Business of Media
Ben Rolleston appointed Audible country manager for Australia
Audible has announced it has appointed Ben Rolleston as its new country manager for Australia. Rolleston will oversee Audible’s Australian business and lead its brand & content marketing and customer lifecycle teams. He will also work closely with Audible’s content and customer acquisition leaders and teams to continue elevating Audible’s presence in Australian audio spoken-word entertainment.
For the past four years, Rolleston has held the position of head of Alexa skills and partnerships for Australia. He was key in helping brands, companies and content owners build a voice-first, personalized experience for Australian customers. Commencing Tuesday 26 April, he will report to Audible’s head of operations, APAC – Leanne Cartwright-Bradford.
Ben Rolleston
Before joining Amazon, he served as vice president of commercial and content distribution at Viacom International Media Networks. As part of this position, Rolleston oversaw all commercial, content and product revenue, as well as content distribution, for storied global brands such as MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Rolleston began his career as a lawyer with HT&E, before commercial leadership roles with the Rugby Union Players Association, negotiating contract and commercial terms for the Wallabies, and for Singtel Optus in their digital content team.
This appointment comes off the back of Leanne Cartwright-Bradford being promoted to head of operations APAC, Audible last year. Prior to her current role, Cartwright-Bradford held the position of country manager Australia for three and a half years.
Agencies
whiteGREY appoints Jonathan Casley as chief technology officer
Creative and digital agency whiteGREY has announced the appointment of Jonathan (Jono) Casley as chief technology officer.
Casley, who joins whiteGREY from The Monkeys/Accenture Interactive, is an industry-leading technologist operating at the intersection of creativity and technology. Equal parts systems architect and creative problem solver, he has delivered multiple digital experiences that positively impact customers, communities and clients.
Jonathan Casley
Lee Simpson, CEO of whiteGREY, said: “We have built our agency on being as fluent in technology as we are in creativity and our diverse mix of thinkers help make this a reality. Jono’s arrival can only elevate and accelerate this further. And with Magda and Jono joining our exec team recently, it’s an exciting time for the agency.”
Casley has partnered with brands including Telstra, Audi, UNICEF, NRMA/CGU, Qantas, Ikea, Lion, Lifeline, Drinkwise and CBA.
His work has been recognised at creative, technology and effectiveness awards including Cannes Lions, FWA, D&AD, FWA, Webby, AWARD and Effies.
PHD Melbourne wins Swisse Wellness media account
PHD Melbourne has announced it has been appointed to the Swisse Wellness media account, effective immediately.
The agency, which was appointed without a formal pitch, will be responsible for all media strategy, planning and investment.
The account was formally held by an independent agency, Noisy Beast.
Swisse Wellness, which was founded in Melbourne over 50 years ago, has grown into one of Australia’s leading premium wellness solutions providers to millions of people in over 12 countries.
The win continues to strengthen PHD Australia;s commitment to working with notable and iconic local brands.
Kerrie Wade, Swisse Wellness owner, H&H Global, Marketing Director – ANZ, said: “The appointment of PHD is an exciting and logical step for Swisse and we are already seeing the benefits of our collaboration.
Television
International TV Ratings: Grammys Narrowly Avoid Low in Early Numbers
The Grammy Awards narrowly avoided setting a second straight all-time ratings low, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Rick Porter.
The 64th annual Grammys on Sunday drew 8.93 million viewers in time zone-adjusted fast national ratings from Nielsen. That’s an increase of about 130,000 viewers from the comparable figures last year, which were an all-time low for the awards. The 2021 ceremony was a pared-down affair due to the pandemic, while this year’s show — postponed from January due to the surge in the omicron variant of the coronavirus — more resembled past shows.
The time zone-adjusted ratings don’t include out of home viewing, which will be included in the final ratings out early Tuesday. The 2021 Grammys came in at 9.23 million viewers in the finals last year, down by more than half from their last pre-pandemic telecast in January 2020. Out of home viewing will likely help Sunday’s broadcast edge past last year’s low — CBS is predicting adjustments to about 9.6 million viewers in the final same-day Nielsens.
Snackmasters returning to Nine
2021 series Snackmasters is returning to Nine, reports TV Tonight.
TV Tonight recently sat down with Adrian Swift Head of Content, Production and Development to discuss Q2 titles, led by Lego Masters (that story next week).
Nine teased a number of shows coming this year.
“The biggest chunk of Q2 is the end of MAFS and the beginning of Lego. What then goes in after that, we shall see,” he hinted.
“Travel Guides is back, Celebrity Apprentice, Ninja is back, Beauty & the Geek is back -but I’m not going to tell you when they’re going.”
But he did confirm the return of Snackmasters at a date also to to be confirmed.
“Yes. There’s a there’s a bit of information for you. That isn’t out yet.”
Sport Media
Maddern in box seat for footy shuffle
Jacqui Felgate’s shock departure from Channel 7 on Sunday night raised plenty of chatter.
Who will replace her in the plum gig as sports presenter, news presenter, doing footy updates and hosting the Brownlow?
While she is in talks with the network to continue having a presence in some form, the word is Rebecca Maddern could be set for a footy role.
Maddern joined the network from Nine in January, and has been co-presenting the news on weekends alongside Mike Amor.
Australian Grand Prix Corporation sued over cancelled 2020 event
Australian Grand Prix Corporation is being sued for $8.7m over its last minute cancellation of the 2020 race, reports News Corp’s Tony Sheahan.
World Touring Melbourne has launched Supreme Court action to recoup losses they claim to have incurred after signing headline acts Robbie Williams and Miley Cyrus to perform at the Albert Park event.
A statement of claim says the company lost $7,593,716 in costs and $1,128,357 in estimated profit after the race was scrapped because of coronavirus fears just before gates were due to open.
A breakdown of the promoter’s costs reveal they spent $1.94m attracting Williams, $147,000 on support acts and $3125 for the Veronicas. Cyrus’ fee is not included.
They also note venue and backstage costs of more than $96,000, technical and production $650,000, site costs including toilet hire and traffic management of $450,000, down to the production of wristbands and accreditation at $6400.