Television
MAFS faces safety storm as Nine ejects contestant
The latest season of Married at First Sight is yet to hit our screens, but already the headlines are writing themselves.
According to Liam Mendes in The Australian, reports surfaced that two contestants allegedly threatened members of the press.
Sources suggest Nine and Endemol Shine called an “emergency meeting”, but are yet to release a statement.
US news channel reveals radical rebrand
US news channel MSNBC, available in Australia on Foxtel, BINGE, FLASH, and Fetch TV, has today unveiled a radical rebrand of the channel.
MSNBC is one of seven US cable channels being spun off by owner NBC Universal into a new company branded Versant.
David Genat steps in as new Survivor host
It’s official: David Genat is taking over as host of Australian Survivor.
Network 10 confirmed the much-speculated move on Monday night, ending weeks of chatter about who would succeed Jonathan LaPaglia after his sudden departure.
As Meg Watson reports in The Sydney Morning Herald, Paramount Australia’s Daniel Monaghan framed the change as a passing of the torch, pointing to Genat’s history as both a player and a familiar face across the reality TV circuit.
Legal
Newsmax settles Dominion defamation case for USD$67 million
The Australian’s Isabella Simonetti and Erin Mulvaney report that conservative cable outlet Newsmax has cut a deal with Dominion Voting Systems, agreeing to pay USD$67 million to avoid a courtroom showdown.
The case centred on claims aired after the 2020 US election that Dominion had rigged results in favour of Joe Biden.
The payout will be spread across three fiscal years, with Newsmax telling investors in a filing that it still stood by its coverage as “fair and balanced.”
Podcast
Beauty and the Beast revived as podcast reboot
Prue MacSween is dusting off an old favourite with a new spin, almost 20 years after Beauty and the Beast last aired on Australian TV.
The former panellist has unveiled Booty and the Beasts, a podcast she describes as a modern-day take on the much-loved talk format.
As Jonathon Moran details in The Daily Telegraph, unlike the original, which relied on a single “Beast”, the reboot will feature a rotating line-up.
AI
Labor pitches Australia as AI data centre hub
Assistant Minister for the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton has been on a US charm offensive, pitching Australia as the next big hub for AI data centres.
According to Daniel Van Boom in Capital Brief, his meetings included top brass from OpenAI, COO Brad Lightcap and chief strategy officer Jason Kwon, alongside senior execs at Google, Anthropic, Nvidia, AWS and Groq.
The sell? Australia’s political stability, renewable energy, land availability and strong talent pipeline.
Meta faces scrutiny over AI child safety concerns
Meta has landed in hot water after a leaked internal paper suggested its AI tools could enable “romantic” or “sensual” chats with children.
According to Charlotte Edwards writes on the BBC, the document, reportedly titled GenAI: Content Risk Standards, was obtained by Reuters and has now sparked political backlash in Washington.
Meta has pushed back, saying the notes were “erroneous” and have since been removed, insisting the examples did not align with company policy.