Business of Media
Fox Entertainment to acquire TMZ properties From WarnerMedia
Fox Entertainment chief executive Lachlan Murdoch has announced the company has acquired the entertainment platform TMZ and all its media properties from WarnerMedia.
The purchase price was not revealed, but several US media reports put the purchase price around US$50m.
Under terms of the agreement, Fox will own and operate all TMZ-branded linear, digital and experiential assets, including its syndicated magazine programs, TMZ and TMZ LIVE, both of which air on 18 network affiliates owned by Fox Television Stations; the dedicated sports site TMZ Sports and program TMZ SPORTS, which airs on FS1; and celebrity tour operations in Los Angeles.
As part of the expansion of Fox’s digital footprint, the acquisition also includes TMZ’s celebrity and culture outlet, TooFab.com, and its flagship outlet, TMZ.com.
Fox noted TMZ provides the opportunity to further market and monetize the TMZ brand across the Fox station group; ad-supported streamer, Tubi; and other Fox-owned platforms.
TMZ founder and managing editor Harvey Levin will remain with TMZ and continue to oversee day-to-day operations for the brand. He will report to Rob Wade, Fox Entertainment’s president of alternative entertainment and specials. TMZ was founded in 2005 by Levin and the late Jim Paratore.
“The unique and powerful brand Harvey has created in TMZ has forever changed the entertainment industry and we’re excited to welcome them to Fox,” said Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Corporation. “TMZ has been an impactful program for our Fox television stations and broadcast partners for many years and I know [Fox Entertainment executives] Jack Abernethy and Charlie Collier will find creative ways to utilize and expand this content in effective and compelling ways for our audiences.”
TMZ already has produced several specials for Fox Entertainment, including Harry & Meghan: The Royals in Crisis, Tiger King: What Really Went Down and UFOs: The Pentagon Proof. All three are currently available on the Tubi platform.
See also: Fox partners with Gordon Ramsay on new global production studio
How Facebook treats millions of VIP users like royalty with special accounts
Facebook is using a program that whitelists millions of VIP users from the company’s standard content moderation practices, according to The Wall Street Journal, reports CNBC.
The program is known as “cross check” or “XCheck,” and it creates special rules for content moderation when it comes to millions of VIP accounts on Facebook and Instagram, according to internal documents obtained by the Journal.
Every day Facebook users can have their content taken down immediately if the company’s artificial intelligence technologies or contracted content moderators find their posts to be in violation of the company’s rules. Users in the XCheck program, however, may have their content stay live on Facebook’s services before being routed into a separate moderation system. That process is also staffed by better-trained content moderators who are full-time employees, according to the report.
The report, which cites internal Facebook documents, said there were at least 5.8 million VIP Facebook users in 2020.
‘Disappointing’: Foxtel breaches broadcasting rules over gambling ad during AFL game
Pay TV and streaming company Foxtel breached local broadcasting rules when it promoted a betting service and odds during a live AFL match between Geelong and Hawthorn earlier this year, reports SMH‘s Zoe Samios.
Australia’s media watchdog has ruled Foxtel breached the subscription broadcast code of practice when it ran the segment from a wagering partner on Easter Monday. The ruling has coincided with a push by gambling giant Tabcorp to impose tougher restrictions on gambling ads that appear during live sport.
Under restrictions implemented by the Turnbull government in 2018, the broadcasting rules prevent a licensee from broadcasting a betting advertisement or promoting betting odds from five minutes before a live sport commences, until five minutes after. But on April 5, a gambling promotion ran at 4:30pm during an AFL match between Geelong and Hawthorn, Foxtel self-reported the breach to the Australian Communications and Media Authority following a complaint from a viewer.
ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said it was disappointing that the promotion went to air.
A blind trust is helping Christian Porter with his legal fees after ABC court fight
A blind trust of secret benefactors will help to pay for Industry Minister Christian Porter’s legal fees after his costly defamation battle with the ABC over the airing of rape allegations, reports News Corp’s Richard Ferguson.
Porter declared the blind trust this week in his register of members’ interests but will not reveal who the benefactors are as he does not know their identities under the arrangement.
The revelations come nearly three months after Mr Porter settled with the ABC over an online article that said a cabinet minister was facing allegations he had raped a 16-year-old girl when he was 17 in 1988.
News Brands
New rural network will expand Guardian Australia’s reach
One of the greatest frustrations of editing a news site is the stories we’re not able to tell, writes Guardian Australia’s Lenore Taylor.
When I became editor in 2016 I could see there were subjects where properly informed coverage was often beyond our reach and would probably remain so unless we did things differently. One of those subjects was rural and regional reporting.
How could city-based newsrooms cover the existential debates about water allocation or the impact of increasingly frequent droughts, floods and fires on rural life or food production or ecosystems? How could we stay in touch with the concerns of so many different places across such a vast area? If we were to appoint rural reporters, where should they be located?
The traditional response in Australian newsrooms, a city-based roving “rural reporter”, seemed inadequate for the task of understanding the issues faced by such diverse communities and explaining them to urban audiences. These are stories that require lived experience and trusted contacts and deep understanding.
Sadly, they are also stories that are often not being told at a local level. Journalism job losses have accelerated during the pandemic, nowhere more so than in regional centres where mastheads have closed and scores of newspaper and television newsrooms have been centralised and stripped of their local content.
The best solution I could devise is the rural network, the rural and regional project we are finally launching now, funded through a generous three-year philanthropic grant from the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation and in collaboration with University of Technology Sydney’s Centre for Media Transition.
Andrew Neil quits GB News after disputes with channel boss Angelos Frangopoulos
Andrew Neil has resigned as lead presenter and chairman of GB News after differences of opinion over the direction of the right-wing channel, raising questions over its future, reports The Guardian’s Jim Waterson.
The ex-BBC host was the face of GB News before it went on air in June but has left after presenting just eight programmes in three months. He was unhappy with technical mistakes, the loss of top staff and its political direction.
In the end, Neil was outmanoeuvred by the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who is now the channel’s best-known figure, along with a number of more stridently right-wing hires keen to address culture war issues.
The terms of his departure were unknown, although multiple GB News sources claim the process was the subject of lengthy legal wrangling after the breakdown in his relationship with the station’s chief executive, Angelos Frangopoulos.
Frangopoulos has led a push in recent weeks to hire more radical right-wing presenters who will deliver state-of-the-nation monologues, following the same formula he used while running Sky News Australia. Producers at GB News say he is increasingly micromanaging almost every aspect of the station.
A Current Affair crew fined, isolated after mask breach
A crew from A Current Affair breached NSW health orders when they attempted to interview a pastor in Bidwill last month, reports TV Tonight.
Media Watch last night reported ACA crime editor Simon Bouda attempted to interview Pastor Marvin Osaghae whose Christ Embassy Sydney church has copped recent hefty fines for an illegal gathering and failing to wear masks.
A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed in a statement, “On Tuesday 24 August 2021, officers from Mt Druitt Police Area Command were told a television news crew had breached the Public Health Order.
“The three men, 48, 58 and 60, self-reported to police after immediately identifying that they had breached the Order by not wearing masks while attempting to interview a man outside a house in Bidwill about 6am that day.
“The men each received a $500 Penalty Infringement Notice for failure to comply with a direction to wear a mask.”
Sports Media
Seven’s Daisy Pearce and Brian Taylor acknowledged at AFL Media Awards
Seven Network’s Daisy Pearce has earned the Best Opinion/Analysis Award at the 2021 AFMA Awards announced on Tuesday night, while Seven’s Brian Taylor received a commendable mention for Best TV Match Caller.
In a category open to print and broadcast media, the AFMA committee judged Pearce displayed “the most impactful and articulate opinion and analysis” in her commentary across Seven’s AFL and AFLW coverage.
The AFMA committee commented: “Daisy speaks directly to the audience, providing insightful analysis of the game. She is natural and engaging and can dissect game plans and strategies in a concise and easy-to-digest manner. Daisy’s football knowledge is incredible and she leaves viewers with a better appreciation of the game.”
Daisy Pearce
Managing director Seven Melbourne and head of network sport, Lewis Martin, said: “On behalf of everyone at Seven, I’m rapt to congratulate Daisy on winning the AFMA’s Best Opinion/Analysis Award. It is a huge honour, but one that is thoroughly deserved.
“Daisy brings the same incredible passion, drive and footy smarts to her commentary that she has displayed for so long as one of the AFLW’s foundation superstars.
“BT’s commendable mention from the AFMA is also a fitting acknowledgement of the outstanding season he’s had as a caller,” he said.
QMS-owned Sportsmate appoints Mike Morris to drive digital transformation
Sportsmate has appointed former Cricket Australia digital commercial strategist Mike Morris as general manager – commercial.
Sportsmate is a division within TLA’s Media & Tech unit which was previously QMS Sport.
The position is a newly developed role to further drive growth of Sportsmate seven unique sporting apps and bring improved ways of working to meet the current demands of an increasingly mobile, data and digital focused business landscape.
Sportsmate said Morris brings a wealth of digital experience and media expertise across a range of sports marketing and media organisations including Bastion, Austereo and Cricket Australia, and has a strong history of sales and commercial success in the sports and media industry.
The company added his appointment is fundamental in Sportsmate’s pursuit to strategically position the multi-code apps as a premium digital channel and continue to grow the userbase.
With more than 20 years’ sales, marketing and commercial leadership experience, Morris has spent the past five plus years at Cricket Australia leading digital commercial growth and most recently developing a global digital media rights strategy to deliver improved, sustainable growth via increased OTT and streaming capability.
Sportsmate Mobile is an sports media company that creates and distributes native iOS and Android sports applications. The apps include Footy Live and League Live and the company also publishes a series of sports podcasts as part of Sportsmate Podcast Network.
New Zealand Cricket appoints Turnstile to value new sponsorship assets
New Zealand Cricket has appointed London-based Turnstile to work alongside its commercial team to value its international partnership offerings as a result of additional apparel sponsorship locations becoming available from the ICC.
New Zealand Cricket joins other major rights holders in adopting Turnstile’s valuation approach which is premised on quantifying the three key components of partnership value being Benefits, Exposure and Intellectual Property.
Anna Lawrence, GM commercial at New Zealand Cricket outlined the decision to appoint Turnstile:
“Turnstile’s approach to providing fair market valuations is exactly what we were looking for to ensure that we properly capture the true value of both the Blackcaps and White Ferns and capitalise on both teams’ recent successes. We are looking forward to working together with Turnstile on this project to understand how we can deliver maximum commercial value across our portfolio of available rights.”
In 2020, Richmond Football Club appointed Turnstile to value its sponsorship portfolio.