The key takeaways from the report were:

• Revenue declined by 33% to $205.0m
• oOh! maintained its market share in Australia and New Zealand out of home markets
• Underlying1 EBITDA of $10.8m compared to $56.0m in prior corresponding period
• Underlying NPATA2 loss of $16.9m compared to $18.2m profit in prior corresponding period”
• Reported Net Loss after Tax of $27.5m (post AASB16)
• Strengthened balance sheet and focus on cost reduction and cash management to manage through the unprecedented market and audience decline caused by COVID-19

oOhmedia! CEO Brendon Cook spoke with Mediaweek about these results and how the company is managing the pandemic moving forward.

“At the end of the day I don’t think anyone is going to be reporting huge profit gains in the media sector, but the key is the strength of your balance sheet and your ability to come out of this as the audience returns and the economy returns.”

Cook said it was imperative that the company ensured that it maintained costs and cashflow while also putting emphasis on attracting the media dollar.

“Coming through the Covid-period we spoke to our property business partners about where there has been majority of decline in areas and working cohesively together on how we could handle that circumstance. We also sat down and looked at our cost base and eliminated any unnecessary expenses. It was also important that we made sure the market understood we have audiences and the audience is there so you can compete for revenue in the market.”

Cook said that the sector is starting to recover with urban audiences accelerating and regional audiences almost back to normal, and that they are now better at predicting trends during Covid.

“No one was a great predictor in April and May, but we tracked our audiences in Australia and New Zealand, and we are able to know where our audience is and where they are moving. When the level-four lockdown was announced in Victoria, we used the New Zealand level-four lockdown as an indicator and were able to predict audiences in metro Melbourne to a reasonable extent and also the comebacks through each lockdown restriction.

“Advertisers want audience and people with spending money and we are able to make the adjustments to reach the people in the right environment for them.”

Junkee

When asked about the digital media company Junkee Media, Cook said that considering the circumstances it is performing well.

“Junkee is chugging along okay in terms of the business, all of our auxiliary businesses are doing better than expected which is a positive.”

Cook has said one positive of the pandemic is it has allowed them to launch a few things a bit quicker, one of them was the Junkee Network, which launched earlier this month.

The Junkee Network which is a combination of Junkee Media’s content platforms with oOh!’s out of home assets in venues and universities across the country.

The network will feature content Junkee Media’s Junkee, Punkee and AWOL titles on oOh!’s digital screens in over 100 university and TAFE campuses that reach 1.2 million students, plus more than 220 social venues.

“The reality is we have a sales team selling a digital online product and digital out of home product as one thing targeting very discreet audience with quality research. We believe that we have proven that the combination of out of home, digital and social does drive incredible value for clients in terms as results and this is the first chance to sell this as a package.”

Sydney-based independent agency Frontier Australia likes to be a one-stop shop for its clients.

“We have been going for over 20 years. It started as an independent media agency and then evolved pretty quickly into full service when we brought in internal creative services,” co-founder Steven King told Mediaweek.

“Most of what we have done over the journey has been largely media strategy and planning and buying, but with an understanding of how important the message and the creative is as well.

“Everything we do is focused on how to get the best performing campaign to market to achieve the client’s goals. In the last six or seven years we have been really focused on data to drive that and we have invested in building a data team. We have developed a media proprietary attribution tool to measure campaign performance based on the client outcomes we are looking for.” Frontier has labelled that product APEX.

“We are an agency that is absolutely focused on performance for clients, getting them outcomes they need. Measuring the advertising to make sure we understand what’s working and what’s not working. We consider everything we do with a media and a creative hat on.”

Neil Hoar and King are the founding partners. Hoar started the busines and King joined soon after and both are still active in the business.

A common feature of the independent IMAA agencies Mediaweek has profiled so far in this series is that they seem to retain staff. King: “Over our journey we have had great success in retaining staff and also retaining clients. A number of our team have been with us for over 10 years. Some of our staff have worked with the multinationals and then come here, really liking the business we run.

“That helps to retain clients because there is a consistency with the client relationships. The clients get to know the people who work on their business and that fosters a great relationship.”

Frontier didn’t dodge a bullet earlier this year when Covid struck, but it does feel a little fortunate.

“We like most had a pretty severe downturn in April when everybody was in something of a panic mode,” said King. “We had a lot of clients who were reacting very quickly by cancelling or postponing campaigns. While revenue reduced because of that we were actually doing more work to cancel those campaigns and to meet the client needs. We saw things start to settle in May and June as the immediate panic eased.

“At that stage clients were starting to level out and we have some clients in categories that were performing really well during that period.

“By July we really started to see a much more positive outlook and some confidence coming back with clients. That has continued since then albeit with Victoria and its problems.

“More clients are now having positive discussions and briefing us about budgets and future planning. They are setting themselves up to come back and to rebuild.”

Frontier negotiate all media themselves. “Unlike some of the multinationals who do upfront annual deals, we plan and negotiate every client campaign based on its merits and we are not bound to spend that money with any particular media owner or publisher. We invest where we think we will get the best outcome for the client. We negotiate rates and campaign delivery based on that and by doing that we feel we can buy as well as anyone in the marketplace.

“What’s really important for us is making sure we invest in the right channels for that particular client, that particular campaign at that particular time. We have never had upfront deals and we don’t believe in them. We think we trade better as an agency by not doing that. We think we get better value and better performance for our clients by trading the way we do.”

Regarding media channels, King estimates about 25-30% of clients’ ad spend goes into digital. “It varies client by client of course. Some of our clients are 100% broadcast media because that is what works for them and it suits their business. Some others might spend 100% on digital because that works for them.

“There are no company targets in terms of what we need to spend on different media publishers or media channels. It is really a case of understanding for every campaign and every client what will get them the best outcome.”

King noted that Frontier still believes very much in traditional broadcast media for the right clients and campaigns.

Regarding out-of-home, can it be hard to justify a spend with ongoing disruption to commuting?

“There is always going to be a place for outdoor and as long as we don’t go into a full country-wide lockdown the sector should bounce back pretty quickly. Even some parts of out-of-home have performed pretty well through this period. Some of the people who have panels in shopping centres, or retailers like pharmacies, places that have been trading well though this period, are in demand. People have been locked up for a while, especially in Victoria, and they will want to get outside pretty quickly. That is an opportunity for the outdoor players down there to capitalise on.”

King said broadcast is still important in the mix for many clients – “TV, FTA and pay TV, radio and we are investing in BVOD as well.

“Print still has a role to play, less important now because of consumer habits. During Covid, credible news organisations played a strong role in distributing information about what was going on. There will always be a place for print, but how we use it will be different in the future.”

Frontier uses Facebook, Google and YouTube for clients too of course, with the proviso from King that you have to understood what you are trying to get out of them. “They play a different role to what a broadcast campaign for a client would play. They are very good at the lower end of the funnel in terms of conversions. They are very good at targeting and they have great data. As long as you understand the purpose of using them there is a place for both, it’s not either or.

“We don’t have false expectations of what they can deliver. There continues to be debate about the impact of a Facebook ad that is seen for 1.5 seconds versus the TV ad that is seen for 30 seconds. They play different roles, and they are priced accordingly.”

IMAA founding member

“It has been a really good initiative,” said King about the formation of the IMAA. He recalled a Nova Entertainment client event where a number of his colleagues discussed getting together. “What has been really useful is giving a voice to some of the smaller independents. The sharing of information between members during Covid has been really useful.”

Covid workplace impact

Earlier this year Frontier went to full remote working. Since then it has adopted a hybrid model with most staff in the office two days a week then working from home for the rest. King: “It seems to be working well with the mix of office and home. If you had asked me six months ago if that would work I would have said no. Through necessity we have realised it can work. I’m not sure what the future ideal model will be, but I feel it could be a mix of both.”

—

Top photo: Steven King

Although not as heavily impacted as other advertising channels, the Report reflects the impact of the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown on the total online advertising market for the April to June quarter.
 
Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia commented: “The headline number is not a surprise as we anticipated a tough quarter for the industry. Within this, however, video is proving to be extremely resilient and holding steady year on year. We are also seeing retail, government and technology experience the largest increase in share compared to the previous quarter.”
 
Additional findings from the IAB OAER Report from PwC for the June quarter include:

•All online advertising categories showed declines compared to quarter ending June 2019 with Search and Directories down 9%, General Display 11% and Classifieds recording the steepest decline at 22.7%.
• Video has outperformed the overall general display market, with no year change in expenditure year on year, increasing its share of the general display market by five percentage points to 53%.
• The shift to programmatic advertising reached a new peak the latest June quarter with 44% of all advertising on content sites bought programmatically versus 41% being bought from agencies using insertion orders (IOs).  The percentage of inventory bought directly from advertisers decreased to 15%. 65%, the bulk of content publisher’s video inventory, was bought programmatically in the June quarter, up nine percentage points from the previous quarter.
• A notable shift amongst the top five industry categories occurred during Q2 due to the impact of COVID-19. Real Estate and Entertainment dropped out of the top five, with Media and Technology joining Retail, Automotive and Finance. The Retail sector experienced the largest increase in share quarter on quarter, while the travel sector experienced the largest decline.
• The Report also found that in Q2, content publisher’s video expenditure share attributed to connected TV increased slightly on previous quarter to 41%, taking share from mobile which was down slightly to 24%. Desktop expenditure accounted for 35%.

 
IAB OAER for the financial year 2020 reveal the total online advertising market is steady at $9.1 billion, representing a 1% increase year on year. Spend has slowed for all advertising types in financial year 2020 with Classifieds recording the biggest decline, reflecting falls in consumer confidence and spend.

General Display is up 0.8% year on year at $3.4bn, Search and Directories up 3.1% to $4.2 bn, Classifieds is down 3.9% to $1.6bn. Video is the biggest growth category, continuing to achieve double digit growth, up 15.4% to $1.7bn. This growth offsets declines in other formats of general display.

The Report also found share of expenditure moved from desktop to connected TV during financial year 2020. Connected TV accounted for 38% of content publishers video expenditure by device, with Desktop at 35% and mobile at 26%. 

The top five industry categories were Automotive, Retail, Finance, Travel and Real Estate. Retail and technology experienced the largest increase in share (up 1.3% points), whilst Automotive experienced the largest decline in share (down 5.7% points).

The NGEN PLUS Boomtown Masterclass: Rethink Regional Boomtown education program will include online masterclasses run in collaboration with the Media Federation of Australia (MFA) and NGEN PLUS.

Marketing expert Gaye Steel will facilitate the masterclasses. Steel said the program builds on Boomtown’s industry initiatives and will focus on a deep dive into the importance and benefits of regional advertising within the communications mix, aimed at media agency professionals.

A panel of experts will feature Jeremy Simpson, group general manager – national sales and marketing at Grant Broadcasters; Caroline Hugall, brand strategy and creative excellence from IAG and Jo Fawkner, head of investment at Zenith.

“We are looking for ambitious professionals with three to five years’ experience who want to excel and move up the ranks,” she said. “As well as hearing from regional media industry experts, the interactive sessions are designed to deliver focused insights and industry tips, looking at the regional landscape, geographical and audience profiles, channels and effectiveness and the future for regional. Participants will walk away with specific regional advertising, audience tools, and prizes.”

Boomtown chairman and SCA chief sales officer, Brian Gallagher, said the workshops aimed to blend information with interactive learning, designed to build a solid understanding of regional media.

“The Boomtown committee sees education as critical for media agencies and marketers to not only understand the potential of regional advertising but also to understand the regional audience and have the knowledge and tools to plan and buy regional media. We have developed a strong syllabus that really offers a good insight into regional media audiences and the landscape. We will also have Boomtown representatives sharing their knowledge and looking at the future of regional media.”

MFA CEO, Sophie Madden, said: “The ‘Boomtown Masterclass: Rethink Regional’ program is a great addition to our new NGEN PLUS program. When only 10% of national media budgets are spent in regional Australia, despite the fact that 36% of the population lives there, it’s important to engage with media buyers on the opportunity that regional Australia represents for brands. Boomtown is a great initiative that will no doubt help bridge that knowledge gap for NGENers, and benefit clients and their brands.”

There will be two online masterclasses held in 2020 with each masterclass being divided into two parts over two days at the end of September and end of October. To register for a masterclass, visit the NGEN events page.

For non-NGEN members, Boomtown will also offer free private masterclasses to 20 or more colleagues from media buyers and marketers at https://boomtown.media/education/.

Boomtown plans to bring these masterclasses into a face to face format in 2021, pending evolving government guidelines.

For more information, visit: https://boomtown.media/

“‘What an opportunity!’ That’s what I thought when offered this position as food director on soon-to-be-launched magazines Woman, Haven and Thrive. I’m delighted to be bringing my recipes and food ideas to the exciting new magazine brands, alongside such a talented team,” said Wickes.
 
“I’m looking forward to creating fresh recipes specifically for New Zealanders that will capture our seasons, our style, our kitchens, in a way that will be relevant to local readers. To me, Kiwis are always seeking simple, fabulous, seasonal food that’s not too fussy to make, uses ingredients that aren’t too hard to source and doesn’t require arduous techniques or demand exacting skill to achieve success with. Anyone who knows me knows I like to keep it casual yet fabulous when it comes to cooking.”

Wickes travelled the globe whilst filming her cooking show World Kitchen and has spent more than 15 years creating recipes for television, radio, cookbooks and magazines. Five of those years were spent as food editor for New Zealand Woman’s Weekly. “I design well-tested recipes I know other home cooks will easily have success within their own kitchens – they’ll taste fantastic and become firm favourites in their repertoire. That’s pretty much my life goal – to see as many New Zealanders as possible enjoying cooking at home.
 
“Not to be limited by just one food genre is a dream come true for any food writer so being charged with the recipe sections of Woman, Haven and Thrive is the perfect opportunity for me. Readers will find delicious, easy-to-make meals and baking in Woman and Haven will be crammed with inspiring yet achievable ideas for entertaining and special occasions. Thrive will be the perfect vehicle for what to cook for optimal health and well-being, which I’ve been hugely invested in for years in my own life, whether that be increasing plant-based meals or baking to cater for food intolerances.”
 
School Road Publishing Group publisher Sido Kitchin said: “I love Nici Wickes. She is the foodie companion we all want in our kitchens and I’m rapt she’s joining our new magazines. Nici’s known for her no-fuss, delicious recipes and encapsulates that relaxed, Kiwi give-it-a-go attitude to cooking at home. In lockdown, Nici’s cheerful daily cooking videos from her Port Waikato kitchen became appointment viewing. Her salt-of-the-earth personality and her enthusiasm for food are infectious.”

Gibney will reprise her role as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax, alongside Anthony LaPaglia as Inspector Tom Saracen, who heads up Task Force Stingray, and Claudia Karvan as Mandy, the troubled ex of Jane’s partner.

The Story

Jane Halifax is at the top of her game of forensic psychiatry. Now an internationally renowned professor with a blissful home life, Halifax has left the traumas and stresses of frontline policing behind.

But when a sniper begins to terrorise the city, the police are desperate. With the death toll rising, Inspector Tom Saracen needs the best people and persuades Halifax to join his Task Force. But is she prepared for the secrets the investigation will reveal? While she profiles a killer no one can see, Jane finds herself in the sniper’s sights – this one is personal.

The Cast

The cast includes Mandy McElhinney (Love Child, The House of Hancock) as the Minister for Police, Craig Hall (A Place to Call Home, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Catching Milat) who plays Ben, Jane’s long-term partner, and Mavournee Hazel (Neighbours, My Life Is Murder) as Zoe, Ben’s wild child and Jane’s stepdaughter.
 
They join Rick Donald (800 Words, A Place to Call Home, Wentworth), Ming-Zhu Hii (Offspring, Party Tricks), Ben O’Toole (The Water Diviner, Love Child), Mark Coles Smith (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Last Cab to Darwin),  Hannah Monson (Glitch) and Michala Banas (Upper Middle Bogan, Bad Mothers, McLeod’s Daughters).
 
HALIFAX: Retribution also features guest performances from Jacqueline McKenzie (Safe Harbour, Romper Stomper, Pine Gap), Louisa Mignone (Secret City: Under the Eagle, Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, Rake), Stephen Curry (The Castle, The King, Hounds of Love), John Waters (Mystery Road, Rake, Offspring) and Luke Ford (Animal Kingdom, Red Dog, McLeod’s Daughters).

Production 

Roger Simpson, the creator of the original Halifax f.p. telemovies whose other productions including Stingers, Satisfaction and Good Guys, Bad Guys, returns as writer and producer of HALIFAX: Retribution, with producer Louisa Kors (The Dressmaker, Mystery Road S1, cloudstreet) and executive producers Rebecca Gibney, Mikael Borglund, Andy Ryan and Jo Rooney.
 
HALIFAX: Retribution is a Beyond Lonehand Production for Nine, with major production investment from Screen Australia. The series was filmed in Melbourne with support from Film Victoria’s Production Incentive Attraction Fund.

Mediaweek Podcast

Mediaweek Podcast

As Jane Halifax returns to the screen in Halifax: Retribution, Mediaweek’s James Manning and Andrew Mercado hear all about the production from star Rebecca Gibney and creator of the original Halifax f.p. telemovies Roger Simpson. Listen here

Manderson will return to News Corp Australia to take on this newly created role, after spending five years in New York as chief product and technology officer for Barron’s Group.

He will lead News Corp Australia’s digital product and data strategy across the business to ensure the company’s approach is aligned across all areas. He commences Tuesday, August 25.

Delany said the appointment showed the importance of consumer digital product to News Corp Australia’s overall strategy and reflected the depth of talent that could be drawn from across News Corp’s international businesses.

“We’ve been very clear that our business is at a transformative moment and that means increasing our focus on digital growth,” Delany said.

“Consumers’ expectations of a first-class digital product experience has risen dramatically over recent years. I’m excited that Luke will lead our efforts, as we deliver great new features and a significantly enhanced user experience across our news apps and websites over the coming months.

“I have no doubt appointing someone of Luke’s calibre with his exceptional international experience combined with his deep knowledge of the Australian business will transform our approach to product and data.”

Manderson first joined News Corp Australia from Foxtel in 2012 as director of product, sales and strategy for news.com.au, leading product, user experience, ad sales, analytics and research.

In 2015 joined News Corp’s global headquarters in New York as VP product management, working with teams at all News Corp business units, including a period as acting head of product for The Sun during its digital transformation.

He joined Dow Jones as chief product and technology officer for Barron’s Group in January 2017, leading digital product, UX, design and technology for Barron’s, MarketWatch, Mansion Global, Financial News London and Private Equity News. Working with globally-distributed teams in New York, Minneapolis, Buenos Aires, London and Hong Kong, he transformed the Barron’s Group portfolio, as the publisher reported record subscriber and audience growth.

Manderson said it was great to be back in such a critical role.

“News Corp Australia is home to an unmatchable digital portfolio which reaches more than 14.5 million Australians every month,” he said.

“Leveraging data through a product lens will unlock new opportunities and new perspectives across the business, while ensuring data sits at the heart of our next generation of digital experiences.”

The three-part series produced by Artemis Media for SBS is presented by actor Noni Hazlehurst. The second season of the documentary series follows a diverse group of Australians on a life-changing journey, seeking out the extraordinary secrets within their families. Over three weeks, the six participants travel around the country and the world – from Italy to the Netherlands and the Czech Republic – uncovering dark secrets about their families’ past that will shock, move and captivate.

Hazlehurst said: “It’s an incredible and humbling privilege to be able to accompany our subjects on these life-changing journeys. They are extraordinarily brave to be willing to embark on these searches for answers to their family secrets, and to have their trust as we search on their behalf is something one can never take for granted.” 

In the first episode (Tuesday September 22), Perth woman Ellis Treleaven’s real identity has been kept from her for more than half a century. Ellis travels through Europe, tracing her Dutch Jewish mother’s path through the Holocaust, to uncover the shocking secrets surrounding her own birth in a Nazi concentration camp and the true identity of her father. And Marie O’Connor, a Perth-based nurse, travels to Italy, searching for the truth about her Italian father and the heartbreaking circumstances of her baby brother’s death.

Episode two (Tuesday September 29) features Perth teacher Matthieu Heimel, who investigates clues around his mother’s disappearance and suspected murder in Melbourne. Matthieu’s search leads to the revelation that the main suspect in his mother’s disappearance was also tied to the cases of two other missing migrant women, one who was later found murdered. Matthieu’s pursuit of the truth sees Victorian Police agreeing to revisit all three cases. And Sydney business woman Kerry Stevenson digs into her mother’s glamorous past as an actress, dancer and wife to a Hollywood movie mogul. Kerry discovers the secret history her mother tried so hard to bury.

The season finale (Tuesday October 6) centres around the family secrets of Perth woman Elizabeth Brierley and Paris-based Australian expat Paul Morris. Elizabeth is searching for the truth about her sex worker mum and her connection to murdered Western Australian brothel owner Shirley Finn. Elizabeth has long suspected her unknown father may be a corrupt cop implicated in the horrific unsolved crime – now a DNA test reveals her father’s true identity. And Morris delves into the murky world of espionage to discover whether his father was a Soviet spy or just a man unfairly targeted because of his political beliefs. Uprooted from his birthplace and spending his childhood in China and Russia, Paul returns to Australia seeking the truth about his father.

Every Family has a Secret S2 premieres Tuesday 22 September at 7.30pm and will air over three weeks. Encored on SBS VICELAND Thursdays at 11pm.

#1 Unhinged $320,101

The most successful film since Covid-19 lockdowns begun to ease around the country has continued to roll on as its total revenue now sits at $2.79m after averaging $1,667 on 192 screens.

#2 Made in Italy $214,095

After debuting last week at #3 the film has moved up one spot in its second week of release after averaging $1,634 on 131 screens. The comedy film about a father and son has made a total of $578,140.

#3 Train to Busan 2- Peninsula $95,048

The Korean zombie film has been in cinemas for three weeks (including a one-week promotional release) and made a total of $416,717. This past weekend it averaged $1,068 on 89 screens.

#4 Force of Nature $83,358

The Mel Gibson film opened at #2 last week and has slid down two spots in its second week of release after averaging $531 on 157 screens. The action film’s total now sits at $341,597.

#5 The Secret: Dare to Dream $79,506

The film based on the best selling self-book The Secret has returned to the top five after slipping to #6 last week despite making 45% less revenue. The film averaged $416 on 191 screens bringing its total to $905,189.

Seven News 1,189,000/1,116,000
Nine News 1,106,000/1,064,000
ABC News 816,000
A Current Affair 738,000
7.30 603,000
The Project 346,000/580,000
10 News 433,000/253,000
Sunrise 252,000
Today 220,000
SBS World News 182,000
News Breakfast 158,000
The Drum 204,000
The Latest 146,000
Nine News Late Edition 241,000