Business of Media
Seven West Media won’t commit to dividend timetable
Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes has declined to commit to a timetable to reinstate dividends for shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting, despite pushing a narrative of growth and a return to being the No. 1 free-to-air television network, reports AFR‘s Miranda Ward.
Asked when the company would return to paying dividends – having suspended the practice in 2018 to pay down debts – Stokes said: “While I’m not committing to a timetable at this point, I will commit that we will review the reinstatement of dividends in 2022.
“As I said last year, I’m completely aligned with shareholders’ appetite for a dividend,” he said.
When accused of treating ordinary shareholders abysmally, Stokes said the company was working for shareholders by improving performance.
“No question that there have been issues, particularly from COVID. Before COVID, the company had a plan in place, which would have seen most of those issues resolved, and we were caught with our plans unable to be executed,” he said.
Seven to push ahead with cost cuts, as profit upgrade looms
Seven chief executive officer James Warburton has hailed the performance of the media major’s online streaming service 7plus, as he flagged a profit upgrade this financial year, reports News Corp’s James Madden.
In a speech released to the ASX before the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, Mr Warburton’s said the improvement in Seven’s balance sheet over the past two years was primarily due to its successful cost-shedding strategy, coupled with the turnaround in the fortunes of its free-to-air network and the growth of streaming platform 7plus.
In a trading update, Warburton said the company was looking to find additional costs savings of up to $20 million this financial year.
Brand communications agency Magnum & Co announces five new hires
Under new leadership, independent brand communications agency, Magnum & Co, has announced five new hires.
Client services director, Sophie Collins joins from Apparent, senior creative, Brendan McGovern from Lavender; account director, Sophie Morris from Common Ventures; senior content specialist, Kylie McDowell from Vinyl Factory Publishing and designer, Kate Morgan from Howorth.
With more than half of Magnum & Co’s client remit sitting outside earned media, the new hires (four of which are newly created positions) will further build the agency’s capabilities in the creative and production space. Over the past 18 months, Magnum has produced and directed content for the likes of RSPCA NSW’s Stories Behind the Scars mini-doco series, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy video game and created TVCs for Resmed and Homeloans.com.au.
NITV appoints Head of Digital
National Indigenous Television has appointed producer and journalist Jodan Perry as Head of Digital, to commissioning exclusively for online channels, and manage digital delivery for the NITV website, social media, and video output on SBS On Demand, reports TV Tonight.
A proud Worimi and Wiradjuri man, he moves into this role from his current position as Executive Producer, in NITV’s Indigenous News and Current Affairs team. Perry previously worked as NITV’s Queensland Correspondent and held roles in sports reporting for the ABC, Nine and SKY News.
Radio
News radio is still the talk of the towns, but the AM ‘Covid-boom’ may have peaked
The lockdown-assisted resurgence of talk radio in the second half of 2021 appears to have peaked, with audience numbers for most news-heavy programs flattening out in this month’s ratings survey, report News Corp’s James Madden and Sophie Elsworth.
With Sydney and Melbourne being in lockdown from midwinter until recently, the ABC and the cities’ most popular talk radio stations, 2GB and 3AW, have for the past few moths benefited from more people working at home and an increased appetite for Covid-related news.
But with restrictions lifting, the bumper ratings enjoyed by the public broadcaster in Sydney and Melbourne, and by some shows on the Nine-owned 2GB and 3AW, have started to taper off — albeit with a few notable exceptions.
Jackie O breaks down over divorce from husband of 18 years Lee Henderson
Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has candidly opened up about her divorce and life as a single woman, breaking down in tears as she admits she “yearns” to find a partner someday, reports News Corp’s Bella Fowler.
Speaking on Jess Rowe’s podcast The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show, the KIIS FM radio host said that while she’s learnt to be comfortable in her own company since splitting from her husband of 18 years, Lee Henderson, she misses having someone to share a meal with at the end of the day.
The exes, who share 10-year-old Kitty, split in 2018, with Jackie revealing she intends to wait until her daughter is a teenager to look for love again.
Television
ABC goes public with 2022 Upfronts
Members of the public can attend ABC’s 2022 Upfronts, to take place online Wednesday November 22, reports TV Tonight.
No Upfront by a network has ever been open to the public before but now that events are online and ABC is a public broadcaster (without the need to spruik data to advertisers) it has decided to throw open the virtual doors.
“Featuring a stellar line-up of stars, new announcements and sneak previews, that will entertain, inform and engage all Australians in 2022,” says ABC.
Sam Frost films for Home And Away after vaccine controversy
Sam Frost will finish off the year filming TV soap Home And Away before being vaccinated, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
The popular actor this month announced she would be having the jab after sparking outrage when revealing on social media she was holding off on the Covid vaccine and compared public backlash to those unvaccinated as “segregation”.
Earlier this month, the actor, who plays Jasmine, said she would be having a medical procedure in January and would not be fully vaccinated until mid to late February.
The Daily Telegraph understands Frost made the announcement as staff at Channel 7 had been given a deadline of this week to make a decision on vaccination.
Sport Media
Seven’s Tokyo Olympics coverage rewarded at the Golden Rings Awards
The Seven Network’s coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has won three awards at the International Olympic Committee’s Golden Rings Awards in Lausanne.
The Golden Rings are the most prestigious awards in Olympic broadcasting and Seven was a big winner on one of international sport’s biggest stages, with its three awards topped only by America’s NBC.
With more than 100 submissions received in each of the 12 Golden Rings categories, Seven won the Gold award for Best Social Media Content/Production for its From Little Things, Big Things Grow #HomeGames campaign. The campaign received thousands of phone-filmed videos from viewers watching the Games at home, making it the highest user-generated content campaign ever for 7SPORT.
Seven also won Silver in the Best Athlete Profile category for its feature on brother and sister BMX riders Kai and Saya Sakakibara, who were both on track to compete in Tokyo 2020 before Kai suffered a serious race accident.
Seven took home Bronze for Best Olympic Feature/Documentary for its split-screen coverage of Jess Fox’s Gold Medal canoe slalom race, which simultaneously captured the emotion of Jess and her father Richard, as he commentated the race for Seven.