Business of Media
Lehrmann lawyers to fight for rape charges to be dropped
Lawyers for Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann are today expected to argue two rape charges against him should be thrown out due to a lack of evidence, reports News Corp’s Kate Kyriacou.
The second part of Lehrmann’s committal hearing will be heard today in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court where it will be determined whether the case will proceed to trial.
The 29-year-old has been excused from attending today’s proceedings in person and is expected to watch via video link.
See also: Bruce Lehrmann loses defamation case against 10 and Lisa Wilkinson
ASIC’s failure is it has become too big to regulate
A few years ago an idea was discussed at a meeting of ASIC commissioners over whether the regulator’s enforcement officers should be issued with jackets emblazoned with “ASIC” in big, bold letters on the back, reports News Corp’s Eric Johnston.
The idea was to wear them while they were doing a raid or investigation in the field, much like the FBI or the powerful US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms – or even Australia’s own Federal Police.
The proposal was quickly knocked on the head, but was serious enough to be considered by the high-powered meeting.
It went to the heart of the problem that has long dogged the nation’s corporate regulator: Visibility.
See also: ASIC commits to continue greenwashing crackdown in 2024
Paramount and Skydance near merger deal
For months, Paramount’s controlling shareholder and Skydance sought to seal a merger that would transform the media industry, before those talks ground to a sudden halt in June. Now, just weeks later, the two sides have reached a preliminary deal to merge, four people familiar with the negotiations said, reports The New York Time‘s Benjamin Mullin and .
The agreement will still have to be approved by a special committee of Paramount’s board of directors, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as the talks resumed.
News Brands
Bridget Brennan, Emma Rebellato for News Breakfast role?
If recent episodes are anything to go by then the two hot contenders for News Breakfast co-hosting roles are ABC’s Bridget Brennan and Emma Rebellato, reports TV Tonight‘s David Knox.
Both have undertaken multiple hosting duties in place of Lisa Millar, who announced her departure yesterday after five years on air.
Both Brennan and Rebellato have tackled morning television’s Live diet of news, politics, business, arts, science, medical and more. On the ABC show the demands are compounded by the absence of ad breaks.
See also: Lisa Millar to farewell ABC News Breakfast in August
Social Media
Meta’s Threads hits 175 million users ahead of one-year anniversary
Meta Platforms’ newest social media offering Threads has over 175 million monthly active users, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed on Wednesday, ahead of its first anniversary, reports Reuters‘ Yuvraj Malik and Jaspreet Singh.
A challenger to X, formerly known as Twitter, Threads hit app stores on July 5 last year, timed to win users from the de facto micro-blogging site during its chaotic takeover by billionaire Elon Musk.
It garnered 100 million users in less than a week, partly because of an easy way for users of the popular platform Instagram to set up their Threads profiles, but some early users subsequently dropped off.
Television
MasterChef Australia’s Andy Allen tears up as he pays tribute to ‘great mate’ Jock Zonfrillo during emotional episode
MasterChef Australia kicked off on Wednesday with a heartwarming tribute to the late Jock Zonfrillo, reports News Corp’s Joshua Haigh.
Before the competition for the night began, the remaining contestants were asked to nominate their food heroes.
Everyone chose a family member, and then it came to Andy Allen who took a moment to pay tribute to his “late, great mate, Jock”.
Streaming
Massive movie flop finds new fans on Netflix
None of the big movie releases coming up over the next couple months are about DC Comics superheroes like Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman, as they have been over the course of years and decades, reports News Corp’s Jesse Hassenger.
Instead, social media is inundated with photos arriving from somewhere near the set of Superman: Legacy, next summer’s big DC reboot kickoff, directed by new DC impresario James Gunn.
So it doesn’t seem quite right that just a year ago, The Flash was speeding through its brief cinema run. Now the movie is sitting pretty in the Netflix Top 10. The recent run of DC movies has never been more accessible. But can this do much to turn their reputations around after the fact?