Business of Media
Rupert Murdoch turned ‘blind eye’ to wrongdoing, Prince Harry lawyers allege
Rupert Murdoch “turned a blind eye” to an extensive cover-up of wrongdoing at his newspapers, Prince Harry’s lawyers have alleged at the High Court in London, reports The Guardian’s Alexandra Topping.
The direct allegations against the 93-year-old billionaire about activity at his publications are the latest stage in Harry’s war against the tabloid media, with lawyers for the Duke of Sussex and others accusing the media mogul of overseeing a “culture of impunity” at News Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Sun and the now defunct News of the World.
Apollo offers $11 billion for Paramount’s Hollywood studio
Private-equity firm Apollo Global Management APO has made an $11 billion offer to buy Paramount Global’s triangle film and TV studio, according to people familiar with the situation, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Jessica Toonkel.
The bid comes as an independent committee of the company’s directors is reviewing another offer from Skydance Media to merge with all of Paramount, which also owns CBS, Nickelodeon, and a number of other cable networks.
Paramount’s studio has long been an acquisition target. Netflix was among a number of companies that expressed interest over the past few years in buying the studio, which is behind such movies as Top Gun: Maverick and A Quiet Place, according to other people familiar with the situation.
Kate Middleton, Britney Spears, and the online trolls doubting their existence
Kate Middleton has long been a magnet for unproven rumors: She pressured an art gallery to remove a royal portrait! She split from her husband! She changed her hairstyle to distract from pregnancy rumours! She did not give birth to her daughter, reports The New York Times‘ Tiffany Hsu.
This year, speculation kicked into overdrive. Middleton — now Catherine, Princess of Wales — has lain low since Christmas. Kensington Palace said she was recovering from “a planned abdominal surgery” and unlikely to resume royal duties until after Easter. Conspiracy theorists had other, more sinister ideas. The only explanation for the future queen’s long absence, they said, was that she was missing, dying, or deceased, and that someone was trying to cover it up.
What’ll happen when Facebook stops paying for news? Here’s what happened when radio stopped paying for music
Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money, reports The Conversation’s Peter Martin.
In Australia, they are paid at rates so low they come close to making streaming services look generous. By law, no radio station can be made to pay more than 1% of the station’s gross revenue for all of the music it plays, even if it is an all-music station. By the time the labels have had their cut, the artists get a lot less.
Legislation now before the Senate would remove the ceiling, allowing radio stations and the representatives of musical artists to negotiate freely, with a final decision made by a tribunal in cases where they can’t reach agreement.
See Also: Different license rates for metro vs regional? What happens if Fair Pay for Radio Play passes?
First it was Facebook, then Twitter. Is Reddit about to become rubbish too?
Like many people who were laid off and house-bound during the Covid lockdowns, I spent an unfathomable amount of time learning an arcane skill that in no way would bolster my CV. Bookbinding was a hobby many of my friends and family were surprised I’d taken up – I wasn’t particularly skilled with my hands, and until then my life had largely revolved around technology and the internet, reports The Guardian’s Hussein Kesvani.
I spent hours learning complicated stitching techniques, the chemical composition of adhesives, and how to determine by touch where paper was made. All of my learning took place on a Subreddit – a kind of bulletin board or forum on the website Reddit – called r/bookbinding, where a small online community of bookbinders would offer tips and advice on projects I was working on, completely free of charge. In my mind, it was as good as a pricey art school, providing a supportive, enthusiastic community that allowed me to learn the skill at my own pace – and without going bankrupt in the process.
Television
Taskmaster Australia cast revealed
10 has been filming a third season of Taskmaster Australia in Sydney, reports TV Tonight.
TV Tonight can confirm the 5 comedians to feature are:
Anne Edmonds
Jenny Tian
Josh Thomas
Lloyd Langford
Wil Anderson
Channel 10 announces cast member to star on I’m A Celebrity 2024
Australian reality star turned radio host Brittany Hockley is the first celeb to be announced as a contestant on this year’s season of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, reports News Corp’s Lexie Cartwright.
The former Bachelor runner-up, who is a co-host on KIIS Network’s THE PICK UP, will enter the South African jungle this weekend, with the premiere episode set to air Sunday night on Channel 10.
Selling Houses Australia returns for a massive 16th season
Foxtel favourite Selling Houses Australia is set to return for a massive new season, reports News Corp’s Christine Estera.
Real estate expert Andrew Winter, interior design expert Wendy Moore and landscape designer Dennis Scott are all back for Season 16 of the award-winning show.
The LifeStyle original series premieres on Wednesday evening on the platform and is also available to stream the LifeStyle App on Hubbl – the innovative new TV technology that merges all your favourite streaming apps in one.
Sports Media
Howie dead set angry
Broadcaster Mark Howard has hit back at a dig from SEN host and player agent Liam Pickering over a radio rivalry, reports News Corp’s Jackie Epstein.
Last week, Pickering couldn’t resist a jibe at the number of hosts who had departed Triple M’s Dead Set Legends over the years — a show pitted against his Off The Bench program in the Saturday morning timeslot.
Howard was one of them, and suggested Pickering’s comments were driven by bitterness.
“I did Dead Set Legends, I did it with Fev (Brendan Fevola) who’s now getting paid $1.5m on FOX FM, I did it with Nath (Nathan Brown) who’s got about 17 different media jobs. I did it with Campbell Brown who does what he wants and the Duck (Wayne Carey) is so big he’s moved out of media,” Howard said on Triple M.