Four days into their strike, union members and Nine journalists have called for CEO Mike Sneesby and his executive team to forego their bonuses this year and next year instead of cutting 70-90 jobs.

See also: ‘We deserve better’: Nine journalists walk off job on first day of Olympics

The union argues Nine is “spending hundreds of thousands of dollars wining and dining its top managers and their guests in Paris but says it needs to sack 90 journalists to save costs.”

In 2023, Sneesby’s statutory remuneration was listed as $3.41 million. 

Journalist Broede Carmody, who is also a union delegate, said in a video published to MEAA’s social channels: “It’s more than just about the money. It’s about the fact that the company is ripping out up to 90 jobs from our newsrooms.

“We’re also here to call on Mike Sneesby, the Nine CEO, and all senior executives at Nine, to forego their financial bonuses for the financial year just gone, that haven’t been paid yet, as well as this financial year, and to reinvest that back into the company to save jobs.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by MEAA (@withmeaa)

Carmody said the request for a pay rise in line with CPI isn’t being offered at all, and negotiations are “on the condition that we throw our sub-editor colleagues under the bus and collapse their schedules so they get paid a lower base salary.”

Culture editor Osman Faruqi added in the video that journalists don’t want to be on strike, but “we’ve been attacked by the management at Channel Nine. This company has not offered us a fair pay rise.”

Faruqi said the proposed job cuts constitute “more than 1 in 10 people who work at this company … they’re hacking us to the bone.”

Journalists at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAtoday walked off the job on Friday. The union has asked readers to not buy Nine newspapers or click on digital stories, and urged freelancers not to accept work from Nine, during the strike.

Picket lines and rallies were held outside Nine offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth, with journalists appearing in matching t-shirts featuring a caricature of Sneesby running with the Olympic torch.

Placards included messages such as “When Nine Sneesbys, The Age Gets A Cold,” “Quality Journalism Needs Quality Jobs,” and “We’d Rather Be Reporting.”

On the day the strike began, Nine called it “disappointing,” but confirmed there are “comprehensive plans are in place to ensure the production and distribution of Nine Publishing mastheads will not be impacted and our readers will continue to have access to unrivalled coverage of the Paris Olympics.”

Sneesby has declined to comment further. When approached on the streets of Paris by rival 7News about the strike, he responded: “Look guys, (I’ve) just got back from dinner and it’s not really the time to have a chat.” 

When asked, “Are you here on a holiday with your family?” Sneesby reportedly did not respond and walked away.

7News reported the Paris hotel he is staying in costs “almost $2,500 a night.”

Journalists striking have been backed up by colleagues from across the industry, with the union posting a video featuring supportive messages from the likes of Tony Armstrong, Paul Kelly, Dave Hughes, Jane Harper, Shaun Micalleff, Shameless Media’s Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews, Rosie Batty, and Richard Flanagan. 

Tony Armstrong, Paul Kelly, Dave Hughes and Jane Harper are among the dozens of high-profile Australians standing with journalists from the newsrooms of The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAToday, demanding quality jobs for quality… pic.twitter.com/620t1UVeIm

— MEAA (@withMEAA) July 28, 2024

The strike was called after the union rejected a revised enterprise bargaining offer last week. After several months of negotiations, the most recent offer was rejected because it “still fails to include a fair pay rise that keeps ahead of the cost of living.” News Corp reported that Thursday’s offer was a 3.5% annual pay rise, compared to the 2% which was already in place.

Following the announcement of 200 job cuts at Nine in June, MEAA members at Nine Publishing passed a resounding vote of no confidence in Sneesby in early July.

The reason given for the cuts was to “offset the loss of revenue from the Meta deal and challenges in the advertising market,” with Sneesby saying at the time that “in order for us to be able to keep investing in digital growth opportunities across Nine, we must continue to responsibly manage costs through the cycle.”

The strike also follows former news boss Darren Wick‘s exit amidst allegations of lecherous behaviour, and the shuttering of Pedestrian-licensed titles including Vice, Gizmodo, Refinery29, Kotaku, and Lifehacker.

Last week, one Nine journalist wrote: “Nine recently gave a boss accused of misconduct a $1 million payout. It’s putting up Scotty Cam in a five star hotel for the Paris Olympics. But this very profitable company refuses to offer its journalists fair pay. That’s why we’re striking.”

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Top image: Mike Sneesby

Every night at 6pm 9News and Seven News battle to attract the biggest audiences to their one hour news. It’s a war with new generals.

Gone are both Seven’s former head of news and current affairs, Craig McPherson, and his counterpart at Nine, Darren Wick. Their respective replacements are both new in their roles, yet already making an impact. At Nine, Fiona Dear, and at Seven, Anthony De Ceglie.

At the start of the year, Nine might have been happy with 9News and its suite of current affairs shows being competitively placed going into the Paris 2024 Olympics.

However, Nine has gone into the Games in a leadership position across metro markets. The broadcaster has weathered any potential bumpy transition from Darren Wick to Fiona Dear.

Nine Melbourne 6pm news presenters Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort

Nine’s metro leadership position

In data supplied by Nine, the daily news and current affairs offerings are up YOY against the same time last year. The data for 9News (seven days 6-7pm), Today
(7-9am) and A Current Affair shows YOY growth in 16 of the 21 measures across national, metro and individual metro markets.

It should be noted that nationally (metro plus regional), Seven leads with News and Sunrise. While Nine has the 6pm edge in each east coast market, Seven leads in the Adelaide and Perth markets.

The biggest growth for Nine is in Perth, Brisbane, and Melbourne where growth is in double digits. Perth is a market where Seven has had traditional ownership. Nine now talks about turning that market into a “battleground”. The increase in Brisbane comes as Seven shakes up its 6pm bulletin. The growth in Melbourne comes as Nine can already claim to have won the year before July has finished.

Nine News Sydney 6pm team of Amber Sherlock, Peter Overton, and James Bracey

Closing the gap in Perth

Talking to Mediaweek about the products she has helped shape in her former and current role, Dear said: “9News is in a terrific place this year. We are seeing incredible growth with our audience and that is nationally. We’ve won nine of the last metro weeks, which is our longest winning streak in nine years.”

“We are seeing audience growth year-on-year for total TV, Monday to Friday. The numbers are good for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Our Perth audience is up 13% and Perth is now a big battleground. We’re super proud that we are closing that gap in Perth.”

In the past Seven had maintained a vice-like grip for its news in the West. “We are engaged in some very competitive battles over there that are showing some significant signs,” explained Dear.

9News Perth presenter Michael Thomson

The ratings grew after Nine made some significant hosting changes in recent years. Tracy Grimshaw exited A Current Affair. Ally Langdon moved from Today to the evening slot with Sarah Abo moving into breakfast. At 9News Melbourne, Peter Hitchener moved onto weekends with Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort looking after weekdays.

The Tipping Point

The 6pm weekday news also saw Nine taking a risk on the lead-in. It dropped the Eddie McGuire-hosted Millionaire Hot Seat for the Todd Woodbridge-hosted Tipping Point Australia.

“They can be really scary times,” said Dear about making major hosting moves. “I was the executive producer of A Current Affair when Tracy Grimshaw came to me and said, ‘You know, after 17 years, I think it might be time for a change Fi,’ That is nerve-wracking for an executive producer to hear that their highly respected host of 17 years wants to try something new.

“We put an incredible amount of thought into who was the right person to lead A Current Affair forward. Just as we did with who was the right person to lead Melbourne News forward.

The 5pm gamble paid off too. The last week before the Olympics, Tipping Point Australia was well on top of The Chase Australia in metro markets.

9News Adelaide presenters Brenton Ragless and Kate Collins

‘Bold, brave…and well thought out’

Dear talked about the decision-making process, noting the big changes had been made before she took on her current role. “People might say they were bold decisions or brave decisions. They were carefully thought out decisions.”

When asked if there was audience research or simply gut feel, Dear replied: “A bit of both. I have worked in the Nine newsroom for almost 20 years. There are two lessons that I learned from sitting on a COS [chief of staff] desk. I learned very quickly two things. One, you need to respect the audience. Never assume what the audience wants or needs.

“And two, not to spend your entire time looking at your opposition. You can get bogged down in what your opposition is doing. You should be focusing on what your team is doing. Are they doing it well? Do we need to change anything? How can we do it better?”

That provided a nice segue to ask about Nine’s competition. There are a multitude of options that continue to grow. The growth of streaming platforms has lured some of the viewers away.

Dear: “The one thing that we have that our streaming competitors don’t have, and can’t have, is news and sports and current affairs.

“We know people’s viewing habits are constantly changing and we respect that. But we still know that one of our advantages is, especially up against our streaming competitors, the ability to have a recognised face that feels like is part of their family, propelled into their lounge room each night, each afternoon, each morning.”

Mark Humphries is a much-discussed addition to Seven’s Friday 6pm news.

Seven’s experiments on the 6pm news

Dear was thoughtful when asked about the changes being introduced by Anthony De Ceglie at Seven News.

“My short answer would be news is news. That’s the short answer,” said Dear about any difference between the Nine and Seven product at 6pm. But she had more to offer though.

“That comes with a but. I am focusing and our teams and focusing on delivering news.

“However, I do respect the audience and the changing audience and the younger audience. We fully realise that audiences these days are after a lot more than those regular rounds that made up the news of the 1980s, those half-hour bulletins. The one-hour bulletins have changed things. The audience has changed things. Technology has changed things.

“While news is news and will always be that, we also need to give them a bit extra. I want to make sure that we give them everything. We give them the news of the day, but we also tell them about things that they care about or things affecting them, whether that be in their world around them or the greater world.”

Dear is OK with experimentation in the news hour. “We have to take risks,” she said. “I understand why some of my competitors are taking risks. If we don’t take risks, we stagnate, and that is not good for any news bulletin.

“However, there are core things that we need to respect about our audience.”

Dear was certainly not about to unload on other news services. “I’m not going to disrespect my opposition. I’m not going to disrespect them because everyone in this industry works very hard at what they do.”

See also: Anthony de Ceglie’s ‘dream’ is a ‘unified’ Seven and new audiences

9News: ‘We are a business facing pressures’

With all media companies carefully watching, and in many cases, decreasing, staff numbers, Dear also feels the pinch.

“We are not immune to the economic challenges facing Australia and the world, and we would be naive and our employees would be naive to think that we are immune from that.

“We are a business facing pressures and it’s no secret that ad revenues are challenging. Like any businesswoman running a business at the moment, I’m counting every penny and I’m watching where we spend our money and making sure that we’re spending it in the best places.

“We have to transform as a business does in tough times. It’s been a project we’ve been working on. We are now carefully now planning the newsroom of the future that will keep us future fit.

“That means changing how our workforce tell their stories each day. I don’t mean in terms of the words and the pictures. I’m talking more about the processes. In the past there were some glory days of television where we had four separate teams working on the same story over four different bulletins.

“That is potentially a luxury that we can’t afford at the moment, and it’s not smart television.

“I’m also looking at multi-skilling different sections of our 9News newsrooms, and for multiple reasons. For cost efficiency, but also to give some of our team more opportunities.”

Portrait of Fiona Dear director of news and current affairs at Nine. Photographed at 1 Denison. Friday 24th May 2024. Photo: James Brickwood. 240524

Fiona Dear: A day at Nine news and current affairs

Learning about how a news executive spends their day is instructive. When asked to share her diary, recently appointed Dear noted she hadn’t quite worked out the regimen yet.

“I’m still trying to work out a routine that is best for all the different news bulletins and the Today show and A Current Affair and 60 Minutes.

“And also for myself because I need a good work-life balance otherwise I will be a terrible leader.”

She admitted she continues to wake early and tries to catch the 5am Nine News bulletin.

“I’m them watching the Today show going through my email. Plus reading the newspapers. That part of my day hasn’t changed at all.

“I am then getting into the office earlier than I was for A Current Affair. Then looking at each market, their assignment boxes, what are they planning for the day in terms of the news bulletin.

“Then I try and join the 9.45am conference call with all the news directors around the country plus the Today show and A Current Affair.

“The rest of my day is looking at budgets, looking at technology, getting to know 800 new people.

“I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few weeks travelling around the country, going to visit the different newsrooms and the different teams. I’ve still got the Gold Coast and Darwin to go.”

Dear quickly realised she couldn’t watch every evening bulletin. She checks into a different program each day.

Nine’s Today show team in Paris: Alex Cullen, Karl Stefanovic, Sarah Abo, and Brooke Boney

9News , Today and A Current Affair in Paris

The network has committed a sizeable news team to cover Paris 2024. Dear explained each market is represented including NBN.

“We know the opportunity that Paris presents. We know that this will hopefully deliver more eyeballs to news and current affairs across the business.”

The day we spoke with Dear, Nine had posted its largest news audience of the year. That’s a record it has broken quite a few times recently.

While the Olympics has helped with momentum, Dear noted: “I don’t think audiences started switching to us eight weeks ago because of the Olympics.

I would hope they’re coming to us because they can see that we’re offering a quality news brand.”

While agencies have been “frustrated” over the delay introducing VOZ, OzTAM CEO, Karen Halligan, tells Mediaweek the new trading currency – which will take effect in December – is “hugely critical” to advertisers’ ROI visibility. 

In a tough economic climate, Halligan said advertisers need to know where their advertising spend is going – “the outcomes that it derives, and that they’re getting value for money.”

“This step towards VOZ from TAM will get greater visibility around what they can expect from ROI, and the performance of their media dollars.”

Karen Halligan

Last week, OzTam announced that VOZ will become Australia’s trading currency on Sunday 29 December 2024, following its introduction in January. TV network annual rate negotiations for CY25, which start in Q4 this year, will be based on VOZ Total TV data.

Produced and delivered by Nielsen, VOZ delivers de-duplicated audience estimates across all linear TV and BVOD to produce a national picture of viewing, and introduces a currency for BVOD viewing – including co-viewing on connected TVs – for the first time. 

Halligan confirmed that TAM data will sunset in December in the public domain, but added that “broadcast partners will still have access to certain data for their own internal evaluations – and I think that makes sense, because it’s available slightly earlier in the day. But the rest of it will swap over.”

Halligan added she’s “really proud of how we’ve come together, how we’ve collaborated with the industry, and that we’ve got this broad support – which hasn’t always been the case in the past. It’s been a major undertaking, and one that we’re really pleased to have got to an outcome.”

As a member of the VOZ steering committee, Joanna Barnes, chief investment officer of PHD, told Mediaweek that “the complexities around VOZ are regularly misunderstood and underestimated.

“We have been frustrated over the delays and the timeline, however we’ve also made a conscious decision to lean in and be part of the solution because it will benefit all advertisers.”

Joanna Barnes

Despite setbacks, Barnes added the transition will “advance the data set we use to evaluate one of the most important channels in the Australian market,” and that the move will be “great for advertisers if you have the scale and capability to harness the new opportunities that VOZ offers.”

“For PHD and Omnicom, we have spent 18months+ working with VOZ datasets and our market leading partners such as Day8 to deliver improved outcomes for our clients, and rigorous testing has been consistent throughout this period.”

From an agency perspective, Ros Allison, head of product and innovation at Magna, also told Mediaweek that “while VOZ enables a more complete picture of ‘Total TV’ viewing, it has created different silos around other streaming and digital video.”

Despite this, she said VOZ has “the capacity and the rigour in methodology to include big data sources,” but that requires industry engagement from subscription TV and ad-supported streamers as well as internally amongst broadcasters.

Ros Allison

“We urge the formal development of joint industry collaboration to advance research quality, mandate audit level transparency in audience measurement, and promote improvement in total market measurement standards,” Allison said.

The move to VOZ as a trading currency is backed by the wider industry, with industry consultation and collaboration across TV networks, Regional TAM, the Media Federation of Australia (MFA), Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA), the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), Nielsen, and third-party software suppliers.

Halligan added that television is “an important part of the media mix, and also an important part of our society.”

“All channels have a role in the media mix. Television plays a reach role, and it does it very well.

“Yes, audiences are changing, they’re shifting and fragmenting to different areas – but television is still a mass media channel, it’s still reaching 75% of the Australian population on a weekly basis. It’s still a large audience profile, and an opportunity for advertisers.”

Having already collaborated with the industry to get to this point, Halligan said the next few months in the lead-up to the changeover will involve making sure that the December transition is as smooth as possible. 

“We’re developing trading assets, we’re working with the Media Federation to update the TV Fundamentals training, we’re providing information sheets with answers to major questions we got from agencies. So for instance, how do I deal with a trend break in econometric modeling? We’ve got a whole list of assets.” 

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Top image: Karen Halligan

Last week The Australian celebrated a milestone 60 years with a gala dinner at The Australian Museum, Sydney.

The black tie, sit-down dinner for 250 of the most influential people in the country showcased the newspaper’s legacy. The evening featured editorial content from the past six decades. With speakers, performers and a menu featuring Australian food and wine.

The dinner was hosted by News Corp chairman Lachlan Murdoch and The Australian’s editor-in-chief Michelle Gunn.

Speaking to guests: Murdoch said: “Journalists first and foremost report the news, accurately and without bias. We report the facts, we ask questions, we seek the truth.”

Michelle Gunn said the event was about celebrating journalism: “Because there is no doubt the world needs quality journalism more than ever.

“But tonight is also a celebration of the power of good ideas. A clarion call for Australians to rediscover the art of persuasion. An entreaty to the thinking men and women of Australia to engage in thoughtful, vigorous debate about the things that matter.”

See also: News Corp holds birthday event as Lachlan Murdoch welcomes Anthony Albanese and guests

Australian chef and restaurateur Neil Perry designed the menu, with wines selected by Peter Gago, chief winemaker at Penfolds. The evening included a live performance by Australian singers Budjerah and Missy Higgins.

The Australian was first published in Canberra on July 15, 1964. It has grown to become the most-read national newspaper in the country. It has an audience of over four million Australians every month across print and digital.

More information on 60th anniversary can be found here.

Photo gallery of guests at the 60th anniversary event

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and News Corp Chairman Lachlan Murdoch

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and his wife Kirilly Dutton

Michelle Gunn, Editor-in-Chief, The Australian and News Corp Chairman Lachlan Murdoch

Michael Miller, Executive Chairman, News Corp Australasia and Tonya Miller

Lou Barrett, Managing Director Client Partnerships, News Corp Australia

Trent Dalton, journalist, The Australian, Petra Rees, Deputy Editor, and Nicholas Gray, Managing Director and Publisher, The Australian and Prestige

Siobhan McKenna, CEO Broadcasting, News Corp and her husband James Flintoft

Naysla Edwards, Vice President Brand, Charge Cards and Member Experience at American Express, Mim Haysom, CMO/EGM Brand & Customer Experience, Suncorp Group, Mike Connaghan, Managing Director Commercial Content, News Corp Australia and Corrina Davison, Managing Director American Express, Australia & New Zealand

Performing artists Budjerah Slabb and Missy Higgins

Australian Chef and Restaurateur Neil Perry, John Lehmann, Cellar Director, The Australian Wine Club and Peter Gago, Chief Winemaker at Penfolds

Sam Gance, co-founder of Chemist Warehouse and Janet Roach

Madeline Holtznagel and Justin Hemmes

Top image: Michael Miller, Executive Chairman, News Corp Australasia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Michelle Gunn, Editor-in-Chief, The Australian 

Seven West Media’s The Nightly has appointed Nicole Waudby as its director of commercial strategy.

Waudby will lead advertising sales and commercial strategies for the digital publication. She joins The Nightly after an eight-year tenure at News Corp Australia, where she was the general manager of the product integration division and, prior to that role, the general manager of sales for The Australian and prestige titles, including Vogue, Travel + Luxury, The List and Wish.

“I am delighted to be joining the team at The Nightly at such a pivotal time,” Waudby said.

“Its fresh approach and take on digital news is resonating and with the audience rapidly growing, the opportunity to define the commercial strategy hand in hand with the platform’s evolution is very exciting.”

Before News Corp, Waudby held senior sales and strategy leadership positions at Time UK, Bauer Media Group, and ACP Publishing.

Brent Stewart, Seven West Media’s WA chief sales officer, said “I’m so excited to have someone of Nicole’s calibre on board to help drive The Nightly commercial proposition forward. Her experience in publisher media and working in partnership with major clients and prestige brands will be such an asset.”

Ipsos iris figures for June revealed The Nightly now has a unique monthly audience of 2.3 million readers – a 24% leap from May’s 1.86 million.

The Nightly’s audience, following its launch on 26 February this year, has grown 163% since its first Ipsos iris-recorded month of March. From an audience of zero at launch, The Nightly also recorded 4.99 million page views last month.

The majority of the audience for the publication is based in NSW and Victoria, and 56% of its audience is under 55.

Aside from its core team of reporters, it draws on 7NEWS journalists from around Australia and overseas correspondents, international brands The Economist, The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as London’s Daily Mail newspaper.

See also: The Nightly’s monthly audience grows 163% since March

As Nine’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics gets underway, Seven and 10 have expressed confidence in their regular programming across the fortnight. 

A Network 10 spokesperson told Mediaweek that the network, like many Australians, “will be cheering on our athletes during the Paris 2024 Olympics.”

“10 News First will cover major Olympic Games results in the afternoons, early evenings, and late at night,” the spokesperson said.

“Meanwhile, The Project team will keep audiences updated with the latest news and highlights from the games.

“For audiences who are after alternative viewing, Network 10 has got you covered with new hilarious prime-time episodes of Deal or No Deal Celebrity Jackpot, Have You Been Paying Attention? and The Cheap Seats, the new season of Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, and brand-new seasons of Bondi Rescue, Ambulance Australia and The Dog House.”

The spokesperson also assured that Paramount’s “diverse content ecosystem has entertainment for everyone.”

“Paramount+ also continues to offer a mountain of entertainment such as the crime drama Mayor of Kingstown, the high-octane Top Gear Australia and the new drama series Fake that’s breaking audience records for a local original series.”

Angus Ross, group managing director at Seven, told Mediaweek that Seven will continue with its regular programming across the Olympics. 

“We are showing Dancing With The Stars, Home and Away, The 1% Club UK, The Front Bar, Britain’s Got Talent and AFL, and our multi-channels continue at full pace,” he said.

“Combined with a number of new series on 7plus, we are very confident of launching our post-Olympics schedule including the TV WEEK Logie Awards, The Voice, My Kitchen Rules, Made in Bondi and much more.”

After the Opening Ceremony and the first day of competition at Paris 2024, Nine recorded a total TV reach of 10.477 million across Channel 9, 9Gem and 9Now. 

Despite the 3:30am start, the live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony secured a national total TV reach of 2.138 million. 

Additionally, a total of 309 million minutes of content were streamed on 9Now, making it the BVOD platform’s most-watched day of all time.

See also: Paris 2024 Olympics TV ratings: Opening Ceremony and Day 1

Stan has reported after just one day of the 2024 Paris Olympics it has set its own Olympic record. The streaming platform has recorded the biggest one-day audience ever for Stan Sport.

Without providing the exact data, Stan Sport has beaten its previous highest daily minutes streamed record by 24%.

The flood of viewers came on Saturday July 27 with two weeks of action still to come. Saturday delivered viewers the Opening Ceremony and then the start of Day 1 action. The start of the Opening Ceremony was initially missing from the on-demand offering, but Stan Sport soon rectified the glitch.

The overall initial viewer feedback to the Stan Sport offering seems positive with the platform anticipating the audience numbers will continue to grow.

See also: Olympics on TV: How paying for Paris 2024 on Stan will be better than watching free on Nine

Over a third of viewers choosing on-demand

Data from the last 24 hours has also shown that Australians are enjoying the control they have with curating a Paris 2024 feed on Stan Sport. Over a third of Stan Sport audiences are choosing to watch Olympics coverage on demand (35%).

Stan’s International channel offering has also seen significant viewership since going live on Saturday. One in 10 of those watching the Olympics on Stan Sport are viewing the multi-language channels. Those channels are taking the Olympic feed provided by EuroSport, Sky NZ and Viacom18.

‘We knew we had a big job’

Stan chief executive officer Martin Kugeler said: “The Olympic Games hold an important part in the hearts of people living in Australia, and we knew we had a big job ahead of us when we took this on. Our ambition was to create a groundbreaking Olympic viewing experience that showcased the biggest global sporting event and the exceptional athletes, in the best possible way.

“The Olympics is about creating many memorable and inspiring moments and it was our mission that people in Australia had the chance to watch these moments when they wanted, wherever they wanted, in the best possible quality.

“Our unique offering is a series of Australian firsts for Olympic viewing: every second, of every event ad-free, live and on demand.

“Thousands of hours – 36 events in parallel and the biggest moments showcase in stunning 4K Ultra UD. In addition, we are making the Olympics more accessible than ever before – as a world-first, delivering eight exclusive international, multi-language Olympic broadcast channels to the multicultural Australian community as well as providing live captions for English language and other languages like Spanish, French, Italian and German” Kugeler added.

“We are delighted with the reception so far. Our record numbers and customer feedback give us confidence that we have created an outstanding Olympics experience that perfectly compliments the broadcast on Nine and 9Now collectively delivering the most comprehensive Olympics viewing offering in Australian history. Through our offering, Stan Sport has once again shown we are the premium partner for sport streaming in Australia.”

See also: 2024 Paris Olympics: Everything to know about Nine’s hosts and commentators

PHD Sydney has promoted Emma Wood, formerly Sydney’s co-head of investment, to head of investment.

She will assume full responsibility for the Sydney investment product, and continue reporting into PHD’s chief investment officer Joanna Barnes. 

The agency said the duo will be charged with delivering on the agency’s vision ‘Intelligence.Connected’, plus advancing investment capabilities, talent, and product.

Wood has been with PHD for three years, with investment expertise spanning a range of categories and brands, including global key accounts PepsiCo and CHANEL.

“I am deeply passionate about our people and the opportunity to support them in their careers whilst driving our investment ambitions forward.” Wood said of her appointment.

“Our PHD Investment team are exceptionally talented, and I am really looking forward to nurturing their growth and development to in turn deliver fantastic work for our clients.”

Barnes said Wood has been critical to PHD’s success since joining the agency, which is “ambitious in our pursuit to drive our clients’ businesses forward through a data-led innovative approach.”

“From the time Emma joined the business I have been impressed with her ability to build exceptionally strong and meaningful relationships with her clients, partners and team,” Barnes said.

“I am thrilled Emma has taken up this opportunity and look forward to building on the achievements to date.”

In June, Ryan Ambrose was promoted to the new role of Melbourne head of investment at PHD. He returns to Melbourne following a stint as group investment director at the agency’s Sydney office.

Ambrose also reports to Barnes, who said of his elevation: “Ryan is a progressive and decisive leader which is exactly what we need to accelerate our client’s growth ambitions in this new era.”

Recently, the Omnicom agency also appointed Brendan Hewitt as its new Sydney head of strategy, replacing the outgoing Remi Baker.

See also: PHD promotes Ryan Ambrose to Melbourne head of investment

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Top image: Emma Wood

Atomic 212° has promoted Lorraine Woods to the new role of chief investment and trading officer, stepping up from her most recent role as national head of trading.

She joined the independent media agency in 2016, and previously held roles at MediaCom, ZenithOptimedia and Carat.

Woods said of her new role: “Being at Atomic 212° from the very early days and helping to shape and grow it into what it is today has been such an exciting eight years and I feel very proud to be a part of.

“I look forward to continuing the success we have had and building out our investment product in line with our growth, now being Australia’s number one independent media agency, with some of the industry’s most talented traders Alex Thomas and Jay Malig.”

Alexandra Thomas has also joined the indie as national trading lead from essenceMediaCom, where she was marketplace group director. Prior to that, she held roles at Carat, Bohemia Group, and Ikon Communications.

“I’m proud to be joining Australia’s number one independent media agency and look forward to working with a really talented team,” Thomas said.

“I’m excited to bring my 15-plus years of trading experience – and passion – to support the continued growth of Atomic 212°’s investment product.”

Claire Fenner, Atomic 212° national chief executive officer, said of the appointments: “Congratulations to Lorraine on her well-deserved promotion, which is testament to Lorraine’s leadership in developing and refining Atomic 212°’s market-leading investment product to maximise impact for our clients. We’re excited to welcome Alex to the team to support the ever-growing trading function within our business.”

The hires follow a series of client wins and retentions for Atomic 212° over the past year, including BMW Australia and New Zealand, Bupa, the Northern Territory Government, Tourism Northern Territory, Northern Territory Major Events Company, Darrell Lea, Victoria University, My Muscle Chef, Growth Faculty, VetPartners, Adyen, and UKG.

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Top image: Lorraine Woods and Alexandra Thomas

The Opening Ceremony and the first day of competition at Paris 2024 has delivered the first ratings returns for Nine’s Olympic investment.

Nine’s main takeaway after about half of the first day of competition was a Total TV reach of 10.477 million across Channel 9, 9Gem and 9Now. The second half of Day 1 competition will be available in the TV ratings released On Monday.

The buzz for the Games never really starts until the Opening Ceremony unloads its razzle-dazzle and then the first start buzzer sounds at the pool. Both have delivered for Nine immediately.

The Matildas were on the Olympic stage on the day before the opening, but the 3.30am kick-off didn’t help live viewing. Then their 0-3 scoreline as they were blitzed by Germany didn’t encourage catch-up viewing of the mugging in Marseille.

Although the Opening Ceremony too kicked off in the middle of the night and was impacted by almost non-stop rain, the numbers were strong. Similarly, the audience responded as Australia set up Gold medal victories via swim heats and a very wet women’s time trial.

See also:

• 2024 Paris Olympics: Everything to know about Nine’s hosts and commentators

• Olympics on TV: How paying for Paris 2024 on Stan will be better than watching free on Nine

In the new world of Total TV and reach plus national average and BVOD details, Nine has posted the following results:

Saturday July 27 (Australian time) TV ratings

The 9Network’s broadcast of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, together with the coverage of Day 1 of competition (up until 2.00am AEST) secured a National Total TV Reach of 10.477 million across Channel 9, 9Gem and 9Now.

Nine’s Opening Ceremony hosts: Todd Woodbridge, Ally Langdon and Karl Stefanovic

Olympic Games Paris 2024 Day 1 Night Session (19:00-21:00) dominated its timeslot across Australia with Total People and all key demos. It achieved a National Total TV Reach of 4.583 million, a Total TV National Audience of 1.817 million and a BVOD audience of 211,000. Viewers watching this session were treated to the Men’s Basketball which saw the Boomers dominate Spain with a powerful win (92-80) in their first game.

The live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony of Olympic Games Paris 2024 (03:30-07:15) secured a National Total TV Reach of 2.138 million. The spectacular, but rain-soaked, extravaganza saw show-stopping performances from Celine Dion and Lady Gaga.*

Olympic Games Paris 2024 Day 1 Night Session 2 (21:00-22:30) convincingly won its timeslot across Australia with Total People and all key demos. The broadcast, which featured the Kookaburras defeat Argentina 1-0 in the Men’s Hockey, secured a National Total TV Reach of 4.007 million, a Total TV National Audience of 1.376 million and a BVOD audience of 191,000.

The replay of the Opening Ceremony of Olympic Games Paris 2024 (13:00-18:00) was the highest-reaching program of the day. It secured a National Total TV Reach of 4.616 million, a Total TV National Audience of 1.092 million and a BVOD audience of 75,000.

Olympic Games Paris 2024 Day 1 Late (22:30-24:00) dominated its timeslot across Australia with Total People and all key demos. It achieved a National Total TV Reach of 2.423 million, a Total TV National Audience of 827,000 and a BVOD audience of 118,000. Audiences in this slot saw Grace Brown win the Women’s Cycling Individual Time Trial to give Australia its first gold medal of the Paris Olympics. 

A total of 309 million minutes of content were streamed on 9Now, making it the BVOD platform’s most-watched day of all time.

(*Nine has noted an updated Total TV Average Audience figure for the live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony will be supplied Monday).

Visit Mediaweek daily during the Paris 2024 Olympics for TV ratings updates.

Ciaran Davis, CEO of ARN and Chair of industry body Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA), has called for measures to help radio work more collaboratively with the live music industry.

Giving evidence to the Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts as it looks into the Australian live music industry, Davis said “commercial radio has a long history of supporting emerging and established Australian artists and contributes to their economic development through royalty payments, which amounted to nearly $40 million in 2023.”

In 2022, commercial radio played 2.7 million Australian songs and broadcast 160,000 hours of Australian music.

“Like the music industry, radio is facing its own challenges – so to truly unlock the potential of radio supporting the live music industry, we need measures to ensure our industry can remain sustainable, thriving and innovative,” said Davis.

“Radio and music should be working together and we want to work together. Research, promotion and events, as well as working to achieve prominence for Australian radio on connected devices – keeping Australian radio and Australian music free and accessible for all – is something that is in all of our interests.”

It’s been a tough year for the Australian live music industry, with several major music festivals cancelled or postponed due to economic factors. 

The latest cancellation was Spilt Milk, which announced on Friday the festival would be taking a break in 2024. 

“Sorry pookies, we couldn’t get you the Spilt Milk you deserve this year. Sooo imma dip for a bit and come back when I can make all ur dreams come true. i miss u xx SPILT MILK,” the statement from the festival read.

Other major cancelled festivals include Splendour In The Grass, Falls Festival, and Groovin The Moo.

“We look forward to a future that is collaborative, creative and sustains the unique Australian voices and music across our country,” Davis concluded. 

See also: Commercial Radio & Audio names WeAre8’s Lizzie Young as industry body CEO

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Top image: Ciaran Davis

Southern Cross Austereo’s Triple M and Cricket Australia have unveiled a new multi-year agreement that will see the Triple M Network retain the exclusive FM metro broadcast rights for cricket, together with digital audio and metro DAB+ rights, for the next seven seasons.

Under the agreement, which stretches until 2030/31, SCA’s Triple M and LiSTNR will broadcast all the Australian men’s internationals games played in Australia, including Tests, One Day Internationals, and T20 internationals, and this summer will, for the first time, add the three Australian women’s T20 international games against England to its coverage.

The matches broadcast will include highlights such as the Australian men’s team playing five tests against India this summer and five tests against England in The Ashes in the summer of 2025, plus the Australian women’s team competing in The Ashes against England this summer.

“We are absolutely delighted to extend and expand our partnership with Cricket Australia for the next seven seasons,” SCA CEO, John Kelly, said. “This year, for the first time, Triple M adds women’s international cricket to its broadcast coverage as the Australian women’s team seeks to retain its number-one world ranking.

“The summer of cricket is a well-established Aussie tradition and Triple M and LiSTNR will bring listeners the best cricket coverage, with the network’s trademark irreverent banter, to entertain, inform and inspire audiences over summer.”

The first match to be broadcast on Triple M and LiSTNR will be on 4 November, when the Australian men’s team takes on Pakistan in a One Day International at the MCG.

All games will be broadcast on Triple M stations in the five metro cities, and will also be available on LiSTNR.

Kate Ingber, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager, business and legal affairs, said: “We are delighted to extend and enhance our audio partnership with Southern Cross Austereo for a further seven years as we enter an exciting period for the game. Cricket is the sound of summer and we are fortunate to have partners who will provide such knowledgeable and passionate coverage.

“Thank you to everyone at Southern Cross Austereo for your tremendous support of cricket and for bringing cricket to millions of Australians.”

Triple M will announce its commentary team before the season begins. 

On the eve of the Paris Olympics, Nine Radio has named its new Olympic studio after the broadcaster and commentator David ‘Thirsty’ Morrow.

The Paris Games would have been Morrow’s ninth Olympics as a commentator.

Morrow, who passed away last week after a battle with brain cancer, was celebrated at his funeral service yesterday, where the announcement was made by his close friend and colleague, Mark Levy.

Dozens of former and current colleagues including Jim Maxwell, Warren Ryan, Tim Gavel, Gordon Bray, Peter Wilkins, Mark Levy, Peter Psaltis, Darryl Brohmann, and Mark Riddell gathered to honour Morrow. Also present were more recent NRL stars and colleagues Andrew Johns, Paul Gallen, and Josh Morris.

Levy shared the poignant news during the service, saying, “David was a NSW country boy who moved to the big smoke to realise his dream as a commentator. I wish he was still here to help with our Olympics coverage from our new studio, but he will be with us in spirit. It gives me great honour to announce that our Nine Radio studio at Pyrmont will be known as The David Morrow Olympic Studio.”

The David Morrow Olympic Studio will be the heart of Nine Radio’s exclusive Olympic Games coverage.

Nine Radio managing director Tom Malone said: “Beyond his professional achievements, Thirsty was known for his generosity, mentorship, and unwavering dedication to sport. He loved athletes and he loved mentoring many young commentators. This is a fitting tribute to a giant of Australian broadcasting.”

See also: Inside 2GB’s dedicated Olympics studio, designed to put Nine ‘in good stead for many years’

The naming of the studio comes as journalists at Nine Publishing begin their five-day strike from Friday, spanning the opening weekend of the Games.

Media, Entertainment, and Arts Alliance (MEAA) members at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAtoday walked off the job at 11am AEST on Friday. Picket lines and rallies are being held outside Nine offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth.

In a statement, Nine called the decision to go ahead with the strike “disappointing,” but confirmed that there are “comprehensive plans are in place to ensure the production and distribution of Nine Publishing mastheads will not be impacted and our readers will continue to have access to unrivalled coverage of the Paris Olympics.”

See also: ‘We deserve better’: Nine journalists walk off job on first day of Olympics

Journey Beyond has launched its first masterbrand campaign, showcasing how it transcends the ordinary by delivering “Australia’s most iconic travel experiences.”

Journey Beyond owns and operates 16 brands across rail expeditions, tours, cruises, camps and lodges and attractions, including The Ghan, Indian Pacific, Outback Spirit, The Great Southern, Sal Sails, Journey Beyond Cruise Sydney, Melbourne Skydeck and Eureka89.

Created by Melbourne independent agency Town Square, which has worked with the company since 2021, the integrated We go further, to take you beyond campaign will aim to drive greater awareness of Journey Beyond as the curator of Australian travel and hospitality experiences.

The campaign will initially focus on the portfolio of names under the Journey Beyond umbrella.

“With extensive experience in bringing Australia’s most iconic experiences to life, we recognise the importance of elevating our own brand in what is a highly competitive tourism sector,” Justine Lally, executive general manager, marketing, Journey Beyond, said.

“This campaign reveals Journey Beyond’s dedication to ensuring our guests’ experiences go beyond the ordinary, across all of our businesses, reflecting the breadth and depth of experience within the group, and how Journey Beyond goes further to take its guests beyond.”

The campaign, which launched on 27 July, will run across TV – including the Olympics on Nine and 9Now – print, and digital.

Town Square founder, Danielle Moeller, said: “We’ve worked with Journey Beyond for a number of years now, and we’re delighted to bring Town Square’s considerable travel and tourism expertise to this project, casting light for the first time on the masterbrand behind some of Australia’s most loved tourism assets.”

Credits:

Client: Journey Beyond
Executive General Manager, Marketing: Justine Lally
Group Manager, Marketing: Kirsty Gunn

Creative & Media Agency: Town Square
Executive Creative Director: Brendan Day
Chief Strategy Officer: Jeff Malone
Head of Art: Greg Beer
Head of Production: Anna Morris
Senior Account Director: Carly Taylor
Account Manager: Georgia Papamichael
Editor: James Walker
Colour: Moodlab Film
Sound: Bang Bang Studios

Gaming company Zynga has launched Game of Thrones: Legends with a campaign by gaming specialist agency ICHI Worldwide, marking the return of Kit Harington to the Game of Thrones franchise.

“The creativity and care taken to create Game of Thrones: Legends is obvious and it feels completely natural to jump back into Westeros for this game,” said Harington. “This is a true love letter to the fans, of whom the franchise would be nothing without, and I’m honoured to pay tribute to them in this new campaign.”

The launch of Game of Thrones: Legends coincides with the currently airing season two of the popular prequel, House of the Dragon. The game allows players to build and lead their own Westeros house, honing their tactics and skills as they assemble a team of champions, equip weapons and gear, and face foes from the Game of Thrones universe.

“Our teams built Game of Thrones: Legends with the fans top of mind, and we knew our marketing campaign needed to match their energy and return players to the world of Westeros with a bang,” Jamie Conners, vice president of product and marketing at Zynga, tells Mediaweek.

“Kit Harington really resonates with Game of Thrones fans and we worked with ICHI Worldwide to show our players we were bringing them an authentic experience. Through this exciting spot and our Empire State Building activation in June, Ichi really helped us connect Game of Thrones: Legends with fans and players alike.”

Account director at ICHI Worldwide, Alexa Wallen, added: “Working across this trailer for Game of Thrones: Legends was a true collaboration between ICHI, Zynga, Kit Harington, and WB/HBO.

“We had a wonderful time working together to bring this piece to life and being a part of Kit’s reentrance into the Thrones world has truly been an honour. We are so excited with the reception it’s received so far, and we can’t wait to continue this collaboration.”

Earlier this month, creative agency Thinkerbell celebrated the return of House of the Dragon with a new campaign for BINGE featuring duelling hot sauces inspired by the series’ Green and Black Councils: ‘Revenge’ and ‘Dracarys’.

See also: House of the Dragon hot sauces duel in latest work for BINGE via Thinkerbell

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Top Image: Kit Harington

On Friday 26 July, the industry got together to kick goals for good at the UnLtd: Cup soccer tournament in Sydney.

The annual event saw 24 teams across the industry compete in fast rounds of indoor soccer at the Perry Park Sports Arena in Alexandria.

Blis, Seven, Taboola, and Cartology proceeded to the semi-finals. The final saw Seven beat Cartology with a final score of 4-0. Players of the day were Maddie Bart from Nine and Michael Lopes from Seven.

The event has been running for 13 years and raises funds and awareness for KidsXpress, a children’s mental health charity that delivers trauma-informed Expressive Therapy and Education Services to transform the lives of children impacted by adversity.

Finals – Cartology v Seven

Founder and CEO of KidsXpress, Margo Ward, said: “We are incredibly grateful to everyone here today for kicking goals for good. Your efforts help raise crucial funds and awareness for KidsXpress, which is dedicated to healing children from trauma.

“Childhood mental health issues often stem from traumatic experiences and stressful situations. KidsXpress ensures that these children receive the help they need, in the way they need it, precisely when they need it so that their issues don’t grow with them into adulthood. Every goal scored is a step towards healing and hope for these children. Together, we are changing lives.”

The event was sponsored by Paramount, with a guest appearance by Andy Harper, a former Australian national league football player, author, and media commentator for Paramount ANZ’s football coverage.

Nick Bower, general manager of ad sales at Paramount, said: “As the home of football, we are proud to support the UnLtd: Cup and see the industry come together to kick goals for good.

“There was some intense rivalry and plenty of great skills on the courts – congratulations to Seven for taking home the trophy. UnLtd: Cup is such a great way for our industry to compete and connect over a sport so many of us love, all whilst raising critical funds to help children heal from trauma.”

See also: UnLtd Bail Out 2024: Adland sent to the slammer for youth incarceration awareness