Tuesday July 31, 2018

From intern to leader: Bauer’s new editor of Real Living Elle Lovelock

Real Living’s new editor Elle Lovelock likens the Bauer magazine to the Ikea catalogue.

By Kruti Joshi

“Everyone gets an idea from the Ikea catalogue even though the ideas and the photographs in them mostly come from Sweden. They tailor a Swedish brand to how we live here. Likewise, Real Living takes inspiration from everywhere around the world to help us create our own beautiful homes in Australia,” she told Mediaweek.

Lovelock joined Bauer Media as an intern back when it was ACP Magazines. She has spent her entire career with the company, much of this time working in homes publications.

“I have worked on all the homes titles up until our recent acquisition,” she said. Bauer acquired Inside Out, Country Style and HomeLife.com.au from News Corp in June 2018.

Prior to being named editor of Real Living in April 2018, Lovelock was the deputy editor of the brand under Emma Vidgen.

This is an excerpt from the full article, which appears on Mediaweek Premium. Read the full article here, or subscribe to Mediaweek Premium here.

TV leaders welcome VOZ total TV measurement coming in 2019

Australian commercial TV chief executives have welcomed a new integrated database being developed by OzTAM and Nielsen that will provide advertisers and media agencies with an all-screen picture of the TV content Australians are watching, who is watching, and how they are watching, on all devices.

See OzTAM launches VOZ: All-screen integrated total TV database

Progressively rolling out from Q1 2019, the new Total TV database, Virtual Australia (VOZ), will bring together audience data for Australians’ broadcast TV viewing on TV sets (OzTAM TV ratings) and streamed TV viewing via connected devices (OzTAM’s VPM service).

The television industry CEOs note that VOZ will allow agencies and advertisers to create media plans for TV inventory on all screens for the metropolitan commercial free-to-air and Foxtel channels, and to manage de-duplicated audience reach and frequency goals in their Total TV campaigns.

VOZ will build on the industry’s ongoing innovation and will ultimately enable audience segments as a currency that advertisers can trade against. Broadcasters will be able to integrate their own data with VOZ’s independent, objective, cross-screen viewing data to enable advanced audience targeting based on viewer behaviours, interests and needs, in addition to fundamental age and gender demographics.

The announcement comes as four CEOs prepare to share a stage for the first time at the inaugural AdWeek Asia-Pacific conference in Sydney at a dinner for Australia’s largest advertisers on July 31.

Patrick Delany, chief executive of Foxtel, said: “TV is the ultimate loud-speaker and continues to hold the crown as the best way to reach the widest possible audience. No other medium captures and holds people’s attention in the same way while at the same time being backed up by transparent performance metrics allowing advertisers to measure audiences, fine-tune messages and amplify the impact of their stories. Today’s news is the next big step in its evolution as the ultimate marketing medium.”

Hugh Marks, chief executive of Nine, said: “The launch of VOZ by OzTAM is an important milestone for television, that will pave the way for advertisers to harness VOZ to better target audience segments, while making the most of broadcast TV’s ability to quickly build reach across their platforms.”

Paul Anderson, chief executive of Network TEN, said: “Television is the only way to reach mass audiences fast – today’s news unlocks the true value of our content and cements television’s position in the marketing mix as the most effective way for advertisers and brands to engage audiences at scale.”

Tim Worner, chief executive of Seven West Media, said: “The true amount of TV being watched, and the level of engagement when it is, has long been underestimated. Today’s announcement gets us much closer to capturing real audience numbers, and will give brands invaluable insights into how audiences engage with premium long-form video across the many different screens now available to them. It is this transparency and accountability, delivered by global leading measurement metrics, that sets TV apart from other mediums, and helps make it the best and most effective platform for advertisers for now and long into the future.”

Australian Podcast Ranker
TEG and Nice Events taking The Betoota Advocate on national tour

• Clancy Overell and Errol Parker will treat audiences to a no-holds-barred live show

Australian satirical news brand The Betoota Advocate will embark on a national tour this November and December, TEG Dainty and Nice Events have announced.

Editors Clancy Overell and Errol Parker will treat audiences to a no-holds-barred live show in true Betoota-style, filled with their trademark wit and humour.

The 13-city tour opens in Townsville on November 3, and will pass through every corner of the country before it winds up at the iconic Sydney Opera House on December 1.

The Betoota Advocate is nationally known and loved for its witty take on the zeitgeist of modern Australia, and has developed a fiercely loyal readership since its inception.

The outlet has previously teamed up with the likes of Malcolm Turmbull and Sir Richard Branson, and reports over seven million website hits monthly.

The brand signed with Nova Entertainment’s Acast Australia for a podcast earlier this year. 

The Betoota brand has also spawned several other successful ventures including Betoota Bitter, Betoota Outfitters and Betoota’s Australia – a book about contemporary Australia that was launched by the Prime Minister at a press conference in October 2017.

Tickets go on sale at 12pm local time on Wednesday August 1.

• Saturday 3 November – The Civic, Townsville
• Sunday 4 November – Darwin Entertainment Centre, Darwin
• Tuesday 6 November – Empire Theatre, Toowoomba
• Thursday 8 November – Qpac, Brisbane
• Friday 9 November – Nightquarter, Gold Coast
• Sunday 11 November – Anita’s Theatre, Wollongong
• Tuesday 13 November – The Civic, Newcastle
• Friday 16 November – Astor Theatre, Perth
• Saturday 17 November – Hamer Hall, Melbourne
• Sunday 18 November – Odeon Theatre, Hobart
• Thursday 22 November – Aec Theatre, Adelaide
• Friday 30 November – Llewelyn Hall, Canberra
• Saturday 1 December – Sydney Opera House, Sydney

Foxtel to continue bringing WWE programs to Australia

Foxtel and WWE have extended their partnership for the 19th year with a new agreement to broadcast WWE programming live in Australia.

This includes flagship shows such as Raw, SmackDown and WWE’s live pay-per-views events.

Foxtel’s FOX8 will continue to air Raw live at 10am on Tuesdays and SmackDown live at 10am on Wednesdays. For the first time, FOX8 will re-air Raw on Tuesday nights in primetime and SmackDown on Wednesday nights in primetime, and Fox Sports will air one-hour versions of Raw and SmackDown in primetime each week. Both shows will be available On Demand following their broadcast.

“We are delighted to extend our long-standing partnership with one of the biggest brands in entertainment, and increase our WWE offering across both our linear channels and On Demand,” said Stephen Baldwin, Director of Foxtel Networks and On Demand. “WWE has such a passionate fan base in Australia, and Foxtel is pleased to be able to continue bringing this popular content to our customers.”

“Foxtel is a longtime, valued partner that shares our vision and passion for engaging and entertaining our fans,” said Michelle Wilson, WWE Co-President. “This agreement allows us to continue showcasing our unique blend of action-packed, family friendly entertainment across Australia.”

Sports fans reveal the best and worst from AFL television coverage

• Bruce McAvaney and The Front Bar AFL fan favourites

News Corp’s Melbourne daily the Herald Sun has published the results of its annual AFL fan survey.

A central part of the survey each year asks those fans about the highlights from the media that cover one of Australia’s two major winter sports.

Seven’s Bruce McAvaney was voted as the best play-by-play TV commentator with 27% of the vote. Second was Fox Footy’s Anthony Hudson followed by Seven’s Brian Taylor.

Fox Footy’s David King was voted TV’s best tactical analyst, well ahead of Seven’s Leigh Matthews in second spot.

Brian Taylor has taken top spot in the category he probably didn’t want to win – Most Annoying AFL Media Personality. He was well ahead of Nine’s Sam Newman in second place.

Seven’s The Front Bar was easily voted Favourite TV Footy Show, well ahead of Fox Footy’s daily AFL 360. Nine’s Footy Show and Footy Classified just made it into the top five.

See also:

Seven’s Brian Taylor on getting nude in Sunday’s The Real Full Monty

After getting naked in primetime, Seven’s Brian Taylor talks football

Hugo Weaving to star in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure adaptation

Australian actor Hugo Weaving will star in the feature film M4M. The ensemble romantic drama is a contemporary take on Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure, set within Melbourne’s Housing Commission flats.

The production reunites Damian Hill and Paul Ireland, the creative team behind the critically acclaimed 2015 feature Pawno. M4M has secured principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) Premiere Fund. Film Victoria provided development and production support.

Hill and Ireland are producing the film and have co-written the script. Ireland will also be taking on directing duties. Ian Kirk, Bryce Menzies, Tony Nagle and Clement Dunn are acting as executive producers. Bankside Films is attached for international sales.

Ireland said: “The script for me is always the most important part of the process, the foundation of everything. Damian and I have spent the last two years pouring a lot of love, laughter, frustration, care and emotion into the writing of M4M, resulting in what I feel is a very relevant emotive story and world that deserves to be shared and shown – a world that is often ignored as people are happy to sit in ignorance and let the sun shine or the rain fall, thinking it doesn’t affect them.”

M4M tells the unlikely love story of a modern Muslim woman Jaiwara and local loner musician Claudio, set amongst the tense background of Melbourne’s housing estates. Looming large is local crime figure Duke (played by Weaving) and his rival Farouk, Jaiwara’s gangster brother.

Casting for M4M is currently under way, with filming to commence in Melbourne in September.

brooklyn nine nine
TV Demand: Brooklyn Nine-Nine leads Total TV, Who Is America? charts

Brooklyn Nine-Nine was the big winner this week. After bubbling away on the Overall TV charts for many weeks this year, it sits at #1 in Australia and New Zealand.

Parrot Analytics On Demand charts July 22-28

The popularity of the US sitcom is not easily explained given it has been off-air for some time since it was cancelled in the US by Fox. New episodes from its new home at NBC are not expected until early in 2019. The series was screened in Australia most recently on Viceland, but there are no episodes available on SBS On Demand. Older seasons of the show are available on Netflix, Universal Channel (Australia), and Fetch TV. The show was screened in New Zealand on the TVNZ channel Duke. Older episodes have been available on Lightbox.

Meanwhile Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who Is America? has charted in the top 10 in both countries this week. It is screened in Australia on Stan and doesn’t feature in the top 10 Digital Originals.

The Handmaid’s Tale leads the Digital Originals chart in Australia and New Zealand for a sixth consecutive week.

Box Office: ABBA and André Rieu sizzle as post-holiday ticket sales slow

• ABBA and André Rieu sizzle as post-holiday ticket sales slow

The winter school holiday period proved to be a good few weeks for cinemas. However, now that is over box office dollars have slowed with revenue down 31% week-on-week to $12.43m.

It wasn’t just the school holiday trade that was good – the past six weekends were all $18m+ plus.

This week it is all about music with ABBA and André Rieu helping ease the post-holiday pain.

Two new releases made the chart this week as cinemas look forward to the new Mission Impossible instalment next weekend.

#1 Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again $3.90m

The second week at #1 for the hit musical with total takings so far close to $13m. Cinemas showing the movie dropped from 587 to 531 while the screen average dropped from just over $10,000 to $7,351. The musical tunes from ABBA, along with the star cast, are a tempting treat for movie fans. And the soundtrack is doing bumper business too, sitting at #1 this week on the ARIA album chart.

#2 The Equalizer 2 $1.86m

Week two of this action thriller with close to 300 cinemas still showing the Denzel Washington film with a screen average of $6,290 with second weekend earnings down close to 40%. Box office after its two weekends sits at $5.75m.

/
 

#3 André Rieu’s 2018 Maastricht Concert $1.28m

Sub-titled Amore, My Tribute To Love, the concert had a healthy screen average of $9,675 for the lucky 133 screens that got to show the event. This year the Netherland’s concerts (13 this year!) from his hometown were held earlier this month. The Today show’s Richard Wilkins was on the scene for Nine breakfast TV viewers to give them a peek behind the scenes and to grab a few words with the great man André.

#4 Ant-Man And The Wasp $1.05m

The latest Marvel blockbuster remains top five after four weekends with total box office on $17.94m with 291 screens still offering the movie with a weekend average of $3,629.

#5 The Breaker Upperers $717,000

The first weekend for this New Zealand indie comedy, which is being released by Madman here. The movie launched on 227 screens with a screen average just over $3,000.

Outside the top 5: They might have drifted out of the top five, but these two movies are still doing good business.

Incredibles 2 did $695,000 on the weekend with a total to-date of $44.05m after seven weekends.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom did $694,000 and has earned a total of $34.46m after six weekends.

TV Ratings Analysis: Monday July 30

• Penultimate MasterChef: Khanh eliminated in front of MasterChef greats
• House Rules final: Toad and Mandy win $350k with Gold Coast makeover
• Penultimate Ninja Warrior: Still a big crowd, but trails others in timeslot

By James Manning

Seven

Home and Away started its new week on 724,000 after a week 30 average of 678,000.

House Rules saw the top two teams tasked with making over the exteriors and front yards of their grand final opponents. Toad and Mandy subsequently won House Rules 2018 with a judges’ score of 24/30, just one point ahead of Mel and Dave on 23/30. Their prize – $355,000. Toad and Mandy did a great job on the exterior of the home overlooking the water at Hope Island on the Gold Coast. Mel and Dave also did a great job on the Bega Valley country homestead, but it didn’t impress the judges quite enough to clinch victory. The final episode did 853,000 and climbed to 915,000 for the announcement of the winner.

The audience for the House Rules final last year was 1.02m for the bulk of the episode and then 1.15m for the announcement of the winner.

Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours To Hell And Back did 418,000 followed by Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares on 249,000.

Nine

A Current Affair started its week on 816,000 after a week 30 average of 740,000. The program recalled the Hoddle Street massacre and murderer Julian Knight.

Australian Ninja Warrior started its two-part grand final with 906,000, which trailed MasterChef and the last section of House Rules. As always there was great athleticism on display plus some spectacular fails. The audience for last year’s penultimate episode was 1.54m.

When Celebrity Goes Horribly Wrong was next with 286,000.

The Monday night footy shows followed: 100% Footy was well down the rankings with under 50,000 from Sydney and Brisbane, while Footy Classified was on 103,000 with 74,000 in Melbourne.

TEN

Pointless averaged 358,000 across its first week on TEN, after Family Feud’s final week averaged 303,000. Pointless started its second week on 328,000.

MasterChef Australia had to farewell Khanh in its penultimate episode. The MasterChef Australia top two are Ben Borsht and Sashi Cheliah, who will face off against each other in tonight’s grand final. To decide the top two, the remaining cooks had to prepare a main and dessert for 20 previous MasterChef contestants from nine previous seasons. Khanh was in deep trouble from early on with burnt fish. The Monday audience was 961,000, which was the biggest audience for the show this season. The same episode last year did 953,000.

Russell Coight was the first guest quizmaster on Have You Been Paying Attention? and he shuffled on set with a brown snake wrapped around his neck. Dane Simpson made his first appearance on the panel and he was playing the game better than anyone else, which is why he had the lowest score. The episode did 856,000 all people and delivered its biggest 25-54 audience where it ranked #1 for the night.

ABC

Backroads did 568,000 at 8pm.

Four Corners then did 415,000, which is close to half the audience of over 800,000 watching just a fortnight ago.

Media Watch then did 522,000 followed by Q&A on 387,000.

SBS

Inside Windsor Castle had the channel’s biggest audience at 7.30pm with 255,000 watching.

How To Get Fit First followed on 138,000, followed by 24 Hours In Emergency at 9.30pm with 185,000.

 

Week 31 TV: Monday
MONDAY METRO
ABCSevenNineTenSBS
ABC11.8%719.4%919.0%TEN18.3%SBS One4.3%
ABC 22.5%7TWO3.3%GO!4.2%ONE2.7%VICELAND1.1%
ABC ME0.6%7mate3.0%GEM2.7%ELEVEN1.6%Food Net1.0%
ABC NEWS1.1%7flix2.0%9Life1.3%NITV0.1%
TOTAL16.0%27.7%27.3%22.6%6.5%
MONDAY REGIONAL
ABCSeven AffiliatesNine AffiliatesTen AffiliatesSBS
ABC12.5%722.3%916.1%WIN13.4%SBS One3.6%
ABC 22.6%7TWO4.3%GO!4.6%ONE3.0%VICELAND0.7%
ABC ME1.1%7mate4.4%GEM4.6%ELEVEN1.5%Food Net0.9%
ABC NEWS1.2%7flix1.5%9Life1.7%NITV0.1%
TOTAL17.4%32.5%27.0%17.9%5.3%

 

MONDAY METRO ALL TV
FTASTV
87.3%12.7%

 

MONDAY FTA
  1. Seven News Seven Network 1,054,000
  2. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven Network 1,050,000
  3. Nine News Nine 1,015,000
  4. Nine News 6:30 Nine 1,014,000
  5. Masterchef Australia – Grand Finale Part 1 Network Ten 961,000
  6. House Rules-Winner Announced Seven Network 915,000
  7. Australian Ninja Warrior -Mon Nine 906,000
  8. Have You Been Paying Attention? Network Ten 856,000
  9. House Rules-Grand Final Seven Network 853,000
  10. A Current Affair Nine 816,000
  11. Abc News ABC 750,000
  12. Home And Away Seven Network 724,000
  13. The Chase Australia Seven Network 611,000
  14. The Project 7pm Network Ten 582,000
  15. 7.30 ABC 576,000
  16. Back Roads ABC 568,000
  17. Hot Seat Nine 565,000
  18. Media Watch ABC 522,000
  19. Ten Eyewitness News First At Five Network Ten 422,000
  20. Ramsay’s 24 Hours To Hell And Back Seven Network 418,000
DEMO TOP FIVES

16-39 Top 5

  1. Masterchef Australia – Grand Finale Part 1 Network Ten 313,000
  2. Have You Been Paying Attention? Network Ten 290,000
  3. Australian Ninja Warrior -Mon Nine 237,000
  4. House Rules-Winner Announced Seven Network 201,000
  5. House Rules-Grand Final Seven Network 191,000

 

18-49 Top 5

  1. Have You Been Paying Attention? Network Ten 464,000
  2. Masterchef Australia – Grand Finale Part 1 Network Ten 464,000
  3. Australian Ninja Warrior -Mon Nine 397,000
  4. House Rules-Winner Announced Seven Network 323,000
  5. House Rules-Grand Final Seven Network 304,000

 

25-54 Top 5

  1. Have You Been Paying Attention? Network Ten 510,000
  2. Masterchef Australia – Grand Finale Part 1 Network Ten 490,000
  3. Australian Ninja Warrior -Mon Nine 433,000
  4. House Rules-Winner Announced Seven Network 374,000
  5. House Rules-Grand Final Seven Network 355,000
MONDAY MULTICHANNEL
  1. Peter Rabbit ABCKIDS/COMEDY 249,000
  2. Octonauts ABCKIDS/COMEDY 237,000
  3. Peppa Pig-Pm ABCKIDS/COMEDY 225,000
  4. Floogals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 216,000
  5. Little Roy-Pm ABCKIDS/COMEDY 214,000
  6. Noddy Toyland Detective-Pm ABCKIDS/COMEDY 213,000
  7. The Big Bang Theory -(R) 9GO! 190,000
  8. Fireman Sam-Pm ABCKIDS/COMEDY 187,000
  9. Dinosaur Train ABCKIDS/COMEDY 187,000
  10. Hey Duggee-Pm ABCKIDS/COMEDY 183,000
  11. The Big Bang Theory – (R) 9GO! 175,000
  12. Luo Bao Bei-Pm ABCKIDS/COMEDY 168,000
  13. Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures ABCKIDS/COMEDY 166,000
  14. Shaun The Sheep ABCKIDS/COMEDY 157,000
  15. The Big Bang Theory (R) 9GO! 155,000
  16. Sarah & Duck-Pm ABCKIDS/COMEDY 150,000
  17. The Big Bang Theory (R) 9GO! 150,000
  18. Go Jetters-Am ABCKIDS/COMEDY 147,000
  19. Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom ABCKIDS/COMEDY 146,000
  20. Pj Masks-Am ABCKIDS/COMEDY 144,000
MONDAY  SUBSCRIPTION TV
  1. Live: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 92,000
  2. Live: On The Couch FOX FOOTY 85,000
  3. The Bolt Report SKY NEWS LIVE 70,000
  4. Paul Murray Live SKY NEWS LIVE 62,000
  5. Outsiders SKY NEWS LIVE 55,000
  6. Credlin SKY NEWS LIVE 52,000
  7. Live: NRL 360 FOX LEAGUE 50,000
  8. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver COMEDY CHANNEL 47,000
  9. Jeopardy! FOX Classics 44,000
  10. Family Guy FOX8 44,000
  11. Blaze And The Monster Machines Nick Jr. 44,000
  12. Criminal Minds TVH!TS 43,000
  13. Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 42,000
  14. The Simpsons FOX8 39,000
  15. Family Guy FOX8 38,000
  16. American Dad! FOX8 36,000
  17. Live: Big League Wrap FOX LEAGUE 34,000
  18. PML Overtime SKY NEWS LIVE 34,000
  19. 24 Hours In Emergency LifeStyle Chan nel 33,000
  20. The Good Karma Hospital UKTV 33,000

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

Weak Nine share price erodes premium offered to Fairfax shareholders

Nine Entertainment’s bid for Fairfax Media remained under pressure as sustained weakness in Nine shares continued to erode the premium offered to Fairfax shareholders, reports The Australian’s Stephen Brook.

Despite rising 2.74% yesterday to $2.25, Nine Entertainment shares were still well below the $2.52 price shares were trading at before the free-to-air television company announced its shock bid for the newspaper publisher on Thursday morning.

The fall in the Nine share price has reduced the value of its offer to just 81.6c, nearly 5c above pre-bid price.

Fairfax shares closed at 81c yesterday, up 0.62%, after it was revealed that multi-billion-dollar fund manager Vinva Investment Management became a substantial shareholder in Fairfax Media on the day the takeover was announced. Vinva said it bought a total of 44 million shares over the four months to July 26, lifting its holding to 5.01% stake, or 115.2 million shares.

[Read the original]

Guardian editor Lenore Taylor concerned about less media diversity

Editor of The Guardian Australia Lenore Taylor has told ABC’s Q&A she is deeply concerned about the future of Australia’s media industry following news of Nine’s takeover of Fairfax Media, reports The Australian’s Olivia Caisley.

Taylor said while Nine did produce some “good journalism”, Australia’s contraction in media diversity spoke to a larger issue of “a problem with civic journalism”.

She said news that held the powerful to account was “really essential for our society and our democracy”, and that consumers of media had to actively support public interest journalism.

[Read the original]

News Corp continuing its auction process for regional newspapers

The AFR’s Street Talk understands News Corp’s drawn-out search for a partner for its big stable of regional newspapers is slowly grinding on, with tyrekickers fronting News management recently.

As Street Talk previously revealed, Sydney-based firm Allegro Funds was among parties to show their hand when first round offers were submitted to News Corp’s adviser Citi in June.

And sources said the turnaround private equity firm is still front and centre in the auction, and is working its way through due diligence materials in the second round data room.

[Read the original]

Seven West Media and Bauer examine potential JV to share publishing costs

Seven West Media and Bauer Media held high-level talks about a potential joint venture to help drive efficiencies across their respective magazine portfolios, The AFR’s Street Talk reports.

It’s believed the Pacific Magazines owner Seven and the Australian arm of the German publishing giant have spoken about shared merchandising services and subscriptions services as a way to reduce costs.

While industry sources said the talks were currently on ice, it’s understood the way things were left means there’s potential for Seven and Bauer to return to the table.

[Read the original]

CBS board says Leslie Moonves won’t be suspended during investigation

Embattled CBS Corp. chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, who has run the company since 2003, won’t be suspended during an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. At least that appears to be what was decided by the board of directors after a meeting on Monday, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

The company said in a statement, “its Board of Directors is in the process of selecting outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation. No other action was taken on this matter at today’s board meeting. Additionally, the Board determined to postpone CBS Corporation’s 2018 annual meeting of stockholders that was previously scheduled to be held on August 10, 2018.”

[Read the original]

Fairfax Stephen Bartholomeusz on Facebook and Twitter share wobbles

Last week something, two things really, happened that would have sent a frisson of concern through those monetising Big Data, reports Fairfax Media’s Stephen Bartholomeusz.

First, Facebook shares plummeted on Thursday, wiping more than $US120 billion off its market capitalisation. Then, on Friday, Twitter lost 15.5% of its market value.

While Facebook’s earnings numbers were stellar – up 31% for the quarter relative to the same period last year – it warned of slower revenue growth in the second half of this year and operating margin declines for the next several years. It also reported flat user numbers and the loss of one million European users in the June quarter.

Twitter also posted good financial numbers, with revenue up 24%, but lost a million users from the first quarter.

[Read the original]

Entertainment

Harry M Miller tribute attracting all-star cast to Capitol Theatre on Friday

The late showbiz impresario Harry M Miller had left very specific instructions about what would amount to be the last show he would produce: his own memorial, reports Fairfax Media’s Andrew Hornery.

And it appears his instructions will be followed to the letter on Friday morning at The Capitol Theatre with an all-star cast gracing the stage to remember Miller, who died on July 4, aged 84, after a long battle with dementia.

Speakers lined up to pay tribute include Miller’s “great mate” Maggie Tabberer, Miller’s former partner and client Deborah Hutton, broadcaster Alan Jones, former High Court judge Michael Kirby, respected theatrical director Jim Sharman and set designer Brian Thomson.

[Read the original]

Television

Amazon Studios project announces showrunners, expects to shoot in NZ

Amazon’s highly anticipated Lord of the Rings television spinoff is slowly inching towards production, reports Fairfax Media’s Broede Carmody.

Over the weekend, the e-commerce site-turned-streaming giant announced it had hired two showrunners, JD Payne and Patrick McKay, to develop the series. Payne and McKay have worked together for more than two decades, most recently writing the big-budget script for Star Trek Beyond.

“The rich world that JRR Tolkien created is filled with majesty and heart, wisdom and complexity,” they said in a statement. “We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Amazon to bring it to life anew. We feel like Frodo, setting out from the Shire, with a great responsibility in our care.”

Discussions with Peter Jackson are said to be ongoing. However, it’s expected that the award-winning director won’t have a hands-on role in the forthcoming TV series.

Instead, showrunners hope to film the show in New Zealand and gain Jackson’s permission to use his sets to create a similar atmosphere to the film trilogy.

[Read the original]

Despite petition calling for cancellation, Netflix stands behind Insatiable

After more than 114,000 enraged fans petitioned on Change.org to have Insatiable cancelled, claiming the show promotes fat-shaming, a Netflix executive is standing by the series, reports Fox News in an item republished by News Corp.

Vice president of original series Cindy Holland rebutted the claims from fans and defended the streaming giant’s series against petitioners during the 2018 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at The Beverly Hilton.

Lauren Goose, who is the creator, felt very strongly about exploring these issues based on her own experiences, but in a satirical, over-the-top way,” she told reporters.

“Ultimately, the message of the show is that what is most important is that you feel comfortable in your own self. Fat-shaming itself, that criticism, is embedded in the DNA of the show.”

[Read the original]

 

Audio

Triple M’s Robin Bailey announces she’s to wed Waterfront’s Sean Pickwell

Robin Bailey and partner Sean Pickwell are planning a November wedding with their “gaggle” of five children, reports News Corp’s Kristy Symonds.

Speaking to The Courier-Mail yesterday after revealing on-air that her beau had popped the question during a family day out at Movie World last week, the Triple M breakfast presenter said the big day would be all about their blended family.

“The kids will all be in the bridal party and very much involved,” she said.

Bailey has three sons – Fin, 18, Lewin, 16, and Piper, 14 – from her marriage to late husband Tony Smart, who took his own life in 2014, while Pickwell has daughter Ally, 25, and son Jamie, 21, from a previous relationship.

“We have taken things super slowly – there is a lot of pain in my family that needed to be respected,” Bailey said.

She said Pickwell, 55, who moved up from Sydney and into their Brisbane home in May, had asked her sons for their permission three weeks before proposing.

[Read the original]

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