Mediaweek goes inside the MasterChef Australia kitchen to talk with the three new MasterChef judges Jock Zonfrillo, Andy Allen and Melissa Leong. Just how will the audience welcome the replacements for Matt, Gary and George?

How long did it take to say ‘yes’ to join the show?

Andy: Absolute no brainer for me. Coming from the show originally I wanted to do it as much as I possibly could. I have got six business partners who all work very hard in our business which allows me to go off and do something amazing like this. It was an easy decision.

Jock: It was a harder decision for me because I have a lot going on with multiple businesses including a three-hat restaurant in Adelaide. It was tough. But because of what we do with indigenous acknowledgement and engagement [via The Orana Foundation] this is a great platform to spread that message. I will try and bring indigenous ingredients into the MasterChef kitchen on a daily basis instead of just on a special episode.

Melissa: I am a freelance journalist, so it was a bit easier for me. The opportunity to come on to a show like this – such a high calibre and such a loved show – is the opportunity of a lifetime.

Matt, Gary and George all sent their best

Jock: I know all three of them as friends and when we spoke they wished us all individually the best.

Andy: It’s a tight knit community the food industry – there’s still lots of love between us and Gary, Matt and George – maybe even more now to be honest!

It’s the food, not the people, but when your time’s up…

Andy said he didn’t feel any pressure from having to pass judgement on former friends and colleagues returning to the show to compete.

“No at all – I have worked with most of them since the show and earned their respect. I am very comfortable passing judgement on what is a plate of food.”

Jock: “And that’s important. All we are doing is judging on the plate of food that is put in front of us, not the person who gave it to us. That can be a tough call and after just a few weeks of filming there were already some very emotional moments.”

Melissa: “We never want to send anybody home, but that is the nature of the show. All we can do is critique the food on the day and then be really honest and heartfelt about that.”

How prepared were you for the first elimination?

Andy: “Not at all. I thought it was part of the process of the show, but it is hard when the contestants all care so much, no just about the competition, but every plate of food they put up, whether it be to their family, friends or at work. To tell them that it is not good enough is really emotional.”

Jock: “It is hard because we really care about them –we want them to succeed, we want them to win and put up great dishes day after day. It is very hard to deliver the bad news and criticism, no matter how constructive it is.”

Testing the judges’ chemistry

If MasterChef makers Endemol Shine Australia and Network 10 tested the chemistry between the judges, they did it in a clever way. “No, they didn’t,” said Andy when asked. “It proves how well they do their job because we all got along immediately like a house on fire. We had a lovely dinner not long ago at Mel’s house one evening and all our partners came. We hang out at work and outside work. We have a great friendship.”

How tough is it in the food business now?

Gordon Ramsay with Andy, Mel and Jock in week one of MasterChef Australia 2020

Andy: “People still have a strong desire to be part of the industry, despite the current challenges. The former contestants in this series really want to win this series because it gives them a platform and a big old chunk of cash to go out and build their dreams. There is lots of hard work, determination and passion going into every day in this competition because they really want to win.”

Jock: “No matter how hard it is in the industry now, food continues to be something that connects everyone every day. There is going to be no shortage of career opportunities or avenues to pursue in food.”

Melissa: “When you work in the food space you love it fiercely. Nobody who works in food wants anything else but to be here. That bonds us all very much. This is the second time these contestants have been here. When they go back out into the world they have a renewed vigour and love for it.”

Advice from EP Marty Benson

Jock: “We get on well because we are both Scotsmen. Between Pete Newman (Endemol Shine Australia chief content officer) and Marty they knew a lot about us, and they have seen the individual TV projects we had done over the years.

“The advice we have all had individually is, ‘Be yourselves. We employed you for what you are, not some other character.’ People that know me get that I am very black and white. What you see is what you get. And if you don’t like that you can f-off!” [Laughs]

Has the show and the team changed much?

Andy: “It is a big beast and there’s many people here that I worked with on my previous visit. Benny the cameraman has been on all seasons and there are many others still here from my season. That is reassuring because it is such a great thing to work on.”

Melissa: “There are lots of new structural elements that people won’t have seen before. That is keeping us on our toes and certainly the contestants as well. Every day we walk onto set there is something new and exciting for us and them.”

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Top Photo: Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo

Mediaweek, under #WFH conditions of course, spoke to Nova Entertainment chief technology officer Matt Steadman about how the company had adapted to the new normal.

“Previous to this crisis we have always had plans in place should announcers become ill,” Steadman told Mediaweek. “We have always understood we have had the tools and the talent to deal with whatever eventuates. But this situation has impacted an entire industry that has had to pivot very quickly to operate differently.

“Getting announcers to work from home on very short notice plus general office and admin staff also working from home, something that was organised in a 72-hour period, was quite a ride.”

Despite the technical and logistical challenges, Steadman noted “it all went reasonably well”.

Some Nova Entertainment staff have had a few tech challenges, but Steadman said they weren’t necessarily NBN-related, noting the broadband service had held up well for them. “We have been pleasantly surprised by the ability to carry out work from home, even when much of the country is online working from home.”

Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa with Sarah, Tom and Matt

When it comes to broadcast kit that announcers need to work from home, Steadman said that can depend on the announcer. “Nowadays it can be just as simple as someone’s mobile phone. We do have announcers on air now from home where all we have done is ship them a microphone and headphones that plug straight into their mobile phone and the Nova technology allows us to connect them from there.”

Nova 96.9’s Sarah McGilvray

He noted that most shows across the Nova and smoothfm networks continue to operate with at least one person still in the studio. “We still really need someone to push the buttons. We can offer more sophisticated kit for announcers at home who might want to do things like sound effects etc. There is a sliding scale of equipment we can deploy.”

smoothfm evening announcer Cameron Daddo

There has been a run on audio equipment and suppliers have been out of stock of some items. Nova has been using microphones from its on-air studios as there has been less demand for their use. “In times like this we are not too fussy – as long as the audio quality sounds acceptable, we will use it.”

Steadman said a good rule of thumb when it comes to microphones is the more you spend, the better the quality. “A couple of hundred dollars will get you something that sounds really, really good. Listeners understand if people aren’t in studios it will sound a little different.”

smoothfm 91.5 More Music Breakfast host Mike Perso

Nova Entertainment’s primary remote communication tool is Microsoft Teams. “We were very well set up for people to join meetings from wherever they may be. Zoom also works well for others, but we haven’t had a need for it.”

It is expected that crisis management plans will be very different in the future. “All broadcasters will take a lot of learnings from this,” said Steadman. “Most of them will be quite positive when we all review what we have been able to achieve at very short notice. Over time we will detail what worked and what didn’t work which will put us in better shape than we have ever been.”

smoothfm afternoon announcer Simon Diaz – outside and inside his caravan solution

Steadman listed Tom Ivey, breakfast EP for Sydney breakfast show Fitzy and Wippa, when it comes to those most enthusiastically grasping the remote broadcasting opportunity. “Tom had to broadcast out of the back seat of his car because he didn’t want to wake up the small children sleeping in the house. It was a challenge for him, but the creative solution actually worked very well.”

smoothfm’s Ty Frost has also risen to the #WFH challenge: “Ty has equipped himself with a good set up, claiming there a few things he can do from his home studio that he would like to be able to mimic in the main on-air studio. A lot of announcers are audio nerds.”

smoothfm morning announcer Ty Frost

Steadman said the nerds didn’t always need to clear their home solutions with the chief technology officer first. “We trust our good staff and give them some leeway.”

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Top Photo: Mel Doyle in her home studio

Radio is the most consumed platform according to SCA with 66% of listeners working from home during March and listening on-demand through live radio streaming on mobile, smart speakers and podcasts. Which has seen SCA improve its results such as:

• Weekday listeners up 15% in the past 14 days to the end of March
• Total live radio streaming listening hours consumed is up 12.4% to 9.11 million, compared to February
• Smart speaker live radio streaming is up 9.8% to 1.7 million listening hours; listening sessions are 2+ hours and 19% of all SCA live radio streaming occurs on a smart speaker
• SCA podcasting downloads are up 55% over the same period with catch Up Radio podcasts up 66% and original podcasts up 43%
• More than 460,000 news on demand listens for March, a month on month increase of 130%, and more than double the increases during the Summer bushfires.

SCA’s research team also found these insights: 

• One in four (24%) of SCA’s audience is consuming more radio than they did prior to the COVID-19 outbreak
• More than a quarter (26%) of SCA’s audience expects to consume more radio in the next month
• 66% of SCA’s audience who are working from home will be listening to radio 
• 40% of SCA’s audience expects to consume the same amount or more podcasts in the next month
• 64% of SCA’s audience expects to consume the same amount or more music streaming in the next month.

SCA Chief Content Officer, Dave Cameron, said: “We have now comfortably eclipsed the previous all-time monthly streaming record to reach 9.11 million and it’s unprecedented that news makes up 10% of that figure, It’s also great to see podcasting has grown 55% month on month.”

“Our current listener behaviour is showing that our audiences are already, and will continue to, rely on audio to stay updated, informed, connected and comforted. SCA’s content teams have also pivoted to produce some fantastic content to keep listeners happy and to enjoy music or a laugh in these anxious times, as well as a series of random acts of kindness. I’m incredibly proud of our team who are working really diligently to keep listeners informed and entertained.”

SCA Head of News & Current Affairs, Natasha Jobson, said:  “Since early March we have gone with a ‘COVID-19 facts first’ approach, carefully avoiding  the hype and scaremongering and offering only the most legitimate information possible.

“A revised rostering system now allows our journalists to focus on writing, audio editing, interviewing and reading roles – with a large portion now doing that from their ‘home newsroom’ set ups. We are mobilised to deliver news from anywhere, for anywhere. We are sharing findings from SCA’s research team with listeners, such as their biggest concerns around COVID-19 and also some lighter information, such as the most popular board game to play whilst at home – Monopoly for the win!” 

SCA Chief Sales Officer, Brian Gallagher, said: “Radio has a unique ability to reach and connect with communities  and is an essential platform in emergency situations, such as our recent bushfires, floods and now COVID-19. As a broadcast and streaming business, we have the technology and systems in place to broadcast through these challenging times without interruption to our services.

“People turn to radio as a companion and for social connection with trusted and much-loved voices. We continue to listen to our audience via our research panels to gain insights into their listening and purchasing behaviour, attitudes towards COVID-19 and to the new world of working from home. As a result of this ongoing research, our advertising partners are able to pivot their messages to ensure they cut through in challenging times.”

“One World: Together at Home” is not a telethon, but rather a global broad entertainment special to celebrate the heroic efforts of community health workers and support the World Health Organisation and the global fight to end COVID-19.

The event is curated by Lady Gaga and will feature exclusive appearances by Alanis Morissette, Andrea Bocelli, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Burna Boy, Chris Martin, David Beckham, Eddie Vedder, Elton John, FINNEAS, Idris and Sabrina Elba, J Balvin, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kerry Washington, Lang Lang, Lizzo, Maluma, Paul McCartney, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan and Stevie Wonder. Friends of Sesame Street will also be on hand to help unify and inspire people around the world.

The two-hour program will be hosted by a trio of US network late night hosts: Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert and will include performances from the world’s biggest artists with multimillion-dollar pledges to the WHO’s Solidarity Response Fund. Audrey Morrissey (“The Voice,” “Songland”) and production company Live Animals will produce the special in partnership with Global Citizen.

The special will connect artists with audiences on a global scale, also airing on BBC ONE as well as the following networks and platforms:

• NBCUniversal: NBC, Bravo, E!, MSNBC, MSNBC.com, NBCSN, NBC News, NBCNews.com, NBC News on YouTube, Peacock, SYFY and USA.
• Walt Disney Television: ABC, ABC News, ABC News Live, Freeform and Nat Geo.
• ViacomCBS: CBS, Channel 5 in the UK, Network 10 in Australia, and Telefe in Argentina; BET and MTV globally across 180+ countries; and CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV2, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land and VH1 in the US.
• Bell Media platforms in Canada, MultiChoice and RTE.
• BBC One will broadcast an edited version of the event for UK audiences on April 19.

“One World: Together at Home” will also be a multi-hour digital broadcast streaming online on multiple global platforms, including Alibaba, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Facebook, Hulu, Instagram, LiveXLive, Tencent, Tencent Music Entertainment Group, TIDAL, TuneIn, Twitch, Twitter, Yahoo and YouTube. This digital special will include additional artists and performances from all over the globe as well as unique stories from the world’s healthcare heroes.

For information about how to tune in and take action, visit www.globalcitizen.org/togetherathome.

That’s the message from Australia’s largest independent news publisher ACM as new audience data shows ACM’s trusted voice delivering readers at record levels.

A statement from the regional publisher release this week said:

With a network of newspapers and news sites across the country, including 14 daily titles such as The Canberra Times, Newcastle Herald and Illawarra Mercury, ACM is playing a vital role as the primary source of COVID-19-related breaking news and essential information in Australia’s largest non- metropolitan population centres.

ACM chief revenue officer Tony Kendall thanked leading national advertisers who are continuing to reach out to regional consumers however pointed out that many advertisers are missing a very large engaged audience; “if businesses only advertised in the metro newspapers they would miss out on up to 2 million* Australians who read ACM publications across the country”.

“Our trusted environments and audience volumes provide the perfect opportunity for message cut- through,” he said.

“But many important messages and operating updates from advertisers are not reaching much of the 36 per cent of Australians** who live outside the 5 major capitals due to their ongoing focus on metropolitan publications.”

ACM chief marketing officer Paul Tyrrell said ACM’s internal audience data showed “web sessions for March were up by 99 per cent year on year to just under 50 million for the month.***”

“We’ve certainly hit the mark with what readers are looking for,” Tyrrell said.

“As well as free rolling coverage of essential COVID-19 news updates, we’re focused on finding the good news stories from around the country as well as offering readers stuck at home our Living in Lockdown pages to beat the boredom”

The Living in Lockdown pages include puzzles, recipes and fitness advice, as well a weekly history column by Australia’s premier national institutions, such as the National Gallery of Australia, the Australian War Memorial and the National Film and Sound Archive, celebrating treasured items in their respective collections that help tell the Australian story.

“Across our digital assets we’ve seen incredible audience growth across the board,” Tyrrell said.

“Even with the amount of free digital content available, our online subscriptions continue to grow with a jump of 13 per cent in new digital subscriptions in March.

“As more and more readers self-isolate or work from home we’ve also seen a spike in new home delivery subscriptions of our printed daily publications with March new delivery subscriptions up 195 per cent from February.”

To make it even easier for advertising clients to reach ACM’s 7.7 million-strong**** audience we have changed the way we are doing business including:

• Daily mastheads supplied material deadline has been extended to 6pm on day of print.
• Non-daily supplied material deadline has been extended to two hours before print
• Our design resources can assist on the day of print should you need help.

The IMAA launched the series of free professional advice webinars to provide expert guidance and strategies to help its members navigate the financial, legal, economic and HR complexities as a result of COVID-19.

Presented by Foxtel Media, the Paul Murray webinar will be held on Wednesday 8 April at 12.00 pm exclusively for IMAA members. Murray who hosts Paul Murray Live on Sky News Australia will discuss the implications of COVID-19 on the Australian economy and our economic forecast.

The second webinar focuses on how Facebook is managing its people and remote teams through COVID-19. Harry Lowes and Ashley Jenkins will share Facebook’s experiences on this HR journey and the webinar will be held on Wednesday 15 April at 12.00pm.

The first webinar was held on 1 April and featured Marc Walsh, Principal Client Advisor at Altus Financial.

Further information is available at: https://www.theimaa.com.au/

There is a new Digital Original number one in Netflix’s Ozark, and Outlander is the new top show on top of the Overall TV chart in New Zeland. The only show still on top from last week is Brooklyn Nine-Nine which sits atop the Overall TV Demand charts in Australia for the third straight week.

The critically acclaimed Netflix Original Ozark released its third season on the platform on March 27 and it has quickly made its way to the top of the Digital Original charts. The show stars Jason Bateman (who also serves a director and executive producer) and Laura Linney (pictured) who play a married couple who have been forced launder money for a Mexican drug cartel after relocating to the Ozarks. The show has been compared to Breaking Bad and has currently released 30 episodes over three seasons.

Outlander has captured the top spot on the Overall TV chart in New Zealand after narrowly missing out on the number one spot in Australia. The show released the first of its 13 episodes of its fifth season on February 16. The series is created by Starz and is based on a book series of the same name by Diana Gabaldon and can be seen on Foxtel in Australia. The series follows Caitriona Balfe who plays a married former World War II nurse who is transported back to Scotland in 1743 and is caught up in the Jacobite risings.

Tuesday news highlights
Seven News 1,306,000/1,215,000
Nine News 1,182,000/1,1047,000
ABC News 1,012,000
7.30 801,000
A Current Affair 749,000/562,000 (7pm & 7.30pm)
The Project 423,000/562,000
10 News First 524,000/319,000
The Latest 412,000
Sunrise 348,000
The Drum 313,000
Insight 294,000
Nine News special: COVID-19 267,000
News Breakfast 265,000
Today 246,000
SBS World News 195,000

Nine: An encore screening of David Attenborough Seven World One Planet did 303,000. Nine’s COVID-19 late news then did 267,000 indicating the lead-in is critical to the late news numbers and perhaps interest is waning.

Seven: House Rules did well again the 7pm timeslot. Could this have ramifications for the return of Home and Away? The channel has first mover advantage with House Rules building an audience this week ahead of the launch of MasterChef and Lego Masters later this month. The second night of House Rules was on 643,000 after launching with 679,000 and 600,000 on Monday.

The Latest then did 412,000 followed by The Good Doctor on 318,000.

10: The channel screened Coronavirus Australia: Our Story after 7.30pm with 385,000 watching.

The usual Tuesday line-up followed with NCIS on 324,000 and then NCIS: Los Angeles on 231,000.

ABC: Foreign Correspondent did 515,000 followed by Easter in Australia with Jeremy Fernandez on 267,000.

SBS: Great Canadian Railway Journeys was the channel’s second most-watched show last week with 283,000. The audience last night was on 292,000. The channel’s biggest Tuesday audience was 294,000 watching an episode of Insight about age gap relationships.