Events
Finalists revealed for Mediaweek’s Next of the Best Awards, 2025
Mediaweek is proud to reveal the finalists for the Next of the Best Awards 2025, our annual celebration of the rising stars shaping the Australian media, marketing, and creative industries.
The winners, from the shortlisted names below, will be announced at the Next of the Best Awards at the W Sydney on Friday, June 13.
Sponsored by News Corp Australia, LISTNR, and Rolling Stone AU/NZ, this promises to be an unforgettable night.
Television
Hamish Macdonald wants less mic time at ABC
Just months after Antoinette Lattouf launched legal action over being dropped mid-gig, whispers are swirling that current ABC Radio Sydney morning host Hamish Macdonald has asked to cut back his hours.
As Steve Jackson writes in The Australian, word is, he told radio boss Ben Latimer he’d prefer to dial it down to just three days a week.
Macdonald’s been hosting the slot since January, stepping in after Sarah Macdonald’s abrupt exit.
Seven’s former news boss heads west as cuts loom
Anthony De Ceglie has quietly exited the building, with his office cleared out over the weekend and replacement Ray Kuka spotted in back-to-back Friday night meetings at Seven HQ.
As Briana Domjen reports in The Daily Telegraph, the ex-news boss, who’s now steering the NRL Perth Bears, has reportedly told friends he’s keen to swap sackings for signings.
De Ceglie was brought in last year to oversee a brutal round of redundancies that saw 150 jobs cut, including some well-known faces.
Peter Overton stays steady as Nine News extends Sydney streak
Peter Overton isn’t going anywhere, and neither is Nine’s dominance at 6pm in Sydney. “We’ve been number one here for 14 years straight,” the veteran anchor told David Knox at TV Tonight.
Overton, who’s led the bulletin since 2009, says the newsroom remains strong and united, despite the company’s recent turbulence.
That turbulence came in the form of last year’s independent review into Nine’s workplace culture, which found systemic issues with bullying, abuse of power and harassment, most notably within the News and Current Affairs division.
Radio
Nova cops to compliance breach as ATO audit rolls on
Nova Entertainment, Lachlan Murdoch’s Australian radio outfit, has fessed up to breaching corporate law after failing to lodge a slew of documents with ASIC.
As Sam Buckingham-Jones writes in The Australian Financial Review, the admission comes as the Australian Tax Office continues an ongoing audit now stretching into its second year.
Murdoch, who also chairs News Corp and helms Fox Corporation in the US, has owned Nova for over a decade
Southern Cross CEO defends pay scheme and dividend moves amid activist pressure
Southern Cross Austereo’s CEO John Kelly has pushed back against activist investor Sandon Capital’s critiques of the company’s executive pay plan and its decision to restart dividends.
As John Buckley writes in Capital Brief, Sandon’s campaign aims to shake up the board, but Kelly insists both moves are grounded in solid strategy, not just shareholder appeasement.
Kelly made it clear that the dividend resumption wasn’t a quick fix to win favour but a result of careful discussions with investors following the half-year results.
Jase and Lauren play it cool as ratings rival struggles
If Jase Hawkins, Lauren Phillips and Clint Stanaway are feeling smug about The Kyle & Jackie O Show’s sluggish Melbourne start, they’re hiding it well.
“We just focus on ourselves,” Phillips revealed. “When a show’s having a tough time, there are a lot of flow-on effects for other people.”
As Sarah Patterson writes in Radio Today, the Nova 100 breakfast trio leaned into themes of resilience, reinvention and the unexpected second act that’s seen them bounce back from being bumped off KIIS 101.1 to become one of the city’s most talked-about comeback stories.
Tech
ACMA probes crypto betting site over election promotions
Crypto betting platform Polymarket is now officially under investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, after quietly enlisting local influencers to promote its odds during the federal election.
As Cam Wilson reports in Crikey, The site, which lets punters bet on real-world events using cryptocurrency, is illegal to operate in Australia.
Polymarket’s growing profile, boosted in part by high-profile fans like Elon Musk during the US election cycle, has made it a lightning rod for regulatory attention.
Microsoft’s Teams update raises eyebrows in NSW classrooms
The NSW Education Department was left scrambling after discovering Microsoft had quietly switched on voice and facial data collection for students using Teams.
As Josh Taylor writes in The Guardian Australia, the new feature, known as voice and face enrolment, kicked in by default from March.
Microsoft had flagged the update late last year, but the message clearly didn’t land with everyone.
Film
ABC iView stakes its claim in the streaming mix
At Screen Forever last week, ABC’s iview team peeled back the curtain on its growth playbook and set the record straight on a few outdated assumptions.
As David Knox writes in TV Tonight, once seen as a simple catch-up hub, iview is now vying for top-of-mind status in Australia’s increasingly crowded BVOD space.
Roberta Allan, Head of Programming, Acquisitions and Streaming, laid it out plainly: viewers might use only three or four apps a week, and iview wants to be one of them.
Business
James Warburton to return as Supercars CEO after eight years away
James Warburton is heading back to Supercars, stepping into the chief executive role once again after nearly a decade away.
As Zoe Samios writes in The Australian Financial Review, he’s replacing Shane Howard and will officially take the reins on July 23.
Warburton isn’t just any executive, he’s a keen motorsport fan who led Supercars between 2013 and 2017, so this feels like a homecoming.
Telco marketing heats up as Vodafone hunts new ad agency
Vodafone is turning up the heat in the telco marketing race, kicking off a fresh pitch to find a new advertising agency.
According to Danielle Long in The Australian, this comes hot on the heels of Optus, which is wrapping up its own agency search.
Six agencies have been invited to battle it out, aiming to help Vodafone craft a new strategy to win over more customers.