From fine dining reviews and special recipes to the best food and wine regions around the world, the luxury title continues to flourish and feed Australia’s appetite for creative ways to enjoy food. New editor, Joanna Hunkin, dished out the hottest topics in Gourmet Traveller, the biggest food trend of the decade, and the thorough process of choosing the best restaurant of the year for its annual restaurant awards ceremony. 

Hunkin told Mediaweek what makes Gourmet Traveller really special is that it’s respected by both the hospitality industry and restaurant industry as well as truly loved by its readers. “It does cater well to those industries – It’s almost like a trade magazine but not in any way, shape or form being a trade magazine. On the premium side, Gourmet Traveller has beautiful imagery and content, world-class writing and recipes; It’s something that inspires our readers with its strong legacy. People have grown up with the magazine, and it has inspired them to cook and travel for many years,” said Hunkin. 

The Gourmet Traveller reader is someone with a great sense of adventure in the sense of cooking, eating and travel. “They’re curious, open-minded, and seeking out new experiences. We give them direction and guidance on what’s new, what’s interesting, what’s exciting; and they truly follow through on that guidance on what the best restaurants are, new ideas and cooking techniques, and new adventures overseas and domestically.”

Hunkin said they’ve had fantastic readership results in the latest Roy Morgan poll. Their readership was up 36% year on year, which has taken them up to a readership of over 225,000 per month in print. “It’s a really strong readership for what is essentially quite a niche magazine with a mainstream audience.”

When choosing content, the team is looking for what’s intriguing, new and inspiring. “It’s not all about being the latest and greatest. There’s plenty of things that are classics but they’re still exciting because either they’re exploring new avenues or territories, but it’s got to be exceptional, whatever it is – and we have to believe in it. We really stand behind everything we put forward.”

Every year, the magazine’s Italian issue delivers outstanding results. “Italy is such a huge part of the Australian story, particularly when it comes to food culture. It’s really having a resurgence at the moment. There are so many Italian restaurants and wine bars opening. Pasta went through a bit of a stage of being a ‘dirty word’ – particularly on a health front – and everyone’s just embracing it whole-heartedly again. Italian is a consistent, beloved hot topic for us.”

The magazine has also seen a huge growth in vegetarianism, veganism and flexitarianism; and anything that’s an extension of all things sustainable. “People are so conscious of locally-produced, ethically-sourced food, and taking great interest in what they’re cooking with – not even just on a food front, but also when it comes to travelling and consumer purchasing in general. This is something we are certainly aware of and focusing on a lot more in the coming 12 months.”

A highlight for the brand this year in terms of social media and the digital space is they’ve been making huge progress with IGTV (Instagram TV). “We’re really the first food magazine in Australia to start using the platform. We have our Meet the Chef series and we just launched a video on how XOPP make their XO PIPIS.”

A continious highlight for Gourmet Traveller is their annual awards night – which is Australia’s oldest restaurant awards – and it continues to be such a big part of their brand. Hunkin said that on a personal level, that was the first event she was involved in. She actually flew over to host the awards this year before she started the job as editor in September. “As an outsider coming in, it was just incredible to see what a prestigious event it was. You had every top chef from Australia in the The Sydney Opera House to celebrate the absolute best in the business. The event drives huge engagement and readership for us – both on digital and print.”

In every state, they have a state editor who really taps into the wining and dining scene. “We give them all an allocation for how many restaurants we are going to review in their state, and we review a total of 100 across all states. They go out and review, and from that we pull together our top 50, which is what we run in print for our September issue each year. From that list of 100, we also have special awards like Wine Bar of the Year and Best Regional Restaurant for people who put forward their nominations based on the restaurants they’ve been to review.”

The full list of all 100 goes online in a fully interactive guide which sits across the brand’s digital channels. Hunkin said that in March the reviews are handed in and then they start the very heated debate of who should be Restaurant of the Year. “Last year was Attica from Melbourne. Increasingly, we’re seeing Australian chefs embracing native ingredients and push their boundaries of what they’re using and just really experiment and explore, and that’s been a growing trend in fine dining in perhaps the last 10 years and I think that’s only going to continue.”

Mediaweek has recently opened the voting in our second annual Industry Awards as voted by our readers.

The poll will remain open until the end of Sunday December 8. The results will be released later this month via the Mediaweek website.

Again we have tried to limit the number of categories. In some we have suggested a range of nominees, while in others left it up to readers to nominate their favourites.

One of the categories that created much discussion last year was CEO of the Year. The award went to Nine Entertainment Co’s Hugh Marks as he and his team integrated the massive Fairfax Media group into the Nine TV and digital publishing businesses. He is more recently working on adding the Macquarie Media radio business.

Hugh Marks

Vote here.

One newcomer getting a few votes so far is Seven’s new CEO James Warburton.

All fields are very competitive, but never more so than in the television space where there is much on offer.

Last year’s winners were Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell (Comedy), Gogglebox (Reality), Wentworth (Drama) and Working Dog (Production).

Wentworth

The drama field had a number of new entrants including the already multi-award winning Lambs of God from Foxtel plus 10’s Five Bedrooms and ABC’s Total Control. Much was expected of the return of Nine’s SeaChange and SBS was pleased with the reception The Hunting received.

SeaChange

Also on the list is Ludo Studio, home to the much-loved and much-award kids’ series Bluey.

For radio we are trying something a little different this year. Completely open categories for each metro market breakfast show and then a separate category for AM breakfast and overall drive radio.

Vote here.

Radio winners last year were Jonesy and Amanda (Sydney), Fifi, Fev and Byron (Melbourne), Marto, Robin and Moonman (Brisbane), Jodie and Soda (Adelaide) and Nathan, Nat and Shaun (Perth).

Brendan “Jonesy” Jones and Amanda Keller – Australian Radio Network (WSFM 101.7)at ACRA’s 2019

Best AM breakfast went to 3AW’s Ross and John, while FM drive winner was Nova’s Kate, Tim and Marty.

The streaming categories include the major players Netflix, Stan and Amazon, plus the local BVOD players and the newcomers Apple TV+ and Disney+. Netflix is the incumbent and could be hard to beat.

In sport we haven’t gone for nominations as that could have been very contentious amongst sports fans.

Instead voters can choose their best commentator, however we have nominated a number of sports shows and major sporting events.

Bruce McAvaney

Bruce McAvaney won Best Sports Commentator in 2018, while The Matty Johns Show was best on TV.

The podcast field has been narrowed to nine series from media people. Last year’s winner was The Teacher’s Pet.

Australia’s Best Print Magazine category is again a wide-open field with initial votes seeing contenders from all categories. Although the sector continues to go through a transitional period, many strong titles are still thriving.

TV Week was the winner last year.

Vote here.

Best Australian News Brand is a difficult category for some to choose if they take their news from many places. ABC News took the honours in 2018.

Leigh Sales.

The Best Australian Journalist/Columnist could work in any media discipline and again the list of possible contenders is a long one. ABC was a winner again here in 2018 with our readers choosing Leigh Sales.

Check out last year’s winners here.

Thirty-two Awards were primarily honouring outstanding screen craft and technical achievement across industry sectors were presented.

In television, Foxtel’s Lambs of God led the way, sweeping seven out of a potential nine Awards with Jeffery Walker taking home Best Direction in a Television Drama or Comedy for the provocative series, marking his second AACTA Award win. Additional Awards received by Lambs of God included Best Cinematography in Television, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Production Design in Television, Best Original Score in Television, Best Sound in Television and Best Costume Design in Television. Lambs of God is still vying for a potential five Awards at the upcoming Ceremony, including the AACTA Award for Best Telefeature or Mini Series.

The inaugural AACTA Awards for Best Sports Entertainment Program and Best Sports Coverage went to The Front Bar from Seven Network and Foxtel’s Test Cricket – Live On Fox, respectively. Other inaugural Awards included the AACTA Award for Best Online Entertainment which went to Wengie who has accumulated over 1.5 billion views on her YouTube channel alone and the AACTA Award for Best Short Documentary which went to Home Front – Facing Australia’s Climate Emergency.

The luncheon was hosted by previous AACTA nominees and Australian comedians, Mel Buttle and Matt Okine, who were joined on stage by presenters including Damon Herriman, Jessica De Gow, Darren McMullen, Danielle Cormack and Shaynna Blaze.

Also announced during the luncheon was the extension of partnership between Foxtel and AACTA. “We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of the celebration of Australian content during the award season and all year long and today, I am delighted to announce that Foxtel is extending our partnership, with a new multi-year agreement to be the major sponsor of the annual AACTA Awards,” said Foxtel Executive Director of Television Brian Walsh.

AACTA Winners: Screen Craft and Technical Achievement

BEST CASTING PRESENTED BY CASTING NETWORKS
THE NIGHTINGALE Nikki Barrett – Causeway Films, Made Up Stories

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
LAMBS OF GOD Zeljka Stanin, Paul Pattison, Cheryl Williams, Anita Howell-Lowe – Lingo Pictures (Foxtel – Showcase)

BEST SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
THE FRONT BAR Adrian Brown, Richard Molloy, Mick Molloy, Greg Sitch, Adam Rowe – Front Bar Enterprises (Seven Network)

The Front Bar’s Mick Molloy

BEST SPORTS COVERAGE
TEST CRICKET – LIVE ON FOX – Foxtel – Fox Sports

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE KING Adam Arkapaw – Plan B Entertainment, Porchlight Films, A Yoki Inc, Blue-Tongue Films

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A DOCUMENTARY
MAGICAL LAND OF OZ (Episode 1 – Oceans) Paul Bell, Dan Proud, Jon Shaw – Northern Pictures, Oxford Scientific Films (ABC)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN TELEVISION
LAMBS OF GOD (Episode 1 – The Devil Into Paradise) Don McAlpine – Lingo Pictures (Foxtel – Showcase)

BEST EDITING
HOTEL MUMBAI Peter McNulty, Anthony Maras – Hotel Mumbai Double Guess Productions

BEST EDITING IN TELEVISION
THE CRY (Episode 2) Alastair Reid – Synchronicity Films in association with December Media (ABC)

BEST EDITING IN A DOCUMENTARY
THE FINAL QUARTER Sally Fryer – Shark Island Productions

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
JUDY & PUNCH François Tétaz – Vice Media LLC, Blue-Tongue Films, Pariah Productions

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE IN A DOCUMENTARY
2040 Bryony Marks – GoodThing Productions

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE IN TELEVISION
LAMBS OF GOD (Episode 1 – The Devil Into Paradise) Bryony Marks – Lingo Pictures (Foxtel – Showcase)

BEST SOUND
DANGER CLOSE: THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN Liam Egan, Craig Walmsley, Alicia Slusarski, Robert Sullivan, Tony Murtagh, Les Fiddess – Red Dune Films, Deeper Water Films

BEST SOUND IN TELEVISION
LAMBS OF GOD (Episode 1 – The Devil Into Paradise) Stephen R. Smith, Nick Emond, Paul Devescovi, Mia Stewart – Lingo Pictures (Foxtel – Showcase)

BEST SOUND IN A DOCUMENTARY
100 DAYS TO VICTORY (Episode 1 – The Spring Offensive) Ric Curtin, Xoe Baird, Laurie Chlanda, Adrian Tucker – Electric Pictures (Foxtel – History)

BEST DIRECTION IN A TELEVISION DRAMA OR COMEDY
LAMBS OF GOD (Episode 1 – The Devil Into Paradise) Jeffrey Walker – Lingo Pictures (Foxtel – Showcase)

BEST SCREENPLAY IN TELEVISION
THE HUNTING (Episode 3 – #shittyboys) Niki Aken, Matthew Cormack – Closer Productions (SBS)

BEST DIRECTION IN NONFICTION TELEVISION
DESTINATION FLAVOUR CHINA (Episode 1 – Beijing) Olivia Hoopmann – SBS (SBS)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
THE KING Jane Petrie – Plan B Entertainment, Porchlight Films, A Yoki Inc, Blue-Tongue Films

BEST COSTUME DESIGN IN TELEVISION
LAMBS OF GOD (Episode 1 – The Devil Into Paradise) Xanthe Heubel – Lingo Pictures (Foxtel – Showcase)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE KING Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton – Plan B Entertainment, Porchlight Films, A Yoki Inc, Blue-Tongue Films

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN IN TELEVISION
LAMBS OF GOD (Episode 1 – The Devil Into Paradise) Chris Kennedy – Lingo Pictures (Foxtel – Showcase)

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
HOME FRONT – FACING AUSTRALIA’S CLIMATE EMERGENCY Luke Taylor

BEST SHORT ANIMATION
PINCHPOT Greg Holfeld

BEST SHORT FILM
THE EGG Jane Cho, Ilana Lazar – Good Egg Creative

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Joel Edgerton THE KING – Plan B Entertainment, Porchlight Films, A Yoki Inc, Blue-Tongue Films

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Magnolia Maymuru THE NIGHTINGALE – Causeway Films, Made Up Stories

SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AWARD FOR BEST MALE PRESENTER
Andrew Winter SELLING HOUSES AUSTRALIA & LOVE IT OR LIST IT AUSTRALIA – Beyond Productions (Foxtel – Lifestyle)

SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE PRESENTER
Yvonne Sampson – LEAGUE LIFE, FOX LEAGUE GAME DAY HOSTING – Fox Sports Australia (Foxtel – Fox Sports)

Yvonne Sampson

BEST ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT
Wengie

BEST INDIE FILM PRESENTED BY EVENT CINEMAS
BUOYANCY Rodd Rathjen, Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton, Rita Walsh – Causeway Films

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS OR ANIMATION
SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME Janek Sirrs, Cyndi Ochs, Brendan Seals, Andrew Zink – Luma Pictures

BEST CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
BLUEY Joe Brumm, Charlie Aspinwall, Daley Pearson, Sam Moor – Ludo Studio (ABC Kids)

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Top Photo: Lambs of God

The platform will simplify the process for buying linear TV, live streaming and Broadcaster Video on Demand (BVOD). It will allow advertisers to optimise reach across platforms and inventory through a combination of data and operational excellence with the VOZ database the driving force of the initiative.

VOZ is a measurement database which combines OzTAM, RegTAM and Nielsen data to quantify audiences across linear television and BVOD. VOZ is scheduled to launch in early 2020.

Utilising the VOZ database, the DSP will enable advertisers to buy linear television and BVOD against audience segments such as new car buyers or home loan intenders as well as age and sex demographics. Commercial TV to use 9Galaxy technology to power industry DSP.

After an extensive vendor review process, 9Galaxy has been selected as the technology solution to power the platform. Galaxy represents the quickest and most efficient route to market and in addition to Galaxy, software firm Day8 will manage campaign optimisation as part of the overall solution.

The DSP is expected to be operational by mid-2021.

Media Federation of Australia chairman Peter Horgan said: “The combination of a unified purchasing platform and a cross screen audience currency will enhance how we plan, buy and measure across video and television. We commend all participants in coming together to create this solution. This initiative has our full support.”

ThinkTV CEO Kim Portrate said: “This is a red-letter day for the television industry and its agency partners. The collaboration of broadcasters to select the technology to allow for a single platform to purchase TV speaks to the power of the TV business. The incredible impact of this move will be felt for years to come.”

Following the selection of the technology platform, an independent entity with clear governance and procedures will be established to oversee the DSP with the commitment of the parties involved pending delivery of a fully costed business and operational plan.

The timeline to launch begins with a period of analysis followed by design, build, test and implementation. The analysis phase has already begun with the mobilisation of teams for a full assessment of agency workflows which is expected to be completed in early 2020.

Meanwhile industry body ThinkTV has released a summary of the upfronts held recently by its members Seven, Nine 10 and Foxtel.

See Snapshot of the Upfronts here.

It’s been six years since Frozen first hit cinemas and the follow up hasn’t lost any of its magic when it comes to Australian audiences with the opening weekend of its sequel making over $9m.

It wasn’t the only new release to avoid a frosty reception with Knives Out opening with over $2m in its first week of release behind an ensemble cast of Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer.

The films that have gone cold this week and slipped out of the top five are 21 Bridges which has made $914,459 over two weeks and Joker which drops out of the top five for the first time after nine weeks making $39.77m and being one of the most successful films of 2019.

Overall, it was a fantastic week for the Australian box office which increased its total revenue by 118% making $15.90m with over half of that coming from Frozen II.

#1 Frozen II $9.72m

The film has had an ironically hot start to summer as it already sits on the precipice of the $10m mark, the follow up to the 2013 original made an average of $12,666 on 768 screens which were both weekend highs.

#2 Knives Out $2.18m

The modern take on the whodunit murder mystery trope had a solid opening weekend of its own where it worked around a relatively small opening weekend release of 276 screens by averaging $7,920.

#3 Ford v Ferarri $1.19m

Slipping to third after three weeks the film based on the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race has made $7.30m to date as it hopes to still have some gas in the tank after breaking the $1m barrier for the third week in a row. The film averaged $3,436 on 347 screens.

#4  Last Christmas $798,365

After four weeks Australia still has the Christmas spirit to the tune of $7.75m after making $2,946 on 271 this past weekend.

#5  Charlie’s Angels $514,606

Despite the film being labeled a box office bomb by a lot of pundits, the film has managed three weeks in the top after averaging $1,639 on 314 screens bringing its total to $4.19m.

An early end to the cricket was not the news Seven wanted last night. Australian winning is always preferred, but taking their time over five days is better for ratings.

Nine won the evening with its ob-doc triple play of RBT, Paramedics and Kings Cross ER.

Most viewer interest at 10 was on The Amazing Race with 611,000 watching the final three being decided. The series final screens tonight with the only episode to be played out in Australia.

Most industry interest though at 10 was on its new 90-minute 10 News First bulletins at 5pm. The first hour last night did 354,000 with 103,000 in Sydney and 91,000 in Melbourne.

The refresh at 6pm was very lowkey in each local market, except for Sydney weatherman Tim Bailey making a crack about what viewers won’t see on Seven or Nine. He was midway through a weather update as 6pm ticked over. The 6pm 30 minutes rated 252,000 with 73,000 in Sydney and 61,000 in Melbourne.

Last week 10’s 5pm bulletin averaged 335,000 on weekdays, while the former owner of the 6pm slot, Celebrity Name Game, did 171,000.

10’s early evening already seems a more robust product with News going into The Project. But changing viewer habits will take time.

A brilliant story of courage and medical innovation drew 567,000 to the ABC’s Australian Story.

A fascinating episode of The Royal House of Windsor did 216,000 for SBS.