Business of Media
Roberts-Smith devastated as six murders and cover-up alleged
Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation case against Nine will ultimately come down to “who is lying”, the media company’s barrister said, as the former soldier told the court it was “confronting” to hear allegations he was involved in six murders and a cover-up while on deployment in Afghanistan, reports AFR‘s Max Mason.
Nicholas Owens, SC, acting for Nine, said he would call 21 current and former members of the Special Air Service Regiment, some of whom had committed crimes, as witnesses in the trial.
Roberts-Smith took the witness stand on Thursday for the first time, and described hearing the allegations against him outlined by Mr Owens as “devastating”.
Roberts-Smith’s texts to ‘mistress’ read in court as Nine alleges assault
Text messages between Ben Roberts-Smith and a woman he was in a relationship with are “powerful” evidence he assaulted her, Nine newspapers claim, reports News Corp’s Perry Duffin.
Nine claims Roberts-Smith assaulted his mistress at the Realm Hotel in Canberra after a glitzy function with then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and military officials in 2018.
Roberts-Smith denies he struck the woman after, according to Nine claims, her drunken behaviour threatened to expose their relationship.
The soldier’s legal team say he was separated from his wife at the time of the relationship and he “abhors violence against women”.
Netflix enters E-commerce space
There will be caps, necklaces, charms and hoodies, all of it for sale at Netflix.shop, a site that goes live on Thursday, when the world’s biggest streaming company plants a flag in the territory of e-commerce, reports The New York Times’ John Koblin and Sapna Maheshwari.
The shopping site gives Netflix a new way to bring in cash after a quarter in which its explosive growth showed signs of slowing down in the increasingly crowded field of streamed entertainment, one that now includes a formidable rival in Disney+.
Unlike some of its competitors, including Hulu and HBO Max, Netflix, the home of Bridgerton, The Witcher and The Crown, does not have commercials, relying on the monthly fees paid by its more than 200 million subscribers around the world. That’s where Netflix.shop comes in.
Entertainment
Shock Human Nature split stuns fans
When the Australian pop-vocal group Human Nature return to Las Vegas they’ll be one man down – permanently, reports News Corp’s Kathy McCabe.
Band member Phil Burton has decided to move back to Sydney, while the remaining members are hoping to re-start their careers in Vegas next year.
“I made a family decision,” Burton tells Stellar On Friday.
“Las Vegas was a fantastic experience but it was time to come home. It was a hard decision. I hope the guys do really well with a new show. As far as Australia goes, when there are opportunities to play, they’ll fly here and I’ll jump back on board, and it will be the four of us as always.”
Television
‘The Late Show’ Wins Season For Fifth Consecutive Year
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was the most-watched late-night show in total viewers for the 2020-21 television season – its fifth consecutive year at the top, reports Deadline‘s Peter White.
There are, however, some interesting battles emerging across the broadcast networks involving Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Late Show with James Corden.
Using full-season Live+7 ratings from Nielsen, Colbert comfortably won the spot with a total average of 2.95 million viewers – also the first time ever the CBS show has had a five-season winning streak. But for the first time in its 18-year history, Jimmy Kimmel Live! beat NBC’s The Tonight Show in total viewers. The ABC show beat the NBC show 1.75M-1.54M across all viewers.
Axed: Doctor Doctor ending with Season 5
Nine and producers Easy Tiger have confirmed Doctor Doctor is wrapping with its fifth season.
There are just two more episodes in the much-loved rural drama starring Rodger Corser as bad boy, Dr. Hugh Knight.
Channel 9’s head of drama, Andy Ryan and Easy Tiger’s Founder and Producer, Ian Collie said in a joint statement, “For five incredible seasons, Australia has shared in the journey of everybody’s favourite bad boy doctor, Hugh Knight, his fabulously flawed family and the beautiful town of Whyhope. But all journeys have a destination, and after five seasons it’s finally crunch time in Hugh’s roller-coaster search for redemption and love. We are thrilled to bring the story to a fitting climax in a way that honours the characters and will surprise and delight the audience. Doctor Doctor has been a domestic and international success, as well as a showcase of outstanding Australian talent. Channel 9 and Easy Tiger are immensely proud of what Doctor Doctor has achieved. It has been a privilege to entertain our loyal viewers, as well as collaborate with our magnificent cast and crew for five seasons”.
Traditional owners reject Netflix ‘donation’ offer over Byron Baes
The corporation representing Byron Bay’s traditional owners has rejected an offer of a donation from Netflix, as the streamer continues to battle with local opposition to its controversial reality TV series Byron Baes, reports SMH‘s Karl Quinn.
On Thursday, The Arakwal Corporation, representing the Bundjalung people of Byron Bay, issued a short statement following a meeting of its board of directors in which it refuted suggestions that Netflix or its production company Eureka had consulted with the traditional owners of the region prior to commencing work on the docusoap about social media influencers in the area.
The statement issued by Arakwal general manager Sharon Sloane said the directors “do not accept a donation from Eureka Productions or Netflix”, that they “are not in agreement with the nature of the series”, and that they “support the wider Byron community in opposing the production”.