In November 2019, Nine named Brent Williams as its new director of sport and since then his portfolio has only expanded.

“We have got 12 months a year worth of sport,” Williams told Mediaweek. “With Rugby Union now in our offering along with the NRL, tennis, some golf, and netball there is a lot going on. It is a tricky balancing act, but I have a terrific production team behind me and terrific heads of each sport, and I am lucky enough to oversee the whole thing.”

Williams spoke with Mediaweek during the Australian Open which is usually one of his busiest times of the year and this hasn’t been made any easier by a global pandemic.

“It has been a really busy couple of months actually, we worked very closely with Tennis Australia and the Victorian Government with a lot of work going into the processes put into place and a hell of a lot of work went into that, and all credit to Tennis Australia.”

While it started a little later than planned, Nine acquired the Australian Open to use as a ratings platform to kick off the year, which Williams admits has been helped by the strong performance of the Aussie contingent.

“It certainly helps the narrative of the tournament and we saw that with Nick Kyrgios’ five-set comeback which peaked with over 1.3 million people nationally. When those stories unfold that certainly helps us.” Sadly, however, NIne won’t have Kyrgios for the second week of the tournament.

“The thing with Grand Slam tennis is it throws up different things every year, like with Thanasi Kokkinakis winning that first match and then losing in a close match a few days later.”

Viewers going digital

Williams said a part of utilising sports rights is making sure that the broadcaster appeals to the changing habits of viewers, with a focus on digital.

“It is incredibly important because everyone consumes their content differently. Our 9Now numbers are up significantly, and our social interactions are up significantly year on year.”

Rugby Union

One of the biggest sports rights deals of 2020 was Nine and Stan purchasing the broadcast rights for the Rugby Union which led to the launch of Stan Sport. The partnership will see one game a week on 9Gem while Stan will host all rugby content.

“The launch of Stan Sport is incredibly exciting and it will be the home of Rugby. It will have everything from grassroots all the way through to the Rugby Test Matches. The beauty of the Nine ecosystem is we can also have that free to air offering for that casual Rugby viewer that wants to reconnect with the sport.”

When asked how this partnership will work Williams said that Nine’s Wide World of Sport, led by head of rugby Murray Shaw, will handle the TV production side of the product.

“We work in partnership with Stan Sport and it’s going great. They bring their expertise from a streaming point of view and we hopefully bring our expertise from a TV production point of view.

“We have a dedicated Rugby team inside the Wide World of Sport now including a team of producers and commentators. Anything that is produced locally will be produced by this Wide World of Sports team for Stan Sport.

“For the Saturday night matches, we are producing various feeds from the same match so that Stan Sport can offer commercial break free content with extended pre and post-match coverage.”

Ray Warren returning to Nine for 2021

Another exciting announcement for Nine over the summer was the news that famed announcer Ray ‘Rabs’ Warren would be returning for another season following rumours of retirement. Williams said this news was incredibly important.

“Rabs is still the best. He has been the voice of Rugby League for so many years now and we are thrilled to have him back for 2021. While he wants to keep doing it we are very happy to keep him around.”

When asked about what the eventual plans are for a commentary team without Ray Warren, Williams said that the succession plan is probably internal, but it depends on who is available to join the team.

“You always need to have a succession plan and we do in Matt Thompson and Peter Psaltis. We have a suite of callers who are extremely capable and extremely good at what they do. When the time comes with Rabs we will assess it at the time and make the decision who is best to come in and join the team.”

NRL in 2021

Williams isn’t sure how much of the NRL’s 2021 season will be affected by Covid-19 but says the broadcaster is ready for any challenges thrown its way.

“That is something we got our heads around pretty quickly last year. Covid restrictions meant we had separate commentary and production teams in New South Wales and Queensland and if that is required again, we are ready to go. We are hoping that there aren’t any restrictions and everyone is safe so we can roll out our coverage again.”

• Underlying Group EBIT of $152 million, up 29% year-on-year

• $170 million gross cost out on track with a further $30 million cash savings identified

• Operating expenses declined 18% to $480 million (excluding D&A)

• Net debt reduced 42% to $329 million, a decrease of $241 million vs 1H20; $150 million of debt retired post half year end

• The metropolitan free-to-air TV advertising market increased 0.6% during the half with a strong recovery in the December quarter (up 17%)

• Secured #1 position in broadcast and BVOD audience share with revenue share gains to follow

• Seven’s digital revenue grew 73% year-on-year, driven by BVOD market growth of 44% and eight percentage points in share gains during the half

The Australian Senate Economics Legislation Committee has officially presented its report into the Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020, more commonly referred to as the Media Code laws.

The bill, which has seen strong arguments for and against it, aims to correct the imbalance of power between big tech companies and news organisations. It aims to do this by making tech companies that host news content on their sites pay the news outlets for their work among other concessions.

Google and Facebook have been vocal opponents of the drafted code, with Google going so far as to threaten to pull out of the Australian market. Microsoft, on the other hand, has been a supporter of the code.

Importantly, the report acknowledges that the media code laws are not the only way tech companies and news outlets can interact going forwards. 

“The framework contained in the bill recognises that agreements can be entered into outside of the code. Indeed, they are encouraged to be entered into outside of the code. Where a news media business reaches an agreement with a digital platform, it can agree to not bargain or pursue compulsory arbitration under the code,” the report states.

“If a news media business cannot reach an acceptable agreement with a digital platform outside of the code, it will have the option to trigger aspects of the code to address the bargaining power imbalance. This includes minimum standard obligations that digital platforms must meet for all news media businesses registered under the code, requirements for good faith bargaining over remuneration, and the application of final offer arbitration if bargaining between the parties does not succeed.”

In 12 months, the code will be reviewed by the government to “test the effectiveness of its operation.”

Overall, there are six main elements to the bill which the report says will address bargaining power imbalances between digital platform services and Australian news businesses. These are:

• Bargaining – which require the responsible digital platform corporations and registered news business corporations that have indicated an intention to bargain, to do so in good faith;

• Compulsory arbitration – where parties cannot come to a negotiated agreement about remuneration relating to the making available of covered news content on designated digital platform services, an arbitral panel will select between two final offers made by the bargaining parties;

• General requirements – which, among other things, require responsible digital platform corporations to provide registered news business corporations with advance notification of planned changes to an algorithm or internal practice that will have a significant effect on covered news content;

• Non-differentiation requirements – responsible digital platform corporations must not differentiate between the news businesses participating in the Code, or between participants and non-participants, because of matters that arise in relation to their participation or non-participation in the Code;

• Contracting out – the bill recognises that a digital platform corporation may reach a commercial bargain with a news business outside the Code about remuneration or other matters. It provides that parties who notify the ACCC of such agreements would not need to comply with the general requirements, bargaining and compulsory arbitration rules (as set out in the agreement); and

• Standard offers – digital platform corporations may make standard offers to news businesses, which are intended to reduce the time and cost associated with negotiations, particularly for smaller news businesses. If the parties notify the ACCC of an agreed standard offer, those parties do not need to comply with bargaining and compulsory arbitration (as set out in the agreement).

Nine, a vocal supporter of the code, is glad to see the report finalised.

“We welcome today’s Senate committee report which again highlights the need for action to level the playing field between Australian media and the global tech monopolies and ensure the ecosystem remains sustainable for those who create journalism,” said a Nine spokesperson.

“We want to thank the ACCC, the government, and the Parliament who have all now examined the issues at play exhaustively. Now is the time for action and for the media code to be legislated.”

Throughout the negotiations Google has been the biggest critic of the code, calling it unworkable. Lucinda Longcroft, Google’s Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy for Australia & New Zealand has said that they will continue to push for amendments to the law.

“As we’ve said since the draft was released in July last year, we remain committed to a workable Code – the concerns that we, and others, have been raising consistently are about specific aspects of the Code. We’ve proposed reasonable amendments, including fair arbitration and that the Code apply to News Showcase, which is already paying publishers and supporting journalism in Australia, the UK, and around the world. We look forward to engaging with policymakers through the parliamentary process to address our concerns and achieve a Code that works for everyone – publishers, digital platforms, and Australian businesses and users,” she said.

The full report can be read here.

On Friday, the Australian Senate Economics Legislation Committee officially presented its report into the Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020, more commonly referred to as the Media Code laws. Google has arguably been the most vocal critic of the Media Code bill, saying that it would “break” the way that search currently works, and threatening to pull out of the Australian market if the bill passed in a way they deemed unworkable.

Lucinda Longcroft, Google’s Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy for Australia & NZ has said:

“As we’ve said since the draft was released in July last year, we remain committed to a workable Code–-the concerns that we, and others, have been raising consistently are about specific aspects of the Code. We’ve proposed reasonable amendments, including fair arbitration and that the Code apply to News Showcase, which is already paying publishers and supporting journalism in Australia, the UK and around the world. We look forward to engaging with policymakers through the parliamentary process to address our concerns and achieve a Code that works for everyone – publishers, digital platforms, and Australian businesses and users.”  

Google argues that they are not opposed to paying journalists for their work, amongst other issues laid out on the Media Code, but that the proposed law was not the way to go about it. Offering up their own product, Google News Showcase as a solution, they say that it would operate under an amended code and make sure journalists were fairly compensated for their work.

Google News Showcase already has a number of Australian news outlets subscribed to it, including The Canberra Times, The Illawarra Mercury, The Saturday Paper, Crikey, The New Daily,  InDaily, and The Conversation. Google says they are “looking forward to bringing more Australian media partners on board in the coming weeks and months.”

Seven West Media has announced it has entered into a long-term partnership with Google to provide news content to the Google Showcase product which launched in Australia in early February.

Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes said: “This is a great outcome for Seven West Media and for Google. Our new partnership recognises the value, credibility and trust of our leading news brands and entertainment content across Seven and West Australian Newspapers.

“I’d like to thank Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Rod Sims, with particular recognition of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who has been instrumental in the outcome of this ground-breaking agreement.

“Their outstanding leadership on the implementation of the proposed News Media Bargaining Code has resulted in us being able to conclude negotiations that result in fair payment and ensure our digital future,” he said.

“The negotiations with Google recognise the value of quality and original journalism throughout the country and, in particular, in regional areas.

“Google is to be congratulated for taking a leadership position in Australia and we believe their team is committed to the spirit of the proposed code.”

Mel Silva, Managing Director for Google Australia and New Zealand, said: “We are proud to support original, trusted, and quality journalism and are excited to welcome Seven West Media today as a major Australian publishing partner to join Google News Showcase.

“Seven West Media is one of Australia’s leading integrated media companies across broadcast, print and digital news and joins with 21 publications across a variety of titles as diverse as The West Australian, 7NEWS, PerthNow, the Albany Advertiser, the Geraldton Guardian and the Broome Advertiser.

“Our partnership with Seven West Media sees us make a substantial investment in the future of journalism not just across the metropolitan areas, but importantly in regional areas too where titles like the Kalgoorlie Miner and the Harvey-Waroona Reporter are at the heart of the local community,” she said.

“Showcase has been very well received since its launch in Australia a little over a week ago with our publisher partners receiving one million views of their content in just eight days, demonstrating that Showcase offers a constructive path forward for publishers, readers, and Google.”

The ABC has released new commissioning guidelines to ensure more diverse faces, voices, cultures, and stories are reflected and represented on Australian screens.

The ABC’s Diversity and Inclusion Commissioning Guidelines – Screen Content will deliver require production companies to provide greater access and opportunity to under-represented people and perspectives – on and off screen – including gender diversity, Indigenous Australians, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people living with a disability, and the LGBTQI+ community.

The guidelines build on the ABC’s commitment under its Charter to reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community, as exemplified by programs such as Total Control, Love on the Spectrum, and First Day. The guidelines, which cover content commissioned across genres such as drama, comedy, children’s, factual, and entertainment programs, will give a platform to different voices, subjects, and talent.  

Michael Carrington, ABC Director Entertainment & Specialist, said: “Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do at the ABC. As a public broadcaster, we must reflect the audience we are serving and a broad range of perspectives, people and stories makes us stronger, more creative, and better able to engage with and reflect the Australian community.

“While we already prioritise diversity and inclusion at the ABC, this is the first time we have prescribed guidelines to track progress towards our goal of looking and sounding like contemporary Australia. We’ve already taken steps in this direction but we need to do more to better reflect the wonderful diversity of this nation in an authentic way.

“The ABC’s new guidelines, alongside industry-wide initiatives through screen agencies and the Screen Diversity Inclusion Network, will help bring new voices, cultures, and perspectives to audiences. We will work with our production partners to make the industry a more inclusive workspace, by opening the doors to diverse creative talent, on and off screen.”

The principle of ‘nothing about us without us’ is key, ensuring that all productions about a specific diverse community or subject must include at least one person who is representative of that community within the core creative team.

On the eve of the one year anniversary of the historic Fire Fight Australia concert, Sony Foundation Australia has announced that $770,000 has been donated to beneficiaries to help young people in five bushfire devastated communities following the 2019/2020 summer bushfire season.

A major grant of $450,000 from Fire Fight Australia has been donated to BackTrack Youth Works who are partnering with Sony Foundation Australia to build purpose-built youth sanctuaries from shipping containers in the communities of Tenterfield and Macksville, New South Wales. BackTrack will also deliver a youth resilience program that will include bushfire recovery work and training in these regional towns.

An additional $200,000 from Fire Fight Australia was donated to the Foundation for Regional & Rural Renewal for projects in Mallacoota, Victoria, and Ulladulla, New South Wales that provide a place for young people to contribute to their community, whilst having access to tailored models of support to recover from the trauma of the bushfire disaster.

PCYC South Coast have received $60,000 for the fit-out of a Wellbeing Youth Hub for youth-focused services and programs in Eden, New South Wales.

Musicians Making A Difference also received $60,000 for a bushfire resilience tour of their leading music therapy workshops in Mallacoota, Eden, Ulladulla, Tenterfield and Macksville.

“With a lack of social activities, employment opportunities and places to call their own, young people are often left behind in the recovery process,” said Sophie Ryan, CEO of Sony Foundation Australia. “Sony Foundation has a track record of creating safe and supportive spaces for youth facing some of the toughest adversity. These are places where youth can go, make positive social networks and build resilience. It is the basics for what every young Australian should have so they can have the best start in life.”

Bernie Shakeshaft, Founder and CEO of BackTrack, said: “Our youth development charity has been working with young people in regional areas who have faced tough times for 15 years, but we have never seen anything like this. We knew that following the Black Summer fires there would be many young people hurting. Bringing the BackTrack program to young people in these areas can give them a sense of purpose and hope, by enabling them to be a part of the recovery solution, both for themselves and the community.”

$530,000 of the total funds came from sales of the Sony Music Entertainment Australia released Artists Unite for Fire Fight Australia: Concert for National Bushfire Relief charity album that debuted at #1 on the ARIA albums chart and featured iconic performances from local and global artists who performed at the concert in Sydney on 16 February 2020. Reuben Styles from Sony Music artist Peking Duk (who performed at Fire Fight Australia) said, “After the TV crews left, we wanted to make sure we were still supporting young people so terribly affected by the bushfires.” Adam Hyde from Peking Duk added: “It is incredible to think that music has the power to inspire such generosity to fund youth hubs that will last long after the ash is gone.”

Watch a message from Sony Foundation and Fire Fight Australia artists

See also: Fire Fight Australia bushfire relief album has now raised over $500,000

The commercial radio industry has reported a strong year on year increase in the number of Australians listening to radio on their mobile phones.

Nearly 2.5 million people, or 17% of the population in the five metro markets, listened to live and local radio via their phones at some point each week in the December quarter, industry body Commercial Radio Australia said.

The number of listeners tuning in via mobile was up 25% compared to the same period a year ago. There were also increases in listeners tuning in via PCs and tablets (up 27% to 1.2 million) and smart speakers (up 58% to 1.04 million).

“The data is good news for the industry as it means more Australians are discovering that they can enjoy radio at any time of the day wherever they are across a range of devices and platforms from traditional broadcast to radio apps on smart phones,” said Joan Warner, chief executive officer of CRA.

“Broadcast radio remains the core and most important platform for the foreseeable future, but we are seeing some exciting growth in digital and streaming audiences as a result of investments and partnerships in these areas to make radio even more accessible across multiple devices,” Ms Warner said.

The data was derived from an average of the last three GfK radio audience measurement surveys conducted in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The research found that while broadcast radio continued to be the most common way to access radio, with 83% of people tuning in via AM/FM and 27% via DAB+ digital radio, mobile phones are the third most popular device used to listen to radio.  

Some 9% of listeners tuned in via a PC or tablet, and 7% used a smart speaker. The strong growth of 58% in the number of Australians listening via smart speakers was off a smaller base of 662,000 people in 2019.

Zenith Sydney today announced the appointment of Laura Boatman to the role of Head of Digital, charged with providing strategic leadership in product development and process; while contributing to the continued growth and success of the agency’s digital practice.

Boatman will commence in her new role later this month, and will report into the agency’s National Head of Digital & Data, Joshua Lee. 

On Boatman’s addition to the team, Lee said: “I’m excited about the wealth of experience and knowledge Laura will bring to our digital offering, as our clients embark on another transformational year. I will also be working hand-in-hand with Laura and our other market digital leads to ensure we continue to promote a culture of performance and innovation across the entire digital spectrum.”

Jonny Cordony, General Manager, Zenith Sydney added: “We are thrilled to welcome Laura who is a true leader and experienced professional. With Laura at the helm, our digital capabilities in Sydney are in great hands.” 

Boatman moves from her position as Group Digital & Technology Director at Vizeum. “I’m really excited to be joining such an inspiring and passionate team at Zenith. I’m looking forward to driving the digital agenda and leading the Sydney team to push boundaries to produce best-in-market work for our clients,” Boatman said.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Zenith was expanding its eight-year long relationship with SBS, being appointed by the station to handle its performance media account following a competitive pitch. Zenith will focus on leveraging the broadcaster’s first party data and provide martec support. 

Zenith currently holds SBS’ media strategy, planning and buying account, and will take on the new account as of April 1, 2021, with the scope of work encompassing the SBS On Demand platform, SBS News and SBS Audio Language Content, as well as supporting key campaigns. 

Home and Away star Ada Nicodemou is returning to the ballroom with her original dance partner Aric Yegudkin when Seven premieres Dancing With The Stars: All Stars.

Ada and Aric were Season 3 champions in 2005, defeating Chris Bath and Dicko. They also went on to claim the “Champion of Champions” title that year in a friendly face off against Season 2 champions Tom Williams and Kym Johnson. 

The show is set to return to its original home this year, last airing on Channel Seven five years ago. Seven hosted the popular show from 2004 through to 2016, before 10 announced they would run a revived version of the show in 2019 hosted by Grant Denyer and Amanda Keller.

10 ran two seasons of the show but in October 2020 they announced the revived series would not return in 2021.

In December 2020, Seven announced that they had re-gained the rights to the Dancing With The Stars format and that they would be bringing the show back with an All-Stars edition this year. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this series of the show won’t be filmed live.

“Dancing With The Stars is one of the most successful television formats in the world,” said Seven’s programming director, Angus Ross.

“It was a massive hit for us across 15 seasons and we are delighted to welcome it home.”

Ada is one of five former Dancing With The Stars champions rumoured to be taking part in the new season which sees fan favourites quick-stepping back onto the dancefloor for a second shot at the coveted mirrorball trophy. 

The other rumoured contestants for the All Stars series are Chris Hemsworth, Nikki Webster, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, and Pauline Hanson. Whilst not confirmed, it is expected that more cast announcements will be made over the coming weeks in the lead up to the show.

ARIA Chart Singles

Most years the ARIA Singles Chart starts with a chart domination and this year it is Olivia Rodrigo with Drivers License. The American singer-songwriter from California tops the chart for a fifth consecutive week. Disney Channel star Rodrigo stormed the Australian and US charts in early January, debuting at #1 on both, and hasn’t moved from top spot since in both countries and many others now too.

New to the top 10 this week is Save Your Tears from The Weeknd after five weeks on the chart. A climb of 11 places from #18 comes after his memorable halftime show at the Super Bowl last week. The Weeknd has now had three singles from his album After Hours land in the top 10, including Blinding Lights which was dominating the chart this time last year. Incredibly the song still remains at #13 on the chart after 63 weeks. That song was also ARIA’s #1 single on its 2020 chart.

Former #1 songs seem to have a long life on the ARIA Chart, there are currently nine former #1s still in the top 50. The longest chart run from that exclusive club is Tones and I’s Dance Monkey, currently #40 after 88 weeks.

The highest and only new entry on the chart belongs to Up from Cardi B at #20. The follow-up to her #1 single WAP (August 2020) is the second single from her forthcoming second album. WAP spent six weeks at #1 in 2020 and is still charting at #28.

ARIA Chart Albums

Dave Grohl’s recent virtual media tour has helped secure a top spot for the new album from Foo Fighters – Medicine at Midnight. Securing a debut #1 is nothing unusual though for the rock band – the 10th album from the band is their eighth to lead the chart, the last seven being consecutive #1s. Just last month the band played during the celebration event following the inauguration of new US President Joe Biden with another blistering performance of Times Like These. The Foo Fighters this week equal an album chart record also held by U2, Taylor Swift and Australia’s own The 12th Man. The only artist to secure more consecutive #1 albums is Eminem with nine.

In a battle of the superstars on the chart this week, the new album from The Weeknd had to settle for second spot. The compilation album features tracks from The Weeknd’s four #1 albums in addition to additional material. The album is forecast to land at #1 in the US this week too.

Also new to the top 10 this week is the first appearance in the ARIA top 10 from the wonderfully named Perth rockers Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. The chart success comes for their fourth album Shyga! The Sunlight Mound.

The fourth new album to debut in the top 10 this week is from Kate Ceberano with her 28th album. Sweet Inspiration debuts at #5 and is the Aussie superstar’s first time in the top five since Nine Lime Avenue in 2007 which peaked at #4. The new album is her first solo album since Kensal Road in 2013 which peaked at #23. Ceberano was last in the top 10 in May 2008 with So Much Beauty which peaked at #9. The media tour included revealing interviews on both Sunrise and 2GB amongst others last week. Buyers of the album online at Sanity and JB Hi-Fi had the chance of winning a virtual Kate Ceberano concert.

2021 ARIA Chart Toppers

Singles
January 4 24Goldn Mood
January 11 24Goldn Mood
January 18 Olivia Rodrigo Drivers Licence
January 25 Olivia Rodrigo Drivers Licence
February 1 Olivia Rodrigo Drivers Licence
February 8 Olivia Rodrigo Drivers Licence
February 15 Olivia Rodrigo Drivers Licence

Albums
January 4 Taylor Swift Evermore
January 11 Taylor Swift Evermore
January 18 Barry Gibb Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook
January 25 Illy The Space Between
February 1 Bluey Bluey The Album
February 8 The Kid Laroi Fuck Love (Savage)
February 15 Foo Fighters Medicine at Midnight

See also: ARIA and PPCA appoint Network 10’s Annabelle Herd as new Chief Executive

Primetime News
Seven News 988,000
Nine News 916,000
ABC News 702,000
10 News First 343,000 (5pm) /262,000 (6pm)
SBS World News 169,000

Daily current affairs
Insiders 421,000
The Project 272,000 (6:30 pm)/ 475,000 (7pm)

Breakfast TV
Sunrise 230,000
Today 207,000
Weekend Breakfast 205,000

Nine won the night off the back of the Australian open with a primary share of 21.0% and a network share of 28.9%. The top matches last night saw Simona Halep defeating Iga Swiatek in front of an average audience of 468,000, and Novak Djokovic defeating Milos Raonic in front of 319,000 average viewers.

Simona Halep

On Seven Holey Moley had 510,000 which was down on last Sunday’s 629,000 viewers. In the episode, heavy machine operator and labourer Tom Kunkel put his beloved Yeppoon on the map after snatching victory in a tense 6-foot putt off. 

Tom Kunkel

Holey Moley was followed by the film Shooter with 310,000.

10’s Amazing Race Australia was the top metro non-news show for the night with 564,000 tuning in for another season high for the show beating the 558,000 from last Monday night and was up on the 541,000 from last Sunday.

The Stowaways

In the seventh leg of The Amazing Race Australia, the teams ventured into the heart of the country, the Northern Territory. And welcomed a new team in the Stowaways, MJ and Chelsea and bid farewell to The Besties, Sefa and Jess.

10 Bold was the #1 multichannel with its top shows being repeats of NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles.

On the ABC Quoll Farm had 530,000 viewers tune in for the true story of a family of quolls living on an abandoned farm in Tasmania and one man’s devotion to save them. Quoll Farm was followed by Harrow with 490,000 viewers.