Thursday July 26, 2018
Mediaweek TV
Seven West Media’s publishing division Pacific claims to have Australia’s biggest women’s digital network with a unique audience of 2.4m. As part of that network is the Practical Parenting brand which they are relaunching next Monday. To tell us about the new online destination is editor Frances Sheen.
Sector consolidation explodes with Nine-Fairfax merger announcement
The companies released the following statement this morning and will host an investors’ call later today.
The recommended transaction:
• Creates Australia’s largest integrated media player
• Enhances position with agencies and advertisers in a consolidating environment
• Enables optimisation of, and incremental investment in, content across FTA, BVOD, SVOD and digital
• Offers data solutions at scale combined with premium content
• Combines Nine’s and Fairfax’s proven brand building capabilities to accelerate Domain’s growth profile
Nine Entertainment Co and Fairfax Media are pleased to announce that the companies have entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement under which the companies will merge to establish Nine as one of Australia’s leading independent media companies. The proposed transaction will, subject to required approvals, be implemented by Nine acquiring all Fairfax shares under a Scheme of Arrangement.
Following completion of the proposed transaction, Nine shareholders will own 51.1% of the combined entity with Fairfax shareholders owning the remaining 48.9%. The combined business will be led by Nine’s current chief executive officer Hugh Marks. Three current Fairfax Directors will be invited to join the Board of the combined business, which will be chaired by Nine chairman Peter Costello and include two further current Nine directors.
The combined business will include Nine’s free-to-air television network, a portfolio of high growth digital businesses, including Domain, Stan and 9Now, as well as Fairfax’s mastheads and radio interests through Macquarie Media.
Under the proposed transaction, Fairfax shareholders will receive consideration comprising:
• 0.3627 Nine shares for each Fairfax share held (Scrip Consideration)
• $0.025 cash consideration per Fairfax Share (Cash Consideration) together, Aggregate Consideration.
To continue reading go to mediaweek.com.au
Nine CEO Hugh Marks's email to staff: 'Not about cost reductions'
He assured staff that the move will be better for the company’s future and is “not about cost reductions”.
See Hugh Marks’s email to staff in full below.
Dear Colleagues,
Today marks a truly momentous development for Nine’s future.
This morning we announced to the stock market the news that Nine and Fairfax have agreed terms to merge our businesses into one corporate entity, NEC.
The ground-breaking merger – harnessing the strength, assets, quality and reach of two of the country’s most famous industry brands – is another highly significant step in the evolution of Nine’s business into one of the most powerful media organisations in the country.
The scope of this deal is genuinely quite breathtaking.
Continue reading at mediaweek.com.au
MTV turns it up with first of four 2018 episodes of MTV Unplugged
Sony Music has managed to land the first two artists in what is expected to be a four-episode 2018 season – Gang Of Youths and Amy Shark.
The Gang Of Youths performance was filmed Wednesday night in Melbourne to an enthusiastic audience of over 400 packed into North Melbourne’s Cobblestone Pavilion at Meat Market. Amy Shark will also perform at the same venue.
The crowd also enthusiastically sampled the sponsor’s product – Vodka O – in a pre-show session. MTV’s other partner in the Unplugged Australia series is Visit Victoria. MTV parent Viacom has signed both partners to long-term deals.
The evening was hosted by Hit Network rising star Ash London and Gang Of Youths played for about 75 minutes. The show will be released as a standalone concert performance on DVD and download soon and will premiere on MTV on August 19.
Special guests in the audience included Molly Meldrum∫, who led a standing ovation at the end of the set. Also in attendance were Megan Gale and Shaun Hampson, Sam Taunton (comedian and MTV Host) and Phil and Angela Ceberano (Phil was one of the original MTV Australia VJs).
Industry guests were greeted by Simon Bates, VP of Asia Pacific, MTV Networks, and Ben Richardson, General Manager & Senior Vice President Viacom International Media Networks.
The event took Richardson back to his days as a subscription TV music pioneer working for over a decade as an executive producer on Channel [V].
Guests from Visit Victoria included Ian Jickells, Cody Lynch and Zoe Shurgold.
Ian Grady, Wayne Ringrow, Paul Harris and Bronwyn Tasker attended from Sony Music Australia.
Media guests included Kathy McCabe, Nui Te Koha and Cameron Adams from News Corp.
Gang Of Youths’ magnetic singer/songwriter David Le’aupepe commanded the stage by himself for the start of the set with performances of Let Me Down Easy and Fear & Trembling.
Things got a bit more electric with the full band for the rest of the set, which included Keep Me In The Open, Deepest Sighs, The Heart Is A Muscle, Perservere, L’Imaginaire, Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane.
The most memorable moment from a memorable evening was an epic version of Go Farther In Lightness and then it was all over with Still Unbeaten Life.
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Image credit: Jay Wennington
Holly Wainwright: The Australian women’s market is niche no more
By Kruti Joshi
he has been with the company for more than four years. Once again, Wainwright noted this is “a long time in the digital media world”.
She has held four different roles in the last four years: editor of parenting vertical iVillage, editor of Mamamia, head of podcasting and now the head of content.
“In the time that I have been here, I have had hands-on experience of running each of our different content platforms. Therefore, it makes sense that as the company evolves and grows, I am in a role that is like an umbrella for all of our content,” Wainwright said. “My remit is to make sure that our content is 360… and that we are not operating as silos. I have my eyes across all platforms.”
Mamamia’s business operations have changed considerably in the last five years. It doesn’t rely just on written content and the eyeballs coming to it for its revenue.
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This is an excerpt from the full article, which appears on Mediaweek Premium. Read the full article here, or subscribe to Mediaweek Premium here.
True Story with Hamish & Andy: Turning 8,000 stories into the best 10
By James Manning
The talented director and producer has just delivered all of the episodes of season two of True Story with Hamish & Andy to Nine. He worked as producer, executive producer and he directed six of the 10 episodes.
He’s been living and breathing the show for some time.
“Season one rolled straight into season two essentially,” he told Mediaweek. “A show like this has a long gestation. It takes some time to put together due to the research phase, followed by writing before the show then goes into a regular drama production schedule.”
Tim Bartley directing
Even though Radio Karate is a boutique production business with one show in production at any one time, Bartley calculated it had over 600 cast and crew on its books on season two at different times.
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This is an excerpt from the full article, which appears on Mediaweek Premium. Read the full article here, or subscribe to Mediaweek Premium here.
Kids’ favourite influencer channels, popular platforms and social trends
The report looks at a variety of aspects facing children aged 4-14 including screen time, content preferences and how they find out about the latest products.
“Understanding the minds of the next generation of content consumers is never an easy task. The kids we spoke to are true digital natives who play by very different rules from us and this report has really thrown up some interesting data,” said David Webb, Turner’s senior director of data & insights for Asia Pacific.
Turner Australia is the company behind brands such as Cartoon Network and Boomerang, and YouTube platform Mega Awesome Wow.
Here are some of the report’s highlights:
What Are Our Kids Watching?
Despite the rise of short-form video platforms, TV remains the largest medium in terms of monthly usage for kids, according to Turner’s New Generations report.
On average, kids are consuming more than two and a half hours of television and movies across all devices and platforms on a typical day, and spend a further 75 minutes on short- form video platforms. Cartoons remain the favourite type of TV content watched by kids, followed by movies and live-action kids shows.
Penetration of newer technology has increased amongst households with kids, with streaming devices (+124%), smartwatches (+69%) and VR devices (+60%) having all seen large uplifts in ownership since the last survey in 2016. And while almost all households surveyed now have a smartphone, child access to computing devices remains higher for tablets and computers.
What Are Our Kids Doing Online?
Short-form video viewing was the most common online activity for kids on websites and apps (73%).
Despite high platform consumption, usage of individual on-line video channels remains highly fragmented, and of the myriad of YouTube channels available, Dan TDM, Ryan’s Toys Reviews, Minecraft, Jake Paul and Hobby Kids TV were listed as the top five.
Online games overtook school/homework in this year’s survey in terms of key online activities. Minecraft remained the top favourite game for both boys and girls, although recent sensation, Fortnite, was the second-highest favourite title for boys.
Social media usage remains much lower for kids, especially those aged 12 and under, with only a quarter (27%) using any platform in the last month. Instagram has overtaken Facebook for the first time in the New Generations history, with nearly half of the kids using Instagram of which 87% have their own account.
Turner AdLab
As part of the research Turner also developed AdLab, in order to determine the effectiveness of advertising to kids. The study researched key effectiveness metrics such as ad likeability, brand recall and purchase intent within TV, short-form video platforms and website environments.
The research revealed that TV ads outperformed YouTube ads for key ad metrics when comparing the same creative, with results showing 43% higher spontaneous awareness, 21% higher brand recall, 7% higher ad likeability and a 13% change in purchase intent.
“What we saw was that purchase intent increased when an ad was shown on TV only, compared to YouTube only, but further increased when seen on both TV and You Tube. This information could provide brands with better information to plan their campaigns,” said Webb.
In the website test, premium digital formats such as OTPs, pre-roll videos and game takeover ad units were more impactful, achieving double the recall of standard digital ads.
Content environments also played a key role in driving effectiveness with ads performing better on all key metrics when kids liked the surrounding content. The research also showed that ads appearing within content for the same brand achieved higher recall (+35%) and purchase intent (+25%).
2018 NRMA Kennedy Awards: complete list of finalists
Categories and finalists
1 Les Kennedy Award for Outstanding Crime Reporting (sponsor Stonemasons and Landscapers (since 1970)
Emma Partridge (Daily Telegraph); Janet Fife-Yeomans, Ashleigh Gleeson (Daily Telegraph); Michael Evans (Sydney Morning Herald)
2 Paul Lockyer Award for Outstanding Regional Broadcast Reporting (sponsor Vodafone)
Anna Henderson (7.30 ABC); Marty McCarthy (ABC Regional); Melissa Russell, Michael Pignatoro (WIN News Wollongong)
3 Chris Watson Award for Outstanding Regional Newspaper Reporting
Carrie Fellner (Newcastle Herald); Cara Hildebrandt (The Mandurah Mail); Shannon Tonkin (Illawarra Mercury)
4 Rod Allen Award for Racing Writer of the Year (sponsor Australian Turf Club)
Ray Thomas (Daily Telegraph); Andrew Webster (Sydney Morning Herald); Chris Roots (Sydney Morning Herald)
5 Outstanding Turf Reporting (sponsor Racing NSW)
Chris Roots (Sydney Morning Herald), Ray Thomas (The Daily Telegraph)
6 Sean Flannery Award for Outstanding Radio Reporting (sponsor Hillbrick Bicycles)
Natalia Peters (Macquarie Radio, 2GB); Tamara Wearne (Macquarie Radio, 2GB); Andrew Greene (ABC Radio)
7 Outstanding Radio Current Affairs Reporting & Audio Blog
Peter Ryan (ABC Radio); David Marr, Melissa Davey, Miles Martignoni (The Guardian Australia); How Well Do You Sleep At Night? (ABC Audio Studios)
8 Outstanding News Photo (sponsor City of Parramatta Council)
Kate Geraghty (Sydney Morning Herald); John Grainger (Daily Telegraph); Nathan Edwards (Sunday Telegraph)
9 Outstanding Portrait (sponsor City of Parramatta)
Philip Hillyard (Daily Telegraph); Kate Geraghty (Sydney Morning Herald); Jonathan Carroll (Newcastle Herald)
10 Outstanding Sports Photo (sponsor City of Parramatta)
Brett Costello (Daily Telegraph); Sam Ruttyn (Sunday Telegraph); Philip Hillyard (Daily Telegraph)
11 Outstanding Online Video (sponsor City of Parramatta)
Eric Lobbecke (The Australian); Allan Clarke (ABC True Crime); Ivan O’Mahoney, Dan Box (The Australian)
12 Power of the Lens People’s Choice Award
To be announced at August 10th Gala
13 The Cliff Neville Award: Outstanding Team Player
To be announced at the gala event August 10
14 Peter Frilingos Award for Outstanding Sports Reporting (sponsor ANZ Stadium)
Peter Lalor (The Australian); Jane Cadzow (Sydney Morning Herald); Jamie Pandaram (Daily Telegraph)
15 2018 Young Journalist of the Year (sponsor Twitter)
Sam Buckingham-Jones (The Australian); Lucy Cormack (Sydney Morning Herald); Taylor Auerbach (A Current Affair)
16 Outstanding Travel Writing
Rob McFarland (Sydney Morning Herald); Catherine Marshall (Sydney Morning Herald); Tracey Croke (Adventure.com)
17 Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsor Balter Beer)
To be announced at the gala event August 10
18 John Newfong Award for Outstanding Indigenous Affairs Reporting (sponsor Paradigm Resources)
Allan Clarke (NITV); Lorena Allam (The Guardian Australia); Chris Roe, Karla Grant (NITV)
19 Gary Ticehurst Award for Outstanding TV News Camera Coverage (sponsor Nine News)
Kevin Hudson (Seven News); Paul Buller (Nine News); Andy Taylor (Sunday Night)
20 Harry Potter Award for Outstanding Television News Reporting (sponsor Network 10)
Seven News Team (Seven News); Neil Breen (Nine News); Robert Ovadia (Seven News)
21 Outstanding Television Current Affairs Reporting (sponsor A Current Affair)
Tara Brown, Grace Tobin, Sean Power (60 Minutes); Adele Ferguson, Leslie Robinson, Lucy Carter, Nassim Khadem (4 Corners ABC); Tracy Grimshaw (A Current Affair)
22 Outstanding Nightly TV Current Affairs Reporting (sponsor Nine News)
Patrick Abboud (SBS Viceland); Dimity Clancey (A Current Affair); ABC Fairfax Team (ABC Fairfax)
23 Peter Ruehl Award for Outstanding Columnist (sponsor AGL)
James Weir (news.com.au); James Jeffrey (The Australian); Jacqueline Maley (Sydney Morning Herald)
24 Outstanding Finance Reporting (sponsor Hunter Burton Capital)
Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert (Fairfax Media); Peter Ryan (ABC Radio); Max Mason (Australian Financial Review)
25 Outstanding Consumer Affairs Reporting (sponsor One Big Switch)
Tony Ibrahim (Choice Magazine); Alison Branley, Sophie Scott (ABC Lateline), Patrick Abboud (SBS)
26 Outstanding Online News Breaking
Liam Bartlett, Howard Sacre, Elizabeth Little (60 Minutes); Max Mason (The Australian Financial Review); Paul Farrell (The Guardian)
27 Outstanding Court Reporting (sponsor Artline)
Patrick Begley (Sydney Morning Herald); Nicola Berkovic (The Australian); Taylor Auerbach (A Current Affair)
28 Outstanding Reporting on the Environment
Carrie Fellner (Newcastle Herald); Benedict Brook (news.com.au); Peter Hannam (Sydney Morning Herald)
29 Rebecca Wilson Award 2018 Scoop of the Year (sponsor Salty Dingo Media)
Mark Morri (Daily Telegraph); Sharri Markson, Kyla Loussikian (Daily Telegraph); Nick McKenzie (Sydney Morning Herald, The Age)
30 Vince O’Farrell Award: Outstanding Illustration (sponsor Stabilo)
Alan Moir (Sydney Morning Herald); Cathy Wilcox (Sydney Morning Herald); David Rowe (Fairfax Media)
31 Outstanding Investigative Reporting (sponsor 7 News)
Nick McKenzie, Chris Masters (The Age, Sydney Morning Herald); Sharri Markson, Kylar Loussikian (Daily Telegraph); Emma Partridge (Daily Telegraph)
32 Jim Oram Award: Outstanding Features Writing (sponsor Sydney Morning Herald)
Jane Cadzow (Sydney Morning Herald); Nick O’Malley (The Good Weekend); Trent Dalton (The Australian)
33 Outstanding Political Reporting (sponsor NRMA Insurance)
Sharri Markson (Daily Telegraph); Andrew Clennell (The Australian); Gary Adshead (The West Australian)
34 2018 Kennedy Award prize for Australian Journalist of the Year
Kate McClymont (Sydney Morning Herald); Nick McKenzie (The Age, Sydney Morning Herald); Sharri Markson (Daily Telegraph)
Parrot Analytics to provide CBS Studios with audience demand data
Under the deal, Parrot will supply CBS Studios International with timely and actionable data to gauge audience demand for specific content.
Parrot Analytics developed and provides the industry’s only real-time, global demand measurement system for TV content across all platforms.
Mediaweek publishes weekly audience demand charts for both digital originals and all TV in the Australian and NZ markets.
Parrot Analytics CEO Wared Seger said: “We’re thrilled to welcome the forward-thinking team at CBS Studios International to our family of thought-leading partners around the world.
“Today’s fragmented media landscape presents a challenge for studios, networks and OTT platforms in understanding the relationship between audiences and content. For global teams like CBS Studios International, it is even more critical that cross-platform content benchmarking is readily available for the team to drive critical distribution plans.”
CBS Studios International President of Sales Barry Chamberlain said: “As global media consumption evolves, it’s important to use advanced analytics to better understand how audiences are reacting to our programming.
“We look forward to utilising Parrot’s detailed insights and analysis for our international team and clients.”
Read more about Parrot Analytics technology here.
Photos: Gang of Youths perform for Nova’s Red Room
Fresh from their performance at Splendour in the Grass, the Australian indie rock group played for 400 people at the Beresford Hotel in Surry Hills. Some of the faces in the crowd last night were Nova’s drive show host Tim Blackwell, Fitzy & Wippa news presenter Matt de Groot, news director Michelle Stephenson, Home & Away’s Sophie Dillman and Jackson Heywood, Seven presenter Tom Williams, as well as Greater Western Sydney Giants’ Phil Davis, Lachie Keeffe, Dylan Buckley, Matt Buntine, Callan Ward, Lachie Tiziani and Isaac Cumming.
Gangs of Youth
The set list for the night was What Can I Do If The Fire Goes, The Heart Is A Muscle, Let Me Down Easy, Persevere, Say Yes To Life and The Deepest Sighs, The Frankest Shadows. Gang of Youths frontman Dave Le’aupepe also did a cover of I’m On Fire.
Nova Entertainment news director Michelle Stephenson
Gang of Youths frontman Dave Le’aupepe
Gang of Youths at Nova’s Red Room
Fitzy and Wippa news presenter Matt de Groot
Seven presenter Tom Williams
GWS Giants’s Isaac Cumming and Lachie Tiziani
TV Ratings Analysis: Wednesday July 25
By James Manning
Seven
Home And Away dropped a little to 661,000.
Episode four of The Single Wives did 343,000 after three episodes last week delivered an audience of 367,000.
Criminal Minds then did 299,000.
Nine
A Current Affair was on 757,000.
Britain’s Got Talent took the 7.30pm slot with 483,000 followed by Britain’s Got More Talent with 291,000.
TEN
The first week of Pointless has so far seen the numbers slip from the opening night:
Monday 493,000
Tuesday 378,000
Wednesday 362,000
The Project then started on 298,000 and grew to 575,000.
MasterChef was interstate, stopping by the famed Bondi Beach restaurant Icebergs for the final team challenge in the final Wednesday episode. The show did 906,000, which was better than Seven and Nine combined.
US dramas time later in the night with Instinct on 378,000 and then Madam Secretary on 127,000.
ABC
Gill Hicks was the subject on Anh’s Brush With Fame at 8pm with 629,000 watching.
The Weekly followed with 585,000 with Ben Fordham joining Tom Gleeson on Hard Chat. The show also had a look at TEN’s Pilot Week and it previewed yet another Sky News spinoff.
You Can’t Ask That then did 452,000, Adam Hills: The Last Leg was on 254,000 and the primary channel night out for Tonightly did 104,000.
Gill Hicks on Anh’s Brush With Fame
SBS
A repeat of Titanic: The New Evidence screened at 7.30pm to 286,000 followed by Burma With Simon Reeve on 247,000 on a night with a strong share of 7.9%.
The launch episode of the Rachel Griffiths crime drama Dead Lucky then did 234,000.
Not long left on the Tour de France now – stage 17 did 211,000.
Week 30 TV: Wednesday
| WEDNESDAY METRO | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven | Nine | Ten | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 12.4% | 7 | 16.0% | 9 | 17.2% | TEN | 14.8% | SBS One | 7.9% |
| ABC 2 | 2.9% | 7TWO | 3.5% | GO! | 4.3% | ONE | 2.9% | VICELAND | 3.2% |
| ABC ME | 0.7% | 7mate | 3.2% | GEM | 1.9% | ELEVEN | 2.2% | Food Net | 0.9% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.4% | 7flix | 2.2% | 9Life | 2.1% | NITV | 0.1% | ||
| TOTAL | 17.4% | 24.9% | 25.5% | 19.9% | 12.2% | ||||
| WEDNESDAY REGIONAL | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven Affiliates | Nine Affiliates | Ten Affiliates | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 11.4% | 7 | 17.1% | 9 | 15.6% | WIN | 12.2% | SBS One | 6.4% |
| ABC 2 | 3.5% | 7TWO | 5.2 % | GO! | 4.7% | ONE | 2.8% | VICELAND | 3.0% |
| ABC ME | 0.8% | 7mate | 4.1% | GEM | 3.7% | ELEVEN | 2.0% | Food Net | 1.0% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.5% | 7flix | 1.7% | 9Life | 3.2% | NITV | 0.2% | ||
| TOTAL | 17.2% | 28.1% | 27.2% | 17% | 10.6% | ||||
| WEDNESDAY METRO ALL TV | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTA | STV | ||||||||
| 85.1% | 14.9% | ||||||||
Wednesday FTA
- Seven News Seven 1,035,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 1,013,000
- Nine News Nine 970,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 950,000
- MasterChef Australia Ten 906,000
- A Current Affair Nine 757,000
- ABC News ABC 696,000
- Home And Away Seven 661,000
- Anh’s Brush With Fame ABC 629,000
- The Chase Australia Seven 628,000
- The Weekly With Charlie Pickering ABC 585,000
- The Project 7pm Ten 575,000
- Hot Seat Nine 542,000
- 7.30 ABC 535,000
- Britain’s Got Talent Nine 483,000
- You Can’t Ask That ABC 452,000
- Ten Eyewitness News First At Five Ten 428,000
- The Chase Australia-5pm Seven 394,000
- Instinct Ten 378,000
- Pointless Ten 362,000
DEMO TOP FIVES
16-39 Top 5
- MasterChef Australia Ten 267,000
- The Project 7pm Ten 163,000
- Home And Away Seven 132,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 130,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 129,000
18-49 Top 5
- MasterChef Australia Ten 417,000
- The Project 7pm Ten 281,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 236,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 226,000
- Seven News Seven 224,000
25-54 Top 5
- MasterChef Australia Ten 454,000
- The Project 7pm Ten 311,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 295,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 286,000
- Seven News Seven 280,000
Wednesday MULTICHANNEL
- The Big Bang Theory TX2 (R) 9GO! 211,000
- The Big Bang Theory TX3 (R) 9GO! 184,000
- The Big Bang Theory TX1 (R) 9GO! 184,000
- Noddy Toyland Detective-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 177,000
- Peppa Pig-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 174,000
- Peter Rabbit ABCKIDS/COMEDY 165,000
- Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom ABCKIDS/COMEDY 165,000
- Floogals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 163,000
- Hey Duggee-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 160,000
- Shaun The Sheep ABCKIDS/COMEDY 159,000
- Dinosaur Train ABCKIDS/COMEDY 157,000
- Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures ABCKIDS/COMEDY 156,000
- Teacup Travels-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 148,000
- Peppa Pig-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 147,000
- The Big Bang Theory (R) 9GO! 147,000
- Octonauts ABCKIDS/COMEDY 145,000
- Kazoops!-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 143,000
- Dot.-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 139,000
- The Fifth Element SBS VICELAND 131,000
- Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 131,000
Wednesday SUBSCRIPTION TV
- Live: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 88,000
- Selling Houses Australia LifeStyle Channel 66,000
- Criminal Minds TVH!TS 59,000
- Live: NRL 360 FOX LEAGUE 59,000
- The Bolt Report SKY NEWS LIVE 52,000
- NCIS TVH!TS 49,000
- Wentworth showcase 47,000
- Selling Houses Australia LifeStyle Channel 44,000
- Credlin SKY NEWS LIVE 42,000
- Paul Murray Live SKY NEWS LIVE 41,000
- Family Guy FOX8 39,000
- Family Guy FOX8 38,000
- Kid-E-Cats Nick Jr. 38,000
- Seinfeld 111 36,000
- Criminal Minds TVH!TS 36,000
- M*A*S*H FOX Classics 35,000
- Live: League Life FOX LEAGUE 32,000
- Antiques Roadshow LifeStyle Channel 31,000
- Seinfeld 111 31,000
- Jeopardy! FOX Classics 31,000
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
Margin Call values Craig Hutchison’s Crocmedia fortune at almost $20m
The $70m merger of Hutchy’s private Crocmedia with the listed Pacific Star Network has given Margin Call some visibility on just how much he is worth.
As part of the deal, Hutchy has emerged with a 24.4 per cent stake in Pacific Star, worth more than $17m at the media group’s current share price.
He is also paid almost $1m a year to be its managing director.
All going well, over the next three years Hutchy is also set to receive a further 2.1 million Pacific Star shares via performance rights that are worth $735,000 today (and more if the share price rises).
Former Nine reporter Ross Coulthart consulting for banking royal commission
None other than former 60 Minutes journo Ross Coulthart.
As Margin Call reported earlier in the month, Coulthart has emerged working for Sue Cato and Brett Clegg’s newish spinning outfit.
And we’ve since learned one client benefiting from Coulthart’s considerable investigative skills is Jon Sutton’s Bank of Queensland, which like its financial services peers is currently negotiating the Hayne Show.
Murdoch family and Disney’s Robert A. Iger to miss Friday’s merger vote
Murdoch, who controls the Fox entertainment empire, and Iger, Disney’s chief executive, have each decided to have lawyers run the separate meetings, according to three people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private plans. Christine M. McCarthy, Disney’s chief financial officer, and her counterpart at Fox, John P. Nallen, are also expected to participate.
The shareholder meetings, which are scheduled to take place simultaneously at the New York Hilton, are required under securities law, but the business conducted will be rather perfunctory. Most of the voting is expected to be completed by proxy by the time the sessions start, and the merger is likely to be approved by a wide margin.
James Murdoch, Fox’s chief executive, and his brother, Lachlan, Fox’s executive chairman, will also stay away.
How Love Island and World Cup have lifted ITV audiences & revenues
Carolyn McCall, ITV’s chief executive, lauded the “fantastic” viewing figures for the tournament and reality show for helping the broadcaster achieve a strong performance in the first half of the year.
The company said the rate of growth was the biggest in ITV’s recent history and the broadcaster’s share of viewers was at a 10-year high.
ITV has sold the Love Island format to seven countries, with an eighth major market to be announced soon. The Love Island mobile phone game, which is free to download before players pay for virtual items such as bikinis, is the top-grossing title on Apple’s charts, ahead of Fortnite and Candy Crush.
News Brands
Nine News boss slams New Idea: Tracy Grimshaw not reeling or hiding
According to the article, “What Tracy Grimshaw Is Hiding” she spent a week in ‘self-imposed exile at her property’, with network bosses forced to pull out all the stops to keep her happy.
“It’s made her question everything – including whether she sticks with the show,” an industry insider told the mag.
But Wick told TV Tonight the article was all fabricated and riddled with errors.
“It’s nonsense. Tracy’s leave was planned long in advance of the Logies. She would have gone on leave beforehand but we asked her to stay on for the Logies. So there’s nothing strange about that. Everyone has to take leave and we’ve found it’s really important with a lot of presenters to get them away mid-year to have a break.
“So it’s just completely made up.”
Kennedy Awards: The Daily Telegraph secures 12 finalists across 10 different categories
Seven journalists and five photographers have been named as finalists across 10 categories – led by national political editor Sharri Markson, who is vying for four awards, chief court reporter Emma Partridge and crime editor Mark Morri.
Markson’s story revealing that former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and his ex- staffer Vikki Campion were expecting a love child led to Mr Joyce resigning as deputy prime minister. It has been nominated for Scoop of the Year and Outstanding Investigative Reporting.
She is also up against Fairfax’s Kate McClymont and Nick McKenzie in the Journalist of the Year category, after a strong body of work that included exposing a major rift between the Rural Fire Service and NSW Fire and Rescue that erupted in the bungled response to the Tathra bushfires.
Markson is also nominated for Outstanding Political Reporting.
John Grainger’s front page photo of a pregnant Ms Campion has been nominated for News Photo of the Year.
See a full list of the Kennedy Awards nominees above.
Andrew Bolt on reporter Brianna Travers being vilified by other journalists
To answer, let me explain what was done to Brianna Travers this week. Travers has been a journalist for only three years and has done very well.
She is a producer on 3AW and a reporter for Melbourne’s Herald Sun and has already won a journalism award.
Last Sunday she was asked by the paper to talk to the mother of Laa Chol, a 19-year-old girl tragically killed in a brawl between African youths.
So Travers, with her press pass hung around her neck, knocked on the Pakenham door of Laa Chol’s mother, Ojwanga Abalo.
Since the Herald Sun published her interviews, Travers has been vilified not just by activists but other journalists who apparently don’t want any mention of African crime in the press.
And here is how media groupthink is enforced.
Michael Gawenda is a former editor of the Left-wing Age and was inaugural director of Melbourne University’s Centre for Advanced Journalism. God help journalism.
Gawenda falsely suggested in tweets that Travers “manipulated” the mourners into commenting. He falsely claimed the mourners “could not even speak English” and “clearly asked the journalist to leave”.
Shield laws: Greens move to limit the power of South Australian judges
Greens MP Mark Parnell’s amendment, which has the support of the Government, means there must be an application for a source to be revealed in most courtroom matters.
He said he was concerned judges could go on a “flight of fancy” and decide to examine whether sources should be revealed under the original legislation by SA Attorney-General Vickie Chapman.
Inquisitorial bodies like the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption and the Ombudsman would still have the power to decide if a journalist should be compelled to reveal a source, without an application being made, under the amendment by Parnell, pictured.
Under the Government’s legislation, which would bring South Australia into line with most other states by letting journalists protect their sources’ identities, a judge could threaten punishment in “rare” circumstances where discovering the identity is determined to be more in the public interest than the information itself.
Television
Shaquille O’Neal joins Discovery Channel’s shark celebration
O’Neal will be helped in his journey by ex-Navy/Marine comedian Rob Riggle (Saturday Night Live, Steph Brothers), marine biologists Tristan Guttridge and Austin Gallagher. They will train O’Neal at Atlantis, Paradise Island in The Bahamas. The team will also create diving gear specifically for the basketballer’s size, as well as a purpose-built Shaq Cage.
Shaq Does Shark Week is airing as part of A Bite of Shark Week, which is Discovery Australia’s celebration of the 30th anniversary of Shark Week in America.
Craig Mathieson on what it takes to rebuild commercial TV network
We’re just starting to discover the answer because little more than a year after Network Ten was placed into administration it is commissioning new shows across every relevant format at a rate that is best described by that highly scientific term hell for leather.
The back half of this year is where Ten is really trying to make a mark, even if it’s hard to define an overall strategy. The sheer volume of talent hiring and program commissioning is daunting, and it’s difficult to tell what’s been thought through and what’s opportunistic. The arrival of Lisa Wilkinson, for example, grabbed huge headline attention, but her presence on The Project remains a work in progress after a previously well-honed dynamic received the television equivalent of a shotgun wedding.
Michael Idato: Benedict Cumberbatch’s dream role is Patrick Melrose
For 42-year-old Benedict Cumberbatch that dream role was Patrick Melrose, the central character in a series of novels about Britain’s upper class written by the author Edward St Aubyn.
Cumberbatch got his wish, playing the character in a five-part TV adaptation by screenwriter David Nicholls and directed by Edward Berger, the director of the critically acclaimed Deutschland 83.
He describes the story as “the most richly comic, scalpel-like postmortem [of an] upper class system that’s crumbling.”
“And not just cash-poor landed gentry, but the inherent snobbery, the treachery, the self-loathing, the cynicism, the patronising attitudes, the racism, the sexism, all the -isms, and how they were exposed and rightly vilified in the most humorous, entertaining, and at times terrifyingly dark and real ways,” Cumberbatch adds. “It’s an extraordinary stretch of one man’s life.”
Sports Media
F1 champ Lewis Hamilton accuses former drivers working for Sky Sports
The Brit posted a message on his Instagram account accusing them of being too negative but later deleted it, just hours after his brilliant victory in the German Grand Prix where he went from 14th to first, The London Sun reports in an item republished by News Corp here.
Sky Sports broadcasts F1 races in the UK and on Foxtel in Australia, and Hamilton took aim at the channel’s presenters, which included ex-drivers Damon Hill, Martin Brundle and Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton wrote: “I never get to watch the races but just got home and watching Sky. I find it amusing listening to ex-drivers commentating, not a single one of them could find a good word to say.
“Whatever the reason is, it’s OK I forgive you. Positivity and love win always no matter what words you use to try and undermine me, I started 14th today and finished 1st. God is good all the time.”
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