Thursday June 6, 2019
Podcast Week
Cyber security with reformed hacker
Cyber Hacker, new from PodcastOne this week, is hosted by Bastien Treptel, a reformed “black-hat hacker”, who from his early teens was hacking into computers and accounts, to steal sensitive information and credit card details until he was caught by the federal police.
Now reformed, Treptel has turned his knowledge, experience and expertise into a positive and launched his cyber security business, CTRL Group.
In the PodcastOne series Cyber Hacker, Treptel (CTRL Group CEO) and the chief cyber risk officer Fergus Brooks, explore the various cyber risks and security in an age where cyber-attacks can be carried out with ease. Throughout the series they detail the risks for businesses and share real-life examples of how Treptel and his team have hacked companies (as part of their CTRL Group Service, they are given authority to demonstrate how easy it is to hack businesses), as well as giving listeners an insight into how secure they are in their own homes.
Merrick Watts on Police Tape as series completes
The last episode in the season of the News Corp Australia podcast Police Tape was released this week. Broadcaster and actor Merrick Watts hosts the series that boasts “real police and real stories”.
“I was approached by News Corp last year, asking if I’d be interested in a crime podcast. At the time I’d just been listening to The Teacher’s Pet,” Watts told Mediaweek.
News Corp asked the former Nova and Triple M host how he would feel about interviewing retired police officers. He said the idea sounded fascinating.
“Although I have interviewed police several times on radio, they’ve always been very restricted on what they have been able to say publicly,” said Watts. “Police Tape sounded intriguing because we would be able to get some real detail and an opinion regarding specific cases.”
Watts does a more than just introduce each episode. “I am a lot more than narrator too. I did quite a lot of research and I had a lot of questions ready.”
The series started with the investigation into the death of Michael Hutchence and ended with an episode on criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro.
Police Tape also features the work of several News Corp Australia editors and reporters. “Mark Morrie and Charles Miranda have both been very helpful and fantastic to work with. I enjoyed working with them on the details of the crimes and constructing the podcasts.”
Apart from being a guest on other people’s podcasts, this is the first podcast Watts has given his name to.
When Watts started on radio there was no such podcasting. The first time he dabbled in the format was during his time at Nova when he did some special comedy podcasts with Rosso for the station. “Back then it wasn’t too hard to be the #1 comedy podcast,” he recalled.
Watts said it would be great if there was another series, but there had been no discussions so far.
Police Tape is News Corp Australia’s first co-production enterprise with Nova Entertainment.
realestate.com.au launches podcast series for developers
realestate.com.au has launched Off-The-Plan, a podcast dedicated to the Australian property market and unpacking topics relevant to apartment developers, land developers, home builders and project marketers.
Hosted by Mike Gill, head of developer research at realestate.com.au, the series will focus on buyers of new property and dissect how and why buyers are influenced throughout their new property purchasing journey.
The first episode features Nigel Dalton, chief inventor at realestate.com.au, and explores Artificial Intelligence and property. Dalton discusses the potential that Artificial Intelligence can unlock in the property development industry and delves into how the technology can also benefit your business.
New episodes of Off-The-Plan will be released monthly.
My Top 5 Podcasts: Dan Barrett
Barrett is a former Mediaweek deputy editor and co-creator of the award-winning SBS podcast about The Handmaid’s Tale.
TV’s Top 5
The Hollywood Reporter’s TV critic Dan Fienberg and industry reporter Lesley Goldberg offer a weekly look at the five most interesting stories to come out of the US TV industry each week. With the industry evolving and changing so quickly nowadays, this smart and savvy look at it is a must listen.
Running from COPS
How has US reality show COPS defined the way viewers engage with law enforcement? And what are the ethics of forcing people to appear on the show in a negative light while they are experiencing the worst day of their lives? This is the result of an 18-month investigation into the show and its practices.
Eyes On Gildead: A Handmaid’s Tale Podcast
Cheeky to include this one as I was a co-creator of it back when I was working at SBS, but if you’re looking for a deeper understanding of what is going on in The Handmaid’s Tale (which returns tonight on SBS), this companion podcast will be there to help you make sense of it. There’s also some great interviews with the cast and production team.
Recode Media
Any media industry professional not listening to this is doing themselves a disservice. Host Peter Kafka gets to the nitty gritty of the challenges facing media industry executives in smart one-on-ones. A recent must-listen was his interview with Hulu CEO Randy Freer about the future of the streamer with its new Disney owners.
The Professor and The Hack
10 Speaks first podcast has Hugh Riminton and Peter Van Onselen giving insight into Australian politics. The two have a growing chemistry and it has been a valuable media voice in making sense of strategy being employed in the recent Federal election. Even if PVO got it completely wrong and has spent the last few episodes apologising!
TV deal: Sky News and ABC agree on David Speers departure
Speers will remain with the News Corp-owned news channel until the end of the year.
Until Speers takes over hosting duties on ABC’s Insiders next year, hosting duties for the show will be shared by Fran Kelly and Annabel Crabb
Barrie Cassidy hosts his final episode of Insiders this week.
These are the statements in full yesterday by Sky News and the ABC.
Sky News: Statement regarding David Speers
Sky News has announced David Speers, Political Editor and anchor of Speers and Speers on Sunday, will leave the channel in early 2020 to host Insiders.
In a statement, Sky News chief executive officer Paul Whittaker said:
“David Speers will be leaving Sky News early next year to host Insiders. He will continue on-air as political editor and anchor of Speers and Speers on Sunday until the end of his contract.
“David is an exceptional and highly respected journalist and one of Australia’s most insightful political interviewers.
“During his nineteen-year tenure with Sky News David spearheaded the growth of Sky News from humble beginnings into Australia’s leader in political news and national affairs coverage.
“David has been instrumental in developing our Canberra bureau into the editorial powerhouse it is today, together with chief political reporter Kieran Gilbert and political reporter Laura Jayes.
“His highly decorated career has seen him chosen to host Leaders’ debates and forums at the last six federal elections, as well as cover the last four US presidential elections.
“His outstanding political reporting and excellence in broadcast journalism has been recognised with a host of prestigious industry awards including two Walkley Awards, an AACTA Subscription Television Award, a Kennedy Award and 10 ASTRA Awards. David and the Sky News Political team were also recognised with a Walkley and Logie Award for outstanding coverage of the 2016 federal election.
“I’d like to thank David for his outstanding contribution to Australian journalism and for the proud and important legacy he leaves behind at Sky News.
“From all the team at Sky News, we wish him well.”
ABC: David Speers joins the ABC as host of Insiders
David Speers will join ABC News as presenter of premier political discussion program Insiders.
A two-time Walkley Award winner for his political interviewing, Speers has been at Sky News Australia since 2000 and is currently its political editor.
“David is a terrific journalist and presenter, an astute political observer and a great talent. He joins Australia’s best and most trusted political journalism team,” said ABC director news Gaven Morris.
“We are delighted to welcome him to this key role as the successor to the great Barrie Cassidy.”
Speers will move to Melbourne to take up the chair at Insiders from early 2020, working with executive producer Sam Clark.
“Insiders is essential viewing if you’re interested in politics and understanding how Australia is being led,” Speers said.
“I never miss it. To be able to take over from a legend, Barrie Cassidy, and present the program is an honour and a terrific opportunity.”
After presenting Insiders since its launch, Cassidy announced earlier this year he would be moving on from the role, with his farewell program this Saturday 9 June.
The ABC’s Annabel Crabb and Fran Kelly will share the presenting duties on Insiders for the remainder of 2019.
MEAA: Second AFP raid a disturbing 'new normal' that seeks to criminalise journalism
The first was on a News Corporation Australia journalist yesterday, followed by today’s raid on the ABC and three of its journalists. In what has been labelled by some as an attempt to “intimidate legitimate news journalism” the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) has released a statement on the incidents:
“Two raids by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on journalists and media organisations within the last 24 hours represent a disturbing attempt to intimidate legitimate news journalism that is in the public interest, says the union for Australian journalists, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA).
Yesterday’s raid on a News Corporation Australia journalist, and today’s raid on the ABC and three of its journalists, suggest that no media organisation is immune from government attacks on press freedom.
MEAA Media section president Marcus Strom: “A second day of raids by the Australian Federal Police sets a disturbing pattern of assaults on Australian press freedom. This is nothing short of an attack on the public’s right to know.
“Police raiding journalists is becoming normalised and it has to stop.
“These raids are about intimidating journalists and media organisations because of their truth-telling. They are about more than hunting down whistleblowers that reveal what governments are secretly doing in our name, but also preventing the media from shining a light on the actions of government,” he said.
“It is equally clear that the spate of national security laws passed by the Parliament over the past six years have been designed not just to combat terrorism but to persecute and prosecute whistleblowers who seek to expose wrongdoing. These laws seek to muzzle the media and criminalise legitimate journalism. They seek to punish those that tell Australians the truth.
“Yesterday’s raid was in response to a story published a year ago. Today’s raid comes after a story was published nearly two years ago. Suddenly, just days after a federal election, the Federal Police launches this attack on press freedom. It seems that when the truth embarrasses the government, the result is the Federal Police will come knocking at your door,” Strom said.
“MEAA demands to know who is responsible for ordering these coordinated raids, and why now. We call for the Government and Opposition to take collective responsibility for the legal framework they’ve created that is allowing for what appears to be politically motivated assault on press freedom,” Strom said.
“For years the Liberal and Labor parties have engaged in a high-stakes game of bluff which has seen the introduction of anti-democratic laws in the guise of national security legislation. It is time that the Government and Opposition had a common sense approach to defusing these poisonous laws that are effectively criminalising journalism. This attack on the truth must end.”
HBO drama series Euphoria comes to Foxtel on June 17
Based on the Israeli series of the same name, Euphoria the eight-part drama attempts to put a fresh spin on the high school coming of age story.
Zendaya plays principal character Rue Bennett, a drug addict who has recently left rehab and battles to stay clean while figuring out her future.
Foxtel describes the plot as:
“Rue’s life is changed drastically when she meets Jules Vaughn (Hunter Schafer), a trans girl who recently moved to town following her parents’ divorce, and, like Rue, is searching for where she belongs. Also in Rue’s orbit are classmates Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi), a jock whose anger issues mask sexual insecurities; Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie), Nate’s on-and-off-again girlfriend; Chris McKay (Algee Smith), a football star who finds the adjustment from high school to college harder than expected; Cassie Howard (Sydney Sweeney), a sweet girl whose sexual history continues to dog her; Lexi Howard (Maude Apatow), Cassie’s younger sister and Rue’s level-headed childhood friend; and Kat Hernandez (Barbie Ferreira), a body-conscious teen exploring her sexuality.”
Sam Levinson created and wrote for the series while also directing five of Euphoria’s episodes. In addition to Levinson, EPs include Drake and Future the Prince. Ron Leshem and Daphna Levin, who created the Israeli series on which Euphoria is based, also serve as executive producers.
TV Guide: UEFA Nations League Finals on Optus Sport
UEFA Nations semi-finals
Thursday, June 6 (all times listed AEST)
• 4 am – Optus Sport coverage commences
• 4.45am – Portugal v Switzerland
Host: Richard Bayliss
Commentators: John Aloisi, Paul Okon and Luke Wilkshire.
Pitchside: Max Rushden and Ned Zelic.
Friday June 7 (all times listed AEST)
• 4 am – Optus Sport coverage commences
• 4.45 am – England v the Netherlands
Host: Mel McLaughlin
Commentators: John Aloisi, Paul Okon and Michael Bridges.
Pitchside: Max Rushden and Zelic.
UEFA Nations League Final
Monday, June 10 (all times listed AEST)
Coverage will commence at 4 am, with the match kicking off at 4.45am.
Host: Richard Bayliss
Commentators: Michael Bridges, Thomas Sorensen and Luke Wilkshire.
Pitchside: Max Rushden and Ned Zelic.
Optus Sport will also be showing the match for third place, 11 pm AEST on Sunday, June 9.
TV Ratings Analysis: June 5
Wednesday Week 23 2019
By James Manning
• Seven News 1,105,000/1,054,000
• Nine News 937,000/945,000
• A Current Affair No Wednesday episode
• ABC News 716,000
• 7.30 565,000
• The Project 295,000/530,000
• 10 News First 444,000
• The Drum 222,000
• SBS World News 136,000
Breakfast TV
• Sunrise 276,000
• Today 204,000
Seven
Home And Away held up well despite Origin coverage starting at 7pm. After two nights near 750,000, the Wednesday episode was on 692,000.
House Rules did 532,000 after 613,000 last week.
The drama Harry And Meghan: Becoming Royal will go down as one of the duds of the year – even if it was up against Origin. The telemovie had an audience of 158,000.
Nine
No ACA last night with Origin pre-game coverage underway from 7pm.
State of Origin Game 1 then had an average metro audience of 2,178,000. The audience in Sydney was 950,000 while in Brisbane it was 746,000.
The football class delivered not only the biggest TV audience of the year, but also the biggest shares. Nine had 39% for the night, with Nine Sydney on 51% and Nine Brisbane on 60%.
The Game 1 audience last year was 2,321,000
10
The Project got the smallest of bumps last night with no ACA up against it with 530,000 watching 10 after 7pm. The episode had plenty on offer from Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz from The Monkees to Pete Helliar with Kevin Hart.
MasterChef was then on 531,000 after 648,000 a week ago. The midweek challenge was a BBQ battle in Noosa.
Five Bedrooms then did 347,000, a footy-impacted audience after 483,000 last week.
ABC
Anh’s Brush With Fame featured Deborah Hutton with 565,000 watching.
The Weekly then did 486,000 after 604,000 a week ago. Jimmy Barnes continued on his publicity blitz, this time as a guest on Hard Talk.
The second episode of The Letdown then did 305,000 after launching with 362,000.
SBS
Going Places With Ernie Dingo had the biggest audience with 158,000.
24 Hours In Emergency was next with 161,000.
Week 23 TV: Wednesday
| WEDNESDAY METRO | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven | Nine | 10 | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 9.9% | 7 | 13.9% | 9 | 39.0% | 10 | 9.5% | SBS One | 3.5% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 2.4% | 7TWO | 2.3% | GO! | 3.0% | 10 Bold | 3.4% | VICELAND | 1.2% |
| ABC ME | 0.5% | 7mate | 2.3% | GEM | 1.2% | 10 Peach | 1.8% | Food Net | 0.7% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.3% | 7flix | 1.7% | 9Life | 1.8% | NITV | 0.2% | ||
| 7Food | 0.4% | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 14.2% | 20.6% | 45.0% | 14.6% | 5.6% | ||||
| WEDNESDAY REGIONAL | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven Affiliates | Nine Affiliates | 10 Affiliates | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 8.0% | 7 | 15.5% | 9 | 39.7% | WIN | 7.4% | SBS One | 3.0% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 2.5% | 7TWO | 3.0% | GO! | 2.7% | WIN Bold | 3.2% | VICELAND | 1.3% |
| ABC ME | 0.6% | 7mate | 2.0% | GEM | 2.3% | WIN Peach | 1.8% | Food Net | 0.8% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.0% | 7flix (Excl. Tas/WA) | 2.0% | 9Life | 1.8% | Sky News on WIN | 1.0% | NITV | 0.1% |
| 7food (QLD only) | 0.5% | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 12.0% | 23.0% | 46.5% | 13.3% | 5.2% | ||||
| WEDNESDAY METRO ALL TV | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTA | STV | ||||||||
| 89.4% | 10.6% | ||||||||
WEDNESDAY FTA
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Match Nine 2,178,000
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Pre Match Nine 1,187,000
- Seven News Seven 1,105,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 1,054,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 945,000
- Nine News Nine 937,000
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Post Match Nine 908,000
- ABC News ABC 716,000
- Home And Away Seven 692,000
- The Chase Australia Seven 628,000
- 7.30 ABC 565,000
- Anh’s Brush With Fame ABC 565,000
- Hot Seat Nine 541,000
- House Rules Seven 532,000
- MasterChef Australia 10 531,000
- The Project 7pm 10 530,000
- The Weekly With Charlie Pickering ABC 486,000
- 10 News First 10 444,000
- The Chase Australia-5pm Seven 375,000
- Five Bedrooms 10 347,000
Demo Top 5
16-39 Top Five
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Match Nine 709,000
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Pre Match Nine 348,000
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Post Match Nine 336,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 153,000
- MasterChef Australia 10 152,000
18-49 Top Five
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Match Nine 1,061,000
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Pre Match Nine 549,000
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Post Match Nine 480,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 281,000
- MasterChef Australia 10 254,000
25-54 Top Five
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Match Nine 1,043,000
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Pre Match Nine 575,000
- State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st -Post Match Nine 443,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 339,000
- Nine News Nine 300,000
WEDNESDAY Multichannel
- Peter Rabbit ABCKIDS/COMEDY 194,000
- Bluey AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 192,000
- Octonauts ABCKIDS/COMEDY 189,000
- Rusty Rivets ABCKIDS/COMEDY 187,000
- Andy’s Safari Adventures ABCKIDS/COMEDY 176,000
- Floogals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 174,000
- Dino Dana ABCKIDS/COMEDY 171,000
- Molly And Mack PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 163,000
- Peppa Pig PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 154,000
- NCIS (R) 10 Bold 150,000
- Fireman Sam PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 150,000
- School Of RoarsPM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 150,000
- NCIS: Los Angeles (R) 10 Bold 148,000
- Bluey ABCKIDS/COMEDY 146,000
- NCIS: Los Angeles Ep 2 (R) 10 Bold 146,000
- Peppa PigAM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 142,000
- Hey DuggeeAM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 137,000
- The Dark Tower 9GO! 130,000
- Bondi Rescue Ep 2 (R) 10 Bold 125,000
- The Big Bang Theory 9GO! 119,000
WEDNESDAY STV
- Live: World Cup: Ind V RSA FOX CRICKET 77,000
- Live: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 66,000
- The Bolt Report Sky News Live 62,000
- Credlin Sky News Live 58,000
- Live: World Cup Innings Break FOX CRICKET 55,000
- Family Guy FOX8 48,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 47,000
- Family Guy FOX8 46,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 45,000
- Selling Houses Australia Lifestyle Channel 44,000
- Live: NRL Tonight FOX LEAGUE 44,000
- Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 35,000
- Beverly Hills: Real Housewives Of… ARENA 34,000
- Speers Sky News Live 33,000
- Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 32,000
- M*A*S*H FOX Classics 32,000
- American Dad! FOX8 31,000
- PML Later Sky News Live 30,000
- Paul Murray Live Sky News Live 28,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 28,000
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
News Brands
Raids on journalists an affront, says News boss Michael Miller
Australian Federal Police raided the public broadcaster’s Ultimo headquarters in central Sydney over its 2017 series The Afghan Files, with the search warrant naming journalists Dan Oakes and Sam Clark, and long-serving news director Gaven Morris.
The move came less than 24 hours after AFP officers raided the home of senior News Corp press gallery reporter Annika Smethurst over her reporting last year of a secret plan that would have allowed Australia to spy on its citizens for the first time.
Michael Miller, the executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, condemned the intrusive raid on Smethurst’s home early on Tuesday, which was followed by the raid on the ABC yesterday.
ABC executives and journalists, including managing director David Anderson and editorial director Craig McMurtrie, were scathing about the raid, and voiced their support for their journalists.
ABC raid sparks battle between government and media
A team of six plainclothes AFP agents, including digital forensic experts, raided the ABC’s Ultimo offices in Sydney and trawled through more than 9214 documents on the public broadcaster’s server over nine hours. The Australian reports further media raids were planned for today but have been put on hold
The AFP said the raids were not connected, although both related to “separate allegations of publishing classified material, contrary to provisions of the Crimes Act 1914”.
Igniting a row with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, Anthony Albanese yesterday labelled the raid on Smethurst’s home “outrageous”. Labor joined media outlets, legal experts and crossbench senators in calling for a full explanation.
Scott Morrison on press freedom after raids ABC and News journalist
“My government is absolutely committed to freedom of the press,” Morrison told journalists after events commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
“These are matters that were being pursued by the AFP operationally, at complete arm’s length from the Government, not with the knowledge of the Government, not at the instigation of government ministers.
“These were matters that had been referred to the federal police sometime ago, last year, preceding even my time as coming to be Prime Minister.”
Business of Media
Facebook, Google unlikely to steal sports rights from TV: Marks
Broadcast rights to Australia’s two largest football codes, the NRL and AFL, run through to 2022, but already reports have emerged that AFL executives have travelled to the US to meet with Facebook, Amazon, Google and Twitter ahead of the code’s next broadcast deal.
However, speaking to The Australian Financial Review at the Mumbrella360 conference on Wednesday, Marks said he did not think one of the technology giants was going to swoop down and take all rights to a sport away from television.
“Are Foxtel and Seven, in the case of the AFL, going to enable some social media company to carve off a bit of rights when we’re all trying to look at that ecosystem in terms of building audiences and marketing platforms? I don’t think so,” he said.
“Is Facebook going to come and take all rights out for the AFL? No. It’s just not going to happen, not in any near-term horizon.”
Disney lodges Australian trademark for streaming platform
The move will raise questions in the media industry about the $US243 billion ($347 billion) entertainment behemoth’s plans for a future deal with Nine Entertainment Co-owned video streaming platform Stan.
Details of the US giant’s plans in Australia specifically have not yet been released, however two trademarks for the new streaming service have been lodged in Australia by Disney’s subsidiary Disney Enterprises Inc, one on April 10 – around the time its broader streaming plans were revealed – and another on May 1.
Nine CEO Hugh Marks told The Sydney Morning Herald: “We’d love to extend our relationship with them, we’ll see whether we can or we can’t. Either way Stan will be a good business,” he said.
He said a rebranding of Stan to Disney+ was unlikely to be the outcome of any deal between the companies.
“There are a number of ways for us to look at how Disney+ can get branding in the market without having to change the name of Stan – Stan is an aggregator and always will be.”
Nine boss backs News Corp against Labor criticism
“I think that’s an ill-informed view of how media works,” he said.
“It’s something I come across even in our business, where something will happen on 2GB and it will be like it’s some conspiracy started by me. I mean, that’s not how media works.”
He disputed recent comments made by Miller to the Financial Review that Nine was running a “campaign” against its pay-TV platform Foxtel through coverage in its newspapers, which includes The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the AFR.
“I think Foxtel is a good business, it always has been. It makes more money than we do,” he said.
OzTAM seeks new head of digital as VPM becomes fully operational
Over the past five years O’Donovan has managed the development and successful deployment of OzTAM’s Video Player Measurement (VPM) reporting service, which provides daily audience data for broadcasters’ IP-delivered video on demand (BVOD) services.
O’Donovan will launch his own consultancy.
OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer thanked O’Donovan for his contribution to OzTAM and the broader television industry.
“Padraig has built VPM into a world class BVOD measurement service worthy of currency status,” Peiffer said.
“With VPM now fully operational, we understand Padraig’s decision to strike out on his own and wish him every continued success.”
Padraig O’Donovan said: “From concept to launch, OzTAM and our broadcaster clients have been united in the view that VPM would be a world-leading online TV measurement service, and it’s been a career highlight for me to help deliver on that promise.
“With VPM now established in the marketplace, the time is right for me to take on new challenges.”
VPM will be a component of Australia’s new Total TV currency, Virtual Australia (VOZ), that will bring together measurement of broadcast viewing on TV sets and connected devices to provide an all-screen, cross-platform planning and reporting standard for Australia’s television industry.
Television
Who will win the ratings battle between Seven and Nine?
Nine program director Hamish Turner said: “The phenomenal performance of MAFS, Travel Guides, 60 Minutes and The Voice have helped give us our best ever start to a ratings year.
“Our back half is just as strong, with Australian Ninja Warrior, The Block and Hamish & Andy’s Perfect Holiday all still to come.
“Not to mention a month of the Ashes in prime-time as well. We have significantly added to our overnight ratings with our streaming service 9 Now which continues to provide both impressive audience numbers and revenue to the business.
“We will be the No.1 network for 2019 with all key demographics and we expect it to be a very tight race with total people.”
Publishing
GQ Australia announces 2019 GQ Gentlemen’s Ball with Harrolds
The second annual GQ Gentlemen’s Ball presented by Harrolds will follow the theme Big Ideas.
Grey Goose Vodka, Omega, Paco Rabanne and Crown Metropol are also on board as supporting partners of the event.
McCann said: “GQ uses its authority and influence to shine a light on people passionate about making a positive change in the world. We’re delighted to partner with Harrolds for this year’s GQ Gentlemen’s Ball as we celebrate some of the driving forces of our generation.”
The GQ Gentlemen’s Ball will feature a keynote address by environmentalist, explorer and entrepreneur David de Rothschild, and a panel discussion moderated by TV host and journalist Hamish Macdonald. Panellists include broadcaster and musician Adam Briggs, investigative journalist and creator of The Teacher’s Pet podcast Hedley Thomas, social entrepreneur and founder of Heart on My Sleeve Mitch Wallis, fashion designer Christian Kimber, and Australian cricketer and all round sport star Ellyse Perry. Conrad Sewell will entertain guests with songs from his new album.
GQ Australia editor Mike Christensen said: “After a hugely successful inaugural Gentlemen’s Ball, this year we set ourselves a mission of finding inspirational people whose ideas – creative, philanthropic or investigative – are shaping the future.”