Tuesday May 14, 2019
Stephen Curry’s greatest hits: Mr Black on his best work
See also:
Stephen Curry on Mr Black: “It is harder and harder for commercial networks to justify the difference in what it costs to make a scripted piece to what it costs for a reality piece. You can make a lot more hours in reality.”
Today Curry talks to Mediaweek about shows we nominated as amongst his finest work. Viewers should be familiar with four of the five roles, fewer may remember his part in the late and great Mick Molloy Show on Nine which ran for eight spectacular episodes in 1999.
Pine Gap (Screentime)
“It was great fun and good to be given a role where I had some sort of intelligence with people respecting what I said. I don’t often get cast in roles like that. He was a prick, and they didn’t listen to everything that he said.”
The Time Of Our Lives (Jahm Pictures)
“Was also great fun and made very good friends with Shane Jacobson. He loves a chat. Judi McCrossin, who also wrote The Secret Life Of Us wrote that show. I made some really good friends – people like Justine Clark and Claudia Karvan and Will McInnes. It was a fantastic experience.”
The King (Crackerjack)
“One of the scariest jobs I’ve ever done because Graham Kennedy was one of my idols. I certainly would not have done it if he was alive, to be perfectly honest. The worst thing would have been to have Graham Kennedy face up to me and tell me he thought I had done a terrible job. One of the biggest honours of my life to be able to play him.”
The Castle (Working Dog)
“It was six years after I started acting and was my first film. It was also probably the reason I am talking to Mediaweek today. I owe most of my career to that film. If a project like that falls into your lap once in your career then you are a lucky person. It had an incredible team and the film is testament to their skill and their ability with not just comedy, but bringing heart to a story.”
Mick Molloy Show (Nine)
“Far out – which one? There were two of them. I was also in The Nation. [The one on Nine that ended spectacularly?] They were both on Nine and both ended spectacularly. I can’t believe I went back for a second time. All I did was be one of the actors in Bob Franklin’s How Delightful sketches. They were such fun and Bobby is a good friend of mine and a fantastic writer and an incredible comedian. It’s a shame that show didn’t work. But even Mick admits it was just him and some mates just taking the piss. [Literally, with Mick pissing on the floor one night.] When you are pissing on the studio floor live on television. That is the point when you think we might be facing the axe.”
—
Top Photo: Stephen Curry in Mr Black
Sports Week
NRL 360 gets new timeslot, Queenslanders Only & The Greatest dropped
Fox League’s magazine show NRL 360 will move to a new 7.30pm timeslot from Monday, May 20.
The specialist rugby league channel said the change will allow more viewers and fans to access and watch NRL 360, as hosts Ben Ikin and Daily Telegraph reporter Paul Kent dissect all of the big talking points, from every angle, that are impacting the game on and off the field.
Premiere episodes of NRL 360 will now air each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 7.30pm on Foxtel’s Fox League (Channel 502) with encores airing at 9.30pm and 11.30pm.
“NRL 360 more often than not sets the agenda with its opinion and latest news around the code and we consistently get feedback from fans and viewers that they struggle to get home early enough to watch the show at 6.30pm, so moving the NRL 360 to 7.30pm will allow more fans to see the show live,” Fox Sports head of television Steve Crawley said.
As a result of NRL 360 moving timeslots, Fox League has also announced that the hit audio podcast, The Matty Johns Podcast, will now become a television show of the same name, airing on Wednesday nights at 8.30pm from May 22.
The Matty Johns Podcast is hosted by Fox League’s Matty Johns, who is joined by Kent and Fox League journalist James Hooper for an hour-long chat about rugby league, with the trio telling entertaining stories, always with a touch of wit and humour, about the game they love.
League Life, which previously aired on Wednesday nights, can now be seen on Tuesday nights from 8.30pm. The program is hosted by Yvonne Sampson, Lara Pitt, Jess Yates and Hannah Hollis.
The schedule changes will also see Queenslanders Only and The Greatest take a break from their current timeslots.
Fox League’s new entertainment lineup from Monday, May 20
Mondays
7.00pm: NRL Tonight
7.30pm: NRL 360
8.30pm: Big League Wrap
Tuesdays
7.00pm: NRL Tonight
7.30pm: NRL 360
8.30pm: League Life
9.00pm: The Fan
Wednesdays
7.00pm: NRL Tonight
7.30pm: NRL 360
8.30pm: The Matty Johns Podcast
European football brings record crowds to Optus Sport
• Premier League and UEFA Champions League fever fuels Optus Sport growth
Optus Sport’s coverage of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League has scored with viewers, with both seasons’ gripping action fuelling record audience numbers according to Optus Sport.
Must-see matches in both Leagues, including Liverpool’s incredible 4-0 victory against Barcelona and Tottenham’s equally historic away-win at Ajax, has seen Optus Sport’s activated customer numbers soar 50% year-on-year.
The Monday morning final round of the Premier League, with all 10 matches starting at the same time, saw the highest ever viewing numbers for Optus Sport, eclipsing last year’s FIFA World Cup, with customers streaming to watch Manchester City win the title.
Optus Sport has also enjoyed its biggest ever week, with unique weekly viewers up +130% in the past week compared to the same week last season.
Corin Dimopoulos, Optus’ head of TV and content, revealed that European football fever is gripping Optus fans with sign-ups to Optus Sport swelling dramatically ahead of an all-English Champions League final and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France next month.
“We’re thrilled with the strong growth of Optus Sport viewers this year and the fantastic feedback we’ve received from fans across the country,” Dimopoulos said.
“This season has delivered non-stop, jaw-dropping moments from the world’s most popular game, and we’re delighted to see a record number of fans signing up to Optus Sport ahead of the must-see Champions League final on Sunday June 2 and the launch of the spectacular FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 on Saturday June 8 (AEST).
“I’m proud of our coverage and the work of our excellent production crew and very dedicated on-air hosts and commentators, such as Mark Schwarzer, Michael Bridges, Mel McLaughlin, Ned Zelic and Richard Bayliss.”
Optus holds the rights to Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League, and in the last year has streamed over 1,000 hours of football.
• Audience numbers are up more than 100% year-on-year, thanks to addition of UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Nations League content
• Sign-ups to Optus Sport are up +50% year-on-year
• Volume of games on Optus Sport has almost tripled – almost 3x games a day on average
And the numbers are soaring across social media too. The Optus Sport social platforms have had a 65% year-on-year increase in followers, while in the last fortnight alone a Lionel Messi goal posted on the Optus Sport Facebook page recorded a massive 300,000 organic views and a Vincent Kompany goal 292,000 organic views.
All the Optus Sport action can be viewed on the big-screen via Fetch, Apple TV, Apple Airplay, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV or Xbox, or on-the-go via tablets, mobile, desktop or laptop.
Optus Sport is available as an optional extra on eligible Optus plans for no extra cost. Non-Optus customers, and Optus customers who are ineligible for a monthly subscription at no added cost, may subscribe to Optus Sport for $14.99 per month.
Crocmedia launches dedicated Blues & Maroons radio for Origin
Crocmedia is expanding its Holden State of Origin 2019 broadcasts with the introduction of two new parochial calls – Blues Radio and Maroons Radio – tailored for New South Wales and Queensland markets respectively.
Blues Radio and Maroons Radio will broadcast into key metropolitan and regional hubs to ensure fans have access to play-by-play commentary and match-day analysis from the 38th instalment of the Holden State of Origin Series.
Spearheading the Blues Radio call team is veteran rugby league commentator, Brenton Speed, who is joined by Hall of Fame member Laurie Daley and former NSW halfback, Brett Kimmorley.
Maroons Radio is headlined by experienced sports commentator Peter Psaltis with support from one-time Penrith premiership hero Scott Sattler and former Maroons enforcer Brent Tate.
Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane will again host Game 1 while Homebush Stadium in Sydney will host Game 3 of the series. Both venues remain the traditional homes of rugby league across the country.
Perth’s Optus Stadium will host Game 2 after Melbourne’s MCG played host to this fixture in 2018.
Crocmedia CEO Craig Hutchison spoke to the significance of providing rugby league content across the NRL heartland.
“It is important to service our NSW and QLD markets accordingly by providing tailored calls to die-hards that bleed Blue or Maroon – particularly when the sense of occasion is tremendous and the rivalry fierce,” he said.
ABC’s Killing Eve major BAFTA champ with three wins
The ceremony was hosted by Graham Norton at the Royal Festival Hall, London, and presenters included Andrew Scott, Billy Monger, Bradley & Barney Walsh, Danny Dyer, David Schwimmer, Julia Stiles, Kelsey Grammer and Sir Lenny Henry.
Killing Eve, the spy-action thriller, won three BAFTAs, for Drama Series, Leading Actress for Jodie Comer and Supporting Actress for Fiona Shaw.
Patrick Melrose, based on Edward St Aubyn’s semi-autobiographical novels, received the BAFTA for Mini-Series and Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the titular character, won the first BAFTA of his career for Leading Actor.
Ben Whishaw won the BAFTA for Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Norman Scott in the drama series A Very English Scandal.
In Male Performance in a Comedy Programme, Steve Pemberton won the BAFTA for Inside No. 9. Jessica Hynes took home the BAFTA for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for There She Goes. The BAFTA for Scripted Comedy was won by Sally4Ever.
The BAFTA for Entertainment Programme was awarded to Britain’s Got Talent for the second year running and A League of Their Own received the award for Comedy Entertainment Programme. Lee Mack won his first BAFTA, in the Entertainment Performance category for Would I Lie To You?
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! received the BAFTA for Reality & Constructed Factual. Who Do You Think You Are? won in the Features category. Missed Call won the BAFTA for Short Form Programme.
In the International category, the BAFTA was awarded to Succession, the US satirical drama.
EastEnders was awarded the BAFTA for Soap & Continuing Drama. Killed By My Debt won the BAFTA for Single Drama.
News Coverage was awarded to Channel 4 News’ Cambridge Analytica Uncovered, and the award for Current Affairs was presented to Myanmar’s Killing Fields (Dispatches).
Louis Theroux’s Altered States received the BAFTA for Factual Series, Gun No. 6 won Single Documentary and Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley won Specialist Factual.
2018 World Cup Quarter Final: England v Sweden triumphed in the Sport category, while the award for Live Event was presented to The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance.
The Special Award was presented to Nicola Shindler in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the television industry. In 1998 Nicola founded Red Production Company, which has been responsible for producing some of the most talked-about series over the past few decades including Clocking Off, Happy Valley, the Emmy Award-winning Queer as Folk and most recently Trust Me for BBC One, starring Jodie Whittaker.
The Fellowship, the highest accolade the Academy bestows, was presented to Joan Bakewell in recognition of an illustrious career that spans over 50 years. Joan Bakewell has presented some of the UK’s most enduring factual programming including Late Night Line-Up (1965-72) and Heart of the Matter (1988 – 2000). She also wrote and presented the BBC four-part series Taboo, a personal exploration of the concepts of taste, decency and censorship. Currently, Joan can be seen presenting Portrait Artist of the Year for Sky Arts.
Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment, the only award voted for by the public, was won by Bodyguard.
TV Demand: No one close to GoT, but Lucifer is king of Digital Originals
By Trent Thomas
On the flipside, however, this was still more than six times any other show and is the second highest score of the year, only falling behind last weeks mammoth total. With two episodes still left* of the shows final season, it is hard to see it losing top spot of the overall TV chart any time soon.
Outside of Game of Thrones the biggest mover and shaker this week was Lucifer after airing its fourth season on Netflix it has shot straight to number one on the Digital Originals chart in Aus and number two in NZ, after not being in the top ten last week.
The series revolves around Lucifer Morningstar (Also known as the Devil, Satan etc.) played by Tom Ellis, who abandons Hell for Los Angeles where he runs his own nightclub and becomes a consultant to the LAPD. Although this moment of success almost didn’t happen after the show found itself on Fox’s cutting room floor after being cancelled before being saved by Netflix, due to an uproar from fans. Which is something it shares with TV Demand luminary Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Joining Lucifer as a new entry to the Overall TV charts (Aus) is The Big Bang Theory, which is gearing up for its season finale this week, which sees it charting in both countries after being seventh in NZ. The 12th and final season of the Chuck Lorre created show will finish in next weeks rating cycle so will be interesting to see how highly it rates on the Overall TV chart next week.
*To air inside the marketing periods of May 12 onwards
Box Office: How much gas does Endgame have in the tank?
By Trent Thomas
However, after a second consecutive week which saw it have a 60% decline, how much further can it climb? It will need another $19.67m to catch Star Wars: Force Awakens and would need to make $41.40m to take top spot from Avatar.
Only time will tell but at the rate it is declining it will need a longer run than Avengers: Infinity War which lasted eight weeks in the top five if it’s going to reach unseen territory. At the moment if it was to last another ten weeks in theatres it would need to make $4.14m a week to pass the $115.76m generated by Avatar.
Somewhat surprising as well is that Endgame only just held onto top this week, and risked being knocked off after only two weeks by Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. Considering the less successful Infinity War lasted five weeks on top, that would have been a disappointing result for a film that has broken so many records.
On the flipside, this may say more about the strength of the Pokemon brand than anything else with Detective Pikachu, their first live-action/ CGI attempt, having a fantastic opening weekend by anyone’s standards.
On top of Detective Pikachu, there were also two new entries to the top five this week with buddy comedy The Hustle, and fellow comedy film Poms being the other new entries. With films Long Shot, and Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun the films to fall out of the top five
Overall the Australian box office suffered a 9% decline, making $16.13m in revenue as the market continues to correct itself after the historic spike caused by Endgame.
#1 Avengers: Endgame $5.47m
The record breaking Marvel flick has kept top spot and cleared $5m for the third week in a row despite a 60% decline in revenue. One of the reasons for this financial slide is that it was only shown on 686 screens this weekend, and while that is by far the largest of the weekend by over 200, it is the first time since it was released that it was shown on less than a thousand. The film only had the third highest average per screen at $7,987 but is the longest lasting film in the top five at three weeks.
#2 Pokemon: Detective Pikachu$5.01m
Scrapping past the $5m mark, the first big-budget foray of the Pokemon franchise starring Ryan Reynolds, had a very solid opening weekend almost nabbing first spot and making more than double any film not called Endgame. The film also had the highest screen average by a country mile this weekend making $12,184 on 412 screens.
#3 The Hustle $2.21m
The female-centred remake of The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), and Bedtime Story (1964), stars Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson as con artists planning to scam an internet millionaire. The film had the second highest average per screen, at $8,514 which was across 260 screens, making it the least shown film in the top five.
#4 Top End Wedding $866,428
The Aussie rom-com keeps its spot in the top five for a second successive week, after suffering only a minor decline of 22% on last weekend’s totals. It managed an average of $3,008 on 288 screens.
#5 Poms $787,380
The comedy film starring an ensemble cast featuring Diane Keaton and Jacki Weaver about a group of women from a retirement home who decide to start a cheerleading squad made an average of $2,642 after debuting on 298 screens.
TV Ratings Analysis: May 13
Monday Week 20 2019
By James Manning
• Seven News 1,086,000/1,051,000
• Nine News 942,000/933,000
• A Current Affair 794,000
• ABC News 751,000
• 7.30 618,000
• The Project 349,000/511,000
• 10 News First 419,000
• SBS World News 136,000
Breakfast TV
• Sunrise 277,000
• Today 192,000
6pm FTA audience
• 7News 1,086,000
• 9News 942,000
• Celebrity Name Game 314,000
• The Drum 214,000
• Mastermind 114,000
Seven
Home And Away was on 699,000 at the beginning of its week 20 run. The week 19 average audience was 643,000, down on the previous week’s 660,000.
House Rules Monday did 669,000 after 640,000 a week ago. The combined scores of the judges and the howeowners saw Katie and Alex on top.
The US drama 9-1-1 then did 446,000, close to last week’s 462,000.
Nine
A Current Affair revealed a Lego Masters’ love story last night with 794,000 watching the 7pm program. The timeslot winner averaged 724,000 last week, which is bang on what it also averaged the previous week.
The penultimate episode of Lego Masters was on 1.07m, which was up on 1.02m Monday last week. Kale and Bilsy were sent home last night before the remaining teams will be brick building tonight to win the cash.
20 To One then did 427,000 after 449,000 a week ago.
The specialist footy shows followed with Footy Classified on 134,000.
100% Footy was on 84,000.
10
A new Monday schedule helped lift the channel’s performance last night. The channel posted its second best Monday share since January.
Network 10’s network head of programming Daniel Monaghan said this morning: “Celebrity Name Game brought the fun back to 6pm last night lifting 68% in its 6pm timeslot average for the year. It also saw a whopping 101% increase in under 50s. We’re thrilled with the launch.
“Last night audiences also flocked back to Australia’s favourite comedy Have You Been Paying Attention?, which returned to #1 in its timeslot.
“With an exciting new line-up, 10 was up week on week in every timeslot between 6pm and midnight and saw an uplift of 4.3 FTA share points week on week, 5.4 points in under 50s.”
The return of Have You Been Paying Attention? lit up 10’s ratings with 787,000 watching the season launch. Joining host Tom Gleisner were regulars Ed Kavalee and Sam Pang plus guests Mick Molloy, Kitty Flanagan and Melanie Bracewell.
Earlier in the night The Project featured Tom Gleisner too with 511,000 after 7pm.
MasterChef farewelled another female contestant with Melbourne school teacher Monica Mignone being the fourth woman to be eliminated. The Monday pressure test was having to recreate Nigella’s infamous roast chicken. The audience was 615,000 after 607,000 on Monday last week.
At 6pm Celebrity Name Game launched with 314,000. That was an improvement on the average audience of 202,000 watching Pointless last week.
ABC
An episode of Australian Story featuring Australia’s Eurovision contestant Kate Miller-Heidke was on 589,000, down from the audience of 640,000 last week. The episode should help boost interest in the SBS event coverage this week.
Four Corners then did 444,000 for Mark Willacy’s revelations about child detention.
Media Watch attracted 492,000 with a last look at election coverage before Saturday’s vote.
Similarly Q&A considered election issues for one last time with 430,000 watching.
SBS
Great American Railroad Journeys pulled the biggest audience with 190,000.
Trust Me, I’m A Doctor followed with 154,000.
24 Hours In Emergency lifted the audience a little to 162,000.
Week 20 TV: Tuesday
| MONDAY METRO | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven | Nine | 10 | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 13.8% | 7 | 19.0% | 9 | 21.2% | 10 | 14.6% | SBS One | 4.7% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 2.3% | 7TWO | 2.9% | GO! | 2.5% | 10 Bold | 3.3% | VICELAND | 0.8% |
| ABC ME | 0.4% | 7mate | 3.8% | GEM | 2.9% | 10 Peach | 2.6% | Food Net | 0.7% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.2% | 7flix | 1.4% | 9Life | 1.5% | NITV | 0.2% | ||
| 7Food | 0.4% | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 17.7% | 27.5% | 28.1% | 20.4% | 6.3% | ||||
| MONDAY REGIONAL | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven Affiliates | Nine Affiliates | 10 Affiliates | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 13.5% | 7 | 19.0% | 9 | 17.4% | WIN | 10.9% | SBS One | 4.3% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 3.2% | 7TWO | 3.7% | GO! | 4.0% | WIN Bold | 3.3% | VICELAND | 1.0% |
| ABC ME | 0.9% | 7mate | 3.8% | GEM | 4.9% | WIN Peach | 2.8% | Food Net | 0.8% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.1% | 7flix (Excl. Tas/WA) | 1.3% | 9Life | 1.7% | Sky News on WIN | 2.1% | NITV | 0.1% |
| 7food (QLD only) | 0.3% | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 18.6% | 28.1% | 28.0% | 19.0% | 6.2% | ||||
| MONDAY METRO ALL TV | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTA | STV | ||||||||
| 86.3% | 13.7% | ||||||||
Monday FTA
- Seven News Seven 1,086,000
- Lego Masters Nine 1,075,000
- Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 1,051,000
- Nine News Nine 942,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 933,000
- A Current Affair Nine 794,000
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 787,000
- ABC News ABC 751,000
- Home And Away Seven 699,000
- House Rules Seven 669,000
- The Chase Australia Seven 657,000
- 7.30 ABC 618,000
- Masterchef Australia 10 615,000
- Australian Story ABC 589,000
- Hot Seat Nine 564,000
- The Project 7pm 10 511,000
- Media Watch ABC 492,000
- 9-1-1 Seven 446,000
- Four Corners ABC 444,000
- Q&A-Le ABC 430,000
Demo Top 5
16-39 Top Five
- Lego Masters Nine 304,000
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 229,000
- Masterchef Australia 10 159,000
- Home And Away Seven 150,000
- House Rules Seven 142,000
18-49 Top Five
- Lego Masters Nine 506,000
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 398,000
- Masterchef Australia 10 271,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 246,000
- The Project 7pm 10 243,000
25-54 Top Five
- Lego Masters Nine 569,000
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 436,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 309,000
- Masterchef Australia 10 302,000
- A Current Affair Nine 293,000
Monday Multichannel
- Bluey AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 195,000
- Peter Rabbit ABCKIDS/COMEDY 162,000
- Rusty Rivets ABCKIDS/COMEDY 160,000
- Bondi Rescue Ep 2 (R) 10 Bold 156,000
- Peppa Pig AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 155,000
- Bluey ABCKIDS/COMEDY 153,000
- Floogals ABCKIDS/COMEDY 151,000
- Peppa Pig PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 151,000
- PJ Masks AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 148,000
- Hey Duggee AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 148,000
- New Tricks 9Gem 145,000
- Octonauts ABCKIDS/COMEDY 142,000
- NCIS (R) 10 Bold 141,000
- School Of Roars PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 138,000
- Dino Dana ABCKIDS/COMEDY 138,000
- M- Payback PM 7mate 135,000
- Andy’s Wild Adventures ABCKIDS/COMEDY 135,000
- Nella The Princess Knight AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 134,000
- Molly And Mack PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 133,000
- Neighbours 10 Peach 129,000
Monday STV
- Game Of Thrones FOX SHOWCASE 316,000
- Game Of Thrones FOX SHOWCASE 231,000
- Game Of Thrones FOX SHOWCASE 164,000
- Game Of Thrones FOX SHOWCASE 92,000
- Live: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 80,000
- Game Of Thrones FOX SHOWCASE 77,000
- Live: On The Couch FOX FOOTY 68,000
- Game Of Thrones FOX SHOWCASE 66,000
- Paul Murray Live Sky News Live 64,000
- The Bolt Report Sky News Live 64,000
- Live: NRL 360 FOX LEAGUE 57,000
- Credlin Sky News Live 55,000
- Thrones 360: Live FOX SHOWCASE 50,000
- Kenny On Media Sky News Live 48,000
- Family Guy FOX8 47,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 43,000
- Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 43,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 42,000
- Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 39,000
- Live: Big League Wrap FOX LEAGUE 37,000
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
James Hier reveals two key promotions at Wavemaker Australia
Jonathan Orchard has stepped up from his post as Search Director into the newly created role of National Head of SEM and E-commerce, charged with developing Wavemaker’s SEM product, structuring a national network of SEM resource and shared best practice, and leading e-commerce conversations with clients.
Jonathan Orchard
A digital marketing specialist with more than 10 years’ experience in the UK and Australia, Orchard’s expertise is new technologies, search, customer acquisition and retention. Prior to joining Wavemaker in January 2018, he was Digital Marketing Consultant at Magnifii Digital.
Wavemaker has also promoted Jake Whitten to National Head of SEO & CRO, taking on a broader scope from his previous role as SEO & CRO Director. An expert in search engine optimisation (SEO), conversion rate optimisation (CRO) and analytics, and with a background in web development, Jake previously spent time at MEC London and Manchester before relocating to Brisbane.
Jake Whitten
James Hier, Chief Growth & Product Officer, said: “Jake and Jonathan are both passionate, committed and resourceful team members and leaders, always focused on maximising results for our clients, and it’s great for all of us that they are taking on new roles and responsibilities. Their promotions and the creation of Jonathan’s new role as National Head of SEM and E-commerce are an important part of Wavemaker’s commitment to being at the forefront of the shift to precision marketing that many of our clients are making.”
KPMG in Love with Sydney consultancy: Acquires digital agency
KPMG Australia has acquired the UX, web and mobile app technology firm, Love Agency, which specialises in building solutions for enterprise and government clients.
Announcing the deal, KPMG Australia CEO, Gary Wingrove said: “Love Agency has been a pioneering digital business for over 10 years, and we are excited to be welcoming them to KPMG. The addition of Love Agency’s capabilities will provide greater scale for our fast-growing KPMG Digital Delta business and further enhance our market position as a global leader in delivering true enterprise-wide digital transformation.”
The 40-strong Love Agency team will combine with KPMG’s specialists in digital strategy, artificial intelligence, cognitive and machine learning, internet of things, and data, analytics and modelling.
Head of management consulting for KPMG, Ian Hancock, explained: “We are increasingly being asked to assist our clients to re-imagine and re-invent themselves. This often means supporting their transformation into world-class digital enterprises using advanced technologies, data and human insights.
“Bringing Love Agency into KPMG Digital Delta means we are better able to deliver end-to-end digital transformation solutions that seamlessly connect our clients’ front, middle and back offices,” he said.
Love Agency was founded in 2008 by entrepreneurs CEO Danny Housseas, and COO Arthur Gougoustamos to combine cutting-edge approaches to User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) with enterprise technologies.
The pair, now KPMG Partners, rapidly built a team of expert technologists and designers, including solution architects, UX/UI specialists and mobile developers.
Over the past year, Love Agency has collaborated with KPMG to co-deliver successful client projects, allowing each business to trial what will now be a fulltime relationship.
Danny Housseas said: “Having spent the last decade researching and delivering customer centric products in highly scalable enterprise environments we are delighted to embark on the next phase of our journey. As part of KPMG, we’ll be able to bring together a broader set of digital capabilities, work with some of the smartest minds in the business and at a larger scale than previously possible. This will ensure our clients have the necessary support to achieve their transformation goals.”
Photo: Danny Housseas and Ian Hancock
MiQ grows Sydney team with two hires in newly created sales roles
Since entering the local market in 2017, MiQ ANZ has grown two-fold providing marketing intelligence to some of Australia’s largest brands and media agencies. Clients include Dentsu-Aegis, GroupM, American Express, Air New Zealand, and Carnival Group.
Parker has been appointed to the newly created role of sales director for independent and boutique agencies. He joins the MiQ team with 14 years of experience in the media industry including senior sales and management roles with News Corp, carsales.com.au and CarAdvice.
Brown joins MiQ as group sales manager. Having worked across the Australian media landscape for the last 10 years, Rhiannon has held sales and management positions at InLink, Bauer, carsales.com.au and MCN. Most recently, she was NSW agency director at Fairfax.
The two new hires will be reporting to Fi Roberts, sales director at MiQ ANZ.
John Danby, managing director of MiQ ANZ, said: “ Since entering the ANZ market just over a year and a half ago, MiQ has experienced incredible growth as we continue to provide strong marketing intelligence-led results for our clients. To keep up with demand and maintain our high-quality service, the next step naturally was to add these two new specialised roles to our sales team.”
Photo: Fiona Roberts, Stuart Parker, Rhiannon Brown, John Danby
Google and UTS calling for overhaul of defamation laws
The US tech giant said existing defences were insufficient because they had been interpreted not to apply once a search engine or internet service provider was “on notice” of allegedly defamatory content.
In a submission to a review of the nation’s defamation laws, the company has argued it should only have to block access to search results for content if issued with a court order – otherwise it “leads to the suppression of legitimate speech for fear of liability”.
The University of Technology Sydney’s Centre for Media Transition has also argued in favour of sweeping reforms to defamation laws to better protect public-interest journalism.
It said there was a “well-established failure” of the laws to “provide an appropriate defence for journalism” – which meant this was a “priority for reform”.
Canadian TV property gurus buy rights to Foxtel’s Property Brothers
The agreement gives distributor Cineflix Rights the worldwide distribution rights, excluding the US and English-language in Canada, to Drew and Jonathan Scott’s newest title – Property Brothers: Forever Home, rolling out with an initial 40, hour-long episodes.
Scott Brothers Entertainment will be taking on the producing rights for all future Property Brothers projects, while Cineflix will have an ongoing financial and distribution participation in future productions under the franchise banner, and a share in ancillary revenue from the Property Brothers brand.
Shows featuring the Scott Brothers are shown on Foxtel’s Lifestyle channels.
“We are looking forward to launching Property Brothers: Forever Home to the global market. With existing sales of more than 300 hours of programming in the franchise spanning more than 160 countries, Cineflix Rights will continue to bring the Property Brothers to buyers around the world,” said Chris Bonney, CEO rights, Cineflix Media.
“Since 2011, when Property Brothers first premiered, we have been so proud of our partnership with Cineflix,” said Drew Scott, co-founder and executive producer, Scott Brothers Entertainment.
“We are grateful for our ongoing partnership and we look forward to sharing many more seasons of Property Brothers with our dedicated fans around the world,” added Jonathan Scott, co-founder and executive producer, Scott Brothers Entertainment.
“We’re delighted to continue our partnership with Drew and Jonathan,” said Glen Salzman, co-founder and co-CEO, Cineflix Media. “We started building Property Brothers together in 2011 and, thanks to Drew and Jonathan and our great team at Cineflix Productions, the brand has become one of the most-watched lifestyle shows on TV today.”
News Brands
How Four Corners secured unprecedented access to a police watch
The episode was screened on ABC last night.
“I got a tip when I was working on my last Four Corners story in February which suggested that kids as young as 10 are being held in watch houses around Queensland and there’ve been serious incidents that no-one knows about,” he tells ABC News.
“Some Right to Information [also known as Freedom of Information] requests were obtained and there were all these cases, the first batch was 206 cases, of incidents or concerns inside these watch houses raised by the Public Guardian’s office.
“Our own Right to Information request yielded several hundred more documents as well as correspondence, which is really important, between the Public Guardian, the Premier’s department, various other departments, and the police.
“I have some pretty good police contacts I’ve developed over many years here, so I rang one high up the chain and I said, ‘I know guys don’t want children in these watch houses and I think it would be good if we could go in there and take a look and film the conditions of the watch house and that was approved.”
Television
US Upfronts: TV industry’s $20b week – streaming isn’t king yet
This week, the television industry will put on its biggest show of the year, the upfront presentations, an annual deal-making ritual that goes back more than five decades. It has become more important than ever.
The upfronts give the major networks a chance to trot out their stars at grand venues in New York to hype their fall line-ups for an audience of deep-pocketed advertisers, but they also serve as a pitch for TV’s continuing relevance.
With Netflix rolling out new shows all year long, the idea of fresh TV programming in the fall may seem quaint. But traditional television is still big business. During last year’s upfronts, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC secured more than US$9 billion for prime-time ad slots and cable networks grabbed more than $11 billion combined, evidence that the major brands remain bullish on the medium.
That’s because, although the number of traditional TV viewers is shrinking, the networks offer something rare these days: opportunities to reach millions of people in real time.
Eurovision strategy timed for glory: First semi-final tomorrow
Thankfully the Australian public, and our local jury agreed, voting it the winner at Eurovision: Australia Decides in February.
But the strategy to take on Europe was only just beginning for the head of the Australian delegation Paul Clarke. Changes were made to the performance by Kate Miller-Heidke that were revealed last week in Tel Aviv that have elevated, pun-intended, our chances at glory.
“As soon as I heard the song I thought ‘This could win Eurovision.’ It’s polarising, and meant to be polarising,” he tells TV Tonight.
“The lyrics lead you to elevation. Australia Decides was about the dark end of her consciousness, and finding the light in her performance, but she felt like she was a bit stuck. I don’t think the bottom end of the dress was successful enough.
“Up until now I was a little bit concerned that Europe hasn’t really responded to Kate’s song. I think it had something to do with our staging for Australia Decides. It looked a little bit too much like Estonia last year for them.”
ITV’s Jeremy Kyle Show suspended following death of guest
The broadcaster said it would not screen the episode in which the person took part, in addition to immediately removing all past episodes of the programme from its ITV Hub catch-up service and ending repeats on other channels.
The broadcaster did not identify the participant, explain how they had died or give any indication of when the show would be back on air.
The show is filmed at MediaCityUK in Salford. Greater Manchester police said they had no knowledge of any involvement with a death connected to the program.
Sports Media
Foxtel cost-cutting puts rugby, football administrators on edge
In a statement to the ASX on Monday morning, Foxtel’s controlling shareholder News Corp flagged cuts to the broadcaster’s spending on “non-marquee sporting content” and another price rise for customers after a financial loss of $417 million in 2018.
The market bombshell did not filter through to Rugby Australia and Football Federation Australia until late in the day, but industry insiders were in broad agreement they were the two sports most threatened by any cost-cutting at Fox Sports or its streaming product Kayo.
Rugby has just kicked off negotiations with Fox on the next cycle of Super Rugby and Test-match schedules – a spokesperson described them as “constructive discussions”.
FFA is less vulnerable in the immediate future, being only a third of the way through its six-year A-League deal with the pay broadcaster, but the news is worrying for the domestic game’s long-term future.
A-League ratings have plummeted in recent years, casting some doubt on the wisdom of the $346m six-year deal the broadcaster signed in 2016.
The Final Quarter documentary to be screened to AFL club chiefs
The confronting documentary The Final Quarter, set to be released on June 7 at the Sydney Film Festival, is Australian filmmaker Ian Darling’s re-examination of Goodes’ final three years in the AFL.
League boss Gillon McLachlan has seen the documentary, as has the entire AFL Commission and members of the executive team.
Players who attended the Indigenous All-Stars Summit in Adelaide in February have also seen film.
The AFL believes club chiefs should be shown the film as a collective.
Goodes’ departure from the game was uncomfortable, to say the least. There was the incident with a young female Collingwood supporter in 2013, the Eddie McGuire radio gaffe, the booing of Goodes in the 2014 grand final and the naming of him of Australian of the Year.