Tuesday July 9, 2019

GfK Radio Ratings 2019, Survy 4: Highlights + Full Results

• Full results and analysis of the fourth radio ratings report of the year

Sydney

• Sydney: 2GB & smoothfm lead, 2Day breakfast tumbles

Biggest movers:
Up: 104.9 Triple M +0.5
Down: KIIS 106.5 -1.2

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Melbourne

• Melbourne: 3AW and Fox lead, Fox breakfast #1 FM

Biggest movers:
Up: 101.1 Fox FM/SEN +0.8
Down: smoothfm 91.5 -1.5

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Brisbane

• Brisbane: Nova 106.9 #1 as 4KQ, 97.3 & Triple M battle for #2

Biggest movers:
Up: 4KQ + 1.2
Down: Hit 105 -1.2

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Adelaide

• Adelaide: Mix 102.3 rules as Fiveaa breakfast surges again

Biggest movers:
Up: Nova 91.9 +0.6
Down: Hit 107 -0.9

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Perth

• Perth: More market turmoil in warzone as Nova ranks #1 10+

Biggest movers:
Up: Nova 93.7 +1.5
Down: Mix 94.5 -2.2

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Nova Red Room and Sony Music rock The Star to its core

• Mark Ronson’s second Marquee Red Room as epic as his first

The multi-talented Sony Music musician, DJ, songwriter and producer Mark Ronson returned to Marquee at The Star last night to entertain a dedicated Nova Red Room audience.

It’s hard to believe that four years have passed since he last blasted tunes from the Marquee stage. Back then it was a memorable appearance that came just after the release of the massive hit Uptown Funk.

His show last night proved to be just as epic as the first. And his showstopper after an hour of massive hits was again Uptown Funk.

Amy Shark

It was loud, more so after Ronson started the show turning around the stage monitors, telling his audience he wanted to make sure they heard it properly!

The set was peppered with massive hits he has helped create with performers ranging from Amy Winehouse to Lady Gaga to Miley Cyrus.

Sony Music boss Denis Handlin with Mark Ronson

Ronson played the gig during a short promo trip to Australia for his new album Late Night Feelings. He appeared on The Project Sunday night and did interviews on Monday.

Sony Music ANZ CEO and Sony Music Entertainment Asia president Denis Handlin hosted Ronson at the event. Handlin also hosted another Sony Music hit machine, Amy Shark, and the veteran music industry boss introduced the stars before the Marquee show.

A big team from Sony Music Australia included Tony Glover, Dan Nitschke, Grant Donges, Kim Caley, Tammy Hofbauer, Petrina Convey, Bronwyn Tasker and Rowan Thiedman.

Nova’s drive show co-host Tim Blackwell interrupted a Byron Bay vacation to MC the event. His Nova colleagues enjoying the entertainment included Luke Minto, Nathan Reay, Michelle Stephenson, Kane Reiken, Stephanie Loupelis, Sarah Crowhurst, Troy Pearce and Nova’s Red Room guru Claire Marshall.

Also in the room were new Bauer Media Australia boss Brendon Hill and his busy general counsel Adrian Gross, presenters Joel Creasey and Erin Holland and News Corp music and entertainment reporters Kathy McCabe and Jonathon Moran.

Carrie Bickmore said no to breakfast radio, but yes to early drive show

Our interview with Carrie Bickmore continues in the week she returns to 10’s The Project.

By James Manning

TV and radio broadcaster Carrie Bickmore added a little complexity to her day when she initially agreed to the Hit Network early drive show at the start of 2017.

Asked if it was a hard decision to return to radio, she told Mediaweek: “Yes and no. I had been doing The Project for eight years by then so it was a well-oiled machine. We knew there was a little island during the day when I could do it. I was initially approached to return to radio in other shifts outside of the one I am doing now. But it wasn’t feasible for me.

“When we first started The Project, Hughesy was doing breakfast radio and then came back and did The Project at night. I watched him nearly die and it was certainly not something I could do with a family.”

Bickmore suggested to SCA that for radio to work she would have to do something earlier than the traditional drive show hours of 4-6pm.

“That’s how the 3pm show was created and it slots in quite nicely into the day.” She co-hosts the show with comedian and Project regular Tommy Little.

The Carrie and Tommy show broadcasts daily from “the cupboard” inside The Project offices. Although early this year, Bickmore was hosting the program from a home studio. “I can’t do The Project from my living room, but I can do radio.”

Little is usually with her, but as a working comedian he’s often travelling, dropping into SCA studios around the country as required.

See also:
Carrie Bickmore not about to quit The Project: “This job is perfect”
Despite options and challenges, Bickmore staying with TV family

SMI
Internet advertising will exceed half of global adspend in 2021

Internet advertising will account for 52% of global advertising expenditure in 2021, exceeding the 50% mark for the first time, according to Zenith’s Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, published this week. That’s up from the 47% of global adspend that internet advertising will account for this year, and 44% in 2018.

However, the growth rate is falling rapidly as the internet ad market matures. Internet adspend grew 17% in 2018, but activity in the first half of 2019 leads Zenith to expect only 12% growth for the year as a whole. By 2021 Zenith expects internet adspend growth to have fallen to 9% year on year. The growth rate of the internet ad market is starting to converge with the growth rate of the market as a whole.

In Australia, internet market growth is expected to slow from 12% to 3% by 2021. Internet adspend grew 12% in 2018, but a softening of the ad market against a turbulent economic backdrop leads us to expect around 7% growth for 2019. Therefore in Australia, Zenith expects internet adspend growth to fall to an average of 5% year on year, for the next three years.

Global internet adspend growth is led by the overlapping channels of online video and social media, which are expected to grow at average rates of 18% and 17% a year, respectively, to 2021. These channels are benefitting from continued technological improvements to smartphone technology, connection speeds, and advertising targeting and delivery, combined with strong growth in investment in content. 5G technology, which launched in South Korea and the US in April and is starting to roll out elsewhere, will further improve brand experiences on these channels by making mobile connections much faster and more responsive.

Traditional media remains the priority for most big brands

Much of the growth in internet adspend is coming from small, local businesses that spend all their budgets on platforms like Google and Facebook, which offer simple, self-serve tools to manage campaigns, and highly targeted audiences. The fact that large numbers of small advertisers are spending all their budgets online means they are skewing the overall picture. The global average is made up of very many small advertisers that spend all their budgets online, and large advertisers that – on average – devote considerably less than half their budgets to it. Big brands are investing large sums in internet advertising, but the majority are still spending most of their budget in traditional media.

“The categories that have advanced the furthest in using modern digital channels are technology, media, finance and professional services,” said Matt James, Zenith’s Global Brand President. “And even within these, brands still rely on traditional media to create broad mass awareness and reinforce brand values.”

Some traditional media face tough competition

Within the traditional media, print has long been in decline as online alternatives have taken their readers and advertisers. The ad revenues of printed newspapers and magazines peaked at US$164bn in 2007 and will total just US$70bn this year.

Broadcast television is now beginning to shrink, though not nearly on the same scale: Zenith forecasts traditional television ad revenues to shrink every year from now to 2021, falling from US$184bn in 2018 to US$180bn in 2021.

Other traditional media are more healthy.

Radio is increasing its ad revenue by 1% annually.

Out-of-home contractors continue to expand their digital display networks, contributing to 4% annual growth in their revenues.

Cinema, though accounting for a tiny 0.8% of total adspend, is growing at 12% a year, thanks mainly to a boom in the popularity of cinema in China.

Zenith forecasts Australian adspend to grow by 3% this year, reaching AU$17,192m. That’s aligned with the March growth forecast, but reflects a heavier uptake of internet and a steeper decline in TV revenues. Growth in 2018 was 6%, up from Zenith’s last estimate of 3.2%, creating a tougher comparative for 2019.

Elizabeth Baker

Elizabeth Baker, Zenith’s head of investment, Sydney, said: “Australia is ahead of curve in relation to digital share of ad spend, achieving the 50% level back in 2017, and will edge closer to the 60% share level over the next few years. The original catalyst for digital spend growth was the transition of print classifieds into online. Today, the fastest growing channel is video, which now represents 8% of the total ad market. The mobile platform is also a growing category and now accounts for a quarter of all advertising spend. We anticipate that this will only increase with the launch of 5G in Australia sometime later this year.”

Optus Sport celebrates FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage

• Global viewing surges for football during tournament in France

54

Netflix
TV Demand: Stranger Things third season turns the charts upside down

Stranger Things has extended its commanding lead on the Overall TV charts this week after season three was released on Netflix on July 5 in Australia and NZ. 

By Trent Thomas

The latest season of the sci-fi hit is set in the summer of 1985 and a new shopping mall is in town as the Hawkins crew are on the precipice of adulthood.  

The new entry that made the biggest splash this week comes to us via way of Australia as the local version of the singing competition The Voice entered the Australian Overall TV chart in second spot in the lead up the finale that aired on July 6 with a final four featuring Daniel Shaw, Diana Rouvas, Jordan Anthony and Zeek Power .

Big Little Lies moved up to fourth on the Overall TV charts in both Australia and NZ as the second season heats up after premiering on June 8. The series was originally planned as a seven-episode miniseries about three troubled women in Monterey, California, who become embroiled in a murder investigation. The success of the first season lead to a second one being produced.  The new season is now halfway through its seven-episode order and is based on a new novella by Liane Moriarty and written for TV by David E. Kelley, with Meryl Streep joining the cast.

Two Overall TV Chart giants have also started to slip this week with Game of Thrones and Brooklyn Nine-Nine both registering their lowest rankings of the year. 

Box Office: Disney does it again as Spiderman swings past $10m

Disney is continuing its dream year of pumping out hit film after hit film, thanks in large part to Marvel with the studio’s third release of the year Spiderman: Far From Home being the studio’s third film to debut in the top spot of the Australian box office this year.

By Trent Thomas

The first two films Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame have been the two highest grossing films of the year, and Spiderman is on target to make the top two into a super trio.

Although Disney hasn’t just been printing money off just their superhero properties their animated films are doing okay too with Toy Story 4 breaking the $5m mark for the third week in a row suffering only an 18% decline on last weekends total. 

There was only one new entry to the top five this week (Spiderman) so only one film got the chop and the box office casualty was Disney’s Aladdin which still made $863,285 bringing its overall total to $32.29m, and is the third highest grossing film released in Australia for 2019.

Another holiday has helped continue the positive trend for the Australian box office with an increase for the third week in a row, going up 35% on last weekends total making $25.39m.

#1 Spiderman: Far From Home $10.43m

Not hindered by the unusual tactic of releasing the film on a Monday (July 1), the film managed to still draw a huge weekend audience to bring its overall total to $17.41m in only seven days. Starring Tom Holland, the film was the most screened movie of the weekend being shown on 731 screens making a massive average of $14,279.

 

 

#2 Toy Story 4 $5.28m

Dropping out of the top spot of the Australian box office after three weeks the fourth instalment of the animated classic continues to flex its staying power with a third week breaking the $5m mark. The film was shown on 495 screens making $10,671 per screen which brings its overall total to $25.23m.

 

 

#3 Yesterday $2.32m

The musical rom-com inspired by the music of The Beatles continues to rock Aussie audiences only losing 32% of its audience from its opening weekend. Despite slipping down to third spot the film averaged $8,362 on 278 screens.

 

 

#4 The Secret Life of Pets 2 $1.90m

Sharing its opening weekend with fellow animated film Toy Story 4 meant that the sequel to the 2016 original by Illumination was always going to be in the shadow of the iconic Pixar franchise but it has quietly put together a strong Australian total making $11.18m. Thanks in part to the holiday weekend, the film increased its total from last weekend by 25% making an average of $6,070 on 313 screens.

 

 

#5 Annabelle Comes Home $1.16m

The hottest horror flick in Australia this holidays is in the top five for two weeks in a row after a 40% decline on last weekend. The film averaged $5,339 on 218 screens bringing its total to $3.77m.

 

TV Ratings Analysis: July 8

• Australian Ninja Warrior S3 opens with 1m, Nine wins
• Tennis from Wimbledon on Seven & 7TWO, Seven wins
• Seven arrives at Barty Party just before it closes down

Monday Week 28 2019

By James Manning 

• Seven News 1,081,000/1,072,000
• Nine News 986,000/978,000
• A Current Affair 888,000
• ABC News 628,000
• 7.30 539,000
• The Project 241,000/484,000
• 10 News First 388,000
• The Drum 181,000
• SBS World News 135,000

Breakfast TV

• Sunrise 253,000
• Today 195,000

Seven

Home And Away averaged 621,000 last week, down from 638,000 in week 26. It has started week 28 on 693,000.

More work outdoors on House Rules and also some fun with tennis balls and cement mixers. After 694,000 on Sunday, the show did 543,000. A week ago the Monday episode was on 549,000.

Seven switched Ash Barty’s game to the primary channel, but the Barty Party was stopped at Wimbledon on Monday by USA tennis player Alison Riske who managed to get the spot in the quarter finals. The tennis had an average audience of 520,000 and it boosted 7TWO’s share to 5.7% which secured Seven a combined channel share victory.

Nine

The channel segued from major reality franchises last night as The Voice made way for Australian Ninja Warrior. The third season started in it new location in Melbourne near where the Yarra meets the Bay. The Melbourne audience responded with 1.01m, up 9% on last year. The opening nights for the past two years were 1.67m in 2017 and 929,000 in 2018.

The channel the screened the doco Killing Michael Jackson, which explored the circumstances surrounding his death 10 years ago to an audience of 349,000.

10

It was MasterChef night on Celebrity Name Game with Grant Denyer on 10 at 6pm. The week started off with 260,000 after a week 27 average of 243,000.

The Project featured the return of Carrie Bickmore and the show’s Monday regular, the new afternoon host at 2GB, Steve Price. Comedienne Cal Wilson was also on the show with 484,000 watching after 7pm.

MasterChef was spending its second night in the West with 606,000 after

638,000 on Sunday and 656,000 last week on Monday.

Have You Been Paying Attention? was missing Sam Pang for another week plus Ed Kavalee was also away this week. Taking their place where comedy veterans Tony Martin, Kitty Flannagan and Glenn Robbins. The show did 598,000 up against the tennis after 705,000 a week ago.

Kinne Tonight ran the episode from 10’s 2018 Pilot Week with 262,000 watching.

ABC

Back Roads was in Burketown with guest presenter Paul West with 554,000 watching after 620,000 a week ago.

Two years on from the investigation into water theft in the Murray-Darling Basin that sparked a royal commission, Four Corners returned to the river system to investigate new concerns about how the plan to rescue it is being carried out. After 463,000 a week ago, last night was on 525,000.

Media Watch ranged from the recent police raids on a journalist and a newsroom to sporting “bad boy” Nick Kyrgios. The episode did 475,000.

Q&A then did 323,000 after 9.30pm.

SBS

The fascination with Michael Portillo’s train journeys is starting to fade with 143,000 watching Great American Railroad Journeys last night. It’s hardly surprising given the number of times many of these episodes have been screened.

The final episode of Medicine Or Myth? was on 146,000.

Stage 3 of the Tour de France followed as the cyclists crossed from Belgium into France with 115,000 watching.

Week 28 TV: Monday
MONDAY METRO
ABCSevenNine10SBS
ABC11.8%720.0%921.8%10 11.6%SBS One4.3%
ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY2.4%7TWO5.7%GO!2.8%10 Bold3.7%VICELAND1.1%
ABC ME0.6%7mate3.4%GEM2.6%10 Peach1.9%Food Net0.9%
ABC NEWS0.8%7flix1.6%9Life1.5%  NITV0.1%
  7Food0.3%    SBS World Movies1.0%
TOTAL15.6% 31.0% 28.8% 17.2% 7.3%

 

MONDAY REGIONAL
ABCSeven AffiliatesNine Affiliates10 AffiliatesSBS
ABC12.3%721.7%916.1%WIN10.0%SBS One3.5%
ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY2.7%7TWO5.9%GO!3.4%WIN Bold4.2%VICELAND1.4%
ABC ME1.0%7mate5.0%GEM5.0%WIN Peach1.6%Food Net1.2%
ABC NEWS0.6%7flix (Excl. Tas/WA)1.7%9Life1.2%Sky News  on WIN1.1%NITV0.1%
  7food (QLD only)0.4%      
TOTAL16.6% 34.6% 25.7% 16.9% 6.2%

 

MONDAY METRO ALL TV
FTASTV
88.4%11.6%
Monday FTA
  1. Seven News Seven 1,081,000
  2. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 1,072,000
  3. Australian Ninja Warrior -Launch Nine 1,010,000
  4. Nine News Nine 986,000
  5. Nine News 6:30 Nine 978,000
  6. A Current Affair Nine 888,000
  7. Home And Away Seven 693,000
  8. The Chase Australia Seven 649,000
  9. ABC News ABC 628,000
  10. Masterchef Australia 10 606,000
  11. Hot Seat Nine 605,000
  12. Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 598,000
  13. Back Roads S5 ABC 554,000
  14. House Rules Seven 543,000
  15. 7.30 ABC 539,000
  16. Four Corners ABC 525,000
  17. Wimbledon 2019-Day 7 Seven 520,000
  18. The Project 7pm 10 484,000
  19. Media Watch ABC 475,000
  20. The Chase Australia-5pm Seven 396,000
Demo Top 5

16-39 Top Five

  1. Australian Ninja Warrior -Launch Nine 218,000
  2. Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 203,000
  3. Masterchef Australia 10 156,000
  4. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 146,000
  5. Home And Away Seven 137,000

 

18-49 Top Five

  1. Australian Ninja Warrior -Launch Nine 414,000
  2. Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 313,000
  3. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 264,000
  4. Masterchef Australia 10 262,000
  5. Nine News 6:30 Nine 239,000

 

25-54 Top Five

  1. Australian Ninja Warrior -Launch Nine 467,000
  2. Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 361,000
  3. Nine News 6:30 Nine 310,000
  4. A Current Affair Nine 305,000
  5. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 303,000
Monday Multichannel
  1. Wimbledon 2019-Day 7 7TWO 382,000
  2. Dinosaur Train ABCKIDS/COMEDY 185,000
  3. Law & Order: Svu Ep 2 (R) 10 Bold 177,000
  4. Rusty Rivets ABCKIDS/COMEDY 177,000
  5. Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures ABCKIDS/COMEDY 172,000
  6. Floogals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 169,000
  7. Bluey AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 166,000
  8. Go Jetters ABCKIDS/COMEDY 161,000
  9. Peppa Pig AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 152,000
  10. Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 149,000
  11. Peppa Pig PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 144,000
  12. Charlie And Lola ABCKIDS/COMEDY 144,000
  13. Play School: Acknowledgement Of C OAUBNCTKRIYD-SA/MCOMEDY 143,000
  14. School Of Roars AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 142,000
  15. Kiri And Lou PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 141,000
  16. Nella The Princess Knight AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 140,000
  17. NCIS (R) 10 Bold 136,000
  18. Neighbours 10 Peach 133,000
  19. Law & Order: Svu (R) 10 Bold 131,000
  20. PJ Masks PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 129,000
Monday STV
  1. Live: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 75,000
  2. Live: On The Couch FOX FOOTY 64,000
  3. Credlin Sky News Live 63,000
  4. Big Little Lies FOX SHOWCASE 63,000
  5. The Bolt Report Sky News Live 55,000
  6. Live: Tennis: The Daily Serve FOX SPORTS 505 52,000
  7. Paul Murray Live Sky News Live 46,000
  8. Family Guy FOX8 46,000
  9. Big Little Lies FOX SHOWCASE 42,000
  10. Live: NRL 360 FOX LEAGUE 42,000
  11. Family Guy FOX8 39,000
  12. The Simpsons FOX8 38,000
  13. Aussie Inventions That Changed The World History Channel 37,000
  14. Blue Bloods TVH!TS 37,000
  15. Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 37,000
  16. Vera 13TH STREET 35,000
  17. Seinfeld 111 33,000
  18. Blaze And The Monster Machines Nick Jr. 33,000
  19. The Simpsons FOX8 32,000
  20. NCIS TVH!TS 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

Alex Waislitz chips in $30m of own money for regional newspapers

Billionaire investor Alex Waislitz is stumping up almost $30 million of his own money to fund the $115m buyout of Nine Entertainment’s regional newspapers by media entrepreneur Antony Catalano, new documents reveal, reports The Australian’s John Stensholt.

Waislitz is financing 25% of the deal via his private Thorney Investment Group, which he wholly owns, and his listed investment company Thorney Opportunities is contributing another 25%, the latter revealed yesterday.

The other 50% of the deal for the Australian Community Media group, which owns newspapers such as The Canberra Times, The Newcastle Herald and The Illawarra Mercury, is being funded by Catalano, the former chief executive of online real estate classifieds group Domain.

Catalano, backed by Waislitz, bought ACM from Nine in April, completing the deal in time for the start of new financial year. The duo paid $115m for the business, plus Nine will receive $10m in advertising over three years.

[Read the original]

News Brands

John Jarratt sues Daily Telegraph and journalist for defamation

Actor John Jarratt is suing The Daily Telegraph and journalist Jonathon Moran for defamation after he was last week found not guilty of raping a woman in the 1970s, reports The Sydney Morning Herald’s Georgina Mitchell.

Jarratt, 66, was acquitted in the NSW District Court on Friday after he pleaded not guilty and faced a week-long trial in Sydney.

A jury of five men and seven women unanimously found him not guilty.

On Monday, one of Jarratt’s lawyers said defamation proceedings had commenced against Nationwide News, the News Corp-owned publisher of the Daily Telegraph.

A spokeswoman for News Corp Australia declined to comment.

Chris Murphy, principal of Murphy’s Lawyers, posted on Twitter that proceedings commenced in the NSW Supreme Court in November 2018 and documents “will now be served on the defendant”. The case had been postponed to allow the rape trial to conclude.

The court confirmed Jarratt’s lawyers have filed a statement of claim in the case against Nationwide News and Moran. The matter will be mentioned in court on August 16.

[Read the original]

Federal police forced Qantas to reveal travel records of a journalist

The Australian Federal Police demanded Qantas hand over the private travel arrangements of a senior ABC journalist as part of its controversial investigation into a major national security leak, report Nine publishing’s Kylar Loussikian and Bevan Shields.

The request reveals the sweeping nature of the probe into how the national broadcaster published top-secret government material containing allegations of misconduct by Australian troops in Afghanistan including the potential unlawful killings of unarmed men and children.

An AFP statement obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age shows investigators approached Qantas earlier this year asking for information about Daniel Oakes, one of two ABC reporters who broke the story known as ‘The Afghan Files’.

A spokesman for Qantas on Sunday said: “Like all airlines, Qantas receives numerous requests for information from law enforcement agencies and we comply with these requests in accordance with our legal obligations and privacy legislation.”

[Read the original]

As the world heats up, the climate for news is changing, too

As Europe heats up, Greenland melts and the Midwest floods, many news organizations are devoting more resources to climate change as they cover the topic with more urgency, reports The New York Times.

In Florida, six newsrooms with different owners have taken the unusual step of pooling their resources and sharing their reporting on the issue. They plan to examine how climate change will affect the state’s enormous agriculture sector as well as “the future of coastal towns and cities – which ones survive, which ones go under,” according to a statement released when the initiative was announced last month.

Florida’s record-breaking heat waves, devastating storms like Hurricane Michael and increased flooding at high tide have not been lost on Mindy Marques, the publisher and executive editor of The Miami Herald, one of the six organisations taking part in the effort.

The other five outlets that have joined the initiative are The Palm Beach Post, The South Florida Sun Sentinel, The Tampa Bay Times, The Orlando Sentinel and WLRN Public Media. Marques said the partnership was not politically motivated.

“We’re not launching a campaign,” she said. “We’re launching information, knowledge.”

The Guardian, the left-wing British daily, recently updated its house style to prefer the phrase “climate emergency” over “climate change.” It also recommends “climate science denier” in place of “climate sceptic.” The publication has also started listing the global carbon dioxide level on its daily weather page.

The New York Times established a desk dedicated to climate change in 2017, with editors and reporters in Washington and New York who collaborate with bureaus around the world.

[Read the original]

Heather Mills receives apology and payout in phone-hacking case

Heather Mills has received an apology at the high court after settling her phone-hacking case against the News of the World in return for a substantial financial payout as part of an agreement under which she dropped similar claims against the Sun, reports The Guardian.

The former wife of the Beatles singer Sir Paul McCartney said a “criminal, targeted smear campaign” over the course of a decade by the news outlet had destroyed her reputation and left her unable to carry on her charity work.

Mills was one of about 90 individuals, including Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, who recently settled their cases for invasion of privacy against News Group Newspapers, the Rupert Murdoch-controlled publisher that owns the News of the World and the Sun.

[Read the original]

Television

SLR Productions and Giggle Garage in collaborative partnership

Australia’s SLR Productions and Malaysia’s Giggle Garage have announced a collaborative partnership which commences with SLR Productions’ recently announced new original CGI animated series, Space Nova.

SLR Productions’ executive producer Suzanne Ryan together with Giggle Garage’s executive producers, Juhaidah Joemin and Zeno Gabing anticipate a range of creative and financial cooperative opportunties between their studios.

“SLR Productions is honoured to work with Giggle Garage’s Juhaidah Joemin and Zeno Gabing. Space Nova is guaranteed to be a fun and thrilling space adventure and is providing a great framework for our studios to collaborate both creatively and financially in the future,” said SLR Productions’ CEO and executive producer, Suzanne Ryan.   

“Today’s announcement with SLR Productions is another solid step in our journey in creating character entertainment properties for family and kids to enjoy around the world. We are inspired by Suzanne and her team’s vision in creating great content and are super excited to partner with them on future projects” said Giggle Garage’s executive director, Zeno Gabing.

Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Minister YB Gobind Singh Deo commented, “We are delighted to see our Malaysian animation companies partner with international producers and distributors: this is another validation of the skills and talents of Malaysia’s creative technology and digital content creators. Indeed, the animation industry here has a long track record of producing and creating world-class IP, which currently surpasses 38 IPs. This has generated more than RM 237mil revenue, more than 55% of which comprises exports to 120 countries. The government will continue to focus on developing our animation ecosystem, which includes talent growth to empower Malaysia’s position as a regional digital content creation hub. Giggle Garage, a company helmed by two Sabahans, based in Cyberjaya, has created stories and characters that are travelling around the world,  and symbolises the diversity, skill and talent that makes Malaysia stand out in the digital arena.”

Space Nova, an original SLR Productions’ programme, commissioned by Super RTL, ABC Australia and Nine Network, received major production funding from Screen Australia and is also financed with support from Create NSW.

With development funding from Super RTL, ABC Australia and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF), Space Nova will be distributed worldwide by ZDF Enterprises, excluding Australia and New Zealand, which is being handled by ACTF.

Space Nova comprises 26 x 24 minute episodes specifically geared to a global six to nine year old audience.

Photo: Suzanne Ryan, Zeno Gabing and Juhaidah Joemin

Sam Simmons off-script: Squinters star on season 2 of ABC comedy

When it comes to acting, comedian Sam Simmons prefers to go off-script, reports TV Tonight.

In the second season of ABC’s car-pool comedy, Squinters, he’s done just that.

“I can’t help myself sometimes, it’s the stand-up comedian in me that wants to improvise,” he tells TV Tonight.

“Some people hate it but I find I give a much more naturalistic performance if I can be in the moment.

Trent O’Donnell is my go-to director now. He lets me muck around with the script, I annoyingly go off script a lot but he encourages that, which frustrates (creator) Adam Zwar. Adam is very particular about the word, which I really respect.

“There’s a reason why Trent is one of the top comedy directors in the country at the moment -if not the top. He’s a quiet guy but he comes up with so many crazy things.”

In the ABC comedy Simmons plays gay man Lukas who travels to and from work at Aussie distribution company Kosciusko, joined by his Aunty Alison (Genevieve Morris) and sister (Claudia O’Doherty).

[Read the original]

Sports Media

Australian broadcasters turn their backs on our swimming stars

Swimming fans have fallen victim to a world championships blackout with revelations no Australian broadcaster has purchased the television rights for the sport’s biggest event outside of the Olympics, reports News Corp’s Julian Linden.

Australia’s new wave of swim stars are primed to rip up the record books at this month’s world championships in South Korea, but fans back home won’t be able to see it.

It’s understood the stumbling block is that the sport’s global governing body FINA’s asking price is too high and, with less than two weeks to go before the action gets underway in Gwangju, time is running out to cut a deal.

“Swimming Australia is aware the rights for the FINA world championships have not been purchased in Australia,” Swimming Australia chief executive Leigh Russell said.

“We are currently in discussions with FINA regarding alternative options for viewing the broadcast in Australia and hope to be in a position to provide an update soon.”

[Read the original]

KB quits sports radio: Tensions with boss behind decision?

It was revealed yesterday that one of the original broadcasters at SEN sports radio resigned last week.

Kevin Bartlett was the host of the morning show from 9am until noon when the station launched in 2004 and was the highest-rating broadcaster on the station.

The new owners of Melbourne’s SEN, under the leadership of Craig Hutchison, moved Bartlett from morning to drive at the start of 2018 where he co-hosted with station part-owner John Rothfield (aka Dr Turf) as ABC broadcaster Gerard Whateley moved to the SEN morning slot.

“I really enjoyed the old SEN and it’s fair to say I haven’t enjoyed the new SEN,” Bartlett told the Herald Sun‘s Mark Robinson.

“It suits to me leave and it probably suits them that I leave as well.”

It has been a dramatic couple of weeks at the Melbourne radio station after a fire forced SEN to evacuate the building a fortnight ago. The station was off air for three hours after the evacuation because of a blaze on another floor in their building, with the station communicating to listeners via social media.

For a number of hours the station relocated to a radio commentary box inside the MCG before power was restored to one of their new studios. It took over a week for the station to be fully operational again late last week in their Southbank building.

Former colleagues of Bartlett’s paid tribute to him on social media after the news of the resignation broke.

Former SEN afternoon host now with RSN breakfast and 3AW, Daniel Harford wrote: “Without doubt, Kevin Bartlett is the greatest entertainer on radio. Comedic timing and sporting cache like no other. He ‘gets it’.

“He is also the most generous on air partner any presenter could wish for. He wants YOU to be the star. I am forever indebted to him.”

Seven’s Jason Richardson said: “KB has so much to be proud of during his brilliant career at SEN. He’s an incredibly generous host & absolute pleasure to work with! Well done ‘Two Dogs’. Send him off in style SEN.”

Writer and broadcaster Rohan Connolly said: “I’m sure KB didn’t make his decision lightly, he’s a very loyal person. All I’ll say is this: (1) It’s important to treat people who serve an organisation loyally with consideration and some respect. (2) Ditto the audience. Content actually matters.”

Photo: Bartlett posted a photo with former colleagues earlier this year, which wouldn’t have impressed management. Pictured with KB are Harford, Marko and The Ox (Macquarie Sports drive hosts) and Tony Schibeci (former SEN broadcaster, Voice of the G and podcaster.

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