Business of Media
Seven downgrades TV ad market forecast, adds $15m more cost cuts
Seven West Media downgraded its outlook for the $4.2 billion television market, which it said fell about 11 per cent in the three months to March, exceeding the “mid to high single-digits” it forecast in February, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
Chief executive James Warburton told investors at the Macquarie Australia conference on Tuesday the total TV market, which includes free-to-air aerial viewing and content consumed over the internet, would probably decline by a similar rate over the final quarter of the 2023 financial year.
The downward trend is a concern for more than just the major broadcasters. Television is one of the bigger line items on company marketing budgets, and a deeper decline suggests a slashing of costs.
But Warburton said television was a resilient medium, and it often bounced back from downturns quickly. A new cross-platform television currency, VOZ, launched this week, and Seven’s deals with the AFL and cricket would give it billions of minutes of more expensive digital advertising.
Meanwhile, Seven has made a further $15 million to $20 million round of “temporary” cost cuts.
Why Amazon is trying to win customers by raising Prime prices by 40pc
Amazon Australia will jack up the price of its Prime subscription for the first time since launching it five years ago, as new data reveals Australians are signing up for more streaming subscriptions than they cancel despite the cost pressures, report Nine Publishing’s Carrie LaFrenz and Sam Buckingham-Jones.
The Prime subscription price will move from $6.99 to $9.99 a month (a 42 per cent increase) or from $59 to $79 a year (33 per cent). The subscription gives members access to a variety of benefits such as free shipping on certain items, access to special sales, and free movie and music streaming.
The battle for consumers’ money and eyeballs is heating up. Amazon’s price still sits below rivals including Wesfarmers-backed Disney-OnePass at $14.99 a month or streaming-only service Netflix at $16.99 a month for its standard service.
For new Prime members, the price change will go into effect on May 24 and for current members from June 28.
‘Disturbing’: Union demands answers after police raid journalist’s home
A journalist inadvertently caught up in a police raid dubbed “disturbing” by the media union has spoken of her shock after photographs documenting the relocation of sacred rock art to make way for Perdaman’s $6 billion urea plant in the Pilbara were seized from her home, reports Nine Publishing’s Jesinta Burton.
Ngaarda Media lead journalist Eliza Kloser told this masthead she was standing adjacent to the site on the Burrup Peninsula, 20 kilometres north-west of Karratha, about 10am on Friday photographing the relocation of sacred Murujuga artefacts when she was approached by police.
Kloser said she told them she was a journalist, took photographs and drove off, but said she was then stopped several kilometres down the road by a second police vehicle, breathalysed and asked to get out of the car to allow officers to conduct a search and car safety evaluation.
The Pilbara-based reporter told this masthead she reiterated that she was a photojournalist after being quizzed again about the camera.
Kloser claims she was at the employer share house she lived at for a little over an hour uploading the photographs before Karratha detectives arrived, rummaging through her possessions and searching her bags for 90 minutes before leaving with her SD card.
Hollywood writers go on strike, halting production
Hollywood’s 15 years of labor peace was shattered Tuesday, as movie and television writers went on strike, bringing many productions to a halt and dealing a blow to an industry that has been rocked in recent years by the pandemic and sweeping technological shifts, report The New York Times’ John Koblin and Brooks Barnes.
The unions representing the writers said in a statement, hours before their three-year contract expired at midnight Pacific time, that they had “voted unanimously to call a strike.” Writers will begin walking picket lines on Tuesday afternoon.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of Hollywood companies, said in a statement that its offer included “generous increases in compensation for writers.” The organization added that it remained willing to keep negotiating.
The primary sticking points, according to the studios, involve union proposals that would require companies to staff television shows with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time “whether needed or not.”
Tucker Carlson: leaked video reveals fired host’s crude off-camera remarks
Leaked video published on Tuesday showed the fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson describing an unnamed woman as “yummy”, referring to his fans as “post-menopausal” and attempting to discuss sexual technique with British journalist Piers Morgan, reports The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly.
The first two remarks were previously reported by the New York Times. The clips were released by Media Matters for America, a progressive watchdog that on Monday released other video in which Carlson derided the Fox Nation streaming service.
In one clip, Carlson seemed to anticipate leaks, telling Media Matters: “Go fuck yourself.”
Carlson was suddenly fired by Fox News last week, in the aftermath of the network’s $787.5m settlement of a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems over its broadcast of Donald Trump’s electoral fraud lies.
The Times report about Carlson’s comments, as well as “highly offensive” messages redacted in filings in the Dominion case, was released amid widespread speculation about the reason for his firing. The Wall Street Journal, a Fox News stablemate, also reported that executives were angered by Carlson’s language.
In one video released by Media Matters on Tuesday, Carlson tells someone off-camera: “You wouldn’t. OK? I’m not … qualified on that score. I will say, I thought his girlfriend was kind of yummy.”
He also says he was “just kidding, in case this is being pulled off the bird”, meaning from a satellite, adding: “Hey, Media Matters for America, go fuck yourself.”
Carlson adds: “I don’t even know what his girlfriend looks like. And if I did, I would not find her yummy.”
In a second clip, Carlson says: “I can never assess my appearance. I wait for my postmenopausal fans to weigh in on that.”
See Also: Superstar TV news hosts out: Tucker Carlson gone at Fox, Don Lemon fired by CNN
Former TV presenter Andrew O’Keefe breaks silence on drug charge
Former television personality Andrew O’Keefe will battle allegations that he drove with methamphetamine in his system, questioning the reliability of saliva testing, a court has been told, reports News Corp’s Steve Zemek.
The former Deal or No Deal host on Tuesday returned to court where he entered a not guilty plea after allegedly failing a roadside breath test earlier this year.
The 51-year-old was driving his grey Mercedes C200 through Point Piper, in Sydney’s inner east, when he was stopped by police on January 20.
Outside court on Tuesday, O’Keefe said he was looking forward to testing the allegations during a hearing in December.
“There are certain things that might affect the credibility of a saliva test or urine test,” O’Keefe said when asked what he hoped might come out of the hearing.
Pressed on his concerns about the testing, he said: “My particular reaction to the testing.”
News Brands
Age and Herald reporters win big at Health Journalism Awards
The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have won more than half of the awards on offer at the National Press Club’s Excellence in Health Journalism Awards in Canberra, reports Nine Publishing’s Lachlan Abbott.
Investigative journalist Adele Ferguson was named Health Journalist of the Year alongside the ABC’s Chris Gillett for this masthead’s joint investigation with ABC’s 7.30 into Medicare fraud. She also took home the health policy award.
Liam Mannix, this masthead’s national science writer, won the COVID-19 prize for his detailed reporting on long COVID and those still at-risk from the disease.
With two category wins and one overall prize, this masthead won three of the five health journalism awards handed out. The two other category prizes were for health innovation and cancer reporting.
Ferguson’s award-winning Medicare reporting exposed suspected fraud, overservicing and other misconduct in Australia’s universal healthcare system and led to Health Minister Mark Butler launching a formal review. It found Medicare was haemorrhaging up to $3 billion a year in waste.
The judges unanimously declared Ferguson’s story was the stand-out entry.
Television
Succession’s odd couple, Frank and Karl, share the secret to surviving
Ask most people who the funniest pairing on Succession is, and there’s a high chance they’ll pick Tom and Greg. The self-described “disgusting brothers” are the obvious answer, both awkward outsiders whose desperation to infiltrate the inner sanctum is as ludicrous as the capacious handbags they make fun of, reports Nine Publishing’s Thomas Mitchell.
But for those with a more discerning eye, it’s becoming clear that the show’s true odd couple are Frank Vernon (Peter Friedman) and Karl Muller (David Rasche). Theirs is not an in-your-face bromance in the style of Tom and Greg. Instead, they boast the charm of an old married couple whose bond is as tight as the compression socks they’re both fond of.
The pair have been around WayStar Royco for as long as anyone can remember (Kendall would no doubt call them “day ones”), career suits whose corporate savvy has kept them alive. Frank remains the company vice chairman despite being fired twice, while Karl is Waystar Royco’s chief financial officer.
For much of Succession, the pair have existed in the background, but the death of Logan Roy breathed new life into these stagnant graybeards. No longer content to make up the numbers, Frank and Karl (along with Gerri) have elbowed their way to the front in the final season, and quite frankly, it feels long overdue.
Ahead of the final few episodes, I spoke with Peter Friedman and David Rasche about staying alive, Succession without Logan and what it takes to be a serious person.