’s Amazon lawsuit another attempt to tame the power of big tech
Amazon, the $US1.3 trillion online retailing giant founded by Jeff Bezos, is the latest US tech giant to find itself in the firing line as the Biden administration tries to rein in the sector’s massive power, reports Nine Publishing’s Karen Maley.
This week, the US Federal Trade Commission and 17 US states sued Amazon, alleging it used its monopoly power to stifle competition and keep prices artificially high.
In the lawsuit, the FTC, led by chairperson Lina Khan, said Amazon abused a driver of sales known as the Buy Box – the feature on its website or app that prompts customers to “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart”.
Meta to launch AI chatbots played by Snoop Dogg and Kendall Jenner
Meta is to launch artificial intelligence chatbots embodied by celebrities including Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner and Naomi Osaka, reports The Guardian’s Hibaq Farah.
Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement at the company’s annual Connect conference, where he spoke about new AI products at Facebook’s parent company. The chatbots will feature unique interests and allow users to receive personalised advice, with the intention that they will be more interactive and fun to use.
Meta will launch more than 28 of these AIs in beta, with some played by celebrities. Snoop Dogg will be “Dungeon Master”, who will assist users to play adventure games, the former basketball player Dwyane Wade will be an AI called “Victor” designed to help users work out, Osaka will be anime-obsessed “Tamika”, and Jenner will be “Billie”, a “big sis” referred to as a “ride-or-die companion”.
Writers Guild reveals details of tentative deal with studios on AI, data transparency, mini rooms and more
Restrictions on the use of AI, minimum staffing in television writers’ rooms and a viewership-based streaming bonus. Those are some of the many deal points in the Writers Guild of America’s tentative three-year contract deal with studios and streamers, the details of which were released to union members Tuesday, report The Hollywood Reporter’s Kate Kilkenny and Lesley Goldberg.
The highly anticipated pact also includes provisions that enshrine a second “step” for screenwriter deals, higher foreign residuals, and annual minimum pay increases of 5 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent over the course of the contract.
What big moves are left for Lachlan Murdoch?
Rupert Murdoch’s American media empire was forged in dealmaking. The mogul transformed a regional newspaper business into a juggernaut through acquisitions, perhaps most notably the 20th Century Fox Film Corp. in 1985 and Dow Jones (owner of The Wall Street Journal) in 2007. But he also knew when to sell, report The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin and Georg Szalai.
Rupert Murdoch no longer is a presence on the Fox and News Corp. boards, having shifted to a fuzzier “chairman emeritus” role effective Nov. 17, leaving his son Lachlan to run the show for now, which begs the question: Is Rupert’s eldest the dealmaker that his father was? Or will he maintain the status quo and let things work themselves out once his father dies and the children who control the family trust make their collective call?
The Golden Globes will now award box-office smashes. Here’s what that means for your favourite films
The Golden Globes has added two new categories to its name, in one of the biggest changes in its 80-year history, reports the ABC’s Tessa Flemming.
The new categories will celebrate box-office smashes and comedians, in addition to 25 existing awards paying tribute to the best of film and TV. It is the latest in changes for the awards show since the embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) sold the Golden Globes to private investors earlier this year.
But what does it mean and how did we get here?
News Brands
Mary Gearin quits ABC News
ABC News presenter Mary Gearin has announced her departure after some three decades, off and on, with the broadcaster, reports TV Tonight.
The presenter and senior reporter has served as the ABC’s national sport correspondent, Europe correspondent, co-hosted News Breakfast and spent 10 years working as a long-form specialist for 7.30 program.
She currently presents ABC News Victoria bulletin on Friday and Saturdays.
Nine News Darwin reporter Georgie Dickerson pleads not guilty to impersonating a police officer
A Nine News journalist has pleaded not guilty to allegations she impersonated a police officer to obtain CCTV footage at a service station in 2022, reports the ABC’s Roxanne Fitzgerald.
Georgie Dickerson, 26, has been working for Nine News Darwin for two years as a reporter and has continued to appear on the network since the charges were laid.
She appeared in Darwin Local Court on Wednesday for the first day of her hearing supported by colleagues, her mother, the network’s Darwin general manager and four friends.
Radio
3AW host Jacqui Felgate breaks silence over 15 paid partnerships saga
Troubled 3AW radio host Jacqui Felgate has broken her silence on the sponsorships saga that has plagued Nine Radio and said the paid deals she spruiks on social media were known to the station and steps have been made to amend a “genuine oversight,” reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
Felgate’s 15 lucrative paid partnerships – which were only disclosed by 3AW after The Australian asked why they had not been declared on the station’s commercial disclosure register – has led to an investigation by the media regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, and resulted in Felgate addressing the matter 16 days later.
All four Nine Radio stations are being scrutinised by ACMA including 3AW, 2GB, 4BC and 6PR.
Television
Diversity has been the biggest change to Kids’ TV
Children’s TV shows like MaveriX, Crazy Fun Park, First Day and Hardball have all cleverly embedded diversity into their storylines and casting, but not every show should be expected to ‘tick every box’ according to Jenny Buckland, CEO of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, reports TV Tonight.
“I think it’s been the probably been the biggest change in children’s content in 10 or 15 years. Diversity is absolutely expected now. If you look at like the cast in Crazy Fun Park and shows like Hardball they are shows that just absolutely do it.
“The reason I passionately believe you need heaps of children’s shows is that what you don’t want to do with diversity is have some kind of tick-the-box exercise where every single show has to tick every single box.”