Business of Media
‘Godfathers of climate chaos’: UN chief urges global fossil-fuel advertising ban
Fossil-fuel companies are the “godfathers of climate chaos” and should be banned in every country from advertising akin to restrictions on big tobacco, the secretary general of the United Nations has said while delivering dire new scientific warnings of global heating, reports The Guardian’s Oliver Milman.
In a major speech in New York on Wednesday, António Guterres called on news and tech media to stop enabling “planetary destruction” by taking fossil-fuel advertising money while warning the world faces “climate crunch time” in its faltering attempts to stem the crisis.
ABC boss condemns ‘unacceptable’ sexual harassment survey findings
The ABC is failing to meet its own standards on bullying and sexual harassment, managing director David Anderson has said, after an internal survey found 13 per cent of respondents in the national broadcaster’s news division reported they had experienced sexual harassment in the past two years, reports Nine Publishing’s Calum Jaspan.
Anderson told staff on Wednesday that the findings of the survey, conducted in the second half of 2023, were unacceptable.
News Corp boss defends $376m AI deal amid looming job cuts
The Australian boss of News Corp has urged the prime minister to lobby the US for the break-up of tech giants, while defending the company’s commercial deals with a major artificial intelligence firm amid preparations for further redundancies, report Nine Publishing’s Calum Jaspan and Olivia Ireland.
Referring to the tech platforms as “unavoidable trading partners”, Michael Miller rebuked the likes of Facebook, X and TikTok for refusing to subscribe to Australian rules or values, pushing for the government to implement legislation to curb the platforms and force them to attain a “social licence” to operate locally.
Radio
Ray Hadley on radio ratings: ‘It will come to an end one day’
Ray Hadley concedes the day will come that he will be toppled from the top of the radio ratings, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
In a sit-down interview with DTTV, the veteran broadcaster said that while he is thrilled to continue his reign on top, he doesn’t take audience loyalty for granted.
On Tuesday, Hadley notched up his record-breaking 157th consecutive ratings win for his long running morning program on 2GB.n “It is a bit unrealistic and surreal,” Hadley told DTTV.
See Also: Daily Tele launches DTTV: ‘This is the future of news’
Television
The ABC’s version of Love Island? Don’t adjust your TV set
When the public broadcaster’s bosses aren’t repeatedly kicking themselves in the groin or fumbling their defences to transparently unwinnable culture wars, it’s easy to forget the ABC actually does a lot of really good stuff that isn’t news, reports Nine Publishing’s Mark Di Stefano.
The ABC created a new “chief content officer” position in 2023, poaching production veteran Chris Oliver-Taylor from Netflix. This week, he sent out an expansive memo to staff with a “content update”. Much was pretty routine, including upcoming TV shows like rebooted Spicks and Specks and new comedy Austin, and keeping spirits up in the radio team after humdrum survey results.
Then came the executive’s riff on reality TV. Oliver-Taylor assured staff that, “don’t worry, we are not going to commission [Nine’s] Married At First Sight”.
Samuel Johnson reveals brutal fallout of infamous Logies moment with Molly Meldrum
Samuel Johnson appeared on 2DAY FM’s Hughsey, Ed & Erin on Wednesday where he opened up about his long-running feud with Molly Meldrum, reports News Corp’s Joshua Haigh.
Back in 2017, Meldrum rushed the stage at the Logies during Johnson’s acceptance speech – then took over the microphone, giving a rambling and at times explicit speech of his own.
The win – for playing Meldrum in the two-part miniseries about his life, Molly – came at a pivotal point in Johnson’s own life. The actor had become a tireless fundraiser for cancer research, starting the Love Your Sister charity in 2012 with his sister Connie, who had been diagnosed with multiple cancers throughout her life.
I come to bury the Bachelor, but let’s not give up on true TV love entirely
In mid-May, Network Ten officially announced The Bachelor Australia had been axed after a disastrous 11th season that premiered to its lowest audience ever, with just 319,000 viewers tuning in to see Ben, Luke and Wesley hand out what would be the final thorny roses. (Perhaps the only person to truly see what was coming was Brea, who wisely dumped Wesley in the final episode), reports Nine Publishing’s Louise Rugendyke.
It was, at its heart, a reality show made for a simpler, better time. One in which we naively thought love could be found on TV, where shoving 24 women into a mansion in Sydney’s Hills District and depriving them of any gainful activity other than fighting for the affection of a bloke and unfettered access to a cheese platter was OK.