Sarah Grynberg has been executive producing the Hamish & Andy podcast since it started just over two years ago. She also produces PodcastOne’s true crime podcasts with Adam Shand.

After their summer break, Hamish & Andy returned in March which was their biggest ever month of downloads.

The duo haven’t referenced the COVID-19 crisis at all until recently when they explained they were recording as many episodes as they could at once ahead of what could be varying degrees of lockdown. “We love doing this show as an escape, and we deliberately aren’t mentioning the coronavirus situation,” they told listeners.

As to working with the radio-turned-podcast legends, Grynberg said.

“It is completely laid back, but as the same time we all work really hard. It is a big show, with amazing stunts and a lot of listener engagement because it is still the people’s show. When we can we fly people in from interstate to show off their special skills.”

The show is not unlike a radio production in that it has planned segments, the difference being podcasting gives the hosts more freedom to be creative.

The podcasts very rarely have guests – Amy Shark appeared on episode 59 over halfway through 2019 and she was the first guest for the year. “We try and keep it as evergreen content so linking the show to specific events doesn’t always work,” said Grynberg. “We don’t always say ‘no’ to guests, but the content has to fit the show.”

One of the trademark segments are the shout-outs from fans all around Australia and the world. “Anyone that has a beautiful greeting is played at the start of the show.”

Grynberg’s relationship with Hamish and Andy has enabled her to interview them both separately on her own podcast, A Life of Greatness.

The hosts attract listeners from all over who listen for a laugh. After explaining how some people use it as a release from sometimes stressful lives or stressful situations, Grynberg said: “It is a comedy relief for people, some of them whose lives can at times be hard. It gives back in a way you sometimes never would have expected.”

A not-so-secret weapon on the podcast is long time Hamish and Andy collaborator Jack Post, now a radio star in his own right as part of the team at Melbourne’s #1 FM breakfast program, The Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show. “Jack is a great guy, really hilarious, and very quick as well. It is wonderful having him on and he’s an integral part of the podcast.”

Trying to explain the Hamish & Andy phenomenon isn’t easy. Grynberg said: “People don’t get places just because…You get places because you put good out and good is received. They have a fabulous way of being and they have achieved things because they are constantly working hard and being down-to-earth. They are sharp and don’t miss a beat on anything. They are so approachable and absolutely amazing to work for.”

Listen to Hamish & Andy podcast here.
Listen to A Life of Greatness podcast here.

The World Game on Instagram

It’s not strictly a podcast, but perhaps close enough for inclusion here. SBS broadcaster Lucy Zelic is now hosting a weekly football show called The World Game on Instagram. Zelic is joined by The World Game journalist and content creator Nick Stoll at 1pm on Wednesdays.

Watch The World Game here on the Instagram app.

Em Rusciano launches Emsolation podcast

In this period of isolation, it just might be time to get a glass of wine, zone out and listen to Em Rusciano’s new podcast series on PodcastOne Australia.

Called Emsolation, Rusciano will be channelling some of her excess energy into light relief with her best friend and screen writer of the hit TV show Offspring, Michael Lucas. Together, Em and Michael will discuss the outrageous music, TV and online purchases getting them through this strange time.

Team Rusciano also includes her three dogs, baby and two teenage daughters, as well as her husband and performance coach, Scott, who will be offering advice on how to cope mentally while we’re all in isolation.

“I’m very excited to be doing this podcast,” said Rusciano. “I’m hoping to provide a small pocket of escape and a bit of fun for people during these self-isolating times. It allows me to channel my energy as a force for good, rather than use it to criticise the way my husband chews his food.”

SCA head of podcasting – PodcastOne Australia, Grant Tothill, said: “If you want to get some real relief from your isolation with campy monologues and diva dissections that you didn’t know you needed, listen to Em in Emsolation.”

Listen to Emsolation podcast here.

New from Adam Peacock, Howie and Nick McArdle

Economist and former politician Craig Emerson has joined Adam Peacock to discuss how our politicians work through a crisis like COVID-19 in the latest episode of Peacock Politics.

In a new episode of The Howie Games, Mark Howard catches up Kurt Fearnley. “An athlete with the rare mental strength to take himself beyond what most deem possible,” said Howard about the new episode.

Former Fox Sports rugby anchor Nick McArdle this week launched a new project he’s been putting together which he is calling The Playmaker’s Playbook. McArdle is putting his 30 years is sports broadcasting to use on his new podcast where he talks to icons of sport and the business of sport about leadership inside and outside the playing arena. The first episode was released on Wednesday evening and features Australian cricket coach Justin Langer who, among other things, shares some life advice he received from Kerry Packer.

The survey provides a quick read of the digital ad market ahead of the forthcoming quarterly online advertising expenditure reports that will be prepared by IAB with PwC as per usual (due out May).

The headline result is, not surprisingly, that 85% of brands have changed their digital ad investment over the last month, with more than half of brands reporting they are reviewing their advertising plans at least daily.

21% of respondents indicated they have paused all their ad spend, 57% have decreased some of their spend and 15% have either increased or maintained their spend.

Of those who have decreased spend, 31% reported they are delaying their spend, reporting they are still reviewing whether they will be in a position to invest later. 44% of respondents who have decreased spend noted that this covered brand and performance equally, overall performance and tactical investments have been hit hardest compared to brand investment, with companies adjusting their products and messages in this challenging market.

Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia commented: “The Australian advertising market is in step with the global experience, with some brands simply not in a position to spend at the moment and the majority of other brands adjusting their spend, creative messaging and tactics to suit the current market.”

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Like its predecessors, this three-hour visual feast will highlight Australia’s multicultural and Indigenous history with fascinating stories from our past.

Adam Kay, managing director and head of programming, Mint Pictures, told Mediaweek:

“The Chocolate Factory: Inside Cadbury Australia is a major deviation from the previous three iterations of slow TV. Instead of physical journeys across land and water in The Ghan, The Indian Pacific and The Kimberley Cruise, this time we’re following the paddock to market journey of Cadbury’s Easter eggs and bunnies – from the sugarcane fields of Mackay in north Queensland to a dairy farm in Natone in northwest Tasmania and then to Cadbury’s factories in Hobart and Melbourne, where viewers will witness in all its decadence the Willy-Wonka inspired chocolate-making process.

“This time, to enhance those factory experiences, we have added a unique musical score that will take the viewers into a world full of emotive and hypnotic feelings.”

Getting the big chocolate maker on board was the first task facing Kay and his team: “Working with a global corporate giant in Cadbury was at first daunting and many a meeting and recce took place before all parties were on the same page and actually that relationship ended up being key to the success of the whole film. They opened their minds to the genre of slow TV and helped devise the journey of the Easter egg and bunny that encompassed Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria.”

While tracking the progress of an Easter egg may not seem such a big undertaking, it was!

“As with all the slow TV productions I am immensely proud of what we delivered,” said Kay. “This one was more challenging as it was very different and had many more elements to it. Whilst we had some of the old school traditional elements of slow TV in the film, we had to find solutions to overcome the challenges of working in a factory and adhering to the ‘good food manufacturing policies’ that were in place.

“With so many different processes in the factory it was important to be able to cover them consistently with a range of cameras and lenses and also to keep a uniform style as we had done with previous slow TV productions. The factory floor is not a space for bigger cameras, nor for lots of equipment so we utilised drones, smaller high-end cameras on sliders and gimbals and borrowed many a ladder and scissor lift!”

The filmmakers packed a lot into a short shoot, and were careful not to deliver a long TV commercial. “This film ran the risk of becoming corporatized, but what we ended up with was a paddock-to-market journey of chocolate and the hypnotic rhythm of the mass-production of Easter eggs and bunnies akin to the Charlie & the Chocolate Factory experience,” said Kay.

“Of course there is no film without a story and we had to be sure that we could garnish enough history, social and multicultural beats to be able to satisfy the SBS charter. In the end, after a nine-day shoot and months in the edit suite, we have an outstanding three-hour film, the like that has never been seen before in Australia. It is a film built on the founding pillars of slow TV and one that has without doubt progressed the genre. And with the addition of a unique score, the bar has been substantially raised.”

Kay added he thought it is a good watch for challenging times.

“With this episode of slow TV we will appeal to every viewer’s inner child. The so-called reality TV juggernaut that exists in this country creates a manufactured and false outlook on life. Slow TV lets you create your own feelings, is true family entertainment and very good for your mental health. The Chocolate Factory is the ultimate family viewing where you can indulge in three hours of slooooow TV. It’s good for the soul in this stressed out crazy time we are all living in. It will let you drool over footage of chocolate being made and viewer advice, have chocolate on standby!”

Chocolate facts: In 2020 alone, Cadbury will produce 477 million Easter Eggs and 14 million Chocolate Bunnies, which requires 6,014 tonnes of cocoa, 87 million litres of milk and 54 million kilograms of sugar.

Slow TV: An innovative style of television which invites the viewer on an immersive journey, Slow TV first originated in Europe. SBS introduced local audiences to the genre in 2018 with The Ghan – Australia’s Greatest Train Journey. It was an SBS ratings hit with 1.75 million viewers (Combined Metro + Regional).

Escape’s evolved content strategy – new horizons – will launch this Sunday as a window on the world as consumers keep the travel dream alive and anticipate their next holiday adventure.

As the country adapts to travel and social restrictions, Australians are seeking inspirational travel content to help them escape. Unique visitors to escape.com.au have increased 42% (Adobe Analytics) and social referrals are up 265% for March year-on-year. News Corp Australia’s total readership is up 81%.

The Escape editorial enhancements include several new features such as Armchair Traveller, where readers can enjoy a destination from their couch with expertly curated virtual tours, playlists, movies, books and recipes; Expedition Happiness, where comedians share their funniest travel experiences; Two for the Road, personal road trip memories and adventures; along with content focusing on wellness, walks and nature.

Gemma Battenbough, general manager of travel at News Corp Australia said consumers are actively searching for ways to keep the travel dream alive and stay inspired during isolation.

“As the world retreats into our homes, connecting with audiences is even more meaningful. Our new horizons approach to content with Escape is about giving consumers reassurance, comfort and a sense of hope that we will get through this,” she said.

“We’ve seen over the last few weeks that our audience is seeking escapism in virtual travel experiences and memories shared within social environments and they’re relying on passion points and lifestyle content as relief from the news. Our new horizons content has been designed to meet this demand.

“While this is a tough time for the industry, it’s critical that we continue to engage with and maintain our audience’s love of travel so that they emerge still curious and open to the world. We are adapting – as are travel marketers – and are here for travel brands through this crisis and beyond.”

Escape new horizons begins this Sunday April 12 in The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD), The Sunday Mail (SA) and escape.com.au. 

Media heavyweights Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman are the minds behind the new digital platform Quibi which has launched in the US and Canada and is offering a 90-day free trial before costing US$4.99 for ad and ad-free for US$7.99. This is the biggest release of a new platform since Apple TV+ and Disney + launched near the backend of last year. 

Australians are also able to sign up to the new service. After downloading the Quibi app, users can start the free 90-day trial and agree to be billed $12.99 a month after that.

What sets the platform apart from its major competitors is no piece of content will be longer than 10 minutes, and that includes movies (which will be released in chapters). Another big difference is that the content can only be watched on a mobile device.

After raising nearly $1.8 billion in funding the platform launched with 50 pieces of content each starting with three episodes that include scripted, lifestyle, reality, and news. Quibi has promised 25 pieces of new content will be released each week.

The content released on the platform will feature the likes of Chrissy Teigan, LeBron James, Bill Murray, Steven Spielberg, Will Forte, Demi Lovato, Ridley Scott, Lena Waithe, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Lopez, and Reese Witherspoon with news content from producers such as BBC, TMZ, and The Weather Channel.

Katzenberg was the head of Walt Disney Studios before starting DreamWorks SKG, with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. In 1999 he tried to create Pop.com with Spielberg, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard as a content hub for video shorts but the project collapsed before launch.

Whitman worked at Disney, DreamWorks, and Hasbro before she helped establish eBay as a global powerhouse with 15,000 workers and $8 billion in annual revenue. She then had a failed campaign to become the governor of California before then running Hewlett-Packard till 2017.

The company has had success in negotiating content partnerships due to paying for costs and licensing rights, allowing the content creators to retain copyright after a set number of years. The platform is planning to separate itself from short term content competitors like YouTube by offering higher production values, it is also reported that every episode is required to end with a cliffhanger.

Some key content to look out for:

Most Dangerous Game

• Most Dangerous Game: Starring Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz the thriller was originally planned as a TV pilot before being turned into a screenplay broken into short-form chapters.
• Flipped: Will Forte and Kaitlin Olson star in this comedy series about two house flippers hired by a drug cartel.
• Chrissy’s Court: A Judge Judy-style show starring Chrissy Teigan.
• Survive: Sophie Tuner plays a character that is forced to survive in the wilderness following a plane crash.
• Punk’d: A revival of the MTV classic now sees Chance the Rapper take the reigns as host which was originally held by Ashton Kutcher.

Ozark, Season 3, Netflix

The critically acclaimed Netflix Original Ozark released its 10 episode third season on March 27 starring Jason Bateman (who also serves a director and executive producer) and Laura Linney 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 due to the blend of suburban family life and the high stakes world of the international drug trade.

Arrested Development, Season 5 Part 2, Netflix

Arrested Development has conditioned its fans to get used to waiting with five seasons over the last 16 years with its first airing back in November of 2003, but the shows fans who rely on Netflix can now watch what could be the final episodes of the series. Despite the second half of season 5 coming out internationally on Netflix on March 15 last year the most recent episodes of the famed comedy have only made it on Netflix Australia recently due to a deal with Foxtel. The digital platform now has all five seasons of the show including the two Netflix produced seasons and the remixed season 4 which was released in May 2018.

Westworld, Season 3, Foxtel

The HBO produced Westworld has been releasing its third season on Foxtel after a two-year absence (the same gap between season one and two) and has taken the show to new places after the major plot change that occurred in the season two finale, including the addition of Emmy winner Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame to the cast. New episodes can be seen at 11 am on Mondays.

The Blacklist, Season 7, Netflix

After an initial delay on receiving new episodes, Netflix is now up to date on the latest season of the crime thriller after it returned from its three-month mid-season hiatus. With 146 episodes and counting the show is not short of twists and turns with the long weekend a perfect time for a binge. 

Tiger King, Netflix, limited series

Netflix’s true-crime documentary series is the talk of the town at the moment with the main focus being the life of zookeeper Joe Exotic and other people in the world of big cats. The seven episode series has quickly become one of the most-watched shows on Netflix.

Fleabag, Amazon Prime Video, Seasons 1-2

If you haven’t watched the show that dominated last years Emmy awards and pushed Phoebe Waller-Bridge to stardom, then the long weekend is the perfect time to watch both seasons of Fleabag on Amazon Prime Video with the show only having 12 episodes to date.

Bloom, Stan, Season 2

The six-part Stan original series, which was filmed in various locations across Victoria, welcomes back its stars from the first season, including two-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver. In season two, time has passed and news of the miracle has spread, but this time around the plant has transformed and the experience and its side effects are far more severe. You can watch every episode of the series now on Stan with season two being released on April 9.

Black Monday, Stan, season 2

The ten-episode, second season of dramatic comedy series Black Monday has aired back-to-back episodes on Sunday’s since March 15 on Stan. The series is executive produced by Emmy nominee and Golden Globe Award winner Don Cheadle, who stars with two-time Tony Award nominee and Grammy winner Andrew Rannells (Girls), Regina Hall (Little, Girls Trip) and Screen Actors Guild Award winner Paul Scheer (Veep).

The first season of Bloom came to a perfect, stand-alone ending, but having now watched the first two episodes of its second season, there is a good reason for its to be back. Legendary actors Jacki Weaver, Bryan Brown, Terry Norris, Genevieve Morris, Phoebe Tonkin, Tom Budge, John Stanton and Rod Mullinar are all back, but there are also new cast members like Jacqueline McKenzie, Ben Oxenbould and Gary Sweet.

The second season zeroes in on Anne Charleston, who returns to play the uptight Loris. After eating the strange flower that turns old people young again, she transforms into Bella Heathcote, leading the town’s hot priest (Toby Schmitz) to think it is a “miracle”, even though “hot priest” is an oxymoron today, given most are old and/or in jail.

The Secrets She Keeps dropped on 10 play last weekend and having not seen the trailer, I was able to binge the whole thing without any plot spoilers whatsoever. I thought it was terrific and of all the recent attempts by Aussie FTA networks to create their own female-led version of Big Little Lies (e.g. Bad Mothers, Secret Bridesmaids Business etc), this is the best one yet.

It stars Aussie actress Jessica De Gouw, best known for working overseas, and Laura Carmichael, best known for playing Downton Abbey’s Lady Edith. They are both sensational, as are Michael Dorman, Ryan Corr and Elizabeth Alexander (47 years after Seven Little Australians). It is also good to see some fresh and culturally diverse actors playing the crime investigators.

Another one to binge this Easter is Twin (SBS On Demand), a new Nordic thriller about twin brothers, who surf … in the Arctic circle. Like all good twin stories, there’s plenty of mistaken identity and the island scenery is spectacular.

Also check out Guilt (Thursday on BBC First), a Scottish drama about more troublesome brothers. The accents are thick, but the opening scene, pre-credits, is an absolute cracker and will demand you watch more.

MasterChef Australia (Easter Monday on 10) gets off to a great start with an all-star cast of returning contestants and three new judges, as introduced by guest chef Gordon Ramsay. And Modern Family (Wednesday on Seven) finally wraps up after 11 years and 250 episodes.

Happy Easter everyone, stay home and watch TV.

Listen to Andrew Mercado on a new Mediaweek podcast with TV Tonight’s David Knox and Mediaweek’s James Manning.

Listen here.

Wednesday news highlights
Seven News 1,314,000/1,246,000
Nine News 1,143,000/1,071,000
ABC News 961,000
A Current Affair 788,000/543,000 (7pm & 7.30pm)
7.30 785,000
The Project 392,000/597,000
10 News First 536,000/338,000
The Latest 410,000/309,000
Nine News special: COVID-19 386,000
Sunrise 342,000
Today 254,000
The Drum 252,000
News Breakfast 252,000
SBS World News 192,000

Nine: Paramedics did 545,000 in between the news programs.

Seven: A third night of House Rules screened after 7pm. The numbers this week all holding over 600,000:
Monday 679,000/670,000
Tuesday 643,000
Wednesday 620,000

No Front Bar last night with Seven giving the format a rest.

10: Two episodes of Bondi Rescue on 444,000 and 361,000. Bull followed with 262,000 and 204,000 for a repeat.

ABC: Hard Quiz did 778,000 with Mad as Hell on 715,000.

SBS: Wrap up night with History of Britain ending on 273,000. The final Dublin Murders then did 203,000.