Business of Media
Elliott consortium in talks to buy TV ratings outfit Nielsen for $21bn
A consortium of private equity firms including Elliott Management is in advanced talks to buy TV-ratings company Nielsen for about $US15bn ($20.9bn), including debt, report The Wall Street Journal’s Dana Cimilluca and Cara Lombardo.
Financing talks with a number of banks were progressing and a takeover deal could be completed within weeks, sources said. There is no guarantee there will be a deal, as the talks could still fall apart.
Should there be one, it would be substantial. Nielsen had a market value of $US6.2bn on Monday morning and an enterprise value of more than $US11bn, given its hefty debt load of over $US5bn.
Nielsen shares rose more than 30 per cent on Monday to $US22.85 a share after The Wall Street Journal revealed the talks.
Fox News cameraman and producer killed in Ukraine
Two Fox News journalists – producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova and cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski – were killed in the attack outside Kyiv which injured correspondent Benjamin Hall, the US network and its journalists confirmed on Tuesday, report The Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison, Martin Pengelly, and Richard Luscombe.
Fox News in a statement only announced the death of Zakrzewski, an Irish citizen. Ukrainian officials and Fox News reporters confirmed that Kuvshynova was also killed in the attack.
Zakrzewski, 55, and Kuvshynova, 24, died “as a result of artillery shelling by Russian troops in the north-eastern part of the village of Gorenka”, Ukrainian website kp.ua said.
Facebook’s independent fact-checkers to determine how quickly false claims are scrutinised
Facebook has made no commitment about how quickly it will act on false political claims that go viral on its platform during the federal election campaign, saying it will be left to independent fact-checking units to determine the time frame for debunking misinformation online, reports SMH’s Lisa Visentin.
Parent company Meta, which also owns Instagram, has vowed to deliver its most rigorous approach yet to combating misinformation and election interference ahead of the anticipated federal poll in May, including through a new third-party fact-checking program with RMIT University.
Josh Machin, head of public policy for Meta Australia, said the company had provided one-off grants to RMIT FactLab and its two other existing fact-checking partners – Agence France Presse and the Australian Associated Press – to increase their capacity in the lead up to the election. But it is not clear how well-resourced they will be, with Machin declining to disclose the grant amount on the basis of commercial confidentiality.
He said the fact-checking units would have “full discretion” over how to spend the money and the time-frames for determining the veracity of content circulated on the platform.
Ex-Fair Work vice-president Michael Lawler sues ABC over infamous Four Corners episode
Former vice-president of the Fair Work Commission Michael Lawler is seeking millions of dollars in damages from the ABC, claiming he was duped by the public broadcaster into appearing on an episode of Four Corners, reports News Corp’s James Madden.
In a statement of claim lodged in the NSW Supreme Court, Lawler said the ABC and one of its star reporters, Caro Meldrum-Hanna, convinced him to appear on Four Corners by deceiving him about the true focus of the program.
The episode in question, aired in October 2015, showed Lawler secretly recording phone conversations with his former boss, Ian Ross.
On the program, Lawler also staunchly defended his decision to take extended sick leave to help his girlfriend, Kathy Jackson, prepare for her appearance before a royal commission.
She was subsequently convicted of misusing union funds.
Emotional moment in Roberts-Smith trial as soldier breaks down
In an emotional court hearing, a “heartbroken” SAS soldier has seized up in the witness box explaining why he chose to testify that Ben Roberts-Smith performed an “exhibition execution” against a Taliban insurgent, reports News Corp’s Perry Duffin.
Roberts-Smith is suing Nine newspapers and journalists, claiming they falsely defamed him when they accused him of war crimes in a series of articles from 2018.
Nine claims Roberts-Smith killed six detained Afghans unlawfully; he denies every claim insisting he killed only within the laws of engagement while deployed with the SAS.
Another former member of the elite regiment, Person 24, this week testified against Roberts-Smith in the Federal Court defamation lawsuit.
‘Naive’ reality TV host James Mathison learns ‘valuable lesson’ in court
Former television presenter James Mathison has escaped a conviction after he was charged with failing to hand liquidators financial records over an outstanding $120,000 tax bill, reports News Corp’s Lauren Ferri.
The former Australian Idol host was charged in October with not giving a liquidator a report as prescribed in time and failing to deliver books to a liquidator.
Liquidators last year complained to ASIC that Mathison hindered its investigation by not handing over financial books or reports detailing the asset holdings of his media company, Whitlock Brennan & McCall.
Mathison used the company to kickstart his career in media for five years to 2017 before it went into liquidation in December 2020.
Agencies
TBWA\Sydney announce two senior creative hires
TBWA\Sydney has announced the appointments of two senior creatives to the agency – Ross Weythman as creative director and Simon Hayes as senior art director.
Ross joins following his recent work with MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’ – winner Dr Saul Griffith to establish Rewiring Australia, an organisation dedicated to getting Australia to electrify everything and lead the world on decarbonisation.
Ross Weythman and Simon Hayes
His career began as a member of the Nike+ team at R/GA New York, which pioneered wearable tech and developed multi-award-winning projects including the Nike Running app and the Nike Fuelband.
In 2016 he became the creative lead for the Hillary for America campaign’s digital video team, where he worked with talent like Will Ferrell and Amy Schumer and learned “how to lose a historic presidential election and get back up again.”
Weythman said of his appointment: “I was already excited to join such a fun and genuinely talented team, but after discovering the gyros at Souks around the corner from the office, I’m unhealthily ecstatic.”
Meanwhile, Hayes recently relocated back to Australia from New York where he spent the last three years at Anomaly and worked with brands including Budweiser, Crown Royale Whiskey, Bulleit Bourbon and Booking.com.
His began his career over a decade ago locally with Clemenger BBDO Sydney and JWT, where he picked up multiple awards across Cannes, Spikes Asia, AdFest, AWARD Awards, One Show and represented Australia at Cannes for the Young Lions competition in 2016.
Hayes’ creative credits include Budweiser’s 2020 remake of its famous ‘Wassup’ commercial which served as a reminder for people to check in with their family and friends during lockdown; and most recently a campaign to launch Crown Royals new Ready to Drink Cocktails, which involved a 3D printed ‘A New World of Cocktails’ that pays tribute to the lifestyle of a new generation of Crown drinkers.
He said of the new role: “I’ve always admired TBWA as an agency and with Evan and Kat at the creative helm I’m excited to tuck into some great work.”
Katrina Alvarez-Jarratt, TBWA\Sydney executive creative director, said: “We are so excited to welcome Ross and Simon into our team, they come with a wealth of global experience as well as being all-round lovely humans. We can’t wait to see what they create with our brilliant team of pirates.”
Ardent announces new key hires for the agency
Digital boutique agency Ardent has announced new key hires for the company and office expansion.
Creative specialist Les Hallack joins the team to lead an array of creative projects across core clients.
Les Hallack
Over the past few years, Hallack has worked on a range of accounts such as Amcal Pharmacies, BMW, Lexus, Conga Foods, Fuji Xerox, and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
Ardent’s managing director, Danny Massa said of the appointment: “Les has worked on some major projects from idea conception, full re-brands, website design to brand experience. His ideas are fresh, and he constantly challenges clients to push the creative boundaries.”
Jay Padhya
Jay Padhya joins the company as a senior performance manager and will play a pivotal role in Ardent’s story as it grows from strength to strength.
Padhya is an experienced performance and social media marketing professional with more than a decade of experience in successfully managing performance media channels for clients across multiple categories.
“Having worked with Global network agencies and having managed performance media remit for global clients, I look forward to bringing this thinking and strategy to Ardent and drive the performance for our clients,” Padhya said.
In another exciting move Ardent has expanded its 360-degree services to include Organic Social Media, Email and Affiliate Marketing capabilities supported by the hire of Elma Mesanovic and the existing public relations department.
The Growing Ardent Team
Massa said: “2022 is an exciting year for Ardent. Our team lives the values of the agency. Every day we challenge ourselves and our clients for more and most importantly we evolve ourselves and our clients through a period of transformation.”
Since developing into a full-service marketing agency in 2018, Ardent has grown to a team of 15 experienced staff. The agency has already seen some major wins in 2022, with more in the wings.
Ardent’s expanding list of clients include Gregory Jewellers, Howards Storage World, RealFoods (Cornthins), Tradie Spec, Best Gift Cards, Loreto Normanhurst, Loreto Marryatville, and a range of not-for-profit clients to name a few.
Television
Carrie Bickmore drops major on-air bombshell during The Project
Carrie Bickmore has announced she will be departing The Project for “a few months” as she temporarily moves to the UK with her family, reports News Corp’s Alexis Carey.
She made the announcement on air on Tuesday night, leaving audience members stunned.
“Well I just wanted to share a little personal news from me tonight before we go on that in April I’m going to be taking a few months off The Project desk,” she began.
“[Partner] Chris and I and the kids are heading off on a family adventure together.
“We’ve been wanting to do it for a while but lots of reasons, timing hasn’t been right, but we figure it’s never going to be the perfect time to go and it’s something we really want to do before my son starts his final years at school so we’re doing term two in the UK.
“So I will be off for a couple of months.”
Big Brother ‘royalty’ Reggie Bird, Tim Dormer to return for new season
Australia’s favourite ever Big Brother contestant is making a return to the show that made her a household name, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
Nineteen years after winning the third season in 2003, the now 47-year-old Reggie Bird is the first cast member revealed for the upcoming series that will see new faces take on eight contestants from previous years that they have referred to as Big Brother ‘royalty’.
Tim Dormer, who won in 2013, is also returning with more cast to be unveiled over the coming months.
Channel 7 made the announcement in a sales briefing, spruiking the 21st season of the show that will air later this year.
“This may be a new game but I’m still the same old Reggie. Big Brother is in my blood,” Bird said in the presentation. “I just can’t believe I’m here.”