Business of Media
Google’s Australian business tops $5 billion despite COVID-19 pandemic
Search giant Google took in more than $5 billion from advertisers and corporate customers in Australia for the first time in 2020, despite the first recession in nearly three decades and a sharp downturn in advertising spending caused by the coronavirus pandemic, reports SMH’s Zoe Samios.
Financial accounts lodged on Thursday with the corporate regulator for the 2020 calendar and financial year show Google’s gross revenue in Australia grew 8 per cent to $5.2 billion in 2020, a fresh high. Advertising revenue hit $4.4 billion, up from $4.1 billion the previous year.
Google said its net revenue, which excludes certain costs of sales, was $1.4 billion, up from $1.2 billion the year before. Google made a pre-tax profit of $239 million in 2020, compared to $134 million in 2019. Its company tax bill rose to $76 million from $59 million.
No penalty as Seven and Nine breach broadcast rules over taxi driver footage
Following the investigation findings, both broadcasters have committed to undertake further training on their privacy obligations and to advise the ACMA of the outcome of this training.
Separate investigations into 7News Gold Coast and Gold Coast Nine news reports found that the stations aired footage of the violent attack without adequately concealing the victim’s identity or obtaining their consent. They failed to adequately protect the victim’s privacy and did not exercise sufficient sensitivity when broadcasting images of a person who had survived a traumatic experience.
ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said it was important broadcasters carefully consider the footage included in news programs.
“Television broadcasters have a responsibility to handle personal information and distressing material with care,” O’Loughlin said.
Under the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2015 broadcasters are required to take care when airing material that invades a person’s privacy or contains distressing material.
“That private material may already be in the public domain does not give broadcasters free license to re- publish it to a broader audience such as in a television news report. Doing so could be a further and more significant invasion of privacy.”
News Brands
A ‘low act’: Experts blast New Corp’s withdrawal from regions
Media experts say the decision by News Corp to bring most of its regional newspapers under the umbrella of its capital city mastheads is a “low act” that will hurt those communities affected, reports SMH‘s Stuart Layt.
At least 20 local newspapers have been absorbed by the respective Brisbane and Sydney outlets The Courier-Mail and The Daily Telegraph, with regional readers wanting to access their old papers told to subscribe to the relevant masthead and then find their old paper as a news category tab.
Just a handful of Queensland regional dailies remain independent of the main mastheads – the Gold Coast Bulletin, the Townsville Bulletin, the Cairns Post and the Toowoomba’s The Chronicle.
Roberts-Smith threatens to sue ex-wife for talking to Nine lawyers
Ben Roberts-Smith has threatened to sue his ex-wife and undo a property settlement if she breaches a confidentiality agreement in giving evidence against him in a major defamation trial against Nine over stories published alleging war crimes against the Victoria Cross recipient, reports AFR‘s Max Mason.
Lawyers for Roberts-Smith were seeking a more detailed outline of evidence from his former wife – now known as Emma Roberts – who is testifying in favour of Nine.
Barrister Nicholas Owens, SC, acting for Nine, revealed to the Federal Court on Thursday that Roberts-Smith threatened Roberts with an injunction, as well as threats to sue for damages and undo a property settlement.
Doing my own research: why vaccine scepticism is an easy sell
Comedian-turned-podcast host Joe Rogan offered his listeners a dubious bit of advice this week, reports The Washinton Post‘s Philip Bump.
“I think you should get vaccinated if you’re vulnerable,” Rogan said of the effort to increase vaccination rates for the coronavirus.
“. . . But if you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I’ll go no.”
His reasoning? That “if you’re a healthy person, and you’re exercising all the time, and you’re young, and you’re eating well, like, I don’t think you need to worry about this.”
In a world where media confidence has consistently eroded over the past several decades, there is a large audience for those who purport to be making their own independent evaluations of situations.
Television
Launch of Nine’s Weakest Link, hosted by Magda Szubanski, to be delayed
Controversial media personality Magda Szubanski’s return to the TV screen has been delayed and comes after she recently lashed out at the Prime Minister’s wife, reports News Corp’s Sophie Elsworth.
The Melbourne-based comedian is hosting Channel 9’s Weakest Link program, which was locked in to launch on May 4 but this has now been pushed back by weeks.
A Nine spokesman confirmed the reboot of the television game show has been delayed.
“Due to the tight production schedule Weakest Link will now launch at the end of May on Channel 9,” he said.
Amazon says “Over 175 Million” Prime Members streamed movies and shows in last year
Amazon is finally shedding some light on how many of the company’s users watch Amazon Prime Video programming, reports The Hollywood Reporter‘s Alex Weprin.
In its first quarter 2021 earnings report, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said that “as Prime Video turns 10, over 175 million Prime members have streamed shows and movies in the past year, and streaming hours are up more than 70% year over year.” Bezos went on to note the critical and award success of Amazon’s programming, and the success of Amazon Web Services, which now has a $54 billion annual run rate. “We love Prime Video and AWS, and we’re proud to have them in the family,” he said.
The comment from Bezos suggests that the vast majority of Prime members watch at least some Amazon content. For comparison, Netflix had about 204 million worldwide subscribers at the end of 2020, with Disney+ now above 100 million.
Sport
Former Nine executive Alexi Baker to run the ball for NRL
Former Nine Entertainment managing director commercial Alexi Baker has been appointed to the newly created role of NRL chief customer and digital officer, taking on all digital, marketing, and commercial responsibilities, reports AFR‘s Miranda Ward.
NRL executives were informed of the appointment on Thursday, with clubs to be informed on Friday after the discussions between Baker and the NRL were revealed by The Australian Financial Review on Monday.
While it was believed she was going to take on the vacant chief operating officer position, Baker’s role is a newly created position, replacing chief digital officer Alex Alderson who will exit the business after a handover period.
Baker will also take on responsibilities previously included in CEO Andrew Abdo’s portfolio as chief commercial officer, including broadcast rights agreements and game-day entertainment, but not sponsorship.
Three Tests in 11 days: Mid-week Wallabies Tests on the cards against France
The Wallabies could play their first mid-week Test in nine years with officials discussing the possibility of organising three Tests in the space of 11 days in July, reports SMH‘s Tom Decent.
Tuesday and Wednesday Wallabies Tests are on the cards this year against France.
While nothing has been officially signed off, Rugby Australia (RA) and French rugby officials are working towards Test matches between the countries on July 7, 13 and 17 in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
In unprecedented scenes, the Wallabies and Les Bleus could battle it out three times in 11 days, with six-day and four-day breaks splitting the matches.