Business of Media
Seven and Nine fight over ratings crown
Seven has reclaimed the ratings crown for the first time after losing it to rival Nine in 2019. The Kerry Stokes-controlled free-to-air TV company claims. but Nine Entertainment asserts it is number one where it counts, in the key advertising demographic of 25-54-year-olds, reports AFR‘s Miranda Ward.
Seven West Media has celebrated winning 26 of the 41 weeks of the calendar year, and 19 of the 31 weeks in the survey year which excludes the Olympics and Easter.
“Seven is in an unbeatable position for the year any way you cut the numbers. I’m extremely proud of the team to have reclaimed the ratings crown,” Seven West Media chief executive James Warburton said.
For Warburton it is an important achievement, having lost the ratings crown at the end of 2019 to Nine just as he stepped into the CEO role. During the company’s upfront event, designed to sell the network to advertisers, last week Mr Warburton was already crowning the network the ratings king, and is now asserting it is unbeatable this year.
However, weeks won is not the official metric used to assess who has won the ratings battle, with audience share average audience more typically used as the means to assess the yearly winner.
Seven Network embroiled in trademark dispute against 7-Eleven
Seven and Nine have been arch-rivals for decades, but now the nation’s leading commercial broadcaster has declared war on a new opponent, reports News Corp’s Liam Mendes.
The Seven Network has initiated legal proceedings against global convenience store behemoth 7-Eleven, Inc in a landmark trademark dispute.
The TV station claims they would be “disadvantaged” with continued use of the Texas-based company’s logos and trademarks featuring the number seven, according to documents filed in the Federal Court last week.
ABC complaints process under review
The ABC has ordered an independent review into its beleaguered in-house complaints process, which has been the subject of stinging criticism over its failure to adequately address grievances about editorial content, reports News Corp’s James Madden and Sophie Elsworth.
The review has been commissioned by the board, led by ABC chair Ita Buttrose, and follows outrage over the editorial failings of the Ghost Train: Exposed series, which suggested former NSW premier Neville Wran had engaged in corrupt activity.
An independent assessment of that program had found serious editorial shortcomings.
ABC offering financial advice, repayments to underpaid staff
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has told hundreds of employees they may have been underpaid more than expected due to a miscalculation of annual leave taken on public holidays over a six-year period, reports SMH‘s Zoe Samios, Nick Bonyhady and Lisa Visentin.
Emails sent to some staff members late on Friday afternoon, obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, indicate that underpaid staff may be owed more money than expected, or that the scope of underpaid staff may be larger than originally thought.
The ABC is separately providing underpaid journalists who are owed more than $15,000 with additional money to engage external financial advisers about the matter, and is offering to write letters to banks on behalf of employees to help secure loans for about 100 staff who are expected to receive a guaranteed pay cut of up to 20 per cent due to faulty a buyout of some allowances.
Junkee receives non-binding offers from several key outlets
Billboard company oOh!Media has received non-binding offers of between $7 million to $10 million for its youth publication Junkee Media as talks with several potential buyers progress to the next stages, reports SMH‘s Zoe Samios.
Industry sources close to the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential, said several potential bidders have moved to the next round of due diligence after lobbing informal offers almost two weeks ago. The sales team of Junkee Media is now included in the auction, which oOh!Media expects to wrap up before the end of the year.
Facebook may identify trolls in defamation cases
Facebook could reveal the identity of people who post defamatory material on its platform if asked by someone suing for defamation or by a court order, AFR‘s Miranda Ward.
The federal government wants to do more to hold social media platforms accountable as publishers of the content on their platforms and is pursuing a two-track process: defamation law reform and the regulation of online abuse.
Facebook Australia and New Zealand’s director of public policy Mia Garlick said the social media giant “has been working constructively with the Attorney-General’s process for defamation law reform”.
“In our submission, we proposed that an effective regime could include a requirement that internet intermediaries assist complainants to be connected with the authors of potentially defamatory material, subject to a valid court order,” she said.
Entertainment
ARIA withdraws Icon Award given to Denis Handlin
The ARIA Awards Board is revoking its Icon Award given to former Sony Music boss Denis Handlin, reports TV Tonight.
In a single sentence statement the music body announced, “The Board of ARIA has today resolved to withdraw the ARIA award made to Denis Handlin in 2014.”
The news follows the recent dismissal of the longtime music boss, who was the subject of a Four Corners report this week.
Handlin has held various industry positions including Chairman of the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia, Vice Chairman of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and Chairman of the ARIA Industry Chart Committee and has been a member of the ARIA Board from 1984 until 5 June 2021.
Television
Upfronts 2022: What can we expect from 10?
10ViacomCBS unveil their 2022 Upfronts on Wednesday afternoon -expected to encompass 10, 10 BOLD, 10 Peach, 10 Shake, 10 Play, 10 Speaks, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV and possibly Comedy Central & Spike, reports TV Tonight.
Most reality tentpoles are tipped to be renewed, but there will be one absent, and at least one new addition. There’s also one show which has switched from Seven….
As borders begin to re-open production will also step up, making The Amazing Race Australia more viable. In drama The Secrets She Keeps has a second season coming plus Neighbours and Paramount+ has several local titles and one kid’s drama for Nickelodeon.
There is also plenty to come from deals for A-League, W-League, Socceroos, Matildas and AFC Asian Cup.
Lisa Wilkinson opens up on gender pay gap and Karl Stefanovic’s massive money deal in new book
Karl Stefanovic proposed a “Friends-style” equal pay pact with former Today co-host Lisa Wilkinson before ditching her to carve out his own multimillion-dollar deal by playing rival networks off against each other, reports News Corp’s Siobhan Duck.
“Karl said that with Georgie (Gardner) gone, and Ben (Fordham) having left to concentrate more on his radio career outside of Nine, we were the heart and soul of the show,” Wilkinson writes, referring to their former colleagues on the Nine morning flagship.
“Without us, he said, the network would be screwed. They needed us like never before. He wanted us to present to Nine as one entity, an unbreakable duo, with a dual contract on equal pay.”
Stefanovic modelled his proposed deal on the one brokered by the cast of Friends, who lobbied for equal pay together rather than negotiating individual contracts because they recognised that their combined chemistry was integral to its success.
“I was surprised and flattered he thought that about us,” she writes. “The ratings didn’t lie, though. We were regularly winning.”
However, the proposal, in August 2015, was quickly forgotten and follow-up calls from Wilkinson’s manager to Stefanovic went unreturned.
“The silence was suddenly as deafening as it was telling,” Wilkinson reflects. That silence was interrupted weeks later when the media became awash with stories that Stefanovic was restless at Today and looking for greener pastures – and more civilised working hours – at Channel 7.
Lisa Wilkinson reveals her manager had to convey news of Nine sacking
In an exclusive edited extract in News Corp newspapers from her long-awaited autobiography, It Wasn’t Meant To Be Like This, Lisa Wilkinson for the first time reveals what really happened on her last day at Nine: her deeply awkward final encounter with co-host Karl Stefanovic; her bizarre last program; and how a bid for fairer pay led to the shocking discovery that she had been dismissed.
[After an awkward day at Nine, Wilkinson was shunned by her Today colleagues and took at call that afternoon from her manager Nick Fordham.]
My phone rang again. It was Nick. I knew he’d had that meeting with Hugh Marks so I was interested to find out how it went.
‘Hey, Nick …’ I said.
‘I’m just getting into the lift at Channel 9. I’m trying to keep my voice down,’ he whispered. ‘I’ve just left Hugh Marks’ office.’
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘So how did you go?’
Nick: ‘You’re off the show.’
Me: ‘Off what show?’
Nick: ‘You’re off the Today show.’
Me: ‘Sorry, Nick? What do you mean by “off”?’
Nick: ‘Permanently off. Never to appear again. Today was your last day.’
Don’t expect a happy ending, Succession is sliding towards a bloodbath
If you’re looking for clues as to how HBO’s dynastic comedy-drama Succession is going to end, you need look no further than William Shakespeare’s 400-year-old masterworks Romeo and Juliet, Titus Andronicus and Henry VI, Part Two, reports The Sydney Morning Herald’s Michael Idato.
They are among the Bard’s bloodiest works and as Succession enters its third season and an uncivil war is declared within the ranks of the wealthy Roy family, few things are more certain than the fact the hit show is now sliding toward a very unhappy ending.
“It doesn’t feel very like Succession to end with a nice little bow, so I imagine more of a bloodbath is probably on-brand,” says Australian actor Sarah Snook, who plays ambitious Siobhan “Shiv” Roy.
“But that’s the interesting thing right? How the family relates to each other and whether their dynamic will actually prove beneficial for them in terms of their growth spiritually or otherwise. Or whether it will inevitably tear them apart because they can’t face each other in the ways that they need to as a family.”
Morning Wars: Tide turning in Sunrise v Today battle at brekkie
Seven months after the departure of Sam Armytage from the helm of Sunrise, the Today show, buoyed by the popularity of new host Ally Langdon and the boredom of a locked-down east coast population, is fast closing the gap with the nation’s top-rating breakfast show, reports News Corp’s Annette Sharp.
After years of drama and instability at Nine’s Today — the kind of issues one might expect to see on the Apple Plus show Morning Wars — the program is once more resonating with Australian audiences, prompting Seven to unleash a series of late-season changes to Sunrise’s format.
Seven executives have hinted the Sunrise panel may also be reshaped in coming months with the appointment of another key regular presenter, one who would fill the position left vacant in March after Natalie Barr was promoted to Armytage’s chair and entertainment reporter Edwina Bartholomew was tapped to step in as newsreader.
The pregnant Bartholomew, sources have hinted, may return to her old entertainment reporter role in 2022, a move that would in turn allow the network to bring in a new newsreader or return Barr to her former position, should the network decide it needs more female star power at the helm.
Caddick’s widower speaks to Seven for Spotlight special
It’s the interview that’s set to grip the city as Anthony Koletti – the widower of fraudster Melissa Caddick – sits down with 7NEWS Spotlight to reveal what he believes happened to his wife, who disappeared in November 2020, reports The Sun-Herald’s Lucy Manly.
Koletti was paid a rumoured $50,000 for the tell-all special. Channel Seven did not respond to several requests for comment.
The conwoman is missing and presumed dead after her decomposed foot washed up inside a running shoe in February on a beach on the far South Coast. But conspiracy theories abound, including the notion that she may have cut off her own foot.
Meanwhile, the Herald’s Kate McClymont and Nine’s Tom Steinfort are preparing to launch a podcast next month about Caddick and the missing millions.
Publishing
New Vogue cover: Why Succession star Sarah Snook is keeping it real in Hollywood
She’s been nominated for an Emmy and stars in a hit TV series but Sarah Snook is keeping it real in Hollywood, reports News Corp’s Nadia Salemme.
The Australian actor – who plays ambitious media heiress Siobhan “Shiv” Roy in US drama Succession – has called out the industry’s “unrealistic beauty standard”.
“I mean, every time you get a role, you’re like: ‘Oh, this one’s the one. I’m going to really work out and get fit and look like the movie star I would hope to become or have a career doing,’” Snook told Vogue Australia’s upcoming November issue.
“And every time, I’m like: ‘Can I really be f***ed subscribing to an unrealistic beauty standard that then perpetuates and makes more women unhappy because they feel like they can’t attain something that’s not actually realistic anyway?’”
Sports Media
NRL to reveal huge $2 billion TV deal as Channel Nine deal looms, Seven walks
The NRL is poised to announce an historic new five-year broadcast deal with Channel 9 which could net rugby league a staggering $600m, reports News Corp’s Dean Ritchie.
News Corp can also reveal Channel 7 has walked away from broadcast negotiations.
With Fox Sports having already committed to a deal until the end of 2027, it now appears the NRL’s new broadcast deal could be worth up to $2 billion — a triumph for ARLC chairman Peter V’landys.
There is just one final barrier between Nine and the NRL — the cost.
It is understood Nine has tabled a deal worth between $105m and $110m a year.
The NRL — seeking the best deal possible — may push Nine to dig deeper and outlay $120m a year for rugby league.
Seven was a genuine player in the discussions but is also tied to a rich deal with the AFL until the end of 2025.
News Corp has been told Seven wanted to pay around $30m to cover State of Origin each season. That offer has essentially been withdrawn.
Seven had also sought to cover the Sunday 4pm match each week and had spoken about broadcasting another game each round in a share deal with Fox Sports.
Aware their station had lost its cricket rights and their rugby union ratings were, at best, modest, Nine became anxious at Seven’s interest.
Peter V’Landy’s guests at The Everest included media bidding for NRL rights
The Everest Chairman’s Room revealed the post-pandemic pecking order, reports Nine’s CBD columnist Samantha Hutchinson.
The media contingent assembled included Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby, Foxtel boss Patrick Delany and News Corp Australia’s executive chairman Michael Miller.
Ascendant Nine breakfast TV hosts Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon were spotted along with Nine sports anchor Cameron Williams and Nine publishing boss James Chessell – as well as the Herald’s executive editor Tory Maguire and editor Lisa Davies. Indeed, Nine talent outnumbered News Corp perhaps for the first time in a while – no doubt a good thing given there’s an NRL rights negotiation on foot.
Star of the show, as always, was Peter V’landys, who runs racing in NSW in between being executive chairman of the NRL. The code’s chief executive Andrew Abdo was also there. The News contingent included The Australian’s editor-in-chief Chris Dore, Sky News chief executive Paul Whittaker and Daily Telegraph editor Ben English. Seven chief executive James Warburton rounded out the media on show – his network is now a broadcast partner for the horses.