Friday July 5, 2019
TV Week editor Thomas Woodgate on the Logie ‘bad boy’
By James Manning
“It’s been an interesting couple of days,” said Thomas Woodgate, editor of Bauer Media’s TV Week, when asked how his week had been.
He was talking to Mediaweek as the fuss surrounding the Gold Logie winner has started to calm a little.
Headlines have slammed the event and the Gold Logie winner for much of the week. Neil McMahon wrote:
RIP, Gold Logie, you’ve had your moment. It’s time for bed
Others have been apathetic for a while. Annette Sharp:
I couldn’t be arsed when invited to head to the Gold Coast to cover the 2019 Logies
The TV Week editor has weathered the storm: “I’m good, I’m happy and I’m still in one piece,” said Woodgate.
Asked about the Gold Logie winner and his campaign, Woodgate said: “Tom Gleeson played to his strengths – a cutting, satirical style of comedy and it serves him well. Did he take it too far along the way? Arguably he maybe did. Not that he would say so.”
Listen: Mediaweek Podcast
TV Week editor Thomas Woodgate on the TV Week Logies
Woodgate noted it’s the public that vote for the award. “They have said that for this year, Tom is the most popular. I am not about to argue with what the public want.
“The opening of the show was Tom at his best. It was hilarious, it was cringe worthy in the best possible way, it was insightful, it was clever and above all it was funny. Nobody was spared and Tom was really in his element.
“What I thought about his acceptance was, that for someone who is usually pretty composed, I felt like Tom was almost in a tunnel and he didn’t know how to get himself out of it.
Two Toms: TV Week editor Thomas Woodgate with the Gold Logie bad boy
“After anyone wins a Logie, the first place they go off stage is into the TV Week media room where they do an exclusive interview and photo shoot. I was the first person to talk to Tom when he came off stage, and the obvious question was, ‘What’s going through your head right now?’
“He was shell shocked. He said when Costa won [Logie for Best Presenter] he had a few drinks because he thought his night was over.”
TV Week’s Logie Awards special on sale Monday July 8
Woodgate noted that people who win Best Presenter, often go on to also win the Gold Logie. That has happened with Carrie Bickmore, Waleed Aly and Grant Denyer.”
Woodgate asked Gleeson backstage if he thought he might have gone too far in his acceptance speech. “Of course he said, ‘No I didn’t.’ Tom had a script, a story and he was sticking to it.”
There is no doubt that Gleeson’s clever campaign tactics – that ranged from cancelling his high-ratings show to attacks on his competitors – was key to his Gold Logie win, but Woodgate said there is no proof that campaigning will always work.
“Nine ran a very aggressive campaign for Tracy Grimshaw for Gold, a very worthy nominee, but it didn’t result in a win for her.
“People say Tom Gleeson hi-jacking Grant Denyer’s campaign was the reason he won Gold – maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. There are many reasons a person can win.”
During our Mediaweek podcast Woodgate was asked if the TV Week Logies had been killed. Will they be back next year?
“The very easy answer to that is no, and yes they will be back. People have been a little bit carried away in the last few days.”
Woodgate said he was happy to have people debating the awards and the TV industry. “I want us to talk about the industry, I want it to thrive, I want it to be celebrated and I want it to be all inclusive. [The criticism] can be hard to read and hear sometimes, but I welcome it, let’s bring it on, keep doing it. The minute we don’t, that is when the TV Week Logie Awards are in trouble.
“We will be back in 2020 and looking to do better.”
Woodgate should have an interesting few weeks when, as happens every year, TV Week meets with the various broadcasters to review the awards and canvas ideas for changes for the future.
Listen: Mediaweek Podcast: Mercado & Manning on the TV Week Logies
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Top Photos: Thomas Woodgate with some of TV Week’s team on the Gold Coast
OMD appoints Mike Worden to lead McDonald’s account
Worden is an accomplished leader in the communications industry with over 16 years’ experience in both agency and client roles. He has worked on an extensive client base across a number of categories including telecommunications, FMCG, automotive, banking and government. Worden joins OMD from his most recent role at UM, Sydney where he was Group Business Director across Johnson & Johnson, LEGO, MLA, & AMP.
Aimee Buchanan, CEO, OMD Australia commented: “I’m excited for Jon, he has done an amazing job leading the McDonald’s business over the past four years and he thoroughly deserves his promotion. I look forward to welcoming Mike into the OMD family. With his strong business acumen and experience in leading high performing teams, Mike is the perfect fit for OMD to lead the McDonald’s business.”
Worden said of his appointment: “I’m incredibly excited to be putting my expertise and energy into leading the McDonald’s business. Macca’s is an iconic brand who have a great relationship with OMD, and I’m looking forward to continuing to build on this partnership into the future.”
Betts will be joining Hearts and Science as Chief Experience Officer, leading the Hearts and Science product. He will commence his role on the 1st August, with Worden joining OMD Australia mid-July.
One Giant Leap: News Corp publishers moon landing anniversary mag
Created by the Herald and Weekly Times partnerships and magazine division in Melbourne, One Giant Leap will be available for purchase with a copy of The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and Adelaide Advertiser from July 6.
The pictorially-driven commemorative magazine will feature the extraordinary achievements of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, with interviews from key people behind Australia’s role in broadcasting the historic moment to the world via the Parkes ‘dish’ in NSW.
Celebrities Molly Meldrum, Bert Newton, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Marcia Hines and Tracy Grimshaw share their memories of the Moon landing and its lasting impact.
Articles by News Corp journalists Simon Plant, Aaron Langmaid, Siobhan Duck and Mark Dunn cover ‘moon fever’, where 600 million people tuned in to watch the landing; a profile piece on the reluctant hero Neil Armstrong; views from two scientists from Parkes who are still alive today; an interview with operations scientist John Sarkissian on the significant global role the Parkes telescope plays to this day; exploration of the future of space travel and an unpacking of moon hoax conspiracies.
Ondrej Foltin, head of content, partnerships and magazines at News Corp Australia said: “One Giant Leap will take readers on a journey back in time to July 20, 1969, when the world watched, awestruck, as a miracle unfolded on their black-and-white TV sets.
“The tribute magazine, in partnership with CSIRO, will look back on that momentous day and ahead to the future, with content expected to appeal to a broad audience. We think it will be especially appealing to baby boomers who can remember the moment and school-aged children who’ll be intrigued by just how the moon landing was accomplished.
“One Giant Leap follows our hugely successful WINX tribute magazine, published in November last year, and a souvenir magazine commemorating the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May. We are passionate about producing special edition magazines in partnership with brands and which celebrate momentous occasions. The golden anniversary of man landing on the moon is a great moment to remember.”
The marketing campaign supporting the initiative includes pre-recorded and live reads on metro radio stations, print and digital advertising, PR and social media marketing, and supported by editorial. In addition, News Corp is printing a giant commemorative poster to be given away free with the three participating mastheads on July 12-13.
One Giant Leap magazine will be available for purchase at participating retailers for six weeks from July 6 for $4.95, when purchasing a printed copy of the Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph or Adelaide Advertiser.
News Corp announces growth plans for leading travel brand Escape
Leading the team will be Gemma Battenbough (pictured), current general manager – digital development, in the newly created role of general manager, travel, who will work with the editorial, commercial, product and marketing teams to deliver the best in-market category opportunity for consumers and advertisers.
Gemma Battenbough
Battenbough said the company had bold and exciting plans to evolve and enhance Escape’s content offering for both consumers and clients.
“Escape offers a unique opportunity for brands and businesses to connect with a premium, mass-scale travel audience,” she said. “Today’s Escape is about dreaming, planning, researching – and most importantly, booking. It is the market-leading brand and, by combining our print and digital assets, we will provide an even better, more cohesive experience for consumers and the biggest audience for our customers.”
The new travel division, which will sit under the umbrella of News DNA, led by Julian Delany, will leverage the momentum of Escape’s newly refreshed website that features end-to-end advertising solutions and content focused on making travel experiences even more enriching and inspiring. Membership functionality has also been added to provide members with exclusive access to holiday deals onsite.
Battenbough will work closely with Jana Frawley, editor-in-chief of Escape, and Helen Demetriou, head of affiliates and partnerships – travel, to build out a unified travel offering and deliver the best experience.
The Escape ecosystem includes the weekly print inserts in the company’s metro mastheads on Sundays and Tuesdays, leading website, holiday deals digital marketplace, video content and social channels.
News DNA managing director Julian Delany said: “Gemma was instrumental in developing the new digital capability for Escape. I’m delighted that she will be leading the evolution of our Escape offering and creating a seamless platform for consumers and advertisers. The travel category is a key pillar of our business and we are seeing exponential growth.
“We have ambitious plans for the expansion of the brand to create a one-stop travel destination where consumers can discover, research, plan and book their holidays, while providing advertisers with all-new commercial opportunities.”
Mercado on TV: Stephen Peacocke, Squinters, Wayne Blair & Robbie Hood
By Andrew Mercado
This Aussie sitcom may have lost Jacki Weaver and Tim Minchin, but it has made up for it with a supercharged second season now featuring Justine Clarke, Genevieve Morris and Anne Edmonds (and they are all hilarious too).
TV Week might do another Stephen Peacocke article/poster/cover soon, because they deserve a good lie down after the Logies, and they are Brax obsessed (last seen on Home and Away in 2016, still in the mag on a regular basis). They should pump up the bit about him being in yet another on-screen romance with an older woman, because in Squinters it’s the fabulously messy US comedienne, Kristen Schaal.
Squinters must be ripe for an international adaptation soon, but look closely at its credits because there is actor, director and writer Wayne Blair contributing to the scripts. Probably his own too, given Bridget’s (Mandy McElhinney) appalling casual racism as she prepares to give birth to Gary’s (Wayne Blair) baby. Comedy gold though, and listen out for the Sunrise reference (ouch) which could be the start of an ongoing gag for Seven’s top rating breakfast show.
Mystery Road, which Blair starred in last year, is coming back on ABC, but given all its movies and series have always changed locations and cast, maybe it returns without him. He might be too busy anyway, what with a fourth series of Black Comedy and could there be a sequel to the year’s highest grossing Aussie movie he directed? Wishful thinking on my part, but everybody loved Top End Wedding and they would all come back for Top End Baby too!
Another wave of indigenous talent arrives this week with Robbie Hood (streaming SBS On Demand, Tuesday on SBS Viceland). It’s from Dylan River, son of director Warwick Thornton, and just like his dad’s breakthrough movie, Samson and Delilah, this web/TV series also follows impoverished black teenagers on the outskirts of Alice Springs. Robbie Hood has a much lighter tone, but is still audacious and optimistic, with incredibly natural performances from a cast of newcomers.
What will the shock jocks say when they learn that a public broadcaster has made a kids series littered with F-bombs? Actually, let’s hope they give cheeky Robbie Hood some publicity, because he should be widely viewed, and it’s an easy watch too at just one hour (six x 10 minute eps). Hugely impressive. More please, and hopefully for more than just an hour next time.
Mediaweek Podcast: The TV Week Logies from all angles
TV Week editor Thomas Woodgate on The Logies
The phone of the TV Week editor has been ringing off the hook this week. A few days after the 2019 Logies, he talks to Mediaweek‘s James Manning about the awards night, Tom Gleeson and all the other winners.
Mercado & Manning on the TV Week Logies
Are the Logies dead? Audience’s love Tom Gleeson, so why do some of his industry colleagues think he’s not funny? Plus TV comedy – is Frontline the best? Who else should be in the top 10 of all time?
Other recent podcasts include:
Inside Foxtel factual – from crime investigation to History Channel hits
The History Channel recently launched its new series Aussie Inventions That Changed The World and it became an instant hit on the Foxtel platform. Foxtel head of factual Jim Buchan tells Mediaweek about that series and tells about the audience’s love for ghoulish crime stories too.
Network 10’s Rick Maier on MasterChef and My Life Is Murder
The head of drama at Network 10 also gets to look after MasterChef for the broadcaster. Rick joins the Mediaweek podcast to talk about with 2019 series and its top 10. He also talks about the commissioning process for the new Lucy Lawless crime drama My Life Is Murder.
TV Guide to new free TV channel SBS World Movies
The choice of free TV channels got even bigger on July 1 as SBS World Movies launched. The channel manager Chris Keely talks about the new HD channel and tells if it will carry ads and talks about plans to be available on the Foxtel platform.
TV Ratings Analysis: July 4
Thursday Week 27 2019
By James Manning
• Seven News 1,025,000/978,000
• Nine News 884,000/830,000
• A Current Affair 658,000
• ABC News 647,000
• 7.30 537,000
• The Project 250,000/433,000
• 10 News First 417,000
• The Drum 193,000
• SBS World News 118,000
Breakfast TV
• Sunrise 271,000
• Today 198,000
Seven
Game, set and match to Seven in demos plus channel and network shares in almost every market.
Home And Away slipped below 600,000 for the first time this week with 597,000.
On The Front Bar, Fitzy stood in for Sam Pang who’s on a mid-year break. The episode did 388,000 after 403,000 last week.
Meanwhile Britain’s Got Talent was on 258,000.
On 7TWO the day four Wimbledon audience was 311,000 with 7TWO’s primetime share on 6.0%. Ash Barty didn’t take up too much of the schedule as she blitzed her round two opponent.
Nine
The channel’s best performance was in Sydney where it managed a primary channel win as the Melbourne Storm won. However the tennis helped Seven to a combined channel share win in Sydney and all other markets.
A Current Affair celebrated Australia’s role in the moon landing and then looked at congestion at Noosa. The audience dropped well below 700,000 with 658,000 watching.
The NRL match did 319,000 with 190,000 in Sydney and 95,000 in Brisbane.
10
The Project featured Logie-winning Luke McGregor. It would have been the program’s highlight, except he was preceded on air by a pig who took over a live cross! The episode did 433,000.
There is just seven left on MasterChef now after a tough night for Derek Lau who was eliminated. Despite the concern from the judges about the complexity of his dish, Derek attempted to use quail eggs in tortellini with a smoked egg and a caramelised onion emulsion.
With 30 minutes left on the clock, Derek strained his ricotta, rolled his pasta and carefully cracked his first egg.
It all began to fall apart when the egg broke as he folded it through the pasta, leaving Derek with no choice but to prepare ravioli as his tortellini creation failed to work. The audience for the Thursday episode was 606,000 after 626,000 a week ago.
The 2018 Pilot Week episode of Taboo then followed with 280,000 after 326,000 watched the final episode of the new series last week.
ABC
Escape From The City was in the Gold Coast hinterland last night with 410,000 watching.
The British TV police drama No Offence then returned with 202,000.
SBS
The Handmaid’s Tale at 9.30pm had the channel’s biggest audience with 149,000.
It was preceded by two episodes of The Great House Revival on 127,000.
Week 27 TV: Thursday
| THURSDAY METRO | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven | Nine | 10 | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 10.0% | 7 | 20.1% | 9 | 16.7% | 10 | 11.6% | SBS One | 3.8% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 3.0% | 7TWO | 8.8% | GO! | 4.3% | 10 Bold | 3.9% | VICELAND | 1.1% |
| ABC ME | 0.7% | 7mate | 3.1% | GEM | 2.0% | 10 Peach | 2.2% | Food Net | 1.2% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.4% | 7flix | 2.4% | 9Life | 1.8% | NITV | 0.4% | ||
| 7Food | 0.9% | SBS World Movies | 0.6% | ||||||
| TOTAL | 15.1% | 35.2% | 24.8% | 17.8% | 7.0% | ||||
| THURSDAY REGIONAL | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven Affiliates | Nine Affiliates | 10 Affiliates | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 7.9% | 7 | 19.0% | 9 | 14.5% | WIN | 9.7% | SBS One | 3.2% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 3.2% | 7TWO | 10.1% | GO! | 5.1% | WIN Bold | 4.5% | VICELAND | 1.2% |
| ABC ME | 0.5% | 7mate | 4.2% | GEM | 3.5% | WIN Peach | 1.8% | Food Net | 2.2% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.1% | 7flix (Excl. Tas/WA) | 3.1% | 9Life | 2.2% | Sky News on WIN | 1.4% | NITV | 0.4% |
| 7food (QLD only) | 1.4% | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 12.7% | 37.8% | 25.2% | 17.4% | 6.9% | ||||
| THURSDAY METRO ALL TV | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTA | STV | ||||||||
| 83.4% | 16.6% | ||||||||
THURSDAY FTA
- Seven News Seven 1,025,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 978,000
- Nine News Nine 884,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 830,000
- A Current Affair Nine 658,000
- ABC News ABC 647,000
- The Chase Australia Seven 633,000
- Masterchef Australia 10 606,000
- Home And Away Seven 597,000
- Hot Seat Nine 542,000
- 7.30 ABC 537,000
- The Project 7pm 10 433,000
- 10 News First 10 417,000
- Escape From The City ABC 410,000
- The Chase Australia-5pm Seven 400,000
- The Front Bar Seven 388,000
- Hot Seat -5pm Nine 322,000
- Wimbledon 2019-Day 4 Seven 311,000
- Sammy J ABC 294,000
- Thursday Night NRL Live Nine 285,000
Demo Top 5
16-39 Top Five
- Masterchef Australia 10 157,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 138,000
- Seven News Seven 136,000
- Home And Away Seven 123,000
- The Project 7pm 10 84,000
18-49 Top Five
- Masterchef Australia 10 272,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 241,000
- Seven News Seven 236,000
- Nine News Nine 208,000
- Home And Away Seven 200,000
25-54 Top Five
- Masterchef Australia 10 307,000
- Seven News Seven 282,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 280,000
- Nine News Nine 260,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 259,000
THURSDAY Multichannel
- Wimbledon 2019-Day 4 7TWO 311,000
- Wimbledon 2019-Day 4-Late 7TWO 216,000
- Dinosaur Train ABCKIDS/COMEDY 153,000
- Floogals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 151,000
- NCIS (R) 10 Bold 150,000
- PJ Masks PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 148,000
- Rusty Rivets ABCKIDS/COMEDY 144,000
- Spider-Man: Homecoming 9GO! 144,000
- Bondi Rescue Ep 2 (R) 10 Bold 139,000
- BlueyAM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 138,000
- Go Jetters ABCKIDS/COMEDY 135,000
- Spicks And Specks ABCKIDS/COMEDY 134,000
- Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures ABCKIDS/COMEDY 132,000
- Peppa Pig PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 130,000
- KiddetsAM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 130,000
- Hawaii Five-O (R) 10 Bold 127,000
- The Big Bang Theory Tx1 -(R) 9GO! 124,000
- Play SchoolAM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 124,000
- Octonauts PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 124,000
- Nella The Princess KnightAM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 122,000
THURSDAY STV
- Live: NRL Dragons V Storm FOX LEAGUE 205,000
- Aussie Gold Hunters Discovery Channel 68,000
- Live: The Late Show With Matty Johns FOX LEAGUE 67,000
- Live: World Cup: Wi V Afg FOX CRICKET 60,000
- Live: Wimbledon: Day 4 FOX SPORTS 505 59,000
- The Bolt Report Sky News Live 57,000
- Live: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 51,000
- Live: NRL Thursday Night League FOX LEAGUE 49,000
- Live: World Cup Innings Break FOX CRICKET 49,000
- Live: Tennis: The Daily Serve FOX SPORTS 505 48,000
- Credlin Sky News Live 46,000
- Paul Murray Live Sky News Live 46,000
- Selling Houses Australia Lifestyle Channel 40,000
- Family Guy FOX8 39,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 39,000
- Blue Bloods TVH!TS 37,000
- Back In Time For Tea Lifestyle Channel 36,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 34,000
- Family Guy FOX8 32,000
- Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 30,000
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
Bauer back in black: Cost-cutting key to magazines making a profit
The company, which publishes magazines including The Australian Women’s Weekly and Woman’s Day, swung to a net profit of $6.3 million for the year to December 31, despite a 13.7 per cent drop in revenue to $224.3m, according to its 2018 financial report, which was lodged with corporate regulator ASIC on Wednesday.
That compares to a net loss of $11.3m in 2017.
Bauer’s editorial expenses dropped to $58m last year, from $72.6m in 2017, with marketing and ad expenses falling to $46.4m, from $54m. Its administration expenses fell to $45.6m, from $55.3m.
Of the group’s $224.3m of revenue, about $142.1m came from the sale of magazines and $48.8m from advertising.
Jobs go as Nine reviews structure and focus of digital news sites
Nine digital editorial director Kerri Elstub has told staff that the company was making some changes to nine.com.au’s “structure and focus”.
The changes come a few months after rival, Seven Network, launched its new news website, 7news.com.au
“We need to better reflect our TV counterparts in the key pillars of news, sport, entertainment and lifestyle, as well as leveraging Nine’s powerful brands,” Elstub said in an email to staff.
Elstub said the company “will also seek to support and grow” Nine’s other business, including streaming services Stan and 9Now, online property-listing group Domain and online automotive publisher CarAdvice.
Under the changes, the group will be “streamlining and simplifying our brands to ensure clarity to the millions of Australians who read our site every month”.
Dentsu Aegis Network in deal to buy NZ group Davanti Consulting
Dentsu said the acquisition of Davanti, which has 125 staff across Auckland and Wellington as well as a recently-established Australian office, will boost its “technology consulting and salesforce capability” in New Zealand.
The business will fall under Dentsu’s digital agency, Isobar Group, and be rebranded as Davanti, Linked by Isobar across Australia and New Zealand. It will be led by current chief executive Justin Hamilton.
News Brands
The Courier-Mail marks 30 years since Fitzgerald Inquiry
The inquiry into police corruption was instigated by media reporting, led by The Courier-Mail in 1987, which led to the resignation of long-serving premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen and the jailing of many figures, including police commissioner Terry Lewis.
The newspaper’s reporting sent various government ministers to jail and transformed Queensland society. The inquiry initially was expected to take six weeks.
The week-long commemoration has included revelations from exclusive interviews with Lewis, who was the most senior official to be jailed. The series also looks at where the key players of the Inquiry now are, the figures who slipped through the net and how it shaped the modern Queensland Police Service and the state’s politics.
The Courier-Mail editor Sam Weir said: “What started as old-fashioned shoe leather reporting in an era well before mobile phones, led to one of Australia’s biggest investigative journalism successes.
“Exposing the truth is central to what we do every day and it is a worthy time to mark the efforts of journalists to improve society for all.”
The human headline Derryn Hinch is back with Sky News program
“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…,” Hinch joked on the relaunch of his TV career, summoning a history in the Australian news media that has few if any comparisons, for better and worse.
Behold. Amid the shouty festival of carnival barkers, loitering bigots with nowhere else to go and party hacks masquerading as current affairs hosts on Sky After Dark – SAD, for those who like to keep it brief or turned off all together – here was an actual journalist.
On his debut outing, there was Centre Alliance Senator Stirling Griff, talking the day’s events. He would have been fodder for the old Hinch. Now he was a former colleague. They yucked it up, chuckling about the senate crossbench of the previous Federal Parliament.
Outdoor
Out of Home revenue continues to climb – up 5.2% in 2019 Q2
$237.3 million, up from $225.6 million for the second quarter in 2018.
The Outdoor Media Association reports digital revenue is sitting at 55.5% of total net media revenue year-to-date, an increase over the recorded 49.8% for the same period last year.
“Our industry continues to evolve and grow with the media landscape, offering advertisers a variety of solutions from location-based broadcast campaigns to flexible, time-sensitive solutions on our members’ digital networks. Our strength continues to be our place in the community as the ‘always on’ channel that connects advertisers with people,” said Charmaine Moldrich, CEO of the OMA.
“In 2018 we saw the industry’s market share grow to 6.2% – we were only one of two media channels to grow last year. We credit this growth to investment in technology and research coupled with our ability to reach large audiences. We continue to build a modern, dynamic channel with scale, now reaching 93% of Australians where they live, work and play,” Moldrich added.
The revenue announcement comes on the heels of the release of the OMA’s 2018 annual report, which reported double digit growth for the industry in 2018 with an increase of 10.8% on net media revenue, posting $927.2 million, up from $837.1 million for the previous year.
Publishing
Mad magazine to come off newsstands, stops regular editions
DC said that after Issue 10, there will be no new content, except for end-of-year specials, which will be all new. Issue 8 of Mad magazine, which had been published every other month, went on sale June 12.
Starting with Issue 11, the magazine will feature best-of and other nostalgic content from its 67 years of publication, DC said. The magazine will still be sold in comic shops and mailed to subscribers.
DC did not explain the decision.
Mad magazine had been published monthly under licence in Australia by nextmedia with a print distribution of 5,000 and an estimated readership of 55,000. The Australian edition was edited by David Williams.
Radio
Triple R radio host Stephen ‘The Ghost’ Walker dies
Walker, who was a volunteer presenter with Triple R for 37 years and the station’s program manager for 14 years, lived with multiple sclerosis for more than two decades and recently had a short battle with cancer.
He died on Wednesday, July 3, and his family has asked for privacy.
Walker’s rich, distinctive voice was heard every week on the station until last year, when illness prevented him from hosting his regular and much loved program.
A statement on Triple R’s website said Walker “established a huge following over more than three decades” and described him as “the thinking person’s music guru and a true cult figure in Melbourne’s underground” music scene.