Business of Media
How Upfronts 2022 Became Covid Superspreader Event
Late-night hosts are brought in by networks to provide comic relief at their upfront presentations. But turns out Seth Meyers was only half-joking when he told the thousands who had packed Radio City Music Hall for NBCUniversal’s presentation, “What a historic room to be able to tell people you got Covid in,” reports Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva.
10 days later, Covid cases are sweeping through the ranks of those who attended the marathon of events in New York last week. Top-level executives at virtually all of the major networks and studios have been impacted, along with support staff that worked on the presentations as well as media buyers and reporters who attended the string of events.
The subject is inevitably brought up in every conversation this week that involves someone who had been at the upfronts amid what is likely the largest Covid outbreak in the senior ranks of the TV industry since the start of the pandemic.
Substack Drops Fund-Raising Efforts as Market Sours
Substack, the ballyhooed newsletter platform that has lured prominent writers with the promise of cashing in on their relationships with readers, has dropped efforts to raise money after the market for venture investments cooled in recent months, according to people with knowledge of the decision, reports the New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin.
Substack held discussions with potential investors in recent months about raising $75 million to $100 million to fund the growth of its business, said the people, who would speak only anonymously because the talks were private. Some of the fund-raising discussions valued the company at between $750 million and $1 billion, they said.
The decision is another sign of the stark shift from the recent go-go years of free-flowing cash for young start-ups, particularly buzzy, consumer-facing ones like Substack, which has raised at least $86 million over three rounds of funding, according to PitchBook, which tracks funding.
News Brands
Queensland CCC excluded from whistleblower ruling
Journalists will be protected from revealing whistleblower sources in court under laws passed in Queensland on Thursday, reports News Corp’s Lydia Lynch.
Queensland was the final jurisdiction to introduce “shield laws” that give journalists legal professional privilege from revealing their sources in court.
In a blow to a Brisbane television journalist under threat of prison time, the protections will not extend to Crime and Corruption Commission hearings.
The journalist, who can be identified only as “witness F”, fought the watchdog in court for more than a year for the right to protect his police source who tipped him off about a murder arrest in 2018.
In November, Queensland’s Supreme Court refused witness F’s appeal to remain silent and he could now be hauled back before the CCC and threatened with a $26,690 fine or five years in prison if he continues to refuse to answer questions.
Television
How ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ Said Goodbye After 19 Years
In her final hour on NBC as daytime host, Ellen DeGeneres used her platform to reflect on the journey of bringing The Ellen DeGeneres Show to daytime and the noticeable changes in visibility and acceptance of gays in Hollywood across two decades, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Abbey White.
Guests Jennifer Aniston, the very first person to guest on the Ellen Show when it debuted, Billie Ellish — who was only a one-year-old when the show aired its first episode — and P!nk, who wrote the talk show’s theme song, appeared across the hour to celebrate DeGeneres final go as daytime host.
But before that, the comedian walked out to a standing ovation after a flashback clip of the Ellen Show stage doors opening on the host for her very first episode — a moment that she would call back to in the show’s final minutes. She then launched into a monologue that was equally funny, celebratory, emotional and poignant.
Entertainment
Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy head cast shooting Mad Max Furiosa in Broken Hill
Hollywood is booming in the Aussie Outback, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
With Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy leading the charge, the town of Broken Hill has become a hub of production as George Miller’s Mad Max Furiosa finally gets into full swing.
The major studio film is tipped as the largest production ever filmed in NSW and is expected to bring a $350 million boost to the state economy.
And locals are cheering from the sidelines.
Radio
Radio star Dan Anstey to anchor Triple M Brisbane’s breakfast show
Gold Coast radio star Dan Anstey will switch to Brisbane to anchor Triple M Brisbane’s struggling breakfast show alongside Margaux Parker and Greg “Marto” Martin, reports News Corp’s Amy Price.
Anstey, who has presented on Sea FM on the Gold Coast for six years, announced on air on Friday morning that he would finish his tenure at the station in order to move his young family to Brisbane.
He will begin on-air on Triple M from Monday in a return to the three-host format for the first time since comedian Nick Cody left the show in late 2020.