Georgie Nichols has resigned from her role as Seven Network’s national sales director, Mediaweek can confirm. 

Leaving of her own accord as the business announces redundancies, she will stay on to help with a handover for the role before leaving Seven in August. 

Nichols began her time as Seven’s national sales director in January 2024, having previously worked as the broadcaster’s NSW sales director and Sydney sales director. She succeeded Natalie Harvey who has since been named CEO of Mamamia. 

Prior to joining Seven, Nichols held roles at Dentsu, Carat, and OMD.

Earlier this week, Seven confirmed the departure of three of its senior executives and a new operating model. Under the new model, SWM will have three divisions: Television, Digital, and Western Australia.

Chief revenue officer, Kurt Burnette – who Nichols reported into – has exited the business as well as chief marketing officer, Melissa Hopkins, and head of sport and managing director of Seven Melbourne, Lewis Martin.

SWM MD and CEO, Jeff Howard said he “sincerely” thanked the trio “for their contributions to Seven, and they leave with our best wishes for the future.”

Speaking to Mediaweek, Ben Shepherd, CEO of Schwartz Media, said “Kurt Burnette is one of the best leaders I’ve dealt with in business and his departure is a complete shock to me and I imagine the rest of the industry. Exceptional talent is rare and Kurt is one of those.”

See also: Industry reacts to changes at Seven

Appointments made due to the new operating structure include acting chief financial officer Craig Haskins being appointed chief financial officer, and Seven Adelaide managing director Vikki Friscic being appointed head of sales strategy and enablement.

Chief content officer, entertainment programming, Angus Ross, has been appointed Group MD, Seven Television. Chief digital officer Gereurd Roberts has been appointed Group MD, Seven Digital. Maryna Fewster continues as CEO, SWM Western Australia.

–

Top image: Georgie Nichols

Seven West Media has appointed Katie Finney to the new role of national television sales director, effective immediately. 

Reporting to group managing director, Seven Television, Angus Ross, Finney will be responsible for Seven’s national television sales team. 

She will work closely with Seven’s national digital sales director, Rachel Page, and with Vikki Friscic, who was appointed to the new role of head of sales strategy and enablement earlier this week.

With a new operating model splitting the company into Television, Digital, and Western Australian verticals, there has been no confirmation yet regarding sales leads for the Digital or WA divisions.

Mediaweek confirmed yesterday that Georgie Nichols, national sales director, television also resigned from Seven, leaving on her own accord. She will remain with the company until early August to assist with the transition.

Nichols began her time as Seven’s national sales director in January 2024, having previously worked as the broadcaster’s NSW sales director and Sydney sales director. She succeeded Natalie Harvey who has since been named CEO of Mamamia. 

Prior to joining Seven, Nichols held roles at Dentsu, Carat, and OMD.

Ross said: “I’m very pleased to welcome Katie to her new role and look forward to working closely with her. Katie has been with Seven for more than 20 years, most recently as Director of 7RED, and her passion for Seven and television is unmatched. No one has a deeper understanding of our business or is better placed to help take us forward.

“Katie will be working closely with Rachel to ensure we deliver cross-screen synergies and audience-led solutions across the screens of Seven. Both Katie and Rachel will work hand in glove with Vikki on creating and executing the best strategies for Seven
and our clients.

“On behalf of everyone at Seven, I’d like to sincerely thank Georgie for her contribution over the past six years. She made the decision to explore new opportunities several weeks ago and will leave with our gratitude and very best wishes,” he said.

Finney said: “It’s a privilege to take on this role as we transform Seven for the future. With the best content to engage audiences at scale and an incredible sales team that leverages these audiences with strategic opportunities, we are uniquely positioned to
connect brands to consumers.

“I could not be more excited to work with our agency and client partners to drive long term, future-facing business outcomes.”

Earlier this week, SWM confirmed the departure of three of its senior executives and a new operating model.

Chief revenue officer, Kurt Burnette – who Nichols reported into – has exited the business as well as chief marketing officer, Melissa Hopkins, and head of sport and managing director of Seven Melbourne, Lewis Martin.

SWM MD and CEO, Jeff Howard said he “sincerely” thanked the trio “for their contributions to Seven, and they leave with our best wishes for the future.”

Former CEO APAC and global growth officer of WeAre8, Lizzie Young, has been appointed CEO of audio industry body, Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA).

Chairman and ARN CEO, Ciaran Davis, confirmed the appointment on Thursday. Young will commence her role at CRA on 7 August, 2024.

Young has 25 years’ experience across multiple global markets and has worked on all media platforms in roles spanning commercial, content, and operations. Prior to her role at WeAre8, Young held the position of managing director – local markets, group marketing and commercial partnerships at Nine, spending 12 years in the role.

She has also spent over a decade in the audio industry, including seven years at GWR Radio/GCap (now Global Radio) in the UK, in roles including commercial programming controller and head of agency sales.

Young is the third CEO for CRA in almost exactly two years, replacing Ford Ennals. Ennals resigned in April, having informed the board of his decision to step down immediately

See also: Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) searching for new CEO after Ford Enalls quits

Ennals took up the CEO role in 2022, replacing replacing Joan Warner.

Young stepped down from her role as APAC CEO and global growth officer at WeAre8 in March. After helping the business launch into the US market last year, she cited time zones as her reason for leaving, with her global role seeing her work across Australia, the UK, and the USA.

See also: Going Global: Behind the WeAre8 launch into the US market

Young will take up the CRA mantle as the industry body faces down the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs on the Copyright Legislation Amendment (Fair Pay for Radio Pay) Bill 2023.

The Bill proposes amending the Copyright Act 1968 to remove restrictions limiting the Copyright Tribunal’s ability to determine the amount payable to rights holders in sound recordings when music is played on commercial and ABC radio. 

See also: PPCA and CRA welcome committee report suggesting removing radio caps warrants investigation

Bruce Lehrmann has been ordered to pay $2 million in legal costs to Network 10 following his failed defamation case against the network, The Project, and Lisa Wilkinson.

The ABC reports that the Federal Court had agreed to Network 10’s nominated lump sum. The hearing, held today, saw 10’s lawyers say the actual costs were around $3.6 million, but had heavily discounted the amount. 

Justice Michael Lee acknowledged the costs may never be paid by Lehrmann.

“It is common ground the applicant is a man of modest means… it is not suggested that there is any real likelihood that he will be in a real position to pay a substantial costs order,” he said.

The cost dispute between Lisa Wilkinson and Network 10 is still being worked out.

In April, Lehrmann lost his defamation case against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson, after Justice Lee found Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins on the balance of probabilities.

He has lodged an appeal in the Federal Court against that ruling.

Lehrmann sued 10 and Wilkinson over a February 2021 interview with Higgins that aired on The Project. In the interview, Higgins made the allegation that she had been raped in an office at Parliament House.

Whilst he was not named, Lerhmann claimed that “his name was widely trafficked as the culprit on social media and the internet generally”. His lawyers added that it was “notorious in Parliament House and elsewhere that Mr Lehrmann was the person alleged to have assaulted Ms Higgins”.

In a marathon summary of his judgment, Justice Lee agreed that Lehrmann was identifiable in The Project interview, so his decision turned to whether 10 and Wilkinson could successfully rely on a truth defence.

Lehrmann raped Higgins on the balance of probabilities, Justice Lee found, meaning 10 and Wilkinson succeeded in that truth defence.

This was the first of Lehrmann’s defamation cases to reach a conclusion, after he previously dropped two others.

One was against the ABC, which was settled in November 2023, launched after the ABC broadcast a speech by Brittany Higgins. The National Press Club speech, made by Higgins alongside former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, was aired in February 2022.

The other was against News Corp, which was settled last May. Lehrmann took defamation action against both News Life Media – publisher of news.com.au – and Samantha Maiden, news.com.au’s national political editor. 

In the News Corp case, Lehrmann claimed that he was identifiable in two news.com.au articles reporting on the March 2019 allegation that Brittany Higgins was sexually assaulted in Parliament House. 

See also: ‘Unmitigated disaster for Bruce Lehrmann’: Lisa Wilkinson, 10, and 10’s lawyers on defamation win

Memo Hayek‘s role as chief information and technology officer at Nine has been made redundant as a result of a merger between its product engineering and product management teams.

Nine’s chief digital officer, Alex Parsons, said in a statement: “We are aligning our Product Engineering and Product Management teams into a newly formed Product and Technology organisation.

“This change recognises the inherent connection between Product Management and Product Engineering and their critical partnership in driving our future business success.

“Bec Haagsma has been named as Nine’s chief product and technology officer, and regrettably, as part of the re-alignment, Memo’s role has been made redundant.”

Hayek’s exit from Nine follows departures from the network including Peter Costello, who  stepped down as Nine Entertainment chairman and resigned as a director earlier this month, effective immediately, three days after an altercation with a News Corp journalist.

“The board has been supportive through the events of the last month and last few days in particular,” Costello said in a statement.

“But going forward I think they need a new chair to unite them around a fresh vision and someone with the energy to lead to that vision for the next decade.

In March, Nine’s national director of news and current affairs, Darren Wick, left the network after 29 years at the company, 13 years in the position, and more than a month away from the office.

His lengthy absence sparked internal speculation as to his future at the media business.

Wick held multiple roles over the course of his career at Nine, including executive producer of Today Show and A Current Affair.

Wick broke the news to Nine colleagues in an email. “Some of you are aware that I have taken a few weeks off to think about my future,” he wrote in the email seen by Mediaweek. “And after many long beach walks and even longer conversations, I know in my heart that this is the right time for me to step down and leave Nine.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘retiring’ because I don’t know how to sit idle. But I am going to take a very long break from what has been four decades of working as a journalist. I’m tired and need a rest.”

See also: Peter Costello stands down as Nine chairman
See also: Nine’s news boss Darren Wick leaves after 29 years

–

Top image: Memo Hayek

Junkee Media has responded to criticism alleging the youth publisher has removed older journalistic content from the Internet. The news comes a day after the relaunch of its pop culture title Junkee with a new website and brand identity.

Whilst it originally seemed that archived content could still be accessed via specific old URLs if known to the user, much of the old content appeared to be effectively lost. Former Junkee journalists took to social media to express concerns about their work disappearing following the rebrand.

Tahlia Pritchard commented on Twitter/X, “Junkee has archived their old stuff for a rebrand but the search function doesn’t seem to work when you try to find your old articles even in the archive… a lot of writers out there potentially losing track of their efforts, words, time, resumes, timeline of their careers…”

Patrick Lenton responded, “ach. well there goes hours of work I did putting these articles in my portfolio. Although tbh, some of my articles from this era deserve to be lost forever,” 

“I think some of my early freelance work on Junkee (stuff I was really proud of) just disappeared with the site’s rebrand… I was literally thinking the other day about how I should save the clippings somewhere,” lamented Chris Button.

“Bad enough to learn several of your articles have been wiped from the internet forever because of a website’s rebrand. but more importantly, what’s going on with that logo?” said Alex Gallagher.

While Lavender Baj remarked: “lol Junkee’s editors letter about the rebrand references all of the stories that moved people that now direct to 404 pages… (doesn’t matter heaps for me because I have no intention of returning to that part of the industry, but this is devastating for everyone else)”

However, in response to inquiries from Mediaweek, Junkee editor Katie Stow assured the publisher was collaborating with its developers to make sure users could still navigate the archived site. She insisted the company had actively invested resources to maintain the old Junkee as part of its rebranding efforts.

“We’re delighted to say that the glitches we were seeing were temporary and have been resolved,” Stow stated.

“All authors can freely see their author pages with their full content history on Junkee’s archive (eg. https://archive.junkee.com/author/ky-stewart). This was something that was important to us during the development of Junkee 2.0 to show respect to contributors of Junkee’s legacy.”

She further explained, “We’re still thoroughly testing everything to be 100% sure that every link is working perfectly, but are confident that the bulk of actions are running smoothly on the archive site and our team will continue working until everything is resolved. Having an archive site is something that we actively prioritised and invested in to ensure that important work is preserved.”

Earlier this week, MTV faced a swathe of similar accusations as decades of news content were wiped after its website, MTVNews.com, went dark. The site was shuttered and stopped publishing in 2023 amid financial woes from its parent company, Paramount Global. As of Monday, the MTVNews.com URL redirects to the main MTV.com homepage, rendering a wealth of interviews and features on musical artists from the past decades inaccessible.

Junkee has been a part of the Australian media landscape for nearly a decade. The relaunch marks the final phase of a brand evolution driven by editor-in-chief Alice Griffin, who took up the mantle in November 2022, moving from her post as editor of MTV Australia.

See also: ‘Bolder, brattier, and braver’: Junkee relaunches with new site and brand identity

Interpublic Group (IPG) is reportedly exploring the sale of its creative innovation studio, R/GA, to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an Indian consultancy giant.

According to The Wall Street Journal, sources familiar with the matter suggest the move by the holdco is part of a broader push by consulting firms to expand on Madison Avenue.

Globally, R/GA is best known for its work for Nike, including its role in the development of Nike+. Other brands it has worked with include Google’s Android, Samsung, and Coca-Cola.

The WSJ reported that while terms of the deal remain uncertain, its sources suggest the deal could net around $300 million for R/GA. However, it risks falling apart if the two sides don’t agree on valuation.

The publisher further cited that IPG and TCS may be discussing a “larger strategic partnership” involving collaboration on shared clients in the AI or data space.

If successful, TCS would join the ranks of other consulting firms, including Accenture and Deloitte, which have moved deeper into the marketing space through significant acquisitions. Deloitte acquired creative agency Heat in 2016, and in 2019, Accenture acquired Droga5, helmed by notable Australian ad man David Droga.

R/GA was founded in 1977 by Bob Greenberg and became part of IPG after Interpublic acquired R/GA’s parent company, True North Communications.

Recently, R/GA has faced high turnover rates and a pullback in ad spend by its tech clients. The WSJ claimed that “according to people familiar with its performance,” R/GA’s revenue last year, estimated to be around $200 million, was down 20% year-over-year.

Locally, earlier this month, R/GA promoted Ben Miles, its VP and executive creative director of brand design for APAC, to the newly-created role of chief design officer APAC. In May, it appointed Marie Conley to the role of executive strategy director.

Accenture’s creative consultancy arm, Accenture Song, caused a stir last month in Aussie adland by recruiting Initiative’s three top leaders – CEO Melissa Fein, MD Sam Geer, and chief strategy and product officer Chris Colter – from the Mediabrands agency.

Mediaweek has reached out to R/GA and IPG. Both have declined to comment.

See also:
R/GA promotes Ben Miles to chief design officer across APAC
R/GA appoints Marie Conley as executive strategy director

Mediaweek’s Media Movers charts the biggest people moves in the industry over the past week.

This week:

Seven’s chief revenue officer, Kurt Burnette, chief marketing officer, Melissa Hopkins, and head of sport and managing director of Seven Melbourne, Lewis Martin are confirmed to be exiting the business, with SWM MD and CEO, Jeff Howard saying he “sincerely thank Kurt, Lewis, and Mel for their contributions to Seven and they leave with our best wishes for the future.”

Under the new model, SWM will have three divisions: Television, Digital, and Western Australia. This also includes a slew of new leadership appointments. Seven’s chief content officer, entertainment programming, Angus Ross, has been appointed Group MD, Seven Television.

SWM chief digital officer Gereurd Roberts has been appointed Group MD, Seven Digital. Maryna Fewster continues as CEO, SWM Western Australia, responsible for SWM’s broadcast, digital and print brands in that market.

Trent Dickeson, currently director of operations and transformation, has been appointed to the new role of chief operating officer. Acting chief financial officer Craig Haskins has been appointed chief financial officer.

Previously director of content scheduling, Brook Hall has been appointed as Seven Network’s chief content officer. Seven Adelaide managing director Vikki Friscic has been appointed head of sales strategy and enablement.
 
Georgie Nichols has resigned from her role as Seven Network’s national sales director, Mediaweek confirmed. Leaving of her own accord as the business announces redundancies, she will stay on to help with a handover for the role before leaving Seven in August. Succeeding Nichols is Katie Finney, appointed to the new role of national television sales director, effective immediately. 

Foxtel has seen another senior staff member call time on their career. This time it is group general manager factual Jim Buchan.
 
Former CEO APAC and global growth officer of WeAre8, Lizzie Young, has been appointed CEO of audio industry body, Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA).
 
Ryan Ambrose has been promoted to the new role of Melbourne head of investment at PHD Australia.
 
Mick Carroll has departed The Sunday Telegraph…but he hasn’t left the building.
 
News Corp Australia’s Pippa Leary is to become managing director of the free news and lifestyle division, spanning news.com.au, the NCA newswire, and lifestyle digital brands. Carroll becomes editor-in-chief of the division. The weekend paper’s new editor is Anna Caldwell.
 
Thrive PR and Communications has appointed Liliana Molina as its business director in Queensland, to drive local client growth and the agency’s Olympic strategy.
 
Sales lead and founding member of Snap ANZ, Matt Coote, is leaving his role in the coming months after eight years, marking the second recent sales team departure from the social media company.
 
Memo Hayek’s role as chief information and technology officer at Nine has been made redundant as a result of a merger between its product engineering and product management teams.
 
Commercial mix modelling (CMM) platform Prophet has appointed Hamish Mogan to the role of COO and VP of marketing science.
 
He joins Prophet after five years at Meta’s Facebook, where he headed up Marketing Science for the Retail and e-Commerce sectors across Australia and New Zealand. He has also held leading Data Science and Analytics roles at companies such as Sportsbet, EY, and Les Mills.
 
Chairman and ARN CEO, Ciaran Davis, confirmed the appointment on Thursday. Young will commence her role at CRA on 7 August, 2024.
 
The Hit Network head of Hit Metro content and Fox content director, Amanda Lee, has made three new appointments to The Fox.
 
Brad Wood is joining The Fox as afternoon announcer and operations manager. Gemma Prendergast joins The Fox as new senior producer for the Breakfast show Fifi, Fev & Nick.
 
The new content assistant for The Fox will be Emily Allen, who will also work across the Hit and Triple M networks. She was previously with ARN working as a promotion & event specialist at Chilli FM and LAFM.
 
Seven reporter Robert Ovadia ‘sacked’ after allegations of inappropriate behaviour. He said he was sacked after an internal investigation was conducted into allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
 
In an interview with The Australian, the Sydney-based crime reporter confirmed he had been fired after 23 years with the network. “Yes I’ve been sacked and there will be more to say about that in the appropriate forum at the appropriate time,” Ovadia told The Australian.
 
Gaven Morris has been appointed executive general manager of corporate affairs for the Commonwealth Bank Australia (CBA), commencing July 29.
 
Houston has promoted Gretel Maltabarow to managing director and Stacey Saunders to general manager.
 
After just shy of nine years, Claudine Hall is leaving her role as Are Media’s head of commercial marketing, brand partnerships and PR.
 
Seven Network has promoted Sean Power to director of news for Seven Sydney as Neil Warren steps aside from the role for family reasons.
 
Stepping up into the EP position for Sunrise vacated by Power is supervising producer Jake Lyle. His promotion comes after the recent appointment of broadcast and print journalist Holly Fallon as executive producer of Weekend Sunrise.

Sky News has announced it will premiere a new documentary The Australian: 60 Years of News on Monday 15 July at 8.00pm AEST. The documentary is being released as the country’s only national broadsheet marks its sixtieth anniversary.

On Wednesday 15 July 1964, a new national newspaper was launched in the Australian capital of Canberra, dedicated to servicing every corner of the country.

The Australian was brought to life by then 33-year-old media proprietor Rupert Murdoch, who was fulfilling the long-held dream of his father, Sir Keith Murdoch, to create a national broadsheet newspaper.

Hosted by Sky News Host and associate editor of The Australian Chris Kenny, the one-hour documentary The Australian: 60 Years of News will take viewers through the archives. It is promising to uncover historic newsroom footage and speak to prominent figures who have contributed to the masthead’s national affairs coverage for six decades. The most anticipated moments of the documentary will no doubt be highlights of an interview with The Australian’s founder Rupert Murdoch.

See also:
Rupert Murdoch’s memo to staff about new role: ‘Expect to see me in the office’

Murdoch sat down with chief executive officer of Sky News Australia and former editor-in-chief of The Australian Paul Whittaker in a series of exclusive interviews.

During the conversations, the chairman emeritus of News Corp and Fox Corporation spoke about the early challenges of creating a national newspaper and the impact it had on the Australian media landscape.

The documentary also hears from current editor-in-chief of The Australian Michelle Gunn, editor-at-large Paul Kelly, former editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell, columnist Janet Albrechtsen, investigative journalist and podcast creator Hedley Thomas, cartoonist Johannes Leak, and political leaders including former Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott and Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

Documentary host Chris Kenny said: “It is impossible to imagine this country and our national debate without The Australian now, but its establishment, survival and evolution has been a story of imagination and determination that mirrors the national project it champions. It is a compelling and inspirational story to tell.”

To watch an extended first-look visit SkyNews.com.au.
The Australian: 60 Years of News
The one-hour documentary premieres Monday 15 July at 8.00pm AEST

Earlier this year Mediaweek reported Peter Zavecz, News Corp managing director for Victoria and Tasmania Publishing, shared news of his departure with colleagues and friends:

“After 50 years in the media business, I have decided to pull up stumps to spend more time with my family and enjoy some overseas travel later this year.”

In a short message, Zavecz also said:

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to finish my media career at H&WT and I am committed to ensuring a smooth transition of my role. My last day with News Corp will be July 1, 2024.”

It’s only fitting that the career sales specialist and former Pacific Magazines chief executive should end as a financial year closes. Zavecz was one of the best at cleverly crafting ad revenue packages, and making them fit into financial years that worked for the clients and the publishers he represented. In his case – News Corp Australia or ACP over many years.

With Peter Zavecz’s departure only hours away, staff at News Victoria (aka The Herald & Weekly Times) gathered for a celebration on Thursday of his years with the company.

Chairman of the Herald and Weekly Times, Penny Folwer led the staff as they celebrated Zav’s life and times.

Farewell for Peter Zavecz. The out-going Managing Director of Vic and Tas Publishing with Penny Fowler. Pictures: David Caird

Fowler told Mediaweek: “Peter Zavecz, or Zav as he is best known, has had a stellar 50-year media career, and we have been very lucky to have him return to News four times, holding various roles including Managing Director of HWT and Tas publishing for the past eight years. Zav has been instrumental in many pivotal moments including the launch of the Herald Sun in 1990 and most recently supporting our teams through the pandemic, where he showed such care and compassion, exemplifying what an extraordinary leader he is.

“Zav makes strong connections wherever he goes, building lasting relationships, with authenticity and trust at their heart. His loyalty is legendary. It was such a pleasure to see him inducted into the Melbourne Media Hall of Fame last year, he is one of the industry’s greats. I have really enjoyed working with him, and will miss his calm counsel and support. Zav deserves to now enjoy retirement, and reflect on his many achievements and successes over 50 years.”

It was a huge turnout inside the News Corp Southbank offices. Helping farewell the legend were News Corp national executive editor Peter Blunden and Herald Sun editor Sam Weir.

Just part of the overflow crowd at Southbank. People hadn’t seen this many in the office on a Thursday for some time. Alongside Zavecz in the front row are Peter Blunden, Penny Fowler and Sam Weir.

Life Uncut producer, Keeshia Pettit, describes the podcast’s audience as “a big group of friends talking to each other,” with a highly engaged group tuning in to follow the lives of Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne.

Winning the On-Screen – Producer award at Mediaweek’s Next of the Best Awards, Mediaweek caught up with Pettit to speak about the trajectory of the Life Uncut brand and what she’d be doing if she wasn’t in media.

The awards have been judged by an all-star line-up, what does it mean to you to be recognised by this group?

It means a lot because the group of judges are so experienced in different areas of media, and they seem to have a lot of lived experience in different aspects of the media world. It feels as though they recognise the progressive side of media more than other types of awards nights.

What is the Life Uncut audience resonating with in 2024?

The story of Britt getting engaged has really resonated. Her story is a bit of an example of finding love later in life than what a lot of women think they will. She met her partner at 35.

Lately, our audience question-answer style episodes have been our biggest. We are lucky enough to have a hugely engaged audience (this includes the Facebook group) and it feels like a big group of friends talking to each other about what’s going on in their lives and what they’d like advice from everyone else about.

Life Uncut is always growing, and is now expanding out of the podcast world with live shows and a book. What’s it like producing for a brand on this trajectory?

It’s exciting. I think it’s encouraging knowing that there are different avenues that we can go down and not feel as though we’ve necessarily got to stay in any lane. It can feel a bit daunting at times trying all of these different things, but it’s very cool to be adaptable.

If you weren’t a producer, what would you be doing instead?

I actually have a background in medical sciences. I finished an honours degree in biomedical science so I think it’s likely I’d work around the field of behavioural neuroscience, human genetics or embryology if I hadn’t found media!

Being Next of The Best – what can the industry expect next from you?

How bad is it if I answer I’m not sure yet? I’m not really a ‘five-year plan’ kind of person, I’m more of a ‘have a creative idea and implement it almost immediately’ person. I think they call it impulsive.

For now, we are going to try and grow our YouTube presence and see what potential opportunities could come from that. We would also like to do a regional tour next and hit some of the smaller cities in Aus.

– 

Top image: Keeshia Pettit

Clipped (Disney+) is a wild new drama based on the podcast, The Sterling Affairs. It covers the fall from grace of mega-rich Clippers team owner Donald Sterling (Ed O’Neill) when racist comments led to him being barred from the NBA. 

I’m not the biggest fan of sports dramas, but this one is so crazy I can’t wait for the next episode of Clipped. Ed O’Neill is hilarious as he dials up the crankiness of his Modern Family character with more brain-dead stupidity than Married With Children’s Al Bundy. Laurence Fishburne is also superb as his NBA coach Doc Rivers.

Two Aussie-born ladies, however, steal the show in Clipped. There’s Cleopatra Coleman as Sterling’s mistress while Jacki Weaver plays Sterling’s wife (pictured above). She tries to pretend that her husband’s affair isn’t a big deal until she explodes in an epic meltdown in the third episode.

Jacki Weaver was wonderful in her last Aussie TV series Bloom (Stan), but she’s more in demand these days in Hollywood. Ever since her eye-opening performance in Animal Kingdom (2010), this national treasure has continued to be as equally at home on the stage, in motion pictures or on TV, like her recent role in Yellowstone (Stan).

Weaver’s career has been fascinating. Her earliest film roles were playing dumb blondes who often got naked in movies like Alvin Purple (1973) and Petersen (1974). She always managed to rise above the material, and could effortlessly switch to period pieces like Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975) and Caddie (1976) where her characters were still a bit dim, but always gorgeous.

Although there were plenty of one-off guest roles in Spyforce and all those Crawford cop shows, Weaver’s longest TV work was in ABC series like Trial By Marriage (1980) and House Rules (1988). Sadly, like everything else in the ABC archive, these shows appear to be lost forever and seem unlikely to ever get another run, even on iview.  

There is good news about something else sitting on the shelf though. Aussie sitcom Fam Time (7Plus), starring Rhonda Burchmore and Michaela Banas, will soon be streamed (July 11) after being in limbo for five years because former CEO James Warburton didn’t like it.

Back in the 90s, US sitcom Ellen was ripped off air the moment news leaked that the character would come out as a lesbian. Seven insisted it was axed due to bad ratings, but after their CEO suddenly resigned, Ellen was re-programmed within hours. Perhaps certain sitcoms are not always a laughing matter for some.

This week on TV Gold:
TV Icons special with Gaynor Wheatley with Andrew Mercado

The first of our new TV Gold bonus episodes. This first episode replaces the regular TV Gold podcast this week.

Listen to the audio-only version here.
Or watch Andrew on YouTube here.
Before marrying promoter Glenn Wheatley, Gaynor Martin was a huge TV star. She was first seen in 1979 on Crawfords’ airport drama Skyways before then being relocated to Holiday Island. When that show bit the dust, Gaynor was snapped up by Sons and Daughters to play another rich bitch who locked horns with Pat the Rat. Her TV career was put on hold so she could raise three children with Wheatley, but when he died in 2022, Gaynor stepped up to complete a long cherished project of his.
The documentary film John Farnham: Finding The Voice is now the highest-grossing Aussie doco of all time as well as winning the AACTA Award for Best Documentary. A generation of soap fans, however, will never forget that amazing run on TV and here she finally talks about how that all happened.

Gaynor Wheatley

00:00 – Start
01:30 – Skyways debut
05:05 – Carmen Duncan plays mum
09:00 – inspired by Universal’s Airport movies?
12:30 – Bill Stalker
14:00 – NASA
15:25 – working with chroma key
18:20 – Skyways cast
21:08 – Holiday Island
30:22 – using her own wardrobe
31:45 – Bunney Brooke
32:38 – Crawfords crossover
34:30 – Hector Crawford
38:10 – Sons and Daughters
39:19 – Rowena Wallace
41:08 – those changing hairstyles!
42:18 – Glenn Wheatley
49:13 – John Farnham

Listen online here, or on your favourite podcast platform.
Read more Mercado on TV columns here.

By Marie-Celine Merret (head of creative technology) and Vinne Schifferstein Vidal (managing director) at MADE:THIS

In the ever-shifting landscape of the production industry, our approach to content creation is undergoing a radical transformation. Everywhere we look there’s a trade-off. For brands striving to stand out but having to cover all the same channels as competitors. Establishing a presence across a multitude of channels. Between social media feeds, video games and streaming platforms, the avenues are vast and varied and you can’t carpet bomb them all. 

We want to push and explore the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence, but budgets are shrinking. We want to create highly customised content, but we need to extract maximum value from every dollar spent. And whilst audiences are voracious consumers of content, spanning numerous platforms and formats, to captivate these audiences, brand content must be relevant, impactful, spark conversation and inspire action.  

But many brands and their agencies struggle with the sheer scale and craftsmanship required to engage diverse audiences across multiple platforms. Another trade-off. A significant hurdle is the siloed structure of marketing agencies and brand departments. Too often, strategy, media, and creative teams operate in isolation, failing to collaborate early enough in the process. This disjointed approach undermines the potential for creating data-driven, personalised content that resonates with audiences in the right channels.  

We come from the belief that our work – and client success – shouldn’t be dictated by trade-offs. We should be able to combine vision with pragmatism. Strategy with application. Artistry with innovation. 

In this day and age delivering quality content at scale requires a unique blend of creativity, technical expertise, and strategic thinking that involves collaboration across all departments. Assembling a team that can consistently deliver compelling content is challenging, compounded by the rapid evolution of production techniques as well as siloed departments. The industry’s constant demand for fresh, innovative content necessitates continual investment in upskilling teams and adopting new tools and methodologies. 

The approach to production should involve meticulous planning and a creative concept that is both adaptable and flexible.

Brooke Thompson, strategy partner at Clemenger, explains how a clear creative idea enables that flexibility: “Consumer attention is fleeting, and consumption is no longer linear. We interact with multiple touchpoints at any one time. Our ideas need to be able to do the same and importantly, tell a clear and consistent story about a brand when they do.  

“We need to make work fit for those places and that’s not just about format. We make magic when we can marry our ideas with our understanding of the consumer context – their attitudes, motivations, and consumption behaviours – to increase the relevance of our work, and engagement with the brand world’s we wish to create. When we do, we create work that is more memorable for consumers and ultimately more effective for our clients.” 

“We believe that by adopting smart production tactics, particularly in the pre-production phase, we should aim to maximise content budgets, providing brands with a wealth of content that can be seamlessly integrated across various channels considering that channel planning upfront.”

Ainslee Littlemore, head of film at MADE:THIS, explains, new”By planning content and applying an atomic design approach, we provide brands with the flexibility to scale their content as needed by making it adaptive.”  

This is especially potent in personalisation today. By integrating automation and AI into workflows, working closely with strategy, creative and media teams achieving personalisation at scale becomes not just a possibility but an efficient reality for brands.

Jacquie Ford, head of consumer operations at News Corp says, “In this attention economy, the need for personalisation at scale has transformed the media landscape into a mosaic of individual experiences. Creativity and production are no longer just about reaching the masses, but also about resonating with the individual. Media, creative and tech need to work hand in hand now more than ever to achieve this, in less time and often with fewer resources and budget to do so.” 

Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO) has been a buzzword for some time, but it’s becoming increasingly viable as brands invest in their data and Martech infrastructure. The bottleneck is no longer technology or media integrations, but the vast amount of content needed to make DCO worthwhile and provide a solid return on investment.  

Versioning of creative content can be monumental for brands offering multiple products at various price points targeting diverse audiences across numerous channels. Automated solutions, where technology meets craft, are where the magic happens, budgets are met, and the output returns results.

In conclusion, the production landscape is rapidly evolving, and the demand for smarter, more agile approaches to content creation is clear. By embracing smart production tactics and integrating technology such as automation platforms and AI, collaborating across departments we not only meet the demands of the modern industry but also empower brands to achieve their content goals efficiently and effectively.  

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Top Image: Marie-Celine Merret and Vinne Schifferstein

EssenceMediacom was crowned the winner of the 2024 Tour de SBS agency challenge, besting PHD and Hearts & Science.

The evening marked the tenth time SBS has run the Tour de SBS agency with more than 250 participants from across Sydney’s leading media agencies.

Hosted at Carriagworks by SBS’s World Cup Daily show hosts Claudio Fabiano and Kat Sasso, agencies competed in several SBS-themed challenges.

This included the Tour de France minibike ‘pass the baguette’ cycling relay, the Rogue Heroes challenge – an inflatable obstacle course with a team member wrapped in a parachute, the FIFA World Cup challenge – a giant Connect4 with inflatable football, the Alone Australia challenge – ‘hunt and gather’ ten survival items, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw challenge – guess the ingredients challenge which focused on native ingredients.

The GroupM agency correctly guessed the six native ingredients in SBS’s The Cook Up challenge with Adam Liaw and Karla Grant.
 
Essencemediacom also excelled in the “pass the baguette” minibike race – this was despite a number of agencies having some very creative ways of holding on to their baguettes in the challenge.

 
Following EssenceMediacom in second place was Hearts & Science and PHD in third spot.
 
EssenceMediacom won a voucher to spend at any of the three restaurants run by Plate It Forward – a hospitality organisation in Sydney that intertwines delicious food with powerful social impact.
 
SBS’s broadcast of the Tour de France kicks off this Saturday 29 June live on SBS and SBS On Demand.

 
For the first time in history, the race will not finish in its traditional Paris destination, but the city of Nice in the Cote d’Azur which will host the final stage of this year’s Tour.
 
Prior to the start of the tour, Mediaweek has been on the road in Northern Italy, visiting the major cities that the tour will visit in its first three stages.

See also: Tour de France 2024 TV Guide: Where and when every stage, plus commentator guide

Mexican restaurant chain Mad Mex has teamed up with cult water brand Liquid Death in its latest campaign – orchestrated by independent creative agency Connecting Plots – to celebrate the annual return of its 1kg Big Burrito, now in its 14th year.

Available for six weeks until 21 July, customers taking on the Big Burrito combo challenge can enter to win a grand prize: a burial plot in a cemetery. Entrants must submit a 25-word inscription for their tombstone as part of the competition.

The oversized burrito also includes a complimentary can of Liquid Death, so customers can ‘murder their thirst’ (as well as their hunger).

“While Aussie property prices soar and the cost of living grows more expensive than ever, the cost of dying just got that little bit easier,” said Connecting Plots creative partner, John Gault.

“Partnering with killer brands like Mad Mex and Liquid Death gives us the creative freedom to push boundaries for greater ROI – we’ve had a lot of fun bringing this to life across creative, influencers and content partners.”

The campaign is rolling out across social, digital, POS and owned channels, as well as across PR, influencers and content partnerships.

@lach_mac Get your hands on the Big Burrito Combo at @Mad Mex , 1kg burrito and a can of @Liquid Death , a meal fit for the biggest dawg in the friend group #Ad ♬ original sound – Lachy McIntyre

On a social front, the campaign has engaged popular content creators Lachy McIntyre and Jon-Bernard Kairouz to deliver eulogies for friends and family who tackled the combo. Bespoke content will also be rolling out across satirical institution, The Betoota Advocate.

The overall aim, according to the QSR brand, is to drive foot traffic and sales during this limited period, while also launching a brand journey to emphasise the ‘Mad’ in Mad Mex.

“The Big Burrito is a staple of our marketing calendar,” added Mad Mex general manager of marketing, Nick Cook.

“We were excited to step things up this year and partner with the team at Liquid Death to really embrace the food coma that is more or less guaranteed when you down a 1kg burrito with a 500ml tallboy.

“Kudos to Connecting Plots for bringing the madness and developing a campaign that’s made us all a little uncomfortable – in a good way.”

In March, Mad Mex competitor Zambrero appointed indie shop Supermassive to its agency roster, after the franchise held a competitive creative pitch.

Laura Aldington, Simone Gupta, and Jon Austin’s agency took over the account from fellow independent Today the Brave, which won the business a year ago, in April 2023.

Earlier this month Kent Pearson joined Connecting Plots to lead the business’s social offering, a.glo, and expand its remit from social performance creative into always-on social, influencer, creator and content partnerships.

Last month, the agency also appointed Craig Page as its strategy partner after Tim Collier exited the independent after six years.

See also: Kent Pearson joins Connecting Plots as managing partner

Credits:

Client: Mad Mex 
General manager of marketing: Nick Cook 
Senior marketing manager: Tom Mort 

Creative Agency: Connecting Plots 
Creative partner: John Gault
Creative partner: Matt Gault 
Client service director: Emma McJury 
Head of social: Kent Pearson

Twenty years after launching its pioneering For Real Beauty campaign, Dove has renewed its commitment to real beauty with a pledge never to use AI to represent real women in its ads.

The initiative, termed The Code, responds to new global research commissioned by the Unilever-owned brand, revealing unprecedented pressure faced by Australian women as AI threatens perceptions of beauty.

The original 2004 campaign highlighted the statistic that only 2% of women considered themselves beautiful at the time. It went on to challenge society, media, and the beauty industry to change their representation of women, be transparent about digital distortion, and confront the harmful impact unrealistic beauty standards have on women and girls.

The most recent study, The Real State of Beauty: A Global Report, is one of the largest conducted by a beauty brand. According to the study, AI is one of the biggest threats to the representation of real beauty, with 90% of online content predicted to be AI-generated by 2025.

Dove’s original ‘For Real Beauty’ campaign

The study revealed the rise of AI threatens women’s wellbeing. Today, more than four in five Australian women say they have been exposed to harmful beauty content online. A significant majority recognise the prevalence of digitally altered images in the media, with 74% of Australian women and 68% of Australian girls acknowledging this reality. Yet, one in two Australian women still feel pressured to alter their appearance based on online images, despite knowing they are often fake or AI-generated.

“As someone who has fought to redefine beauty standards, I’ve seen the harmful effects of unrealistic beauty ideals,” said Chelsea Bonner, CEO of Bella Management, who is partnering with Dove.

“AI-generated content only worsens this issue, bombarding us with unattainable images. Dove’s commitment to real beauty, refusing to use AI generated imitation humans in advertising and promoting transparency with the Real Beauty Prompt Guidelines are critical steps in protecting and celebrating authentic beauty.”

The study suggests beauty standards are becoming increasingly unattainable, with two out of three Australian women believing contemporary expectations for physical attractiveness surpass those of previous generations. Alarmingly, 44% of Australian women would be willing to sacrifice a year of their lives to meet societal beauty standards, exceeding the global average of 38%.

Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs, research psychologist at the Centre of Appearance Research at the University of West England and body image expert, said that while AI has the potential to foster creativity and access to beauty, there is still a need for greater representation and transparency.

“Despite 20 years of work to broaden definitions of beauty, women feel less confident in their own beauty than they did a decade ago,” she said.

“Representation is more important than ever. As AI technology continues to evolve, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between what is real beauty and what is manufactured by AI.”

To help set new digital standards of representation in Australia, Dove has created Real Beauty Prompt Guidelines to guide the creation of images representative of real beauty on the most popular generative AI programs.

“Dove has always stood for real beauty, and our commitment to never using AI in our ads underscores our dedication to authenticity,” said Dove marketing manager, Tess Giordimaina.

“By introducing the Real Beauty Prompt Guidelines, we aim to foster a more inclusive and transparent approach to beauty in the digital age. It’s our mission to uplift women and girls everywhere and ensure they see their true selves reflected in the media.”

See also: The growth of AI influencers means transparency and authenticity will continue to be important

LinkedIn has launched a TikTok campaign out of Sydney’s Barangaroo to help Australian professionals reframe ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome‘ via creative and production agency Jack Nimble.

Tall Poppy Syndrome is the uniquely Australian phenomenon of cutting down those perceived as successful. Sonia McDonald, CEO and founder of LeadershipHQ, believes the syndrome is rife in the country.

“Tall Poppy Syndrome is in our offices, in our communities, and even in the mirror sometimes,” she said.

“The best way to combat it is to start by celebrating success. We need to change the narrative from competitive to collaboration, from envy to encouragement. And it needs to start at the top. It becomes a problem when it deters us from sharing our ideas and celebrating our wins. This not only limits personal professional growth, but also the ability of Australia as a whole to innovate and think big.”

To launch the campaign, LinkedIn took to the streets of the city suburb with a real-life Tall Poppy, who delivered real poppy flowers. The stunt served as an ice-breaker to start important conversations around overcoming Australia’s awkward relationship with success.

The on-street activation was also supported by a partnership with Australian TikTok creator Sam Despo, who also runs the marketing agency Pulp Digital. Despo has kicked off an ‘I’ll Start’ challenge, encouraging Australians to share their experiences with #TallPoppySyndrome and offering advice for how to rise above it.

@samdespo I feel like this is getting out of hand, it’s time to make a change #linkedin #tallpoppysyndrome #australianculture #australianbusiness ♬ original sound – Sam Despo (Marketing)

LinkedIn partnered with other creators, including Fiona Wang, PreLuv, Level:Asian and Milly Rose Bannister to share their stories by stitching Despo’s video, with the hope of encouraging the broader TikTok community follow suit.

One positive indicator, according to McDonald, is that after engaging with the community at Barangaroo for the activation, she observed that Gen Z appears to be less affected by Tall Poppy Syndrome.

“They seem to be more supportive of their peers and more likely to celebrate their own successes,” she said.

“This brings me plenty of hope for finally squashing Tall Poppy Syndrome in Australia because this generation are our future, and in some cases, current leaders.”

Last month, The Benevolent Society – Australia’s oldest charity, focused on helping families, older Australians, and people with disabilities – launched its second work with Jack Nimble.

These latest projects follow the announcement in late May that Jack Nimble and its parent company, Sparro by Brainlabs, appointed four new senior hires across the agency group.

See also:
Sparro by Brainlabs and Jack Nimble makes four senior hires
CommBank, Telstra, and Canva: LinkedIn reveals top workplaces for growth

We Are Social Australia and Samsung have teamed up for its latest campaign, designed to elevate the live music experiences of Gen Z.

The creative agency’s project engaged 25 creators from the Samsung #TeamGalaxy collective to produce a crowd-sourced music video for multi-platinum pop artist Tate McRae using her song Think Later.

The video, filmed using the Galaxy S24 Ultra, showcases the phone’s superior AI and camera capabilities, drawing fans closer to the music they love.

The videos were filmed across McRae’s world tour dates in Spain and Portugal, bringing together creators who documented their travels and the concert atmosphere.

Directed by Marilyn Hue, the music video integrates footage from each contributor, leveraging the device’s Nightography Zoom and Galaxy AI features to vividly capture the essence of the live experience.

David Moon, senior director of marketing strategy group of mobile experience business at Samsung Electronics, said: “This campaign goes beyond showcasing mobile technology—it’s about truly connecting with Gen Z through visual storytelling.

“Gen Z treasures the unique experiences and lasting memories of live music, and with their devices, they can capture every moment in vivid detail, preserving the essence and emotion of these unforgettable performances.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Samsung Mobile (@samsungmobile)

Alongside the hero music video, now available on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, viewers can catch a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes action on the influencers’ channels, and learn about product-specific features thanks to a suite of supporting assets on Samsung’s social channels created to maximise the impact of the campaign.
 
Ben Clare, executive creative director at We Are Social Australia, said: “As much as Gen Z yearn to preserve the magic of a concert experience, the reality often falls short—hindered by the constraints of their smartphone cameras.
 
“Creating a product demo disguised as a music video felt like a cool way to elevate the features from mere advertising into compelling, story-driven content. And bringing together so many creators to help make it builds on the idea that great content creation goes beyond power and image quality — it’s also about community and the collaborative spirit, all of which Galaxy fosters.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Samsung Mobile (@samsungmobile)

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Top image: Tate McRae

CommBank has claimed the title as the sole Aussie brand included in the Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking for 2024.

The list, which continues to be topped by Apple, saw the bank rank #82 overall and #14 out of 20 in the financial services category.

“We are thrilled to be recognised as Australia’s most valuable brand and be ranked among global leaders,” said CommBank CMO, Jo Boundy.

“CommBank’s commitment to building a brighter future for all Australians drives our focus on creating more meaningful and rewarding customer experiences. This recognition is a credit to our hard-working teams’ over many years. We will continue to listen, innovate, and add value for our customers.” 

The annual Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands valuation ranking and report is based on the opinions of over 4.3 million respondents on roughly 21,000 brands spanning 532 categories. Its brand valuation methodology combines financial analysis with measures of brand equity.

Since its 2006 launch, the brand value of the Global Top 100 has surged by 474%, bumping the entry threshold by 354% – from $4 billion to $19 billion. This year, the Global Top 100 rebounded by 20% to $8.3 trillion, nearing the 2022 peak of $8.7 trillion.

Kantar Australia’s head of brand strategy Ryan France said he was pleased to see an Australian brand recognised on this global stage, especially in a tough economic environment.

“The best-performing Financial Services brands are winning through customer orientation,” he said.

“Brand value growth in the financial services category was most strongly related to ‘meaningful’ perceptions. In this category, being meaningful means meeting customer needs and being emotionally approachable. It means offering a good range of products and services. And it means being trusted in a world where there is increased scrutiny on the financial services industry.”

He said what made CommBank’s performance as a legacy brand was notable for continuing to strengthen its “meaningful difference” in the minds of consumers.

“These are usually the brands facing challenges, and challengers, coming at them from all directions,” France continued.

“However, CommBank shows us that these well-established brands can not only survive but thrive. By being an innovation leader, and thinking bigger than their category, CommBank is evolving its leadership role. That’s what big brands need to do to stay ahead, and CommBank gives us a great case study that we can all learn from.”

In May, independent creative studio Supermassive announced a partnership with CommBank’s venture scaler, x15ventures, to launch the app Truyu.

Available on the App Store and Google Play Store, Truyu is an Australian-first digital protection tool that issues alerts when a user’s identity is deemed at risk or is being misused online at major merchants.

See also: Exclusive: CommBank launches Truyu via Supermassive

Zitcha has appointed Kate Marshall and Genevieve Cleaver to newly created senior roles, strengthening its customer success team’s capabilities.

Marshall joins as customer success director with a remit to oversee Zitcha’s portfolio of clients across international markets including, US, Canada, UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and her most recent roles was as digital director at News Corp.

She has experience in eCommerce with more than five years at Amazon, where she worked with Amazon teams around the world to bring best-in-class marketing tools to its customers. 

Marshall said: “Zitcha is a global retail media player, and as we continue to attract more partners to the platform, I look forward to working alongside them to drive even greater effectiveness and efficiencies for their marketing investment.”

Cleaver steps into the role of customer success lead for Zitcha across APAC. She joins from News Corp, where she was digital client growth and capability manager. She also spent more than four years at Wavemaker across various performance media positions.

“In Australia and New Zealand, Zitcha has already established a market-leading presence,” she added. “The wider Southeast Asia market  presents exciting new opportunities for retail media and I can’t wait to support our customers as they embark on and expand their retail media journeys.”

Nick Hinsley, chief revenue officer at Zitcha said: “Customer success is about anticipating challenges and proactively delivering solutions to boost customer satisfaction and retention.

“This not only enhances revenue and loyalty, but also ensures our clients derive maximum value from our platform. Investing in customer success is essential for Zitcha to continue leading the retail media industry, and we are delighted to welcome both Kate and Genevieve to our rapidly growing team.”

The new hires, both of which are based in Sydney, follows the platform’s recent appointment by the retail media arm of Australia’s leading drinks and hospitality business, MixIn by Endeavour, to facilitate its off-site media across Meta’s Managed Partner Ads (MPA).

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Top image: Genevieve Cleaver and Kate Marshall

Vistar Media has launched its new Melbourne office and the appointments of two new hires as it expands its capabilities and operations in Australia and the APAC region.

The company’s expansion to the Victorian capital aims to build upon the foundations laid by the Sydney team and ensure its clients receive service and expertise in programmatic OOH advertising.

Leading the company’s Melbourne office is Ben Swaik in the newly created role of account director, demand sales, Melbourne, alongside Alice Aram who joins as account director.

Swaik brings over a decade of experience in the Melbourne media market, knowledge and a results-driven, solution-oriented approach to Vistar and the role.

His career includes significant roles at organisations such as News Corp Australia, Carsales, and GumGum (formerly Playground xyz). He said: “I am excited to join Vistar and build the Melbourne office. The potential for programmatic OOH in this market is immense, and I look forward to working with our clients to help them create impactful, data-driven campaigns.” 

Aram brings over 10 years of experience in the advertising industry across the UK and Australia to the role of account director. She has a deep background in data and programmatic advertising strategies both on the agency and tech sides.

Her most recently held positions include Unpacked by Flybuys and Dentsu Aegis Network, where she collaborated closely with FMCG and retail marketers to power programmatic advertising.
 
Aram of her appointment: “Joining Vistar at this pivotal moment is incredibly exciting. Vistar’s innovative technology and customer-first approach to OOH is unmatched in the industry, and I am eager to help our clients leverage these tools to maximise their campaign success.”
 
In 2023, the Melbourne market accounted for 23% of Vistar’s total billing, which surged to 28% in the first half of 2024. Additionally, Melbourne market spend for Vistar in Q1 2024 grew by 109% compared to Q1 2023.
 
Ben Baker, managing director for APAC at Vistar Media, said: “Opening our Melbourne office is a significant step for Vistar as we continue to grow our footprint in Australia and the broader APAC region, underscored by compelling growth figures that highlight the necessity of establishing a dedicated office to better serve our clients.
 
“With Ben and Alice on board, we are extremely excited to continue providing our clients in Melbourne with the highest level of service and support across their OOH campaigns.”
 
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Top image: Alice Aram and Ben Swaik

Nexxen has launched its Cross-Screen Measurement solution in Australia.

It is designed to enable advertisers to effectively measure unique and co-viewer reach as well as audience demographics across CTV and linear television, Nexxen says Cross-Screen Measurement offers a more comprehensive view of advertisers’ campaigns and audiences.

Nexxen has also upgraded its Total Attribution solution to include linear TV sources; it integrates online digital activities – including CTV streaming and now linear TV – with website visitor behaviours to offer insights into the impact of omnichannel campaign strategies across all digital screens.

Nexxen states that together, these offerings empower advertisers and agencies to directly link activation to specific campaign goals, leverage insights to refine advertising strategies and measure the effectiveness of their investments.

Cross-Screen Measurement and Total Attribution are part of Nexxen TV Intelligence – a full suite of audience insights, activation and measurement solutions – and both are powered by exclusive automatic content recognition (“ACR”) data from more than 1.3 million opted-in devices across Australia, provided by VIDAA – the Smart TV operating system powering Hisense, Toshiba and other original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) brands.

In April, Nexxen partnered with VIDAA and its exclusive access to VIDAA ACR data will enable the provision of a full-fledged TV solution.

Nexxen’s approach is supported by shared infrastructure and technology between its demand-side platform and supply-side platform. 

Josif Zanich, managing director JAPAC at Nexxen, called the launch a “huge milestone” for the platform in the JAPAC region.

“Having exclusive access to VIDAA’s ACR data will not only enable us to push the boundaries of what’s possible, delivering advanced TV solutions to advertisers, but will also allow us to exponentially enhance the effectiveness of TV buys across all screens, unlike ever before.”

Jay Kim, director of analytics and solutions at Nexxen said: “Advertisers know too well the challenge of measuring TV and digital campaigns together effectively. 

“Through our exclusive ACR data, we have been able to supercharge our measurement and reporting capabilities. giving our partners even deeper insights into audience behaviour and campaign performance. As a result, they’re able to optimise their advertising strategies with greater precision and achieve higher ROI across both linear and digital platforms.”

Wednesday 26 June 2024: VOZ Total TV Ratings Overnight Top 30 – Programs ranked on reach

Total People TV Ratings

Nine’s State of Origin – Game II recorded a total TV national reach of 5,192,000, a total TV national audience of 3,263,000, and a BVOD audience of 739,000.

Seven’s The Front Bar recorded a total TV national reach of 936,000, a total TV national audience of 375,000, and a BVOD audience of 18,000.

Also on Seven, Home & Away recorded a total TV national reach of 937,000, a total TV national audience of 437,000, and a BVOD audience of 52,000.

10’s airing of MasterChef Australia recorded a total TV national reach of 1,018,000, a total TV national audience of 522,000, and a BVOD audience of 48,000.

See also: TV Report 26 June 2024: Blues force decider as Maroons fall at State of Origin Game II

People 25-54

Nine’s State of Origin – Game II:
• Total TV nation reach: 2,161,000
• National Audience: 1,456,000
• BVOD Audience: 468,000

10’s MasterChef:
• Total TV nation reach: 329,000
• National Audience: 179,000 
• BVOD Audience: 26,000

Seven’s The Front Bar:
• Total TV nation reach: 287,000
• National Audience: 117,000
• BVOD Audience: 10,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 270,000
• National Audience: 139,000
• BVOD Audience: 28,000

People 16-39

Nine’s State of Origin – Game II:
• Total TV nation reach: 1,277,000
• National Audience: 881,000
• BVOD Audience: 333,000

10’s MasterChef:
• Total TV nation reach: 128,000
• National Audience: 71,000 
• BVOD Audience: 14,000

Seven’s The Front Bar:
• Total TV nation reach: 95,000
• National Audience: 33,000
• BVOD Audience: 5,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 116,000
• National Audience: 55,000
• BVOD Audience: 15,000

Grocery Shoppers 18+ 

Nine’s State of Origin – Game II:
• Total TV nation reach: 3,735,000
• National Audience: 2,325,000
• BVOD Audience: 563,000

10’s MasterChef:
• Total TV nation reach: 800,000
• National Audience: 421,000 
• BVOD Audience: 39,000

Seven’s The Front Bar:
• Total TV nation reach: 752,000
• National Audience: 306,000
• BVOD Audience: 14,000

Seven’s Home & Away:
• Total TV nation reach: 743,000
• National Audience: 354,000
• BVOD Audience: 42,000

Data © OzTAM and Regional TAM 2024. Not to be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without prior written consent of OzTAM and Regional TAM.

TV Report 27 June 2024:

Nine TV Report

Women’s State of Origin – Game III

Nine’s draw for the evening was the Women’s State of Origin Game III at Queensland Country Bank in Townsville. Queensland ended up winning and as a result, winning the series as a whole, beating the NSW Sky Blues 22-6.

Seven TV Report

Britain’s Got Talent

On Seven, Britain’s Got Talent saw judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli as they searched for golden-buzzer-worthy talent.

Home & Away

Earlier in the night was Home & Away as Harper asked Tane for space, Irene fought for her friendship with Leah and Kirby asked Eden and Remi to step up.

10 TV Report

The Project

The Project on 10 spoke to a woman dedicating her life to saving Aussie wildlife, investigated how dangerous forever chemicals really are and spoke to Lizzy Hoo.

Taskmaster Australia

On 10’s Taskmaster Australia, contestants Josh Thomas, Jenny Tian, Lloyd Langford, Anne Edmonds and Wil Anderson were instructed to head to the live task-party to drop the least amount of hundreds and thousands.

Underground: The Julian Assange Story

10 also aired Underground: The Julian Assange Story which highlights Assange before he was famous, and before his imprisonment and release. 

ABC

7:30

7:30 saw Sarah Ferguson interview Julian Assange’s wife Stella Assange and his lawyer Jennifer Robinson following his return to Australia. Plus, polls in the UK show the Conservative government is headed for a landslide defeat.

Restoration Australia

Host Anthony Burke meets a couple aiming to restore a crumbling stone police station and hope to solve the baffling case of the missing jailhouse.

SBS

Guillaume’s French Atlantic

Guillaume Brahimi took viewers on a journey through the windswept landscapes and gastronomic wonders of Brittany and uncovered the deep-rooted traditions and flavours that have shaped his culinary heritage.