Business of Media
Lachlan Murdoch’s bid to strike out parts of Crikey defamation defence fails
Both Lachlan Murdoch and online publication Crikey have been dealt a blow in court ahead of a landmark case that’s set to test Australia’s new defamation laws, reports the ABC’s Isobel Roe.
Ahead of the trial both parties filed interlocutory applications trying to strike out parts of each other’s pleadings, but Justice Michael Wigney has dismissed them both.
Murdoch’s legal team had tried to argue that a chunk of Crikey’s public interest defences should be struck out, because they were evasive, ambiguous, and irrelevant.
The application claimed that the public interest test should only be applied to the alleged defamatory parts of the story, not the entire article.
But Justice Wigney said his arguments put forward by Murdoch’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC, were “rather high, wide and handsome”.
Rupert Murdoch’s right-hand man, Ken Cowley, dies
Rupert Murdoch’s right-hand man, Ken Cowley, has died after a stroke, reports 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
The 87-year-old spent 40 years at the helm of News Corp and had been battling motor neurone disease.
Chris Smith has paid tribute to the media titan with Ben Fordham.
[Listen to the interview here]
Stan not for sale but open to partnerships, as ‘peak subscriber’ nears
Nine management has shut down rumours its Stan streaming service is for sale, while acknowledging the company remains open to a strategic partnership with international content companies, reports Nine Publishing’s Edmund Tadros.
Separate consumer research by Deloitte, released on Sunday, highlighted that the subscription entertainment services market continues to grow despite the gloomy economic outlook and increased cost of living concerns caused by rising inflation.
Morningstar also issued a bullish report on Nine on Friday, stating that Stan had “carved out a niche we believe can persist” and that the streaming service was well-placed to survive expected consolidation in the local streaming market.
Facebook says it is prepared to block news content in Canada
Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. has warned Canada it is prepared to block the sharing of Canadian news content—like it did in Australia last year—unless the Liberal government amends legislation that would compel big digital companies to compensate domestic media outlets, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Paul Vieira.
The legislation is under review by a parliamentary committee, and lawmakers voted this week to stop hearing further testimony from witnesses. Facebook said it wasn’t given an opportunity to testify, so late Friday it issued a statement outlining the company’s concerns with Canada’s proposed rules—and a warning.
“Faced with adverse legislation that is based on false assumptions that defy the logic of how Facebook works, we feel it is important to be transparent about the possibility that we may be forced to consider whether we continue to allow the sharing of news content in Canada,” said Marc Dinsdale, head of media partnerships at Meta’s Canadian unit.
News Brands
ABC staffing numbers climb to their highest level in five years
Staff numbers at the ABC have increased to their highest levels in five years despite the broadcaster cutting dozens of research positions in June, new figures show, reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
The ABC had 4563 employees – some 3825 in ongoing positions and 738 on contract – on June 30, the public broadcaster’s annual report released last week shows. That is an 11 per cent increase on 2018, when the ABC had 4108 staff of which 3332 were ongoing.
It is the first time staffing levels have risen above 4500 since 2017, when the public broadcaster had 4939 employees. The new figures show one in two staff are in NSW.
An ABC spokesman attributed the rise in employee numbers to a number of changes, including the creation of new roles after the organisation struck a deal with Google and Facebook following the introduction of the News Media Bargaining Code in 2021.
ABC to shift spending from TV and radio to digital in bid to win youth audiences
Australia’s national broadcaster is considering reducing the amount of money it spends on traditional television and radio broadcasts and allocating the funding to its digital sites such as ABC iview as part of a refresh of the five-year strategy it unveiled in 2020, reports Nine Publishing’s Zoe Samios.
Media sources familiar with the changes, who requested anonymity to speak freely about confidential meetings, said ABC staff were reviewing the five-year plan with intention to provide more rigor around efforts to engage younger audiences.
The internal strategic talks have coincided with separate plans by the government to move the ABC and SBS to five-year funding period, which is expected to be announced at the federal budget on Tuesday. The ABC declined to comment.
Entertainment
Taylor Swift smashes records with Midnights, becoming most-streamed artist on Spotify
Taylor Swift is the first artist ever to have 200 million streams in a single day on Spotify, reports News Corp’s Mikaela Wilkes.
As the clock ticked closer to 12am (EST) on Friday, October 21, Swiftie fans around the world waited up in earnest.
Her 10th studio album, and fifth in just over two years, was set to drop.
In less than 24 hours after its release, the highly anticipated album has already broken two major records on Spotify.
Taylor Swift thanked her fans for “doing something mind blowing” as her new LP broke the Spotify record for most-streamed album in a single day, with 184.7M streams.
Swift also broke the record for the most-streamed artist in a single day in global streaming giant’s history.
The pop icon occupies the entire top 13 global Spotify songs.
Television
‘They are coming’: Foxtel boss predicts HBO will launch Australian service
Foxtel boss Patrick Delany has said he expects HBO, the premium US network behind hit shows such as Succession and Euphoria, to launch a direct-to-consumer service in Australia in a move that could reshape the fiercely competitive streaming market, reports Nine Publishing’s Zoe Samios.
Delany told attendees at a conference in Singapore last month that Foxtel believes HBO, which is owned by US studio giant Warner Bros Discovery, is exploring the launch of a streaming service in Australia.
“In the case of HBO/Discovery and NBC Universal, it’s been interesting to see whether as stand alone, they’re strong enough to survive,” he said at the Media Partners Asia event, according to a video obtained by this masthead. “HBO/Warner Bros certainly are indicating they are coming to the market”.
Foxtel, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, outbid Nine Entertainment Co and its streaming service Stan in 2020 for the rights to a range of HBO programs and Warner Bros shows. That contract, believed to be worth up to $200 million a year at its peak, expires in late 2023.
How Millennials are continuing our love affair with ‘real estate porn’
The Australian property market may be cooling down, but the market for property TV has never been hotter. After almost 20 years on air, The Block is still a ratings blockbuster, reports Nine Publishing’s Meg Watson.
And our streaming services are increasingly stacked with variations of the genre – from classic home reno shows (Grand Designs, Love It Or List It) to semi-scripted offerings that focus on the business of selling luxury properties.
Binge is getting in on the action. Selling in the City, the platform’s first local lifestyle commission, sees designers Rosie Morley and Paddy Milne “elevate the design of Australia’s most in-demand inner-city properties with the goal to increase the property’s market value”.
It’s a familiar concept, but with a new twist: the show is by and supposedly for Millennials.
Dr Fiona Allon, a cultural studies lecturer who’s extensively researched Australians’ love of renovation and the home, says this is the first property show she’s seen specifically targeted to a younger generation. But it doesn’t surprise her at all.
“I’ve interviewed a lot of Millennials who have been going to property market seminars about ‘how to be a property investor’ and borrowed huge amounts of money to invest.”
Megan Pustetto, 31-year-old host of the reality TV podcast So Dramatic and founder of the site of the same name, is not one of these people (“I don’t own a home. I rent. I have no plans to own a home,” she says, laughing). But she still regularly watches traditional reno shows such as The Block.
“I just love looking at all of the houses and seeing the process behind it. Someone who has a home might look at these shows as a practical guide to real estate … But I think the average Australian, even if they don’t own a home, still loves that kind of aspirational element.”
Jodie Whittaker exits Doctor Who with surprise regeneration twist
Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as the first woman to lead Doctor Who came to a spectacular end after four years on Sunday night in a special episode featuring a host of returning faces from the 59-year-old show’s past – and a surprise twist when she regenerated not into her recently announced successor, Ncuti Gatwa, but into the returning Time Lord David Tennant, reports The Guardian’s Martin Belam.
Gatwa, however appeared briefly in a trailer at the end of the programme, saying “Someone tell me what the hell is going on here?”
The 90-minute special, The Power of the Doctor, was made as part of the BBC’s centenary celebrations, and also featured cameos from actors who had piloted the Tardis in the 1980s and 90s, with Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann all reprising the role of the Doctor, appearances that had been kept a closely guarded secret in advance by the BBC’s publicity machine.
Radio
Kyle and Jackie O address ‘hissy fit’ that saw them walk out mid-show
Kyle and Jackie O have returned to the airwaves this morning, opening up about the “hissy fit” that saw them dramatically walk out of their own show after being “dumped” by their censors mid-interview, reports News Corp’s Bronte Coy.
“Good morning … Well, we’ve made it back, who would’ve thought?” Kyle joked to his co-host, before admitting he’d been told he had been “testy” lately by his manager, Bruno Bouchet.
“Bruno did say, maybe you’ve been a bit grumpy, you do have a new child and you’ve been working 20 hours a day.”
Kyle then brought up Jackie’s appearance at the Mediaweek annual Power lunch on Friday in the wake of their storm-out, at which it was revealed she and her longtime co-host had topped the publication’s inaugural Star Power 25 list, a countdown of this country’s “top 25 most powerful talent on screen and on air.”
“Out of all the stars, we were number one – what a day to win it,” Kyle added of the Mediaweek accolade.
See Also: Star Power 25: 2022
WSFM radio hosts Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones to re-sign for two more years
Brendan Jones and Amanda Keller’s radio contracts are up, reports News Corp’s Annette Sharp.
A fortnight after Keller’s reality TV show The Living Room was dropped by 10, an event that coincided with her 10 contract lapsing, the popular presenter and her radio partner are in talks to ink a new agreement with WS owner ARN.
Sources indicated the process was a mere formality now with Jones and Keller set to re-sign for another two years.
2023 will mark the couple’s 18th year on air together in the breakfast shift on WS.
Sports Media
Major sport events need to be protected from streamers: expert
The federal government should strengthen rules designed to keep major sporting events on free-to-air TV by adding more women’s sports to the list of protected matches and closing loopholes in the current scheme to ensure it captures streaming services, reports Nine Publising’s Edmund Tadros.
Western Sydney University’s David Rowe also believes that the government should not allow online streamers to have more access to events now on the list because services such as Foxtel’s Kayo Sport are still less accessible to Australians than free-to-air TV.
The federal government has flagged sweeping changes to the anti-siphoning scheme, which keeps a small list of sporting events “of national importance and cultural significance”, such as the AFL and NRL finals, on free-to-air TV. That could include introducing a two-tier system, which could give Foxtel greater access to bid for sporting events at the same time as free-to-air networks.
“I would say yes, there has to be a list. But it needs to be reformed. The list needs to include sports which historically have not been regarded as significant, specifically women and minority sports,” said Professor Rowe.
ESPN, Formula One reach new broadcast agreement
ESPN and Formula One announced a new broadcast deal Saturday that will keep the global motor-sports series on the network through 2025, reports the Wall Street Journal’s Ginger Adams Otis.
The agreement will keep the current commercial-free format for live races on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC in the US, which are all owned by Walt Disney Co. ESPN has broadcast F1 in the U.S. since 2018.
At least 16 races will air on ABC and ESPN each season, the network said in announcing the renewal. ESPN Deportes will continue as the Spanish-language home of F1 in the U.S.
Race weekends will continue to include live telecasts of practice sessions and qualifying, as well as prerace and postrace coverage. The new agreement includes an increased focus on qualifying, with more sessions airing on ESPN or ESPN2.