Tuesday July 2, 2019
TV Guide to World Movies: Your new free-to-air HD movie channel
By James Manning
The television choices available to Australians expanded from 10am July 1 when the new SBS World Movies channel stated broadcasting.
Audiences who have so far resisted the temptation to subscribe to Foxtel, and even maybe a streaming service, now have 20 channels available to pick content from across the FTA platform.
The new channel will also be carried on the Foxtel platform – sitting between the movie channels and sport – on channels 432 [HD] and 433. SBS also has a deal with Stan for a branded movie destination on its streaming TV platform.
World Movies becomes the first dedicated free movie channel, despite the presence of the deceptively named 7flix which in fact has few movies.
World Movies is not a movie channel like Foxtel subscribers are used to. It has ads! During the film!
Longtime SBS executive and World Movies channel manager Chris Keely explained to Mediaweek ahead of the launch the commercial necessity to take advertising. He also detailed the SBS brand’s long association with the World Movies channel, previously available to subscription TV subscribers.
“I was a fan from when a pay TV version of World Movies started back in 1995,” Keeely told Mediaweek.
The original backers of the channel were perhaps an unlikely bunch with Kerry Stokes joining APN News & Media and SBS to launch the channel.
“It has the distinction of being one of the first channels on Australian pay TV launching in 1995.”
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Chris Keely, Channel Manager, World Movies
Keely said there will be a few changes from what viewers of previous incarnations will remember.
“It really is very much an evolution of World Movies. SBS before World Movies was bringing Australians a selection of amazing international cinema. For many decades, World Movies was a subscription narrow cast channel, which meant that essentially it could transmit R rated movies.
“Although World Movies will be significantly different, it will retain the same essence of bringing Australians cinema from around the globe. It will have Bollywood, anime, comedies, they’ll be challenging movies and there’ll be a lot of light-hearted movies as well.
“The critical point is that the classification codes for free to air are significantly different to subscription and essentially it will be a lot more family friendly.”
Keely noted viewers will be offered somewhere in the realm of 1,500 to 2,000 movies a year. The movies screened on the World Movies channel will also be available at SBS On Demand.
Thanks to commercial partnerships, Keely said SBS is expecting World Movies to break even or even perhaps turn a modest profit.
“We’re very, very confident and positive about the channel because we’ve had so much feedback from audiences over many years.”
Although the movies will be carrying advertising, Keely said they are being sensitive about where they fall. “Ads will be in the natural breaks.
“Unless we are able to provide opportunities for our [channel] partners to get their messages across, it simply wouldn’t be there. What we can say is that we will be delivering quality movies in HD to Australians to increase their viewing options.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the partners that have come on board with us and, and those that we hope will fill out the advertising schedule for the channel.”
In detailing what viewers can expect, Keely pointed to some of the pillars underpinning the movie selections:
• Movies that will come direct from the big film festivals around the world.
• There will also be beloved movie classics – from the likes of directors Kurosawa, Bertolucci and others.
• Themed programs based around events like NAIDOC, celebrating the culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Also things like Mardi Gras, International Women’s Day and curated seasons from people [hopefully] like film and TV historian [and Mediaweek contributor] Andrew Mercado.
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Chris Keely, Channel Manager, World Movies
The rehabilitation of Karl Stefanovic: “I needed a rest… I was cooked”
Speculation in recent months about the TV Week Gold Logie-winning reporter and TV host has ranged from he was about to be fired to he is about to return to the breakfast TV show.
After walking the Logies red carpet on Sunday under the watchful eye of Nine’s director of communications & public relations Vic Buchan, and spending time alongside Nine CEO Hugh Marks, Stefanovic looks very much like a required employee.
He was interviewed at the Nine event by colleague Rebecca Maddern.
Karl Stefanovic with Rebecca Maddern
“It’s been about six months since I was on the tele and I needed to have a rest towards the end of last year. I was cooked,” explained Stefanovic about his TV absence.
“It had taken its toll,” he said of the constant media attention that followed his divorce and subsequent marriage.
“I’m not going to complain too much about all of that, but what it meant was that in a work capacity, I was not at my best. I was struggling toward the end of last year. It was a relief in many ways that I was taken off the Today show because I wasn’t at my best. And you can’t be doing that show unless you are at the top of your game.
“You’ve got to be sharp. You’ve got be witty or funny. I needed to get away and I made the decision. I tell you what, after about a month of not getting up at 3.30am, I saw things a lot clearer. I was able to spend some time with Jasmine away from that spotlight. It allowed me to rest. It allowed me to think about our life in a much clearer way.”
He added it was amazing what sleeping in and some exercise will do. He noted he probably needs a little bit more exercise too.
Stefanovic said working on the new season of This Time Next Year after his “rejuvenation process” allowed him to better process the promises and pledges from people taking part in the series. “It allowed me to actually listen and concentrate and be empathetic. I really love this show about real people.”
As to what’s next, Stefanovic said he will be focussing on helping promote the new season of the show, and he will also be returning to 60 Minutes with a number of stories in the back half of 2019.
96FM to get new Breakfast show with Paul and Lise departing
This means that Paul Hogan and Lisa Fernandez won’t be returning after the mid-year survey break.
Hogan and Fernandez made a statement on the change: “We have had a great time at 96FM and are fully supportive of the new direction that the station’s taking and we wish 96FM much success.”
ARN’s National Content Director Duncan Campbell thanked the departing team for their hard work “We would like to thank Paul and Lise for their contribution to 96FM and our Perth listeners over these past 18 months. Since they started, the station has recorded its highest ever cumulative audience. Paul and Lise are talented professionals and we wish them well for the future.
“We’ll be announcing a new Breakfast show soon in line with our renewed strategy.”
SBS signs US news deal with American Broadcasting Corporation
SBS will air America’s number one evening news bulletin, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and the number one Sunday political discussion program in America This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
From July 1, daily episodes of ABC World News Tonight with David Muir will be exclusively on SBS On Demand from 6.30am, and will air on SBS VICELAND later that day. From July 30, the program will air daily on SBS at 12.30pm, followed by an encore screening on SBS VICELAND that afternoon.
This Week with George Stephanopoulos will air weekly on SBS from Monday, July 1 at 6.30am, followed by an encore screening on SBS VICELAND later that day. Episodes will also be available on SBS On Demand for seven days.
SBS Director of News and Current Affairs, Jim Carroll said: “During a particularly fascinating period in US and global politics, we are very excited to be partnering with a news service of the calibre of ABC News. Australians have a voracious appetite for comprehensive and intelligent coverage of what’s happening in America and its relationship with the rest of the world.
SBS has global news agreements with leading broadcasters in the UK, Middle East, Europe, USA and Asia, cementing SBS as the Australian network with the deepest relationships with international media organisations. ”
SBS will also show ABC America’s coverage of major political events, including the Presidential Debates and the Republican and Democratic Party Conventions.
Box Office: Toy Story keeps Disney on top as holidays start
By Trent Thomas
The studio has two films in the top five this week including Toy Story which occupies the top spot this week with a fair amount of space between itself and the next closest film. The other entry under the Disney banner is Aladdin which came in at fifth and has brought its overall total to $30.87m making it the fourth highest grossing film this year behind Avengers: Endgame (Disney), Aquaman (Warner Bros.), and Captain Marvel (Disney).
The box office numbers should be strong this month as school holidays get underway around Australia.
There were two new entries this week with The Beatles inspired romantic comedy Yesterday, and the latest addition to the Conjuring franchise, Annabelle Comes Home knocking out Men in Black: International (three weeks, $8.37m) and Rocketman (five weeks, $17.89m) from the top five.
Overall it was a good weekend for the Australian box office making $18.77m, an increase of 3% which follows off the 43% increase of the previous weekend.
#1 Toy Story 4 $6.40m
Thanks in large part to only suffering a 20% decline on its massive opening weekend total, the Pixar classic remains in first place at the Australian box office, and is on target to enter the top five films of the year at its current pace currently sitting on a total of $16.94m. The film averaged $11,115 on 576 screens, being shown on only 10 fewer screens than its opening weekend.
#2 Yesterday $3.40m
Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Richard Curtis the film stars Himesh Patel as a musician who is the only person who remembers The Beatles after suffering an accident and proceeds to become famous for writing and performing their songs. It had the highest average per screen in Australia this past weekend making $12,112 off 281 screens.
#3 Annabelle Comes Home $1.93m
The seventh instalment in the Conjuring franchise and the second sequel to Anabelle has kept the audience coming in, debuting in third spot. The film also made over $1m more than its doll themed horror movie rival Child’s Play which made $806,352 last week and suffered a 63% decline this week after the release of Annabelle Comes Home. The horror flick averaged $7,549 on 256 screens.
#4 The Secret Life of Pets 2 $1.52m
Despite only suffering a 27% decline from its opening weekend total the film has fallen to fourth place this weekend after some fierce competition from the new releases. The sequel to the 2016 release made an average of $5,205 on 293 screens.
#5 Aladdin $1.15m
The longest lasting film in the top five has charted for six weeks after once again breaking the $1m mark and its trend of small declines registering another one under 30%.
TV Ratings Analysis: July 1
Monday Week 27 2019
By James Manning
• Seven News 1,177,000/1,115,000
• Nine News 1,012,000/982,000
• A Current Affair 836,000
• ABC News 725,000
• 7.30 602,000
• The Project 318,000/563,000
• 10 News First 412,000
• The Drum 172,000
• SBS World News 119,000
Breakfast TV
• Sunrise 255,000
• Today 211,000
Seven
Home And Away was on 661,000 to start its new week. The average last week was 638,000 for the week.
It was then the second semi-final on House Rules with a Monday audience of 549,000, which was well down on Sunday’s 720,000 and Monday of week 26 on 591,000.
S.W.A.T. then arrived on the schedule with a double episode and audiences of 345,000 and 299,000.
Nine
Tracy Grimshaw was back in the A Current Affair studio after her Logies appearance. She had some thoughts about Tom Gleeson as did many in the industry yesterday. “He told us the industry was dying, we waited for him to change pace and close his speech with some grace, but no chance. Hilarious!” The show started the week on 836,000. The average for the past two weeks was 741,000 and 703,000.
Nine then screened the top 12 episode of The Voice. It was brutal when it came to the votes with three being sent home. Another five will depart tonight. Those remaining will compete in the Grand Final coming next Sunday.
There was a lot of singing last night on The Voice as you would expect. At times it seemed as long as The Logies, with the final decisions being revealed close to 10pm. The audience was a little smaller than the shorter episodes. However 839,000 ranked the show #1 after 7.30pm and helped Nine secure a Monday win.
10
There is still a week to go until Carrie Bickmore returns to The Project. However as the last remaining original co-host she was onstage with her colleagues to accept a TV Week Logie on the Gold Coast. Some of the Logie magic rubbed of on the ratings last night with 563,000 after 7pm.
It was an elimination night on MasterChef as the three facing the axe had to recreate a challenging version of an apple pie. Tati Calin subsequently became the 16th person to depart the show after Anushka and Tim made their way into the final eight. The episode did 655,000 after 687,000 a week ago.
Have You Been Paying Attention? became the third of 10’s Logie winners who went back-to-back last night in the Monday schedule. Some clever editing saw host Tom Gleisner celebrating the win and the show even managed a couple of Logies night questions. The episode did 704,000 despite no Sam Pang who was enjoying a holiday during a radio ratings break. The numbers were down a little from 748,000 a week ago.
It was the final episode already of Kinne Tonight with the series ending on 314,000 after 296,000 last week. The episode was strongest in Melbourne and ranked #2 in the timeslot behind Q&A after The Voice ended.
ABC
Back Roads was on 621,000 at 8pm followed by Four Corners on 467,000.
Media Watch too noted Tom Gleeson’s Gold Logie win with 462,000 watching.
Q&A then did 329,000.
SBS
Great American Railroad Journeys has returned to Monday with 157,000 at 7.30pm.
The audience grew to 170,000 for Medicine Or Myth? after 8.30pm.
Week 27 TV: Monday
| MONDAY METRO | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven | Nine | 10 | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 12.5% | 7 | 18.3% | 9 | 22.4% | 10 | 14.2% | SBS One | 3.9% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 2.4% | 7TWO | 3.2% | GO! | 2.7% | 10 Bold | 3.2% | VICELAND | 1.2% |
| ABC ME | 0.8% | 7mate | 3.7% | GEM | 3.2% | 10 Peach | 1.9% | Food Net | 1.0% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.2% | 7flix | 1.6% | 9Life | 1.4% | NITV | 0.1% | ||
| 7Food | 0.4% | SBS World Movies | 0.8 | ||||||
| TOTAL | 16.9% | 27.2% | 29.7% | 19.3% | 7.0% | ||||
| MONDAY REGIONAL | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven Affiliates | Nine Affiliates | 10 Affiliates | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 11.5% | 7 | 22.2% | 9 | 17.6% | WIN | 11.2% | SBS One | 3.5% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 2.6% | 7TWO | 4.2% | GO! | 3.1% | WIN Bold | 3.2% | VICELAND | 1.1% |
| ABC ME | 1.0% | 7mate | 4.0% | GEM | 5.8% | WIN Peach | 1.7% | Food Net | 1.5% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.0% | 7flix (Excl. Tas/WA) | 1.7% | 9Life | 1.5% | Sky News on WIN | 1.2% | NITV | 0.1% |
| 7food (QLD only) | 0.5% | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 16.1% | 32.5% | 27.9% | 17.3% | 6.2% | ||||
| MONDAY METRO ALL TV | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTA | STV | ||||||||
| 86.7% | 13.3% | ||||||||
Monday FTA
- Seven News Seven 1,177,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 1,115,000
- Nine News Nine 1,012,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 982,000
- The Voice Nine 839,000
- A Current Affair Nine 836,000
- ABC News ABC 725,000
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 704,000
- The Chase Australia Seven 696,000
- Home And Away Seven 661,000
- Masterchef Australia 10 655,000
- Back Roads S5 ABC 621,000
- 7.30 ABC 602,000
- Hot Seat Nine 586,000
- The Project 7pm 10 563,000
- House Rules Seven 549,000
- Four Corners ABC 467,000
- Media Watch ABC 462,000
- The Chase Australia-5pm Seven 425,000
- 10 News First 10 412,000
Demo Top 5
16-39 Top Five
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 253,000
- Masterchef Australia 10 189,000
- The Voice Nine 156,000
- Seven News Seven 153,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 151,000
18-49 Top Five
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 379,000
- The Voice Nine 326,000
- Masterchef Australia 10 294,000
- Seven News Seven 269,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 260,000
25-54
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 413,000
- The Voice Nine 374,000
- Seven News Seven 333,000
- Masterchef Australia 10 325,000
- Nine News Nine 318,000
Monday Multichannel
- Bluey AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 215,000
- Peppa Pig PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 203,000
- Kiri And Lou PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 189,000
- Peppa Pig AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 188,000
- PJ Masks PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 186,000
- Octonauts PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 185,000
- Nella The Princess Knight AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 185,000
- Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 178,000
- Floogals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 177,000
- Go Jetters ABCKIDS/COMEDY 175,000
- Dinosaur Train ABCKIDS/COMEDY 168,000
- Pet Superstars PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 168,000
- School Of Roars AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 167,000
- Bananas In Pyjamas AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 159,000
- Rusty Rivets ABCKIDS/COMEDY 155,000
- Play School Story Time PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 154,000
- Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures ABCKIDS/COMEDY 152,000
- Play School AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 149,000
- NCIS (R) 10 Bold 146,000
- Neighbours 10 Peach 144,000
Monday STV
- Live: World Cup: Sri V Wi FOX CRICKET 68,000
- Live: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 65,000
- Paul Murray Live Sky News Live 64,000
- The Bolt Report Sky News Live 63,000
- Credlin Sky News Live 59,000
- Aussie Inventions That Changed The World History Channel 56,000
- Big Little Lies FOX SHOWCASE 55,000
- Live: World Cup Innings Break FOX CRICKET 55,000
- Live: On The Couch FOX FOOTY 54,000
- Family Guy FOX8 52,000
- NCIS TVH!TS 48,000
- Vera 13TH STREET 44,000
- Big Little Lies FOX SHOWCASE 44,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 42,000
- Last Week Tonight With John Oliver COMEDY CHANNEL 42,000
- Family Guy FOX8 39,000
- Live: NRL 360 FOX LEAGUE 39,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 37,000
- Blue Bloods TVH!TS 36,000
- Shimmer And Shine Nick Jr. 36,000
Shares all people, 6pm-midnight, Overnight (Live and AsLive), Audience numbers FTA metro, Sub TV national
Source: OzTAM and Regional TAM 2018. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) without the prior written consent of OzTAM
Media News Roundup
Business of Media
Former reporter Jim Middleton joins Canberra lobbyist Counsel House
The new recruit is ABC grandee and one-time Sky presenter Jim Middleton, who after more than 40 years in journalism was for the last 18 months a senior adviser to South Australian independent senator Tim Storer.
Middleton’s mission: to navigate Counsel House’s clients through the quirks of the cross bench in Canberra.
Chris Bowen launched the former Labor staffer March’s firm on the final day of the last parliament, back when a Labor government looked to be weeks away.
TEG appoints new head of digital and new head of communications
The first sees Chris Johnston joining as general manager TEG Digital.
Johnston, who starts with the organisation this week, will lead TEG Digital and Ticketek’s marketing operations, which is currently overseen by Karen Chapple who leaves the business after six years.
The company said Chapple had made a significant contribution during her time with TEG, including the establishment of BOOST, TEG Digital’s in-house agency. To support a transition, Chapple will finish at TEG on July 9.
Speaking of Chapple’s contribution, TEG CEO Geoff Jones said: “Karen has done a wonderful job during her six years with the organisation and leaves an enviable legacy at TEG. I wish her every success in the future.”
Chris Johnston joins TEG from Slingshot Media Ventures where he was Head of Digital & Data. Prior to Slingshot, he was at Carat Australia as Head of Digital and Direct for Woolworths Limited and previously worked for McCann Erickson as a General Manager.
Also joining TEG is Dominic White who is the head of communications and corporate affairs.
White brings to the role over 20 years’ experience in media and communications both in Australia and the United Kingdom.
He was previously head of communications and content at TV industry marketing and research body ThinkTV, owned by Nine, Seven West Media, Network Ten and Foxtel/MCN. Prior to that he spent 20 years in journalism, most recently as the media & marketing editor for The Australian Financial Review. Before moving to Australia in 2008, he was communications editor for London’s The Daily Telegraph.
White said: “I’m delighted to be joining TEG, which is an Australian company batting well above its weight at home and on the global stage.
“I was amazed to discover that on top of its thrilling local content slate TEG’s current and recent overseas shows include Hugh Jackman at The O2 in London, The Rolling Stones exhibition in Tokyo, Paw Patrol in the Netherlands and WWE in Singapore.
“It’s part of a multi-layered and developing Australian success story and I’m looking forward to working with Geoff and the TEG team to help them tell it,” said White.
Television
Chip Le Grand: Tom Gleeson proves offence a funny old thing
Gleeson says we shouldn’t judge them too harshly. As he points out, the ceremony had been running for hours by the time he got on stage. “Are people really that annoyed or are they tired and just want it to end?” he asks.
Yet, in his tongue-in-cheek way, Gleeson understands a truism about Australian society, one reality TV has been ruthlessly exploiting for years: given the choice, we’d rather take the mickey out of a celebrity than put one on a pedestal.
“I felt I was on pretty good ground,’’ Gleeson tells The Australian. “I thought I was potentially offending people inside that room but I couldn’t really imagine anyone at home being offended.”
Previous Gold Logie winner and comedian Steve Vizard sees Gleeson as part of a great tradition of piss-takers, including Graham Kennedy, Bert Newton, Andrew Denton, Shaun Micallef and Garry McDonald, who lampooned the television industry 43 years ago when he won a Gold Logie as Norman Gunston. Gleeson sees himself in the same way.
“The amount of montages I have had to sit through about Graham Kennedy and how wonderfully irreverent he was and he had a go at everyone – I’ve seen so many of those it makes me want to vomit,’’ he says. “Contemporary comedians do the same thing and people are worried about people’s feelings being hurt. With hindsight and distance, people look back and think these were the great moments in TV. Then you go into the Logies like last night and throw bombs in all directions and people go ‘That’s a bit much’.”
Where to now for the Logies, after Tom Gleeson's disruptive win
For the past six decades supremacy in the Australian television industry has been measured by the little golden man known as a Logie. It is a peculiar way to frame the perception of excellence, as the Gold Logie recipient has always been determined by the less lustrous process of a public vote. Like Brexit, but with Lisa McCune.
“I’m in a terrible spot because I like it and I hate it at the same time,” Gleeson said in his acceptance speech on Sunday, the final straight on a bruising race in which he sarcastically attacked the event and his rival nominees.
The morning after, neither TV Week, the magazine behind the event, nor the networks, were commenting. Some sources said, however, that there was a great deal of hand-wringing taking place behind the scenes.
TV Week issued a statement to media saying they would consult “as we always do, with the networks to look at what we can do to make sure we honour what’s happening on TV.
“We are always looking at what we can do to keep things fresh,” the statement said. “We look forward to an even stronger 2020.”
What Gleeson’s Gold Logie win says about Australian TV
It sure seems so.
His winning the Gold Logie on Sunday night has given the award show, which has been kicked around like a dog for years, some truly amazing publicity that no amount of red carpet hype could buy.
Of course, Gleeson won it by sticking the boot in himself, running a parody campaign which backfired (or succeeded depending on how you see it) when his name was read out at the bitter, bitter end of the epic broadcast. Even he looked shocked to learn that he’d actually pulled it off.
However, that sabotage campaign stirred up a passion for the Logies that hasn’t been displayed publicly in years.
Radio
2GB reviews options in discussions with afternoon host Chris Smith
The Australian reports lawyers for Smith and his radio station 2GB are discussing the possibility of paying out the 18 months owing on his contract, rather than Smith moving to a night time radio spot currently occupied by Steve Price.
It is understood the veteran broadcaster is resolute that he will not move to a 8pm to midnight shift, citing his young children and loyalty to the station.
But he is still holding out hope 2GB will reverse its decision, in which case he would stay.
Smith’s contract is understood to be worth around $300,000, meaning Macquarie would have to stump up close to half a million dollars for him to depart without further legal action.
Breakfast radio host banned from driving for 12 months after crash
Oddy did not appear in the Victor Harbor Magistrates Court on Monday but, through her lawyer, pleaded guilty to one count each of driving with excess blood alcohol and driving without due care.
The 43-year-old was behind the wheel of a Land Rover that crashed into a tree on Mill Tce at Middleton, just after 5pm on December 9 last year.
Oddy, of St Peters in Adelaide, was taken to South Coast District Hospital, where she returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.256 – more than five times the limit.
Character references, including from her Mix 102.3 breakfast radio show co-presenter Mark Soderstrom, were tendered to the court.
Magistrate Susan O’Connor said Oddy, who is now pregnant and expecting her fourth child in September, was a “successful woman of good character”.
“I accept that she is well thought of and what I’m dealing with is a situation, an episode, which was entirely out of character and, since that time, she has been extremely remorseful and extremely embarrassed,” O’Connor said.
In a statement to The Advertiser, Oddy said there was no excuse for the crash and that she took full responsibility.
Sports Media
FFA to downsize as club owners take control of A-League
The deal will result in a much diminished FFA and is set to cause exits of executives such as chief executive David Gallop, who may leave the governing body before his contract ends in November next year.
A-League owners will establish a new body to run professional soccer in Australia under new management while FFA will look after the national teams and development pathways, though it will maintain a 20 per cent share of the A-League and receive annual payments of at least $4.5m from the independent league.
Agreements still have to be struck as to how the league and FFA will split the proceeds of the existing six-year $346m broadcast deal it has with Fox Sports and A-League major sponsor Hyundai, with figures between 82-90 per cent of all commercial deals understood to be demanded by clubs.