Media
ABC names new leaders for Four Corners and Insiders
TV Blackbox’s Kevin Perry reports that Aunty has refreshed its flagship current affairs slate, quietly handing the reins of Four Corners to Joel Tozer and appointing Chris Bendall to steer Insiders.
Tozer has been running 7.30 since mid-2022, sharpening the program’s edge before stepping across to Four Corners. Bendall arrives with more than two decades in broadcast news and current affairs under his belt.
Director convicted in Netflix fraud case
A long-running dispute between Netflix and director Carl Rinsch has ended badly for the filmmaker, with a US court finding him guilty of defrauding the streamer of about $11 million during the ill-fated production of his sci-fi project White Horse.
Variety’s Gene Maddaus and Antonio Ferme report that while the series never made it to air, the saga has landed squarely in the criminal courts.
AI
Disney invests in OpenAI and unlocks character library for Sora
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Molly Schuetz reports that Disney has invested $1 billion in OpenAI and opened the gates to some of its most famous characters, giving the startup’s short-form video tool, Sora, access to a deep library of animated favourites.
Across the three-year deal, Sora can pull from more than 200 characters – from Ariel to Simba – when responding to user prompts, effectively turning decades of Disney IP into fuel for AI storytelling.
Social Media
36 Months sought to sell UN influence in social media ban push
Crikey’s Cam Wilson has revealed that pro–social media ban group 36 Months tried to sell sponsorship for a federal government UN event, promising “influence” and access to global leaders.
The offer emerged as Canberra prepared a high-profile moment at the UN General Assembly that sparked Communications Minister Anika Wells’ costly trip to New York. At the same time, 36 Months quietly approached major companies to buy in.
Companies
Optus tops distrust rankings after October outage
Roy Morgan’s latest data shows Optus has again slid to the bottom of the trust ladder, crowned Australia’s most distrusted brand in October after its fatal network outage.
The Australian’s Danielle Long writes that the broader telco sector didn’t fare much better, coming in just behind social media as the country’s second most distrusted industry.
Television
Neighbours signs off… again
Neighbours has wrapped once more, and executive producer Jason Herbison has given fans a peek behind the curtain on how you close out a series that has already had multiple farewells.
As TV Tonight’s David Knox writes, Herbison’s note reads like a creative tightrope walk, balancing nostalgia with the reality that Ramsay Street keeps finding new ways to return.