Business of Media
ABC legal costs total $26.3m after high profile Porter, V’landys cases
The ABC spent $26.3 million on legal costs over the past four years reports News Corp’s Janet Fife-Yeomans.
The bill for briefing barristers and solicitors was $2.595 million in the last financial year as it fought high-profile defamation actions against the likes of former Attorney-General Christian Porter and Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys.
News Brands
Sky News Regional to launch August 1st with a new breakfast program
Sky News Regional launches Sunday August 1, 2021 offering regional free-to-air viewers in parts of NSW, VIC, QLD and SA news with a focus on live breaking news, weather, national affairs and sport from the Sky News Australia and Fox Sports news teams.
Sky News Regional will feature a new live breakfast program, Sky News Breakfast hosted by Jaynie Seal and Samantha Chiari from 6:00am on weekdays. Sky News Breakfast is a three-hour program presenting news from across Australia and the world, plus interviews with newsmakers from local, regional and international markets, as well as sports news. Sky News Breakfast will feature weather coverage compiled by Sky News meteorologists specifically for country areas.
The Bolt Report will return for regional free-to-air viewers live at 7:00pm Monday to Thursday, and for the first time regional viewers will be able to see the full two hours of Paul Murray Live from 9:00pm Monday to Thursday, in addition to the complete one hour Sunday show at 9:00pm. The on-air schedule also includes flagship political programs AM Agenda and Afternoon Agenda as well as evening programs Credlin and Alan Jones.
Radio
John Laws and Alan Jones discuss the idea of doing a radio show together
John Laws and Alan Jones put aside any historical rivalries and have stirred the pot within radio circles by suggesting they could hit the airwaves together, reports News Corp’s Sophie Elsworth.
Laws, 85, had Jones as a guest on his mornings program on Sydney station 2SM on Monday, quashing any talk they dislike each other and instead declaring they’ve known each other for more than 30 years and could become a joint radio force.
Laws put Jones, 80, on the spot by asking him, “do you want a job?”
“Put a bit of paper in front of me, you know what it’s like, it’s the same old rules isn’t it?”, Jones responded.
“They are putting bits of paper in front of me, I have to tell you.”
Laws went on to say, “Why don’t you come here and work here with me?”
Jones responded by saying, “why not” to which Laws said, “we could set the world on fire, you and me”.
Dane Swan dumped from breakfast radio gig on KIIS
Collingwood legend Dane Swan has been dumped from his breakfast radio gig with KIIS FM, reports News Corp’s Fiona Byrne.
The larrikin Swan, whose Hump day with Swanny and Friends podcast is required listening, was given the kiss-off by the station last week, with his manager told the show was going in a different direction and it wasn’t taking the Brownlow Medallist with it.
Swan had been a Monday morning regular on the Jase and PJ show talking footy this year.
The surprise axing comes as Lauren Phillips joins Jase Hawkins to host the newly named Jase and Lauren show from August 9.
Television
Vale: Dieter Brummer
Actor Dieter Brummer, best known as Shane Parrish in Home & Away, has died aged just 45, reports TV Tonight.
NSW Police confirmed, “About 1.30pm (Saturday 24 July 2021), officers from The Hills Police Area Command responded to reports of a concern for welfare at a home on Glenhaven Road, Glenhaven.
“The body of a man was located inside the home. His death is not believed to be suspicious. A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.”
Brummer starred as Shane Parrish on Home and Away from 1992 -1996, becoming a teen sensation alongside co-star Melissa George. A Silver Logie winner in 1995 and 1996, he was on magazine covers and bedrooms walls not just across Australia, but the UK and beyond.
Oops. SBS instagram hacked
“Hi everyone – we’re aware the SBS News Instagram has been hacked and are working to rectify asap,” SBS was forced to tell its followers after things went a little haywire yesterday, reports TV Tonight.
The hacker posted a fancam of what appeared to be the character Ragnar Lodbrok from Vikings, played by Aussie actor Travis Fimmel.
The person behind the prank also shared the video to the @sbsnews_au Instagram story and told everyone to comment on it. The Instagram account’s profile picture was changed to a hooded person in a mask as well.
Pedestrian TV reports after around 2 hours SBS News then regained control of its Insta account and managed to wipe evidence of the hack.
Screen Australia announces development funding for 28 drama projects
Screen Australia has announced 12 feature films, 13 television dramas and three online projects will share in $975,000 of Story Development funding.
The projects include a television series inspired by the 1999 film Two Hands from director Gregor Jordan, and a family feature film from the producers of Bluey called Staycation.
Screen Australia’s head of development Nerida Moore said, “Screen Australia is really proud to be supporting this impressive mix of projects. This includes fresh genre-bending comedies HOME and Our Haunt, and beautiful romantic drama 10 Moments that will bring together 10 chapters from a great team of exciting creative voices. It’s also wonderful to support more children’s content with Big Serious Studios’ Goo Zoo set to invite children into the world of microbiology as part of the company’s aims to deliver more STEM content for kids.”
Moore continued, “One year on it’s great to see the success of projects that we were able to support during the initial impacts of COVID-19 through our Premium Plus Fund, including The Newsreader which is set to air on the ABC next month and New Gold Mountain which is coming to SBS later this year.”
Outdoor
oOh! adds to Sydney presence with two prominent digital billboards
oOh!media has extended its Out of Home leadership in Sydney with the addition of a new high profile digital billboard in Gordon and an asset upgrade in Burwood.
The prominent Gordon billboard on Sydney’s Upper North Shore is located on a pedestrian bridge facing three lanes of traffic heading north on the Pacific Highway – a major transport arterial and one of Australia’s busiest roads traditionally used by over 41,500 vehicles a day.
Targeting Gordon’s affluent community in an area with relatively few digital large format sites, this brand-new billboard will offer an extra touchpoint for brands and complements oOh!’s extensive presence across formats in the local area, Lower North Shore and other nearby suburbs. This includes over 20 retail assets within the Gordon Centre, as well additional signage in other strategic locations ranging from North Sydney, Artarmon, Mosman and the Northern Beaches to Epping, Hornsby, Pennant Hills and North Ryde.
In the Inner West of Sydney, oOh! has also continued to upgrade existing classic assets with the digitisation of its billboard in Burwood, located on Parramatta Road and viewable by eastbound traffic on an arterial that usually sees around 54,000 vehicles a day.
The site 12km from Sydney’s CBD will enhance oOh!’s digital portfolio in the area, and forms part of a chain of digital and classic large format assets into the city across Rozelle, Lilyfield, Leichhardt and the iconic Glebe Island Silos, as all as further west in Parramatta and along the M4.