Business of Media
YouTube is getting serious about blocking ad blockers
YouTube is broadening its efforts to crack down on ad blockers. The platform has “launched a global effort” to encourage users to allow ads or try YouTube Premium, YouTube communications manager Christopher Lawton says in a statement provided to The Verge, reports the publication’s Emma Roth.
If you run into YouTube’s block, you may see a notice that says “video playback is blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled.” It also includes a prompt to allow ads or try YouTube Premium. You may get prompts about YouTube’s stance on ad blockers but still be able to watch a video, though, for one Verge staffer, YouTube now fully blocks them nearly every time.
Condé Nast, publisher of Vogue, will cut 5% of its work force
The magazine giant Condé Nast will cut about 5 percent of its work force, backtracking on a much-ballyhooed plan to build up an in-house video studio to tap into Hollywood’s demand for film and TV ideas, report The New York Times’ Katie Robertson and Benjamin Mullin.
The layoffs will affect about 270 employees. Roger Lynch, the chief executive of Condé Nast, told workers in a note on Wednesday morning that the cuts were a response to digital advertising pressures, a decline in social media traffic and shifting audience behaviors, including a move to short-form video. He said the video business would be folded in with the editorial brands.
Videos played in court show Andrew O’Keefe screaming and cursing at police during arrest
Videos played to a Sydney court show former television host Andrew O’Keefe screaming at police during a 2021 arrest, after insisting he needed to collect his medication, reports the ABC’s Jamie McKinnell.
The 52-year-old returned to Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday for the continuation of a hearing over charges including common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, resisting a police officer and contravening an AVO.
The charges, which he denies, relate to an alleged incident in September 2021.
Why can’t we look away when celebrities post on global news events?
Celebrities love to give their hot take on what’s happening in the world, whether ordinary people like you and me like it or not, reports the ABC’s Caitlin Rawling.
Social media platforms such as Instagram have become a common way celebrities can share their views on certain news events like the Israel-Gaza War.
From a post on their feed to posting something on their story, celebrities will share these with millions of followers.
Television
Jana Pittman heartbroken by Amazing Race viewer backlash
Former Olympic athlete Jana Pittman and her teenage son Cornelis were the latest team to be eliminated from The Amazing Race: Celebrity Edition during Wednesday’s episode – and Pittman spoke out over the show to reveal she was “heartbroken” by the criticism she’d received from viewers about her time on the show, reports News Corp’s Nick Bond.
Pittman and her 17-year-old son came a respectable fifth place in the show, which this season has seen Australian celebrities pair up with a loved one for a race around countries including India, Cambodia and Malaysia.
But after their elimination, hurdling champ and mum of six Pittman shared a lengthy post on Instagram, revealing that viewer comments about her relationship with her son during the season had stung.
Block nerves ahead of Auction Day
On Sunday night TV’s biggest show comes to a close when The Block goes under the hammer, reports TV Tonight.
But after a drama-filled 2022 auction when three homes were passed in, and another sold for a record $5.66m amount, producers are in a last minute push to secure maximum bidders.
“These last few days before the auction are always an incredibly nervous time for me, and Scotty and the crew,” executive producer Julian Cress tells TV Tonight.
Superman Tim Robards broken inside: SAS Australia champ on why looks can be deceiving
From the outside, Tim Robards looks like Superman. Inside though, he fears his body is falling apart. That’s the admission super-fit former Bachelorette star Robards has made after passing selection in the brutal SAS Australia reality TV show, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
Robards and Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham are the only two of 14 to have passed selection in Wednesday’s series finale.
“In what I do as a chiropractor and with the different brands I work with, there is a responsibility I feel in some ways to be invincible like Superman,” Robards told The Daily Telegraph.