Friday June 29, 2018

Nine’s sales boss on pop-up emporium, tennis, Your Money, Love Island

As Nine closes its Big Ideas Store this week, Nine Entertainment Co’s chief sales officer Michael Stephenson has told Mediaweek Nine has had more than 500 people through the door at the Oxford Street pop-up emporium.

During that time Nine has presented three insights studies relating to auto, relationships and homes.

“We have decomplicated the data story and given advertisers insights into how they can use our data infrastructure for their benefit. It has been a fantastic two weeks,” said Stephenson on Sky News Business.

Stephenson said the research tried to tap into cultural connections and cultural insights – “things that are happening in popular culture”.

The Great Australian Dream Reimagined looked at how home ownership is becoming more and more challenging for particular target demographics. We have uncovered insights that will help advertisers connect more effectively with that target.

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

Top photo: Nine’s Michael Stephenson on the Mediaweek set at Sky News Business with Helen Dalley and James Manning

Digital audience upgrade: Nielsen expands mobile, adds off-platform

• IAB members approve upgrades to Nielsen Digital Content Ratings system

• Monthly and weekly reporting frequencies added for participating publishers
• News.com.au monthly audience surges to 8.8m, APN News Network and perthnow make top 10 news sites

Nielsen has today switched on the latest major upgrade to Australia’s independent digital audience measurement system, Nielsen Digital Content Ratings.

This upgrade adds off-platform audiences and expands measurement coverage of mobile audiences to deliver the most precise and comprehensive independent view of total digital audiences to date.

Nielsen Digital Content Ratings will now provide both monthly and weekly reporting frequencies – in addition to the existing daily data that has been in the market for 12 months. It becomes the new IAB Australia-endorsed independent measurement for monthly digital audiences.

Digital Content Ratings monthly data directly addresses the IAB Australia and industry needs to include off-platform audiences and expand measurement of mobile audiences to provide better visibility of growth in total audiences who are consuming a publisher’s digital content.

Monique Perry, managing director, Nielsen Media, told Mediaweek this upgrade builds the mobile story in this market. “We are changing the coverage for mobile and layering on off-platform, which is predominantly off-platform.”

In a statement, Perry added the Australian media industry has a lot to be proud of. “This is an incredibly competitive market and publishers in Australia are constantly evolving their content delivery strategies to win the hearts of Australian audiences. Now with the support of the IAB and its Measurement Council, we have the sophistication and depth of digital measurement to provide the most complete view of these highly engaged digital audiences.”

Monique Perry

Perry said the changes came with challenges, but were helped by collaboration from publishers to tag their content and to test the Nielsen solutions. Off-platform providers also agreed to integrate with the measurement system.

Perry added: “This industry can be proud of its efforts and, in fact, there are more publishers tagged for Nielsen’s digital measurement in Australia than in any other global Nielsen market.”

Gai Le Roy, acting CEO, IAB Australia, commented, “Australia is the first market globally to introduce a digital audience currency that has broad monthly ratings coverage across both text and video content for on and off-platform to give digital publishers – big and small – the opportunity to report their complete audience. Today’s release is a testament to the commitment from the IAB Measurement Council and the level of local digital industry collaboration to support independent, transparent and high-quality digital measurement.”

At a briefing this week, Le Roy told Mediaweek it was a little easier to measure publishers’ websites a decade ago. “It is a little harder in 2018 with devices, apps and off-platform activity.” She added the aim of the IAB is to be able to provide members with “accurate, independent audience data that allows them to commercialise the content. At the same time we want the buy side to be able to have numbers that are truly comparable so they can make investment decisions. That is getting harder as publishers have different distribution strategies.”

Alex Smith, Nielsen’s APAC digital product lead, explained some of changes: “Digital Content Ratings now measure online Australians across text, video and audio content, consumed on or off-platform, de-duplicated across all devices. Throughout 2018 we have released coverage upgrades to Digital Content Ratings to enable publishers to layer in audiences consuming their content off-platform. We launched in 2017 with Facebook instant articles available, we added Google AMP in April 2018 and Facebook Video crediting in May 2018. This means when publishers opt in for Nielsen tags, we can now measure these audiences and add them back to the publishers’ overall total unique audience numbers.”

Perry continued: “Launching monthly Digital Content Ratings data is not the final destination – we still have work to do in building out the respondent level data for this coverage upgrade. We have a commitment to our partners to ensure the endorsed digital currency can live in other critical currency datasets like emma and Consumer & Media View. We are proud of this solution for its ability to pivot faster. If a publisher can light up its content with our tags, then we can adapt faster to accurately and independently measure its audience. We are effectively building the best possible measurement coverage together.”

A first look at the new data

The Digital Content Ratings monthly numbers are predominantly higher than Digital Ratings (Monthly), largely driven by increases in measurement of smartphone audiences. The smartphone audience increases are due to the inclusion of off-platform content, in-app browsing behaviour and measuring under-18yos on smartphone devices.

Andrew Mercado on TV: Killing off sitcom stars – Roseanne without Roseanne

An eleventh season of Roseanne will continue but without original star and disgraced tweeter Roseanne Barr.

By Andrew Mercado

Now called The Connors, it will follow the family now “forced to face the daily struggles of life after a sudden turn of events”. That sounds to me like they are about to kill off Roseanne just one year after “resurrecting” Dan (John Goodman), who got killed off in 1997.

When this controversy first broke, Ten ripped the sitcom off-air in allegiance to the American response and that meant Aussie viewers did not see several episodes that showed Roseanne developing an addiction to painkillers. If this plotline is to be tied into her on-screen death, will Ten dare screen them as a lead-in to the new show?

Killing off sitcom characters is always a risky proposition because, how do you properly grieve in a comedy? Recently, Kevin Can Wait carelessly killed off Kevin James’s on-screen wife so that he could reunite with his former The King of Queens co-star Leah Remini. The flippant way in which the death was dealt with supposedly helped lead to the show’s demise, although given it was another predictable Kevin James vehicle, it could have also been the crap factor.

Disney has always been insistent there has only been one way to deal with Roseanne and that is to obliterate her from history. Why not a racial discrimination dilemma within the show, particularly given Roseanne’s on-screen son DJ now has an African American granddaughter and daughter-in-law. Instead, The Connors will continue with the entire cast bar one but could removing their biggest mouth prove jarring?

Portia de Rossi in Arrested Development season 5

Here in Australia, we wouldn’t even kill off one of our biggest sitcom characters despite the lead actor behaving far more monstrously than Roseanne did. In the twelfth season of Hey Dad, Martin (played by the now incarcerated Robert Hughes) went to a job in Saudi Arabia and left his family, house and business in the care of a friend Greg (Mark Owen-Taylor). The door was left open for his return which, thankfully, never happened.

Now there is Portia de Rossi who “retired from acting” but then decided to come back for the fifth season of Arrested Development, now screening on Foxtel. Apparently unwilling to even interact with her former cast members, she has been “green screened” into the show and it looks unbelievably fake. Portia’s character needs to be dropped from Arrested Development immediately, and if Foxtel Now wasn’t playing silly buggers with putting the new episodes online, perhaps that may have already happened. But remember, always “rest” characters, don’t kill them off, because who doesn’t want a headline-grabbing plotline twist when those ratings start to drop away?

NZ Media News: Winston Peters dropped, Wireless turned off, NZME, Print circs, Bacon billboards

Mediaweek’s John Drinnan rounds up the latest media news from the NZ market.

RNZ’s The Wireless

Radio New Zealand is folding its struggling liberal youth-oriented website The Wireless into RNZ.co.nz, its successful mainstream site. The Wireless was established in 2013 and was the first new media to aim specifically at this demographic. Numbers have slid as it has come under competition from private sector websites The Spinoff, Vice, and, to a lesser extent, MediaWorks’ TV show The Project. RNZ said The Wireless will be wound down over the next three months.

RNZ content moves

Axing The Wireless is part of a wider shake-up of government funding to RNZ, amidst the controversial departure of head of content Carol Hirschfeld, replaced in her news responsibilities by digital boss Glen Scanlon. Megan Whelan – a key player behind The Wireless – has been appointed to a new senior role in digital.

Jeremy Rees to RNZ

Radio New Zealand has hired Jeremy Rees as executive editor of business, rural and sport. Rees has headed the digital community newspaper initiatives at Stuff, and before that was The New Zealand Herald’s former head of news. He starts on July 9.

NZME board appointment

Former MediaWorks chief executive and TVNZ board member Sussan Turner has been appointed to the board of NZME. Turner brings an understanding of the broadcaster’s digital plans as NZME aims to compete in the video space.

Newspaper circulations

Audit Bureau of Circulation quarterly sales figures released last week showed the New Zealand Herald faring better than Fairfax-owned Stuff. The Herald kept the circulation fall to 6%, while the best performers were the independent Otago Daily Times and the Ashburton Guardian on 3% and 3.3% respectively. Biggest fall was at Stuff’s Dominion Post, down 10%, while Christchurch’s The Press was down 9.5%. Stuff has heavily promoted a digital-first approach, and the website recently scored well with 2.1 million regular users per month.

Breakfast TV drops acting PM

Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters (pictured top) was dropped from a regular interview on MediaWorks’ The AM Show after he failed to turn up at 6.20am. When he had not turned up by 6.40am he was pulled from the schedule. Host Duncan Garner said: “We’re going to give you a sleep-in for a few weeks because you are too unreliable, sir. It is Winston first and not anyone else. We are going to ask someone else to front for the government. Someone reliable.” Peters has had a volatile love-hate relationship with media, and is filling in as Prime Minister while Jacinda Ardern is on maternity leave.

Makin’ bacon billboard

Ad agency Contagion has pulled down a billboard ad for Kiwi Bacon after complaints about a joke about a romantic relationship between a 27-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl. The ad says: “I’m 15. He’s 27. My parents love him. Wake up and smell the bacon.” The agency said it was designed to be ironic. In New Zealand the legal age of consent is 16. Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmonds called the ad “odd” and said the relationship portrayed in the ad was clearly wrong and quite sinister. Other billboards made for the campaign will stay up. Contagion chief executive Dean Taylor said the agency “obviously missed the mark”.

NZ Media Profile: Aussie export and RNZ presenter Alex Perrottet

There are plenty of Australians in management roles for Kiwi media, but few have on-air roles.

By John Drinnan

Alex Perrottet is new to New Zealand – and to journalism – but is establishing a profile regularly filling in on two Radio New Zealand shows.

Back in 2010 Perrottet threw in his job as a lawyer to devote himself to his two abiding interests. The first was linked to a passion he had back at secondary school – he was fascinated by media.

He says the second was that he wanted to learn more about the developing world, the Pacific and the people who lived there.

He came to New Zealand to retrain with a master’s degree in communications at AUT (Auckland University of Technology), and drifted into the Pacific Media Centre. He made swift progress after he joined Radio New Zealand International in 2012.

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

AFL swans Grand Final
TV Ratings Analysis: Thursday June 28

• Seven hits the front in Origin week with two nights left
• Seven News and AFL live pave way for Thursday win
• MasterChef shock: Hoda misses top 10, episode a winner
• SBS World Cup Crowds, ABC’s Everyone’s A Critic debuts

By James Manning

Seven

Seven has overtaken Nine in an Origin week. Nine still holds a week-to-date lead in primary share after a strong start last Sunday, but Seven has snuck past Nine in week-to-date combined channel share.

Home and Away didn’t screen in Melbourne or Adelaide and an early start to the football had 441,000 watching the soap.

The AFL clash between Richmond and Sydney promised to be a close finish until the reigning premiers powered away in the last quarter. The first match of the round did 576,000 with 347,000 in Melbourne. Sydney didn’t exactly rally around the Swans with 54,000 watching on 7mate.

Nine

Just two more sleeps for people to vote for A Current Affair Gold Logie nominee Tracy Grimshaw. Her election campaign hit the Today show this morning. Meanwhile last night she had an audience of 716,000 watching stories about a possible link between breast implants and cancer, dash cams and video game addiction.

St George narrowly defeated Parramatta in the NRL game with 380,000 watching – 234,000 in Sydney and 120,000 in Brisbane.

TEN

Tom Gleeson took his #grant4gold campaign to The Project last night and wouldn’t leave the set after his segment finished. The episode did 493,000, meaning lots more potential voters for the quiz show host.

Sydney mum Hoda Kobeissi was then eliminated from MasterChef Australia following an epic chocolate wheel challenge wrapping up Sweet Week. One of the losing Blue team this week had to go home and the others did well in the challenge – Brendan’s roti with cinnamon ice cream and apple was perfect, and the judges marvelled at Khanh’s sticky date. Samira ticked boxes for her banana pudding, while Chloe’s chocolate cake showed great flavours. With a thick and stodgy cake mixture hot with cinnamon, Hoda became the next contestant to be eliminated from MasterChef Australia, narrowly missing out on the Top 10. The Thursday episode did 786,000 after 796,000 a week ago.

Todd Sampson’s Bodyhack 2.0 followed with 439,000 after 430,000 a week ago.

ABC

Grand Designs Australia did 464,000 followed by the first episode of Everyone’s A Critic. Each week a cross-section of Aussies become art critics. The first night did 249,000.

Zan and Rudo in Everyone’s A Critic

SBS

Great British Railway Journeys delivered the biggest audience – 260,000.

The Handmaid’s Tale then did 181,000.

The biggest World Cup audience was 143,000 for Senegal v Colombia at midnight.

Serbia v Brazil at 4am Thursday did 52,000.

Week 26 TV: Thursday
THURSDAY METRO
ABCSeven AffiliatesNine AffiliatesTen AffiliatesSBS
ABC9.1%721.8%917.3%WIN14.4%SBS One6.1%
ABC 22.6%7TWO4.5%GO!3.0%ONE2.6%VICELAND1.0%
ABC ME0.6%7mate4.3%GEM2.4%ELEVEN2.4%Food Net1.2%
ABC NEWS1.2%7flix2.7%9Life2.5%NITV0.2%
TOTAL13.5%33.4%25.2%19.4%8.5%
THURSDAY REGIONAL
ABCSevenNineTenSBS
ABC10.0%720.8%918.2%TEN11.4%SBS One4.2%
ABC 22.9%7TWO7.0%GO!3.9%ONE2.5%VICELAND0.8%
ABC ME1.0%7mate4.4%GEM3.4%ELEVEN1.9%Food Net1.2%
ABC NEWS1.1%7flix2.4%9Life2.6%NITV0.1%
TOTAL15.0%34.6%28.1%15.8%6.3%
THURSDAY METRO ALL TV
FTASTV
81.5%18.5%
Thursday fta
  1. Seven News Seven 1,012,000
  2. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 900,000
  3. Nine News Nine 891,000
  4. Nine News 6:30 Nine 877,000
  5. Masterchef Australia Ten 786,000
  6. A Current Affair Nine 716,000
  7. The Chase Australia Seven 621,000
  8. ABC News ABC 604,000
  9. Seven’s AFL: Thursday Night Football Seven 576,000
  10. Hot Seat Nine 535,000
  11. The Project 7pm Ten 493,000
  12. Grand Designs Australia ABC 464,000
  13. Home And Away Seven 441,000
  14. Todd Sampson’s Bodyhack 2.0 Ten 439,000
  15. Ten Eyewitness News First At Five Ten 426,000
  16. The Chase Australia-5pm Seven 411,000
  17. 7.30 ABC 382,000
  18. Thursday Night NRL Live Nine 354,000
  19. Seven’s AFL: Thursday Night Football – Post Match Seven 339,000
  20. The Project 6.30pm Ten 323,000
Demo top fives

16-39 Top 5

  1. Masterchef Australia Ten 251,000
  2. Todd Sampson’s Bodyhack 2.0 Ten 149,000
  3. The Project 7pm Ten 148,000
  4. Seven’s AFL: Thursday Night Football Seven 139,000
  5. Seven News Seven 131,000

 

18-49 Top 5

  1. Masterchef Australia Ten 373,000
  2. Todd Sampson’s Bodyhack 2.0 Ten 249,000
  3. The Project 7pm Ten 232,000
  4. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 227,000
  5. Nine News 6:30 Nine 223,000

 

25-54 Top 5

  1. Masterchef Australia Ten 408,000
  2. Nine News 6:30 Nine 280,000
  3. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 278,000
  4. Todd Sampson’s Bodyhack 2.0 Ten 272,000
  5. Seven News Seven 271,000
Thursday multichannel
  1. Father Brown-PM 7TWO 218,000
  2. Andy’s Baby Animals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 185,000
  3. Peter Rabbit ABCKIDS/COMEDY 180,000
  4. Dinosaur Train ABCKIDS/COMEDY 180,000
  5. Floogals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 176,000
  6. Murdoch Mysteries-PM 7TWO 175,000
  7. Thomas And Friends-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 168,000
  8. Octonauts ABCKIDS/COMEDY 163,000
  9. Love Island Australia 9GO! 156,000
  10. Shaun The Sheep ABCKIDS/COMEDY 151,000
  11. Dot.-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 150,000
  12. Pj Masks-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 150,000
  13. Hey Duggee-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 146,000
  14. Teacup Travels-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 145,000
  15. Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom ABCKIDS/COMEDY 145,000
  16. Olobob Top-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 144,000
  17. Peppa Pig-AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 143,000
  18. Go Jetters-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 140,000
  19. Peppa Pig-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 137,000
  20. Luo Bao Bei-PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 136,000
Thursday subscription tv
  1. Live: AFL Richmond v Sydney FOX FOOTY 274,000
  2. Live: NRL Dragons v Eels FOX LEAGUE 204,000
  3. Live: AFL: Thursday Footy On Fox FOX FOOTY 93,000
  4. Live: The Late Show With Matty Johns FOX LEAGUE 92,000
  5. Aussie Gold Hunters Discovery Channel 78,000
  6. Family Guy FOX8 61,000
  7. The Bolt Report SKY NEWS LIVE 57,000
  8. Live: AFL: Thursday Night Footy On Fox FOX FOOTY 54,000
  9. Family Guy FOX8 49,000
  10. Selling Houses Australia LifeStyle Channel 47,000
  11. Live: NRL Thursday Night League FOX LEAGUE 47,000
  12. Paul Murray Live SKY NEWS LIVE 46,000
  13. Credlin SKY NEWS LIVE 44,000
  14. Outsiders SKY NEWS LIVE 43,000
  15. America’s Got Talent FOX8 43,000
  16. Inside Ikea LifeStyle Channel 43,000
  17. Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail Discovery Channel 42,000
  18. NCIS TVH!TS 40,000
  19. Criminal Minds TVH!TS 40,000
  20. Jeopardy! FOX Classics 38,000

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

APN Outdoor retains Christchurch Airport advertising business until 2026

APN Outdoor has successfully retained the Christchurch Airport advertising business, extending its partnership with New Zealand’s second busiest airport to 2026.

The outdoor company will invest in new opportunities for advertisers at Christchurch Airport, including new external and internal digital solutions.

APN Outdoor chief executive officer and managing director James Warburton said: “APN Outdoor has the knowledge required for bringing brands, activations and consumer engagement to life in airport environments and delivering strong results for our clients.

“Retaining the Christchurch Airport contract adds to what is already a successful year for APN Outdoor.”

APN Outdoor country head for New Zealand, Mike Watkins, said: “We have a successful history with Christchurch Airport and we are delighted to have retained this contract.

“We look forward to working closely with Christchurch International Airport Limited to further develop its already fantastic assets. The new developments will refresh the existing assets, deliver innovative and emerging technologies, and maintain a clutter-free environment for advertisers.

“The combination of Christchurch Airport and Auckland Airport, which APN Outdoor also represents, means advertisers can capture highly sought-after airport audiences.”

APN Outdoor will hire a South Island representative to service Christchurch Airport and local clients.

More than 6.5 million passengers travelled through Christchurch Airport in 2017. In the six months to 31 December last year, passenger movements increased 5.2% to 3.41 million. Almost 90% of all international travellers to the South Island enter via Christchurch Airport.

The 2017-18 summer was a strong period for the airport, particularly in terms of international passengers. As a result, for the third consecutive year, Christchurch Airport is on track to set a new annual passenger record of around seven million passengers.

APN Outdoor wins VicRoads tender for 10 signs on two freeways

The expansion of APN Outdoor’s network continues, with the company winning a competitive tender for the exclusive rights to develop a new portfolio of signage on the Princes and Western Freeways in Melbourne.

APN Outdoor CEO James Warburton

As part of the new contract with VicRoads, APN Outdoor will build 10 new signs on both freeways, offering advertisers freestanding and bridge-mounted digital and classic signs.

The new agreement between APN Outdoor, which also holds advertising contracts for the Tullamarine Freeway and CityLink in Melbourne, and VicRoads is effective now.

The first of the new sites are expected to be developed by mid-2019.

APN Outdoor chief executive officer and managing director James Warburton said: “We are delighted to extend our relationship with VicRoads and add to our already strong portfolio of consumer connection points on Melbourne’s key freeways.

“APN Outdoor offers advertisers the most comprehensive outdoor network nationally and the addition of the new signage on the Princes and Western Freeways will make that network even stronger.”

The Princes Freeway is the only direct link between Geelong, which is Victoria’s second largest city, and Melbourne, while the Western Freeway is the gateway to Melbourne’s growing western suburbs and beyond to Victoria’s spa and wine country, including the popular Ballarat and Daylesford regions.

QMS says Inner West is best with new digital billboard The Rozelle

QMS has further extended its digital presence in Sydney, launching a new premium landmark digital billboard in the affluent inner-west suburb of Rozelle.

Impacting over 1.4 million contacts per month, The Rozelle is strategically positioned on Victoria Road, one of Sydney’s most congested arterials, and targets heavy traffic heading out from the CBD into the inner west from the adjoining Anzac Bridge.

Complementing QMS’s existing inbound Rozelle digital, the launch gives QMS the ability to provide advertisers with landmark digital domination of this highly sought-after Sydney arterial, impacting more than 2.5 million contacts a month.

QMS Australia CEO John O’Neill said “I am incredibly proud of the momentum we have been achieving in Sydney. Our strategic digital development platform centres around providing advertisers with a quality national digital footprint in highly sought-after locations, and the launch of The Rozelle is no exception.”

Twitter posting information about ads on social media service

Twitter said it will show detailed information about advertisers on the social media service, addressing concerns from lawmakers that the company let foreign meddlers run rampant during the US presidential election, reports Bloomberg.

Starting on Thursday, anyone will be able to search for a Twitter account and see all the ads it has run in the past seven days.

For US political advertisers, users will be able to see billing information, ad spending, demographic targeting data and the number of times tweets have been viewed. Twitter started planning the so-called “transparency centre” in October last year. Facebook has introduced similar features.

The changes are part of Twitter’s broader efforts to clean up its service after lawmakers berated the company for failing to discover Russian influence peddling through fake accounts and divisive ads during the 2016 US presidential election.

[Read the original]

News Brands

Tributes for former ABC journalist and presenter Liz Jackson

Former ABC journalist and presenter Liz Jackson has died aged 67, reports ABC News.

The Walkley Award-winning journalist joined the ABC in 1986, and has worked for many flagship programs including Four Corners and Media Watch.

She left the organisation in 2013.

Jackson struggled in recent years with Parkinson’s disease and yesterday died peacefully in her sleep while on holiday in Greece with her husband, Martin Butler, by her side.

In a statement, her family said they were deeply saddened by the loss of a loving partner, mum and grandma.

The ABC has issued a statement saying: “We are profoundly saddened by the death of Liz Jackson, our wonderful friend and colleague and one of Australia’s finest journalists.”

ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie said: “Liz Jackson was one of the greats of the ABC, an incredible journalist who inspired all around her and who Australians turned to with complete trust.

“Her work has informed and shaped this country. Her enormous talent, fearless integrity and unflinching courage will serve as a beacon for many generations of journalists and storytellers to come.”

ABC Director of News Gaven Morris said: “You could not be around Liz without being fired by her passion and in awe of her courage. She had extraordinary talent as a storyteller, accompanied by a deep humility.

“Liz leaves a momentous legacy. We will never forget her.”

[Read the original]

Sky News federal political reporter Samantha Maiden has resigned

Sky News federal political reporter Samantha Maiden has resigned, a month after going on leave pending an internal inquiry, reports The Australian.

Maiden announced her resignation on Twitter this afternoon, saying: “I am resigning from Sky News today and would like to thank Sky for such great opportunities and the support @frangopoulos and @David_Speers have offered me. I am truly sad to go.”

Maiden, who has been a member of the Canberra press gallery for 20 years and joined Sky last year, also revealed that she was battling mental health issues and apologised for any impact this may have had on others.

“Late last year, I was also diagnosed for the first time with anxiety and depression, which, although I still believe never stopped me from breaking big political stories, has not been fun,” she tweeted.

[Read the original]

 

UK reports details newspaper revenue halved in past decade

A British government review into the sustainability of high-quality journalism, which has been prompted by industry-wide decline in print circulations and ad revenues, has issued its first call for evidence, reports Press Gazette.

A report commissioned ahead of the review has found that circulation and print advertising revenues for news publishers have dropped by more than half over the last decade from nearly £7bn to just over £3bn.

According to the findings, the number of frontline print journalists has dropped by more than a quarter over the same period, from about 23,000 in 2007 to 17,000 last year.

A quarter of all regional and local newspapers have also closed in the past decade, the report by Mediatique said.

Press Gazette has reported that last year alone there was a net loss of 30 local newspapers and 45 jobs. In 2016 we found that nearly 200 local newspapers had closed in the UK since 2005.

The average daily circulation of national newspapers (weekday) fell from 11.2m in 2007 to 6.1m in 2017

[Read the original]

Publishing

Bauer tells newsagents wholesale pricing same for all retailers

Bauer Media yesterday saw Mediaweek’s coverage of calls for a newsagent boycott of Inside Out magazine. Bauer’s national sales manager, retail sales, then responded to Mark Fletcher from newsagencyblog.com.au with good news for Australian newsagents:

I saw an article today in Mediaweek regarding the disparity in price positioning of Inside Out magazine between Coles and newsagents and calling for a boycott of the title. I am pleased to inform you that Bauer Media is now the publisher of Inside Out magazine, along with Country Style, having purchased these mastheads from News Life Media this month. As part of the title transition process we have informed Coles that we will be reverting the masthead to a national price parity point of $8.20. This will be effective from the August issue.

It continues to be important to Bauer to support the newsagent channel by maintaining competitive balance in the market place.

Radio

Bianca, Mike & Bob: Mike van Acker replacing Terry Hansen at 97.3

ARN has announced the launch of 97.3FM’s new breakfast show – Bianca, Mike & Bob.

Mike van Acker

Mike van Acker, a Brisbane local and well-known comedian, will join 97.3FM’s breakfast team following Terry Hansen’s decision to leave the breakfast show for health reasons and to spend more time with his family.

Hansen has been part of 97.3FM’s breakfast show lineup for the past 15 years and today was his last day on air.

The new show lineup was revealed on air to 97.3FM’s audience this morning, with van Acker joining Bianca, Terry & Bob in the studio for the much anticipated announcement.

Bianca, Terry and Bob

van Acker will join Bianca Dye and Bob Gallagher on-air to wake up Brisbane every morning from 5.30am starting July 16, when the team returns from radio survey break.

van Acker has been a familiar face in Australian comedy since his stand-up debut in 1992, and has performed throughout Australia, New Zealand, the UK and US. He has also appeared on TV and radio including segments for 612 ABC, Triple M and as part of B105’s Gabby, Mike & Stav breakfast show.

ARN’s national content director Duncan Campbell said: “Terry is a great comedian and broadcaster, and has contributed so much to the breakfast show over the past 15 years and while I am sad to see him leave I totally support his decision to focus on his health and spend more time with his family. I know his loyal listeners will welcome Mike and his sense of fun when he joins Bianca and Bob for breakfast from July 16.”

97.3FM’s content director Barry Drinkwater said: “It was never going to be easy to fill Terry’s huge shoes, but I know Mike will quickly become a morning favourite for our 97.3 listeners all over Brisbane. He is passionate about Brisbane and his family, and I’m sure he’ll bring a lot of laughs. I join Bianca and Bob in welcoming Mike to the breakfast team and look forward to July 16 for Bianca, Mike & Bob’s first breakfast show.”

Nine’s Europe correspondent Seb Costello returning to Melbourne and Triple M

Journalist Seb Costello is returning to Australia after a stint as Nine’s European Correspondent. He will be re-joining Triple M’s The Hot Breakfast as news presenter.

Seb Costello

Costello reported on some of the biggest stories coming out of Europe during his tenure, including the Manchester bombing, the London Bridge terror attack and the Grenfell Tower fire, for Nine News and Triple M’s The Hot Breakfast. Locally, he was a news breaker during the Essendon supplements saga. In 2017, he received a Quill Award from the Melbourne Press Club for his work at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Costello said: “It’s great to be returning home to Triple M’s The Hot Breakfast. I knew we had it good in Melbourne before I went overseas, but now I have no doubt that Melbourne is the greatest city in the world.”

He will return to Triple M on July 2 to host The Winter Breakfast for two weeks alongside Triple M Footy and AFL great Paul Roos and comedian Anthony “Lehmo” Lehman during The Hot Breakfast’s midyear survey break. Costello will head up The Hot Breakfast’s news from July 16.

He will also continue to work with Nine, where he will file regular reports for Nine News and A Current Affair, as well as contributing to Nine’s Wide World of Sports coverage.

Earlier this year, Triple M recruited Seven’s Tom Browne as The Hot Breakfast’s chief football reporter.

Sports Media

SBS to cover all World Cup games live on TV, On Demand, online

SBS and Optus’s temporary agreement to simulcast the 2018 FIFA World Cup until the end of the group stage has officially been extended to the end of the tournament.

Top photo: Denmark’s Simon Kjaer and France’s Ousmane Dembele in their 2018 World Cup Group C match (credit: A.RICARDO / Shutterstock)

SBS will simulcast all remaining World Cup games on TV, SBS On Demand, the FIFA World Cup app and The World Game website, until the tournament ends on July 16.

SBS MD Michael Ebeid said: “We’re pleased to be able to simulcast more of the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches with Optus. With eight million Australians tuning into SBS’s coverage to date, we know how passionate the country is about the world game and are confident fans will continue to engage with the matches as we head towards the end of the competition in Russia.”

The broadcaster will continue to air daily highlights in FIFA World Cup Today live from Red Square at 5.30pm each match day with expert analysis from Craig Foster and Lucy Zelić and commentary from Martin Tyler. It will also show replays of the SBS Match of the Day each morning at 6.30am.

Carlton United forced to reissue State of Origin ad material

Carlton United Breweries has been forced to pull and reissue State of Origin advertising material in bottle shops across the country after rival Lion Beer successfully won a Federal Court injunction, reports The AFR’s Max Mason.

Lion Beer Australia products Tooheys New and XXXX are sponsors of the NSW Blues and the Queensland Maroons, while CUB’s Carlton Dry is the official beer of the State of Origin.

However, marketing posters supplied by CUB to liquor stores across Australia depicted former NSW and Qld players, who the brewer hired as ambassadors, with Carlton Dry logos on the left breast of their jerseys.

Lion successfully won an injunction against CUB last Friday. Justice Andrew Wigney ordered CUB to remove the advertising or place stickers over the Carlton Dry logos on the jerseys by 6pm on Saturday, the night before State of Origin game two.

[Read the original]

Andrew Webster has a message for social media pests: STFU

Fairfax Media’s Andrew Webster has a message for social media pests:

Do you troll sportspeople on social media? Fire up Twitter to issue death threats or promise to commit acts violence on their family? Rush to Facebook to compare their appearance to a member of ISIS or liken females who play football to men? Get busy on Instagram posting about indigenous players looking like apes?

Yes? You do? Well, here’s some advice in language you might just understand…

STFU. And watch the footy.

The modern world sucks in so many ways but it’s sport that gets us through. Sure, beer and Chicken McNuggets and Seinfeld re-runs all help. But it’s sport that makes this wretched life bearable.

[Read the original]

To Top