Business of Media
Kennett and Gammell to quit Seven West Media board
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett and Seven Group Holdings founding chief executive Peter Gammell will quit the Seven West Media board next month, reports The AFR’s Max Mason.
The pair will leave at the free-to-air network’s annual general meeting on November 13. Kennett will continue his political commentary role across Seven’s media assets.
Kennett joined the Seven board in 2015 and the company said he was retiring from board duties because of a large number of commitments and roles he had built up.
Gammell was the founding chief executive of Kerry Stokes‘ Seven Group Holdings from 2010 to 2013. He has been a director at Seven since 2008, before its merger with West Australian Newspapers. He was a director of the Seven Network for 14 years between 1996 and 2010.
“Peter and I have worked together closely as directors for many years,” Seven chairman Kerry Stokes said in a statement to the ASX.
The Media Store bolsters leadership team and wins two new accounts
The Media Store has strengthened its digital and investment offering with the appointment of Minsun Collier, Tom Charles and Paul Wilkinson.
Collier has been appointed head digital officer and joins TMS after recently leading the Woolworths business at Dentsu and Carat with prior experience as general manager at Neo @ Ogilvy Australia and OMD as former head of digital.
Minsun Collier
“I joined The Media Store because of their growth ambition, because their culture is built on a foundation of integrity and honesty and because their senior management team is as talented as they come, said Collier. “It’s incredibly exciting to be able to contribute to the future success of this agency and I’m looking forward to building on the fantastic momentum that we already have.”
Charles has been appointed to support Minsun as performance media director, previously at MediaCom on the Carnival Australia account.
Tom Charles
Wilkinson also joins TMS as the new national head of investment this week. He has a 10+ year career with Carat, both in the UK and AUS, and three years with Amplifi as their head of investment and later national head of strategic value.
“I could not be more excited about joining the team at TMS – it’s an agency that continually punches well above what most would expect, raising the bar in terms of client service and performance delivery and harnesses an impressive suite of capabilities – whilst at the same time maintaining the culture and agility of a truly independent, family owned business. TMS really is unique in the Australian landscape and presented me with exactly the pivot I was looking for in my search for a new career challenge – the future is bright and I can’t wait to help carve the path for TMS’ next phase of growth!”
Paul Wilkinson
To lead TMS new business growth strategies, Stephen Benrad has also been appointed as the new national commercial director. With 12 years agency-side, consultancy work and six years working at Jetstar and Heinz, he brings the right mix of experience and perspective to lead growth for the agency.
“I was attracted to the ambition and values of The Media Store as well as the opportunity to work with such a high calibre of talent. It is exciting to join the company at a time of growth and I’m looking forward to contributing to its future success,” said Benrad.
Recent TMS account wins are Melbourne start-up, Scooti, and the media planning and buying contract for Travel Texas for the Australian and New Zealand markets, to be managed out of our Sydney office.
Film funding: Ausfilm appoints Kate Marks as chief executive officer
Ausfilm, Australia’s industry association for screen service businesses responsible for attracting big budget film and television productions to Australia, has appointed Kate Marks chief executive officer.
Marks has served as Ausfilm’s executive vice president, international production in the Ausfilm Los Angeles office for the last five years tasked with attracting international production to Australia, promoting Australia as a production destination, marketing Australia’s production incentive schemes and matching Australian creative teams with US executives all to increase production activity across Australia’s screen sector.
Marks will commence in the CEO role immediately and also continue to serve in the EVP role in Los Angeles, until she returns to Australia in early 2020 to lead the team of seven from Ausfilm’s Sydney headquarters at Fox Studios Australia.
“Ausfilm is a very effective organisation that represents both Government and industry, with this successful and supportive partnership, it has achieved a great deal for its membership and the screen sector and this is due to the strong, knowledgeable and expert team driving it,” said Ausfilm chair, Sam Mostyn. “Kate’s appointment follows a strategic succession plan developed by the Ausfilm Board that has facilitated a smooth transition from her role in the LA market back into Australia, following the departure of Ausfilm’s previous CEO, Debra Richards at the end of August.”
“Australia has a fantastic story to tell the global screen market and we have an innovative and highly creative screen sector to back it up and I’m leading one of the most dynamic and committed teams in our industry to drive more production to Australia, create jobs for Australians and our industry and investment into Australian businesses,” said Marks.
Prior to Ausfilm, Marks was general manager, incentives, locations and production services at Film Victoria.
Publishing
Vogue opens its archives at National Portrait Gallery in Canberra
For 60 years, households across Australia have held onto copies of Vogue Australia, on coffee tables and bookshelves and even, ahem, bathrooms, reports Sherryn Groch from The Canberra Times.
But the magazine lost most of its own archives about three decades ago when a fire ripped through its Sydney offices.
Now, generations of covers and pages have been painstakingly photographed and digitised for an exhibition opening Friday at the National Portrait Gallery.
Vogue Australia began in 1959 as an outpost of the British magazine with a distinctly “colonial” view of the continent, according to current editor-in-chief Edwina McCann.
It was largely a gamble, only the fourth Vogue in the world at the time, but publishers were betting on the growing appetite for couture among Australia’s wealthy sheep farming regions.
It’s second – and distinctly Australian editor – Sheila Scotter was a “legend”, McCann says. Renowned for wearing all black, the Melbournian ran in the circles of Australian high society and brought out great photographers to visit including Princess Margaret‘s husband Lord Snowden.
Featured among the collection are a selection of gowns and costumes from past shoots – along with Julie Bishop‘s now infamous red shoes.
“In Australia there’s always been this thing if you’re intelligent you must not care about fashion, which is just not the case in places like France or even the UK,” McCann said.
Gallery director Karen Quinlan said the Vogue exhibition was the gallery’s first since closing its doors for renovations in April. It will run until November 24.
Nextmedia’s Healthy Food Guide magazine heading to New Zealand
Nextmedia it to publish Australian Healthy Food Guide magazine in New Zealand beginning with the December, 2019 issue.
Nextmedia has been publishing Healthy Food Guide magazine in Australia in conjunction with Healthy Life Media since 2012. Healthy Life Media recently announced they were withdrawing their print edition in New Zealand to focus on digital. It was therefore practical given nextmedia’s ongoing commitment to print, to publish an edition of Healthy Food Guide, and print it in New Zealand.
Healthy Food Guide magazine will continue to offer its nutrition and health advice along with healthy recipes, and nextmedia confirmed its commitment to provide quality content relevant to the New Zealand market.
Editor Brooke Delfino is an accredited practising dietician, and has guided Healthy Food Guide magazine in Australia for the past three years. National advertising manager Melissa Fernley has announced Emma McDermott as New Zealand advertising manager.
Hamish Bayliss, MD of nextmedia, said: “Healthy Food Guide is a well-respected and trusted voice in the food and lifestyle sector in both Australia and New Zealand. We are excited to be providing greater reach to our valued clients.”
Sports Media
WBBL season launch: Kayo to stream all 59 matches this season
The fifth season of the rebel Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) was launched yesterday at Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane.
The stars of the WBBL revealed the brand-new Majestic playing kits that will be donned by players across both the rebel Women’s Big Bash League and KFC Big Bash League competitions this summer.
The Seven Network will again broadcast 23 matches live this season, with a simulcast on Fox Cricket.
Kayo Sports will this year join Cricket.com.au and the CA Live App in streaming all 59 rebel WBBL matches this season which gives fans across the country the chance to watch the best women’s cricketers in the world.
Radio broadcaster’s ABC Radio, Macquarie Media and Crocmedia will continue their coverage of the WBBL, while Sky Sport will take all 59 games into New Zealand.
Cricket Australia head of Big Bash League Alistair Dobson said:
“Momentum continues to build into rebel WBBL05 as our teams prepare to open up inaugural standalone season next week.
“We’ve had some fantastic international signings in recent weeks as all players prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia, and we’ve seen the quality of the Australian team against Sri Lanka in the recent T20I and ODI series,” Dobson said.
“The players here today are itching to get back to their clubs and get the WBBL underway, starting with next Friday night’s season opener between the Sydney Sixers and cross-town rivals the Sydney Thunder at North Sydney Oval.
“It’ll be exciting to see the new kits in action for the first time, under the lights of North Sydney Oval, showcasing the vibrancy and action that we’re accustomed to seeing both the rebel WBBL and KFC BBL.”
Full fixtures and tickets details here.
Sky loses New Zealand Cricket rights to Spark, TVNZ FTA partner
New Zealand Cricket has signed a six-year broadcasting rights agreement with Spark Sport, in partnership with TVNZ – starting from April 2020.
In addition, TVNZ is partnering with NZC to provide live, free-to-air coverage on TVNZ 1 of the first T20 international of each men’s and women’s series, together with more than a third of the men’s and women’s Dream11 Super Smash competition on TVNZ 1 and Duke channels.
NZC chief executive David White called the new agreement as “ground-breaking” and a nod to the future, saying it was as much about catering for the demands of tomorrow as it was about the demands of today.
“This is a deal which future-proofs the whole of cricket in New Zealand,” said White.
“Live streaming is the future. It allows viewers to free themselves from fixed linear schedules to watch live, delayed, highlighted or clipped content when and where they choose, and on a wide range of devices.
“Together with the free-to-air component provided by TVNZ, this accord means more cricket games than ever before will be broadcast live.
“It’s timely that we make this move now, at a time when more New Zealanders than ever – and especially young Kiwis, consume their sports content through digital devices.”
White paid tribute to Sky, which he described as a valued long-term partner.
“Sky has been a first-rate partner of NZC for many years and we’re grateful and appreciative of their support.
“We’re looking forward to working with them again on a world-class program over the coming summer.”