With the launch of our Mediaweek Premium content offering recently, we are launching a subscriber drive.
Although Mediaweek receives advertising revenue, our business model continues to be very much a mix of subscriber revenue and ad dollars.
Subscribers can sign on for $19.95 a month, $199 a year, or a statewide company sub can be had for $995 (all good deals given our magazine pricing was $649 a year).
By James Manning
• Cricket rights: New common bond between James Sutherland, Patrick Delany and Tim Worner
• Foxtel and Seven get the cricket, Nine sensationally backs out of negotiations
Our interview with Tim Worner was pretty short as the official announcement was delayed over an hour because of last-minute changes to the contracts for television coverage of international cricket in Australia.
We did manage to ask Worner if it was hard to give up the cricket digital rights.
“Not at all,” Worner told Mediaweek. “I have been very clear about saying we are going to do deals that make financial sense. To go and get the digital rights in this deal would not have made financial sense.”
He admitted Seven West Media is moving quickly to organise and to monetise its new summer sport.
“We have started already. Our first game is an international women’s one-day match. We started planning for that last night.
Top photo: Tim Worner, James Sutherland and Patrick Delany
—
This is an excerpt from the full article, which appears on Mediaweek Premium. Read the full article here, or subscribe to Mediaweek Premium here.
ARIA has confirmed a 10.5% increase in the value of the Australian recorded music industry for 2017 to $391 million.
2017 was the first year that revenue from streaming services accounted for more than half of the overall market (54% at $213m). Just five years ago, the revenue from the streaming segment of the market was negligible.
The streaming category includes revenues from subscription services such as Spotify and Apple Music, as well as non-subscription on-demand streaming services like YouTube and Vevo.
The revival of vinyl also played an important part in the overall industry. Physical formats account for 25% of the overall market, with sales from vinyl increasing for the seventh consecutive year – and increasing by 19% in 2017.
ARIA Chairman, Chairman & CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Australia & New Zealand, and President, Asia Denis Handlin said: “We are delighted to see the industry in such a positive growth path and that this strong 2017 result follows the increasing revenues over the past two years.
“The industry continues to transform and change at a rapid pace and the results are a credit to the continued high quality work, innovation, development of local artists, as well as to the industry’s tenacious approach in marketing and delivering music to fans across the country.
“Although our industry is now on a pathway to recovery, it is absolutely critical that Australia retains a strong copyright framework to ensure that artists and labels can protect their work and earn their fair share in the growing digital market.”
ARIA CEO Dan Rosen said: “The return to growth of the Australian recording industry is a wonderful story of resilience, hard work and innovation. Music fans today can access their favourite artists across a multitude of formats from vinyl in their local record store to streaming services on their phones and smart speakers.
“Our business will continue to evolve, and we must remain vigilant to ensure that the growth is sustainable in an increasingly global and digital marketplace.”
By Andrew Mercado
And since it is mostly kids who are abandoning traditional forms of entertainment in favour of mobile digital consumption, it should be more important than ever to keep older audiences on board – because they are the ones still reading newspapers, going to the movies on a regular basis and watching TV.
Four years ago, when Seven axed A Place To Call Home because it was skewing too old, Foxtel jumped in to save it because it made good business sense. Netflix was still months away and older viewers were thought to be the least likely to change their routine and start watching TV on their iPads. Now APTCH is filming its final season and its elderly fans may be drifting away to streaming services in bigger numbers than once thought.
A change in direction became apparent when Foxtel dropped Turner Classic Movies in 2016. Horrified viewers were assured that Fox Classics would take up the slack but nobody really fell for that. Last month, Foxtel added a Movie Greats channel and many of the movies are great, particularly revered classics like The Godfather, My Fair Lady and Ben-Hur. Cleopatra and War And Peace, however, are pretty much unwatchable today. And the inclusion of The Goonies in that mix suggests this is just another channel deceiving its viewers by replaying the same old movies, only this time with a fancy new name.
It makes much more sense for Foxtel to create an On Demand library of Bill Collins’s favourite movies. And while some feel that still doesn’t make up for the loss of TCM, nobody seems to be mourning the loss of the other channels that were recently dropped. FX and Nat Geo People aren’t missed because their shows have been effortlessly absorbed into better channels like showcase, which begs the question – who needs to go next?
Will anyone care if Universal goes off the air, given there is going to be nothing to watch there once Suits finishes? Do we really need 111 Funny given most of its shows can be seen for free on digital channels? And do we really, really need most of those digital channels? Would anyone be devastated if they couldn’t watch Hogan’s Heroes on One? Why does 7flix even exist? Let’s face it, they could be pushing people to Netflix and Stan in search of better entertainment.
Ask yourself this – if you could only have 10 channels, what would they be? Be honest, because I struggle to name 10 any more that I watch on a regular basis. With so much content online to choose from these days, I would truly be happy with just ABC, SBS, Seven, Nine, Ten, BBC First, showcase, Arena, UKTV and ABC Comedy. Try it yourself and see how many channels you really watch on a regular basis.
Bruce Springsteen couldn’t find anything to watch with 57 channels and having 157 hasn’t improved things in the time since that song. Perhaps the future is to put all those tired repeats into on-demand libraries and have just a handful of compelling channels with original content. With the landscape changing so quickly, the smart money could be on the ones who scale back in the right areas.
Top photo: Noni Hazlehurst in A Place To Call Home
By James Manning
At a media briefing with Andrew Denton last week, he asked invited journalists to sit in the interview chair alongside him to ask their questions.
Here is a summary of some of the Q&As from the press conference.
Will people compare your new show to Enough Rope?
That ABC show was 10 years ago. People are 10 years older and there have been 10 years of stuff that has happened. Our challenge is to ask questions of the guests they will respond to genuinely. Toward the end of Enough Rope we thought we had probably done as much as we could.
Do you ever find an audience daunting?
Always… every audience. There is not a single show I have ever made where I don’t think at some point during the day, “God, I wish I wasn’t here… why am I doing this for a living?” I am always nervous. What really helps me in a show is not just talking to the guests, but talking to the audience in between interviews. I love that interaction and you just don’t know what you are going to get.
What is different from 10 years ago is the age of social media. It is easy to be destabilised by that because it is a powerful echo chamber. My way of dealing with that is not participating in it myself, although the show will.
I have worked with some very, very talented people, including our top comedians, who have very skilfully used Twitter.
But I have also seen the cost of that for them and that is not my personal way of doing things.”
Life out of television
Television is a very exacting industry to work in. It’s professionally hard, it’s emotionally hard, it’s psychologically hard. Like most of the people I work with when I do it, I just throw everything at it. My decision to step back has always been a life decision.
I have always found when you do take time away you should just immerse yourself in something else. It is like a fallow field… you come back richer with a better crop.
I have enjoyed five years out of television.
Life back in television
I am now pushing into my late 50s and I’m really grateful to have a fantastic work opportunity and I’m taking it with both hands… and one slightly dodgy heart.
How do you deal with guests asking for restrictions on some questions?
Sometimes you can make a virtue out of that. One of our first guests on this series will be Robert Plant, who I have met before, and we were told one of his stipulations was he didn’t want to talk about Led Zeppelin or Jimmy Page. As it turned out he was fine about that. That made us think if he was not going to be comfortable about that, how do we get him into a space where he is comfortable.
How is your health?
I had surprise heart bypass surgery… it was definitely a surprise to me. As bad news goes it was the best news I could have had because essentially I am largely heart attack-proof for another 10-15 years.
I was told I could be very moody afterwards and maybe really struggle. To my delight and surprise I didn’t have a moment’s mood.
How similar will interview be to Enough Rope, which was loved by many?
The core of the show is the same – to try to have a great conversation with interesting people. I find the thought that many people loved Enough Rope mildly terrifying. With the new show we are starting from scratch and we have to earn people’s love all over again. People will be judging interview in many different ways – with the aid of social media, probably within seconds of the show starting.
Who is on your bucket list you are yet to interview?
There are many on that list. One of them is Rupert Murdoch – one of the most fascinating individuals that has walked the planet in the last century.
I would say “yes” to Donald Trump, but he seems shy. [Laughs]
On a show like this you never know who is going to surprise you and sometimes it’s not the big names – it can be somebody quite unexpected.
Are you a good interviewer?
Sometimes… and sometimes not. Sometimes I push too hard and sometimes not hard enough.
On the pilots I have done so far there are none I would rate as a 10.
One of the criticisms I have garnered over the years, which always intrigues me, is that sometimes I am sycophantic toward my guests, which is about perception.
I always say that when you make a TV show you make three.
There is the one you intend to make, which is brilliant.
There is the one you do make, which can be anywhere from Enough Rope [a hit show] to Randling [not a hit show].
Then there is the third show, which is the one people see.
The contest will be broadcast live and in primetime May 9-13 on SBS with Joel Creasey and Myf Warhurst returning as hosts.
Australian representative at the singing contest Jessica Mauboy will perform on the Eurovision stage on May 11.
Australians will be able to vote again this year during the early morning broadcasts. As per the official Eurovision rules, viewers can vote in the semifinal in which their country is participating, as well as the grand final.
The viewers’ votes make up 50% of the final result. The other 50% of the vote is decided by a National Jury in each participating country. Australia’s jury will be announced soon. The jury and Australian public can vote for any country except Australia.
For Australian viewers, this means they will need to tune in to the live broadcast of semifinal 2 on May 11 at 5am (AEST) and the grand final on May 13 at 5am (AEST) and text or call the numbers that appear on screen during these live broadcasts.
The broadcaster will have full coverage of the song contest across TV, radio and online.
It has introduced two new programs to round out a week of Eurovision content, kicking off on May 5 with an encore of Eurovision Top 40 Songs before semifinal 1 on May 9.
Destination Flavour Eurovision, hosted by Adam Liaw, will premiere on May 10. On May 12, Warhurst and Creasey will present a brand new two-hour TV special counting down Eurovision’s wildest controversies in Eurovision Top 40 Controversies.
The Eurovision Song Contest, Eurovision Top 40 Controversies, Destination Flavour Eurovision and Eurovision Top 40 Songs are produced by SBS’s Eurovision production partner Blink TV.
Semifinal 1: Wednesday May 9, 7.30pm, SBS
Semifinal 2: Friday May 11, 7.30pm, SBS – featuring Jessica Mauboy
Grand final: Sunday May 13, 7.30pm, SBS
Semifinal 1: Wednesday May 9, 5am (AEST) SBS
Semifinal 2: Friday May 11, 5am (AEST) SBS – featuring Jessica Mauboy
Grand Final: Sunday May 13, 5am (AEST) SBS
Destination Flavour Eurovision: Thursday May 10, 8.30pm SBS
Eurovision Top 40 Controversies: Saturday May 12, 7.30pm SBS
By James Manning
After 11 weeks at #1, what are the chances of another tune from Drake replacing “God’s Plan”? Pretty good probably, given that he is also the highest new entry this week with “Nice For What” charting at #7. The song is Drake’s eighth top 10 single in Australia.
A second Drake single was the only addition to the top 10.
The two other new entrants in the top 50 were:
#17: Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa with “One Kiss” – The second track to be released from Harris’s forthcoming sixth album.
#48: Rich The Kid with “Plug Walk” – Latest from the multi-talented US rapper, producer and actor.
Making a chart re-appearance on the weekend a new season of her TV show The Voice launches is Delta Goodrem with “Think About You”, which bounces back from outside the top 50 after eight weeks on the chart to a new high of #19.
The two charts couldn’t be more different this week with six new albums landing inside the top 10 and another four landing elsewhere in the top 50.
The Kylie army is alive and kicking with her fans pushing her 14th album “Golden” to the top of the chart, breaking the stranglehold Ed Sheeran and The Greatest Showman soundtrack had on the chart this year (although their albums still sit at #3 and #4 this week).
This is Kylie’s fifth ARIA #1 album and follows the chart success of “Kiss Me Once”, which debuted at #1 in March 2014.
A second Aussie outfit has landed at #2 with the prolific – and popular – Hillsong Worship congregation belting out a live album titled “There Is More”. Three previous albums have peaked at #18 (2017), #2 (2016) and #1 (2015).
Other newcomers this week:
#5: Various Artists with “Revamp: The Songs Of Elton John & Bernie Taupin” – Very worthy collection of covers. Don’t miss Florence + The Machine performing “Tiny Dancer” and, well, most of them in fact.
#6: Cardi B with “Invasion Of Privacy” – The debut album from the US rapper.
#7: Alison Wonderland with “Awake” – The second album from Sydney DJ/producer is also her second top 10 appearance after “Run” hit #6 in 2015.
#10: 30 Seconds To Mars with “America” – The first album from Jared Leto’s band in five years after their previous album “Love Lust Faith + Dreams” in 2013 was their most successful to-date with a peak at #4.
#19: Various Artists with “Johnny Cash: Forever Words” – Previously unreleased lyrics from Cash are performed by Kacey Musgraves, Rosanne Cash, Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello, and the late Chris Cornell.
#20: City Calm Down with “Echoes In Blue” – Melbourne indie outfit City Calm Down release their second album.
#30: Aunty Donna with “The Album” – The first album from the Melbourne comedy artists.
#37 Cosmic Psychos with “Loudmouth Soup” – Could this really be the first time on the ARIA chart for Australia’s thirstiest rock dogs, the legendary Cosmic Psychos, with the release of their 11th album?
By James Manning
It was never going to be any other way of course with wall-to-wall Commonwealth Games coverage all day and nearly all night every day of the week.
And for good measure Seven found time to negotiate what seems to be a very good deal to screen cricket for the next six years.
Nine and TEN hung on as best they could during the week as most viewers were drawn to the screens of Seven. With Seven on a primary share of 30.9% for week 15, Nine did 15.8% to TEN’s 10.1%.
Seven’s combined channel share was 42.2%, the largest enjoyed by anyone this year. By using that metric, Seven has won six of the seven survey weeks this year. In year-to-date share, Seven sits at a 33.9% total people with Nine on 28.0% and Ten on 15.3%.
The final events of the Commonwealth Games filled most of the day with some incredible performances and some massive heartbreak. Sport can be tough at times. The Scotsman Callum Hawkins, who dropped in the final minutes of the men’s marathon, made for memorable yet very uncomfortable viewing. Then watching victory being snatched from the Australian women in the netball final was also tough to watch.
In the evening before the Games’ Closing Ceremony, the My Kitchen Rules teams made ice cream at Manly and then had the crowds decide which one might be good enough to be sold in Coles. The episode pulled the show’s biggest audience so far in 2018 as it was wedged between Seven News and the Comm Games Closing Ceremony.
That Closing Ceremony seemed like an extended cabaret show featuring a cavalcade of performers belting out classic Australian anthems. It was a show that went on, and on, and on, interspersed with what seemed like some very long and unnecessary speeches.
Kudos to Seven hosts Jo Griggs and Basil Zempilas who came onscreen around 10.30pm to respond to social media criticism levelled at the coverage. Griggs in particularly was really fired up as she and Basil laid the blame with the host broadcaster and the Comm Games organising committee.
Commonwealth Games on Seven
April 4: Opening Ceremony 2.0m, Primetime primary share 43.8%
April 5: Night 1 1.23m/1.16m, Afternoon 554k, Day 418k, Primetime primary share 33.0%
April 6: Night 2 1.01/1.09m, Late night 566k, Afternoon 468k, Primetime primary share 30.7%
April 7: Night 3 979/973k, Late night 499k, Afternoon 583k, Day 471k Primetime primary share 32.3%
April 8: Night 4 1.24/1.24m, Afternoon 710k, Day 482k, Late night 466k, Primetime primary share 31.4%
April 9: Night 5 1.33/1.45m, Late 539k, Afternoon 458k, Day 321k, Primetime primary share 29.2%
April 10: Night 6 1.24m/1.48m, Late 624k, Afternoon 515k, Day 341k, Primetime primary share 34.2%
April 11: Night 7 1.15/1.19m, Late 474k, Afternoon 428k, Primetime primary share 31.5%
April 12: Night 8 Night 1.09/1.16m, Late 742k, Afternoon 447k, Day 277k, Primetime primary share 32.2%
April 13: Night 9 Night 914/988k, Late 459k, Afternoon 390k, Day 276k, Primetime primary share 28.1%
April 14: Night 10 Afternoon 664k, Night 647/583k, Day 390k, Late 369k, Primetime primary share 28.1%
April 15: Day 11 and Closing Ceremony 1.14m Highlights 1.06m, Day 624k, Primetime primary share 31.0%
As expected, over the 12 days of coverage Seven won every market, every day in every demo.
No mucking around on The Voice with a lengthy intro – it was straight into the night’s first performance. And what a cracker it was from 18-year-old Mikayla from Adelaide! All four judges – including newcomer Joe Jonas – turned around and then gave her a standing ovation. The youngster then played one of her originals and chose Delta as her coach. The season launched with 1.02m, down from 1.18m when it wasn’t up against the Comm Games.
60 Minutes followed with Tom Steinfort covering the war on illicit drugs, Tara Brown on the royal wedding and Allison Langdon with Simon Baker for an audience of 638,000.
Lisa Wilkinson was on assignment again for the Sunday episode of The Project – this time in New York for an interview with Amy Schumer. Hamish Macdonald was joined by Rove, Gorgi Coghlan and Rachel Corbett in the studio. In addition to the Hollywood star, a strong Sunday edition of the format also welcomed Apollo ahead of his Bachelor In Paradise appearance and Julia Morris ahead of her 50th birthday. The Sunday episode did 405,000, well up from 255,000 a week ago.
Apollo was the big attraction on Bachelor In Paradise or, as host Osher Günsberg said, Apollo is released back into the wild. The Sunday episode had an audience of 629,000.
NCIS then did 291,000 followed by SEAL Team with 190,000.
Grand Designs featured a couple brave enough to build on a very small plot with 568,000 watching.
The final of a handful of repeat episodes of Midsomer Murders did 350,000.
Egyptian history has a lock on this timeslot and last night the first episode of the two-part Egypt’s Sun King: The Mystery Of The Tombs did 215,000.
The doco Sherpa: Trouble On Everest then did 132,000.
SUNDAY METRO | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Seven | Nine | Ten | SBS | |||||
ABC | 9.4% | 7 | 31.0% | 9 | 20.2% | TEN | 10.2% | SBS One | 3.9% |
ABC 2 | 3.1% | 7TWO | 2.8% | GO! | 3.1% | ONE | 2.0% | VICELAND | 0.8% |
ABC ME | 0.6% | 7mate | 3.4% | GEM | 2.1% | ELEVEN | 1.7% | Food Net | 0.8% |
ABC News | 1.1% | 7flix | 2.1% | 9Life | 1.3% | NITV | 0.1% | ||
TOTAL | 14.2% | 39.4% | 26.8% | 14.0% | 5.6% |
SUNDAY REGIONAL | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Seven Affiliates | Nine Affiliates | Ten Affiliates | SBS | |||||
ABC | 11.4% | 7 | 29.3% | 9 | 19.5% | WIN | 7.3% | SBS One | 4.0% |
ABC 2 | 2.9% | 7TWO | 3.2% | GO! | 4.3% | ONE | 2.3% | VICELAND | 0.5% |
ABC ME | 1.0% | 7mate | 3.2% | GEM | 3.6% | ELEVEN | 1.9% | Food Net | 0.7% |
NEWS 24 | 1.1% | 7flix | 1.9% | 9Life | 1.7% | NITV | 0.1% | ||
TOTAL | 16.4% | 37.6% | 29.1% | 11.5% | 5.3% |
SUNDAY METRO ALL TV | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FTA | STV | ||||||||
87.1% | 12.9% |
Friday Top 10
Saturday Top 10
Among the reportage was:
The Australian’s Darren Davidson’s Inside Story about the negotiations process and a guessing game of bluff and counter-bluff involving the highest stakes for Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland.
Nine is expected to make a concerted effort to bring forward its record-breaking deal with Tennis Australia after losing international cricket matches to Seven, leaving the network without any top-drawer summer sport this year and into 2019.
The cricket deal has set off a chain of events in the wake of the mammoth deal including the appointment of News Corp head of broadcast Siobhan McKenna as chairman of Foxtel and Fox Sports.
The new six-year deal appears to breach anti-siphoning laws, which state one-day and Twenty20 matches played in Australia, involving the national team, have to be on free-to-air.
Under the deal announced today, the shorter form games will be broadcast on Foxtel.
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said the government can’t force free-to-air broadcasters to purchase certain events.
“What the anti-siphoning list does is it gives free-to-air TV the first opportunity to negotiate for sporting events. It doesn’t guarantee or mandate that those sporting events are on free-to-air,” he told Fordham.
“All I can do is ensure that there are certain events on the list… it’s then entirely up to the sporting bodies to enter negotiations.”
Locked in what Seven West Media had nicknamed “the war room” in the luxury The Star hotel and casino resort on the Gold Coast, billionaire proprietor Kerry Stokes, his son Ryan and Tim Worner worked late into the night last Thursday to save the free-to-air broadcaster’s summer schedule and in the process change the entire network.
At close to 5.15pm on Thursday April 12, Ten and Cricket Australia shook hands on a deal to make Ten the free-to-air partner for cricket and Ten chief executive Paul Anderson signed a binding bid with a heads of agreement to be signed once drafted.
Sutherland contacted Worner and Anderson separately at 2am on Friday the 13th, informing them of the outcome, which was revealed by the Financial Review hours later. Seven won, Ten lost.
Four decades of Channel 9’s extensive coverage of cricket in Australia — long established as essential viewing — have come to an abrupt end.
Bill Lawry and leg spin legend Shane Warne are the only likely survivors from the Channel Nine commentary team in the new $1.2 billion cricket television deal, reports News Corp’s Michael Carayannis.
Fox Sports wants 81-year-old Lawry in a part-time role including Melbourne’s Boxing Day Test match and one-dayers while Channel Seven has earmarked Warne for a senior role.
Michael Carayannis also reported:
Cricket fanatics will be able to be “their own director” with Fox Sports planning to revolutionise the viewing experience of Australia’s national sport when it becomes the new home of cricket.
The man tasked with delivering the content for the next six years will be Fox Sports’ head of television Steve Crawley — who spent about a decade leading Channel 9’s cricket coverage before being recruited by Fox Sports three years ago.
“We are going to be investing in new technologies that target a younger audience who wants to be more engaged in the game,” Crawley said.
The 73-year-old, who transformed WPP into the world’s biggest advertising company, ended a turbulent spell for the firm saying it was “in the best interests of the business if I step down now”.
Sorrell had been under pressure since WPP admitted it had launched an independent investigation into misuse of company funds, details of which have not been made public. It said last night the probe has ended and the allegation “did not involve amounts that are material”.
Sorrell’s resignation calls time on the career of one of the UK’s best-known and best-paid businessmen. He has pocketed about £230m since 2010.
In a statement he said WPP has been “a passion, focus and source of energy for so long. However, I believe it is in the best interests of the business if I step down now.”
The Guardian reports:
Sir Martin Sorrell is in line for almost £20m in payouts from WPP over the next five years, as part of the deal struck.
The departure of Sorrell, who resigned on Saturday before learning the findings of an independent investigation, is also being viewed as a potential catalyst for a breakup of WPP.
Shoebridge joined Network Ten in February 2012 in his current role.
He will depart Network Ten on May 25 but will continue to work with the company as a consultant. A new Head of Communications will be announced soon.
Network Ten Chief Executive Officer, Paul Anderson, said: “Neil has done an amazing job at leading our communications and publicity teams and we are very grateful for the passion and dedication he has shown Ten and our industry over the past six years.
“We wish him all the best with his new venture and we are delighted that he will continue to work with us in his new capacity.”
Shoebridge said: “I have loved working at Network Ten for the past six years, but it’s time to pursue a new challenge.
“I will always appreciate the opportunities Ten has afforded me and the many talented people I have worked with here. I’m pleased that I will remain connected to Ten in a consulting role.”
Details of Shoebridge’s new business will be announced in late May.
It is the day Macquarie Media has chosen to launch the Sydney-Brisbane and Melbourne breakfast shows on its new Macquarie Sports Radio network.
The Macquarie Sports Melbourne breakfast show is being hosted by Tony Leonard and Tony Shaw with Jimmy Bartel. Leonard said this morning as a rule the 7am hour will generally be devoted to AFL discussion.
The Macquarie Sports Sydney breakfast show is being looked after by John Stanley and Beau Ryan. A key feature for them in the 7am hour today was an interview with Ray Hadley from sister-station 2GB where he revealed what really went wrong with the Closing Ceremony with regard the decision not to involve the athletes and what happened behind the scenes regarding Delta Goodrem.
Kyle and Jackie O have recorded special intros daily for a week of Best Of programs as Kyle travels to the US for another visit to Coachella. Nova 969 in Sydney is playing Fitzy and Wippa highlights while 2Day FM’s MC is playing music launching the “greatest hits of your childhood”. Jonesy and Amanda are also having a break with a Best Of program filling the WSFM slot.
Triple M Melbourne saw Lehmo return to breakfast radio as he co-hosts a week of breakfast with Mark Howard. The show got off on the wrong foot though as they played the old intro, not a new one they had organised.
At SEN 1116 breakfast was hosted by Jack Heverin with two former footballers turned broadcasters – Nick Dal Santo and Danny Frawley.
Australia’s highest-rating show took a week off with Justin Smith and Kate Stevenson returning to the airwaves filling in for Ross and John. The 3AW duo has Basil Zempilas on air early this morning explaining just how bad the Comm Games Closing Ceremony was.
Nova 100 had breakfast anchor Deano hosting a Best Of Chrissie, Sam and Browny.
No holiday for the most successful broadcaster in Australia’s biggest city – Alan Jones spent plenty of time hammering the Comm Games committee and ridiculed a statement from Peter Beattie trying to explain the Closing Ceremony.
At Fox FM, the massive cume audience is getting a week of Fifi, Fev and Byron live. They are staying on air ahead of Fev’s bucks party next Monday and then go on a break.
It may have been a shock for many faithful listeners across Perth when 96FM’s breakfast show was yanked from the airwaves overnight.
But it wasn’t for presenters Carmen Braidwood and Brad “Fitzi” Fitzgerald.
After over five years on air, they were told in late October last year their contracts would not be renewed.
Braidwood called the sacking “humiliating and frustrating”.
The radio duo rose to a 9.5% share of the Perth radio audience last July, showing positive signs after 96FM reverted back to a rock-music strategy.
But it was after the positive survey result she said changes were made to their show.
“That’s when we knew that we were gone,” she said.
“We both desperately wanted it to work and wanted our creative ideas to be contributed to the show but after survey four they weren’t being used.
“We were asked to talk shorter breaks and play more music and that’s when we thought, ‘This doesn’t feel real good.’”