Hubbl brand ambassadors Hamish Blake and Andy Lee – presented as ‘Hubbl and Andy’ – are the stars of the TV technology’s national advertising campaign, launching today. 

Mediaweek understands JOY, the creative agency behind the campaign, worked on the launch on a project basis. JOY will remain on Foxtel’s agency roster moving forward, but it is not Foxtel’s agency of record; the business will continue to use its in-house team, Fox Creative.

The hero 30 second TVC is supported by a number of 15 second spots. The films feature Hamish dressed as Hubbl spruiking its features – single view, stack and save, and watch list – and are soundtracked by a version of LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem that substitutes the lyrics “everyday I’m shufflin'” with “everybody Hubbln'”.

“Hamish and Andy are the ultimate brand ambassadors bringing authenticity and likeability to the brand and elevating the creative with their unique tone and comedic delivery,” said Hubbl’s executive director Dani Simpson.

“Hamish as a life-size Hubbl dancing to ‘Everybody’s Hubbl’n’ gets me laughing every time and we think it will help push Hubbl into the vernacular as a simplified TV and streaming experience.”

The small device plugs into any compatible TV and unites free-to-air TV, streaming services, and internet in one interface. Its sale date and launch of the national campaign coincides with the first weekend of the AFL season, and a week after the NRL season began in Las Vegas.

The campaign was teased at Hubbl’s launch event in Sydney – attended by top brass including News Corp CEO Robert Thomson – at the end of February. Hubbl said the campaign strategy was informed by “extensive consumer research”, which uncovered Australians’ streaming frustrations. 

The TVCs are supported by placements across OOH, digital, cinema, and audio. The launch will focus on awareness and driving people in-store and online to purchase the device at its introductory price of $99.

“Hubbl is a piece of tech that belongs in every home, so we opted for a duo most Australians know and love,” explained JOY principal Andrew Wynne.

“As talent, Hubbl and Andy bring the many features and benefits of the system to life in simple, connective ways. They are great at showing how the technology solves real-life entertainment problems and frustrations, quickly and easily; making it all feel as fun and entertaining as it should be.”

Future creative executions will focus on the features and benefits of Hubbl Glass – Hubbl’s TV with a built-in sound bar that requires just an internet connection and power cord. JOY was joined by media agency Mindshare on the campaign.

“The opportunity to launch such an innovative product to market and define the strategy from the start has been an incredible journey, and one that we are extremely proud to be part of,” Mindshare managing partner Linda Tyson said.

“We are excited to see our unmissable multimedia campaign come to life, and look forward to the success of this transformative technology.”

After the official launch event on 21 February, Foxtel Group CEO Patrick Delany told Mediaweek that the business hopes BINGE and Kayo, along with other streaming partners – including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video – enjoy “lower churn and more acquisition” thanks to Hubbl.

“That happens by being next to someone who might have a hit show that month or week that maybe we don’t,” he said.

“The research indicates this will create a far better user experience which gives more value to the apps.

“Price is another discussion. The research is very good [on us being able to] generate more sales and retain more customers.”

Delany denied Foxtel had to open up BINGE and Kayo to competitor streamers, but wouldn’t be drawn on the deals; “I won’t go into the commercial terms.”

“The thing that everyone has in common is that they want to be with Kayo. Kayo has an extraordinary load of live sports. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world. To be positioned in the same place as Kayo and to be billed in the same place all the partners see as a real positive.”

Delany has also used Hubbl’s launch to argue against certain apps possibly appearing higher than others in search results or on home screens should proposed prominence laws be passed. In the same week he hosted the Hubbl’s harbourside launch event in Sydney, he travelled to Canberra to convince senators that “easy access to the free to air services through our devices, like the iQ and Hubbl, is already happening.”

“Prominence should be about free to air options being easily available without interfering with consumer choice and convenience,” he said. “We believe customers are entitled to control their own connected TVs in the way they choose. Any proposal to alter search results and app placement to favour free-to-air services undermines customers’ right to choose.”

Hubbl’s proposition includes: watching free-to-air TV with or without an aerial (plug and play), all streaming subscriptions in a single view (single view), saving money the more streaming subscriptions you move over to Hubbl (stack and save), one interface (fusion), the ability to search across apps and TV channels over voice or text, personalised watch lists, and a ‘continue watching’ list that spans all apps and free-to-air TV.

Credits:
Marketing: Hubbl
Creative: JOY
Production: Fox Creative, Scoundrel
Media: Mindshare and Foxtel Group Media Team

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See also:

Hubbl: The CEO interview – Patrick Delany on why you need this streaming device

As BBC takes control of BritBox International, will the service soon be added to Hubbl?

“Real competition” or “overkill”? Media buyers weigh in on Hubbl

“As Google continues to work on deprecating third party cookies, our access to first party deterministic data is the biggest superpower” available to retail media, according to Flybuys’ Lauren Dulhunty.

Dulhunty, the product owner for Flybuys’ data arm Unpacked, claimed that “with great power comes great responsibility” at Ashton Media’s Programmatic Summit yesterday. 

That means retail media businesses need to ensure the sector’s growth is sustainable, Dulhunty argued, and exercises responsibility around data privacy.

“I would love to see data cleanrooms become the norm, and almost be baked into everything that we do,” she told Mediaweek after her presentation.

“Anywhere that we are sharing data that is then going to be collaborated on, whether we’re just sharing and someone’s using that data for activation of their audiences, or whether it’s data that we sharing to be augmented by partners for whatever reason.

“Those are the things that we love doing, but being able to do those in a privacy first way is so important.”

Retail media has experienced a surge of investment, estimated to grow to $2.8 billion in Australia by 2027. Dulhunty spoke about retail media commanding brand new budgets, rather than grabbing budget from other channels, and that’s “really exciting to see”.

The ad tech specialist continued that with increased investment in the space, media buyers are looking for access to first party data, and reaching shoppers at the point of purchase.

She listened in at the conference last year, as “brand after brand, agency after agency talked about how they were trying to solve the problem of closing the loop of attribution between online and offline sales.

“And we are, as a channel, fairly uniquely placed to actually do something about that, and actually provide that data.”

Flybuys has more than 9 million active members, with 80% of Australian households actively collecting points. 20 Flybuys cards are scanned per second.

Dulhunty said that her role as part of the loyalty program business requires “understanding your members at a very granular level, and using that purchase data to provide them with some value in return.”

Before joining Flybuys in mid-2022, Dulhunty worked in other ad-tech roles across Europe at businesses including Verizon and Microsoft. She added that, in her experience, marketers can’t afford to focus solely on their business’ tech stack in isolation.

“You have to think about not just your tech stack but the tech stacks that others have. If you’re thinking about your own tech stack, it’s got to be: how do I receive data or generate data? How do I store it and organise it?

“What tools am I using to segment that data? And then what platforms and tools am I using to push that data into the ecosystem so we can meet our customers and our members where they are?”

The Programmatic Summit also featured marketers from Johnson & Johnson, Treasury Wine Estates, and Dunkin’ Donuts Switzerland, plus local agency leaders.

See also: IAB launches foundations of retail media e-learning program

Meta’s decision to abandon news presents opportunities for advertisers to reengage with news publishers directly, according to ThinkNewsBrand’s chief executive, Vanessa Lyons.

The internet giant’s recent announcement that it would not renew deals to pay for Australian news content has received backlash from government and media brands concerned about the impact on journalism and Australia’s news publishers. However, Lyons told Mediaweek that it also has implications for advertisers.

“There are also issues for advertisers because the value that news brings to Meta’s platforms would be lost too,” said Lyons.

“Advertising in news is informative, trustworthy, and less disruptive, so it’s highly engaging.

“In fact, advertising in news is 18% more trustworthy than all other media. So, news helps to raise the standards and makes Meta’s platforms safer places for brands.”

Lyons pointed to a recent study by Fiftyfive5, which found written news is the third most engaging medium after podcasts and cinema.

“We know that 75% of readers are fully engaged when reading written news. This high engagement factor helps to keep users absorbed and creates lean-in attention moments that are incredibly valuable for advertisers,” said Lyons.

“It’s unclear how things will play out but the good news for advertisers is that they don’t need to miss out. They can go straight to the source and invest in news publishing directly – where the audience impact comes from.”

According to Roy Morgan’s readership figures, 18.1m Australians read news weekly, with just 20% nominating social media as the main source of news, according to data from Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Lyons said brands and media agencies should seize the opportunity to engage directly with news publishers to position products and services alongside “trusted and safe” content to help engage new audiences.  

“In a world where social licence can be a deciding factor for consumers, written news publishing is the kind of content advertisers can feel confident having their brands connected to.

“News sparks discussion and debate across endless topics among Australians of all kinds. This community engagement is highly valuable for advertisers, allowing them to tap into enthusiastic, energised and highly engaged audiences.

“Quality news is what people want and social is just one way to get it.”

See also: Memo to Meta: No one likes bullies (and they don’t win)

The insiders:
Dani Simpson, Executive Director of Hubbl
Fraser Stirling, Global Chief Product Officer, Comcast and Sky, and Global Product Chief of Hubbl

What is the problem that Hubbl helps to solve in the TV world? Discovery and management of content, according to the creators of Hubbl. “It’s really hard to find what I am looking for,” Hubbl executive director Dani Simpson told Mediaweek.

We are publishing this story on the day that Hubbl puck devices and the Hubbl Glass TV go on sale. The device is $99 and the TV starts at $1,595 for a 55” panel.

How real are those streaming discovery problems and is Hubbl yet fully operational to solve them? Mediaweek speaks to insiders from Hubbl and then shares some of our own thoughts after a few days testing the product.

Hubbl’s Dani Simpson and Fraser Stirling

Get back 22 days a year!

Simpson has plenty of stats about how Hubbl will make your entertainment options easier to manage: “Australians are feeling frustrated, overwhelmed and confused.

“They loose and average of 22 days per year searching for something to watch.

“Two-thirds of Australians feel overwhelmed by the number of streaming services they can choose from. Some 92% are interested in having all of their [streaming] services on a single platform.”

Simpson acknowledged there are other devices on the market aimed at management of TV apps. Despite that, Hubbl research indicates people are ready to look at another device might have the answers to their needs.

“We feel like we are well positioned to meet the demand. We offer a new and sophisticated aggregation experience.”

Simpson added that people might really need to see it to believe it. Don’t just take Hamish and Andy’s word for it?

Hamish and Andy became Hubbl and Andy across News Corp Sunday papers around Australia

See also: ‘Hubbl and Andy’ star in Foxtel tech’s launch campaign

Hubbl program guide tracks all content

Stirling told Mediaweek what they really focus on in demonstrations of the device is the experience for customers.

“To offer the best experience we wanted to catalogue all the content from everywhere and everyone in the one place. That one place is the Hubble Guide.

“That means with something like Call the Midwife you will find it on two different apps in addition to it streaming live on different channels.

“The area where we show off best how we have brought all the content together is with the integration of live TV. Bringing in on demand content is one challenge. But to bring in live TV is important because it still attracts such a big audience.

“The program guide on Hubbl is one of its attractions as it goes across different apps and you can go straight to that program you want. Despite the fact it might be in an app, it will be completely seamless for the customer.

“It is one thing to have all the apps in one place. There is a big difference between having that and making it easy. Hubbl makes it easy.”

Continue Watching

All streaming apps have a part of the app that reminds the user what they have not finished. A big plus when viewing through Hubbl is that it aggregates everything you haven’t yet finished into one place. (As long as you watched it on Hubbl.) Regardless of which app you have been viewing on.

Account management: Single view

One of the advances Hubbl in Australia has tackled is account management.

Stirling offered an example. “If I find something to watch on Netflix and I don’t have a Netflix account, can I sign up without moving from my couch?”

Simpson added: “We have really been focussing on the idea of problem solution. There are several really unique features we are bringing to users.

“We call it single view. Some people can’t remember how many apps they have and knowing where and when I will be billed. We are able to offer to bring all your subscriptions into a single view.

“On the device in the My Account section users can see all the subscriptions they have. They can then manage those subscriptions which no one else in the market here is offering.”

When asked about Optus aggregation service SubHub, Simpson noted the difference. “That is a standalone billing product. This is having billing integrated into the device where you are consuming content on a daily basis.

“The other offer we have is Stack and Save. If people have three subscriptions stacked on Hubbl they will save $5 monthly. If its four apps then it’s a $10 saving, or five gives you a $15 saving.”

Another first for this market is what Hubbl calls Plug and Play. Simpson: “We are the only platform that has IP linear streams integrated into a TV guide. There is even a section within the TV guide that has local channels.

“For people choosing something from a FTA channel you don’t have to actually go into the app. You just access the content you want straight from the TV guide.”

Hubbl pucks ready to go at $99 each

Fact checking Hubbl claims

Watchlist by Hubbl

Works well from initial testing. You can set up multiple Watchlists, but again limited to the apps available on Hubbl of course.

Single View

All your subs in the one place and pause and restart at will. Sort of. It seems if you want the cheapest ad-supported tier of Netflix you can’t get it through Hubble. You will only be able to control the apps you subscribe via Hubbl. You can log-in to apps bought elsewhere via Hubbl, but you can’t control their billing unless they are brought in. There is no timeline to when Stan, Paramount+ and Optus Sport might be arriving. No word in others like BritBox who are yet to appear on the Hubbl horizon.

Hubbl Search

Good to a point. The voice activated search is strong and recognising most general commands. Identifies big stars (Brad, Tom, Nicole), not so much second-rank players. We tested Juliette Moore for example and got nowhere. It also started a strange movie in Prime Video when we were trying to search for the forthcoming Netflix series Ripley.

Hubbl claims people spend 22 days a year searching for content. Hubbl may cut that back a little, but you’ll probably still spend time searching, but doing it inside Hubbl.

Sample Hubbl TV guide

Stack and Save

Good for discounts. There are eight initial apps on the service – Kayo, Binge, Netflix, LifeStyle, Flash, Disney+, Prime Video and YouTube.

Of these LifeStyle is made up of content that used to be part of Binge.

Prime Video, AppleTV+ and YouTube not yet available to buy through Hubble.

Continue Watching

A good feature that tracks viewing across all content you watch via Hubbl. No matter where it comes from within the Hubbl universe.

Plug & Play

Will let viewers stream FTA TV without an aerial. What an aerial does do is allow geo-locating FTA signal. For example, if you live in regional Victoria. With no aerial, Hubbl will feed you a state-wide signal that the FTA app streams. If you have an aerial plugged in, you will receive the local programming like local news.

Hubbl Glass in store

Buying advice

Too hard to call this early in the life of Hubbl. There are definite ease of use functions going from FTA channels to sports on Kayo, movies on Netflix, or drama on Binge. But it’s still a work in progress. The good thing about Hubbl is there is no subscription charge. So there’s no saving to be made if you wait.

There does seem a good argument for the $99 spend. Hubble Glass on the other hand seems like an expensive luxury. And for many people the maximum screen of 65” just won’t be big enough.

See also:
Launch event review – Hamish & Andy come to the Hubbl party: New device secures best possible endorsement

Hubbl: The CEO interview – Patrick Delany on why you need this streaming device

NRMA Insurance has partnered with Accenture Song to overhaul its end-to-end customer experience (CX). The appointment, which mobilises talent from both global and local pools within Accenture Song, aims to leverage the tech-powered creative consultancy‘s broad disciplines for an integrated model, spanning marketing, CX, digital, design, and communication.

Initiative will continue to serve as NRMA Insurance’s media buying and planning agency partner.

See also: ‘We just had too many clients asking’: Mark Green on three year acquisition ‘courtship’ for The Lumery

The news comes after Michelle Klein, chief customer and marketing officer of NRMA’s parent company, IAG, restructured the insurance giant‘s marketing department to supercharge its transformation.

The restructure, announced in January of this year, involved creating a new division overseeing channel performance marketing and measurement.

It was announced that overseeing the division was a newly created role: executive manager, channel performance marketing and measurement.

Klein told Mediaweek she had appointed Mark Echo, IAG’s manager of media, comms planning and performance marketing, to the new role.

Echo has been tasked with ensuring the performance and growth of IAG’s growth, customer acquisition, conversion and retention. The role is responsible for driving channel effectiveness and efficiencies across all of the NRMA Insurance brands’ paid, owned, earned, and shared channels.

See also: IAG CCMO restructures for transformation, creates performance marketing and measurement division

In 2023, NRMA Insurance also formed a digital business team led by Nandor Locher to further support CX.

Commenting on the appointment of Accenture Song, Julie Batch, CEO of NRMA Insurance, emphasised the need for the insurance brand to keep adapting in light of evolving customer expectations and advances in tech.

She expressed confidence in Accenture Song’s ability to bring global insights while maintaining a connection to the Australian market and the NRMA brand.

“As we enter our 100th year, now is the time for us to reflect and reshape our business for the future, knowing our  customers will need our help more than ever before,” said Batch.

Klein elaborated on the significance of the partnership with Accenture Song as a crucial step in transforming the NRMA CX.

Said Klein: “At the heart of  this approach is a focus on meeting our customers where they are and ensuring that every interaction is a helpful and seamless one.”

Klein also pointed to NRMA’s broadcast partnership with Nine of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as a move to engage with audiences on a larger scale.

David Droga, CEO of Accenture Song, said, “We want the relationship to be a lighthouse for the type of work that Song does around  the world.”

Droga expressed his ambition to develop future-focussed, tech-driven, and personalised solutions for NRMA, noting the brand’s longstanding reputation, and the potential of the partnership to set it up for future relevance.

Mark Green, CEO of Accenture Song Australia & New Zealand, described NRMA as “a brand close to our hearts,” highlighting the uniqueness of the collaboration.

“We knew no existing model could deliver this, so we created something unique,” said Green.

–

Top Image: L-R: Barbara Humphries, executive creative director, The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song, Nandor Locher, executive general manager digital business, NRMA Insurance, Julie Batch, Nick Law, creative chairperson, Accenture Song, Michelle Klein, Bronwyn van der Merwe, service practice lead, Accenture Song ANZ, Nick Heymann, global chief creative officer, Accenture Song, David Droga, Corey Barker, insurance lead, Accenture ANZ, Beth O’Brien, head of innovation, The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song & Mark Green

If the Copyright Legislation Amendment (Fair Pay for Radio Play) Bill 2023 passes, ARIA and PPCA CEO Annabelle Herd has told Mediaweek that commercial radio stations in regional Australia could be charged a different license rate to those in metro markets. 

As Australian law currently stands, recording royalties are capped at 1% of commercial radio revenue and 0.005c per head of population for ABC Radio. These caps do not exist for any other type of copyright in Australia.

If the new proposed law passes, the Act will be amended to remove caps on the amount of money payable to rights holders when commercial or ABC radio spins a track. 

Herd, who supports the bill, told Mediaweek: “Even if the cap is removed, we must still negotiate that rate with CRA, and protecting regional radio will be a top concern from both parties. It may well be, for example, that regional radio is charged a different license rate to metro.”

If a situation ever arises where the two parties can’t agree on a rate, the matter will be settled by the Copyright Tribunal. The Tribunal’s role would be to conduct a thorough, independent analysis to determine a rate that will not unfairly penalise either party.

“They would absolutely consider the impact of a rate on regional radio,” Herd added.

Radio reps in Canberra

This week, industry representatives were in Parliament House to relay their views to senators. One of the biggest concerns raised by Commercial Radio and Audio (CRA) and industry union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) about the Fair Pay for Radio Play bill is that a proposed change to the Copyright Act could “harm local radio in regional and remote communities”, lead to a reduction of local media content, and put radio jobs under threat.

Ciaran Davis, CEO of ARN and chairman of CRA, opposed the bill. Davis told senators that the radio industry already pays around $40 million in copyright charges per annum, which equates to 5% of industry revenue, not profit.

“Any additional impost of increased and uncapped PPCA fees will impact the amount we have available to spend on local regional newsrooms, and regional communities generally. Jobs will be under severe threat,” he said.

Davis also told senators that 17 million Australians listened to commercial radio content in 2022, for the local news, content, talk, and information as well as music. 

“CRA has 260 member stations, 220 of which are in regional and remote areas. 2,200 of the 6,500 full-time people employed in this industry work in regional areas. Commercial radio contributed over $1 billion to the economy in 2022 of which $320 million was generated in the regions.”

See Also: MEAA and CRA: Proposed Bill would “harm” radio in regional and remote communities

Davis pointed to the fact that for many regional communities, radio is often the only remaining source of accurate, local news. 

“Radio plays a vital role in providing communities with emergency updates during fires and floods.  And we proudly take part in supporting and sponsoring regional communities – from sporting clubs to community events. Much of this is at risk if this bill is passed,” he said. 

Vanessa Picken, Sean Warner, Chris Maund, Dan Rosen, and Annabelle Herd in Canberra this week

Impact on artists 

Herd and the ARIA and PPCA team arrived in Canberra with a signed letter from over 500 artists supporting the Bill, with names like Jack River, Paul Dempsey and Mark Seymour on the list. 

Despite this, MEAA campaigns director Paul Davies has claimed that “the vast majority of musicians are cut out of payment for broadcasted music by the record companies under the current system”, and said he is “concerned about any potential of entrenching and expanding an unfair system.” 

Davis made it clear that, “we have no complaint with the idea that musicians should be paid fairly for their work,” and as an alternative path forward suggested that “we could support PPCA distributing payments to session musicians.”

Ciaran Davis

Herd responded by making the point that artists are not concerned about the distribution of royalties from record labels, they are concerned about the cap. 

“When an Australian sound recording is played on radio, 50% of the royalty goes directly to the artist and 50% to the rights holder. Many artists still hold the rights to their own music meaning they receive 100%.”

As far as concerns over the broader music ecosystem, Herd added, “if these caps are not removed, we are simply talking about splitting an already small pool of radio royalties into even smaller fragments. That is not a great outcome for anyone.”

If the caps are lifted, Herd said that for Australian recordings, 50% of any increase would go directly to the recording artist so they can continue to invest in their career and their team. 

“Particularly, it helps them achieve the capital required to get out on the road and tour, which is where most artists drive the bulk of their income.”

Herd also said a shift in perspective can be helpful, and that “it’s important to view most artists as small businesses in Australia.”

“Small businesses need to carefully manage every dollar that comes in and out. For record labels, it would provide greater opportunities to re-invest in local Australian artists and create sustainable careers.”

Mediaweek has recruited some of the industry’s most influential leaders to judge the 2024 Next of the Best Awards.

The cross-industry panel includes: Venessa Hunt, director of commercial strategy and growth at ARN; Ryan Menzes, CEO at GroupM Nexus; Samantha Cooke, head of product marketing Samsung Ads; Gay Le Roi, CEO IAB; Paul MacGregor; director of strategy & marketing at Val Morgan; Liana Dubois, CMO at Nine; Darren Woolley, CEO of Trinity P3; Sam Buchanan, CEO at IMAA; Lindsey Evans, Partner at Special; Rochelle Burbury, Principal at Third Avenue; Renee Sycamore, executive general manager NewsAmp, News Corp; James Young, regional director ANZ Pubmatic; and David Mott, CEO & MD at ITV Studios Australia.

More judges will be announced next week.

The awards celebrate the current and future leaders based on the impact and contribution they are currently making to their company, sector or the wider industry.

This year’s awards have removed the age-based criteria and will now will recognise individuals across the industry who demonstrate influence and leadership skills in driving the industry forward – whether through innovative thinking, new approaches to content, driving culture, pushing boundaries or providing inspiration to others.

The awards categories span all areas of the media, advertising and marketing industry, including ad tech, audio, creative agency, data & research, marketing, media agency, new business, sales, social media, TV, PR and publishing.

There are also awards recognising the individuals driving culture within organisations, in addition to the change-makers and overall leadership award.

The Mediaweek Next of the Best entry portal will close on 1 April.

The awards will be presented at a ceremony on 13 June 2024 at the Ivy Ballroom.

Click here for more information.

Meghan Markle has urged women to believe that “your voice is not small, it just needs to be heard,” on a star-studded International Women’s Day panel at SXSW Austin.

Mediaweek was at the session called ‘Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen’, a keynote session featuring Markle, Katie Couric, Brooke Shields, and Nancy Wang Yuen.

Couric asked Markle to tell a story from her childhood that highlighted the power of someone’s voice when heard.

“I was 11 years old, and I’d seen a commercial on TV for a dishwashing liquid. It said that women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans and the boys in my class said ‘yeah, women belong in the kitchen’ and at 11, I just found that infuriating,” Markle said.

“I wrote lots of letters and put pen to paper and they ended up changing the commercial to people all over America. It’s funny to look back at it now because that was before social media where you had a reach that was so much greater, it was just an 11-year-old with a pen and paper.

“It goes to show that if you know that there’s something wrong and you’re using your voice to advocate in the direction of what is right, that can really land and resonate and make a huge change for a lot of people. Your voice is not small, it just needs to be heard.”

Shields quipped to laughter: “This is one of the ways that we will be different – when I was 11, I was playing a prostitute.”

Markle at SXSW

Off the back of this, Shields talked about sexualising young women in America, and why it was important she confronted the issue in her recent Hulu documentary about her life, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields.

“I was at the centre of it and I was promoting it, and I was doing it. I was lucky, because I was surrounded by a very strong mum, I never did move to Hollywood, I always went to regular school. I had this sort of community around me that was protecting me, buoying me. I did not become the type of statistic that Hollywood created, Hollywood is predicated on eating its young. It wants to build you up and then devour you.”

The group also discussed gender equality progress and the road ahead, focusing on the media’s role. Couric said she has always fought hard for strong roles for women. She joked that when she started in the newsroom, ‘harassed’ was two words instead of one.

“When I was offered the job at The Today Show, I said to Michael Gardner, who was then president of NBC News, I’ve worked in local news for six years, I’d covered the Pentagon, covered Desert Storm and all these other important stories,” Couric noted.

“I said, ‘I’m interested in this job, but only if you’ll give me a 50/50 division of labour with Brian Gumbel. I want to do as many hard news interviews as he does, I don’t want to be relegated to cooking segments, fashion shows and celebrity interviews. I earned my stripes and that’s what I’m demanding.’

“He looked at me kind of quizzically in a bow tie and he said, ‘What about 49/51?’ And I said, ‘Okay, I’ll take it.’ Brian Gumbel insisted that he open every show, that he throw to every commercial break, that he always threw to the weatherman, who was Willard Scott at the time, and I could never do that, I think to convey the idea that he was in charge.

“I think just by making that demand, I eventually had more power and took on important jobs on The Today Show. But from the get go, I said, ‘This is how I want to be seen’, because I knew the impact this would have. The dynamics of the show, the division of labour, who was doing presidential interviews, I knew little girls were watching that getting ready for school with their moms and I wanted them to say, ‘Oh, she is just as good as he is.'”

The panel

Couric also pointed out that a large number of linear TV news executives are now women including at ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and Fox, which she said is a win. But other challenges still exist.

“We have a lot of work to do, because unfortunately, this is happening as linear television is declining in its significance. As these outlets gravitate towards streaming, I’ve looked at a picture of all the heads of the major streamers, and it’s five white guys.

“We have to tackle that and I hope that will change but when you look at digital media, it’s much worse. I think 20% of editors of the most popular international online publications are women. When it comes to podcasting, women are 50% of listeners, but men are 79% of hosts. There’s still a lot of inequities that we have to approach but we’re definitely making progress.”

Wang Yuen added that how you see yourself represented on TV is still a persisting issue.

“Moms are represented as thin, young, whites and not really working outside of the home, which is a patriarchal fantasy,” she said.

“This is not our reality, and it embraces the fact that the US out of all the wealthy countries is ranked second to last when it comes to childcare and parental leave policies. I remember when I was in grad school, that’s when I had my first baby and I found it harder to secure affordable and high quality childcare than to actually complete my PhD.

“Policy makers who are not working moms, for the most part, are the ones that are actually determining policy. We know that if they’re not actually having contact with those people, they’re deriving their ideas from television and film subconsciously, you know it’s not real but that’s what you’re seeing.”

The streaming market is shrinking and independent artists are fearing the prospect of a Paramount and Peacock merger, TV leaders have told SXSW Austin attendees.

While the Australian film and TV industry has experienced a boom in recent years thanks to an increase in premium productions from local and international streamers, is the same true in the US?

“There is a pullback. We have seen movie studios pop up and disappear,” said Dan Baron, partner at Independent Artists Group.

Baron was speaking as part of ‘A No-Holds Barred Discussion on the Future of Entertainment’, a panel hosted by Variety’s TV editor, Michael Schneider and also featuring Flawless’ Peter Busch, Legion M Entertainment Inc’s Paul Scanlan and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc’s Cheryl Snow.

Mediaweek was at the session as Schneider asked the group if they are seeing a pull back in the TV market. It reached its peak during the emergence of streaming services, Schneider said, but now companies such as Amazon and Netflix are cutting back on productions.

Scanlan pointed out that when people began cancelling their cable packages in the US during the emergence of streaming, people thought that they would save money, but that wasn’t the case.

“I would never bet against Americans’ love affair with television, it is a 90 year old killer application. We consume content. That’s what we do. How we consume content is changing, but it’s still content, and it still has value and people still pay for it.”

Schneider added that legacy media companies are the ones currently going through the biggest hurdles, as they transfer to less profitable revenue streams.

“The industry as a whole is one thing. Then there’s the legacy media that we’re talking about,” Schneider said.

“What’s happening to Paramount right now comes out of this, most of their cable channels now are zombie channels. That’s true with a lot of these companies, because they haven’t been able to figure out that model. That was a great model for a long time, cable was just a license to print cash for years. They had dual revenue streams, and now they’ve replaced it with a single revenue stream and that math doesn’t add up.

“There’s gonna be a lot more streamers now than there is linear. That’s the heart of what’s going to happen to Paramount and what’s going to happen to all these companies, what’s going to happen to the legacy broadcast. Thank god for football by the way, football is what’s saving linear.”

See also: Jarrod Villani departs Paramount after three years

Creators need to act like professionals if they are to be taken seriously and keep up with consumer expectations, the boss of a management consultancy focused on the future of the consumer economy has told SXSW Austin.

“What a majority of creators miss currently is professionalism. A lot of these brands are used to dealing with places like Barstool Sports, which are very trained and professional teams, they’re able to sell their media,” Sommersa’s Giacomo Zacchia said in a panel on the future of food media.

“What we’re going to start to see is, as creators recognise, hey, I’m not only an actor. They will add different levels of sophistication into these brands. In full candour, a lot of creators don’t even understand what they are really selling. They actually control their distribution, and they get really reliable numbers.”

Zacchia was joined by JW Entertainment’s Joshua Weissman in a back and forth on how both brands and creators need to improve how they approach partnerships in the food media space. 

Zacchia added that some people have a misperception of how content is consumed, pointing to some major shifting trends in YouTube users.

“The majority of YouTube’s watch time now is coming from TV. The people who are dominant now in long form as opposed to short form are really killing it. If you don’t have a philosophy, it’s just not going to work. ”

While production quality has never been more important, Weissman told the SXSW crowd that brands need to do a better job of researching which creators they work with before forming brand partnerships.

“From an executional standpoint, brands should be looking to research the people that they want to work with. If you really want to build a real customer base, rather than one off purchases, you should be looking for different creators that have that authority, trust and respect and figure out what that looks like.

“I’m sure we all know about Mr. Beast, he has massive numbers, 200 million views a video. If someone could come in with a quarter, or even 10%, of that audience size, they might be able to develop a CPG business that produces bigger numbers than his just because of the dedication of that audience.

“It’s not always about the size. You could either go really wide and super shallow, or you can go a little less wider, which oftentimes is more powerful. The bigger businesses out there tend to be tend to have both.”

See Also: SXSW Sydney returns inviting session applications for 2024

“I’m not going to win the generative AI arms race, but I’m going to stay really close to the people that do,” Paramount chief technology officer Phil Wiser has told the SXSW Austin crowd.

“There is going to be a couple of them, at least on a core foundational perspective. Looking at the economics of fighting that battle, they’re a handful and all of them want to work with our content.

Wiser was speaking to a packed room, which included Mediaweek, as part of his featured session, ‘Paramount’s CTO Reimagines the Modern Media Company’. He discussed how trends such as AI, cloud computing, mixed reality, and NFTs are reshaping the production, processing, and distribution of content.

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that interacts with users in natural language and can create novel data, ranging from story outlines, reports, and other text outputs to content like images, videos, and audio. This has created the potential for a monumental shift in how media companies produce content moving forward.

While technology arms races are not uncommon, the thing that separates generative AI is its magnitude, Wiser proposed.

“You will notice that the level of investment is unprecedented. The breakthroughs that we’re seeing with these systems is really interesting.

“It’s a confluence of the key technology getting to a point where it can support that level of processing, where the cost of computer storage and distributed networking to clients have got to a point where you can do the next couple orders of magnitude to unlock what’s happening.”

See Also: SXSW Austin 2024: Shrinking streaming market and Paramount’s Zombie channels

When the iPhone launched in 2007, Adam Johnson – now Nova Entertainment’s chief growth officer – was a year into his eight year stint working as a marketer at Nokia. It was a harsh wake-up call.

“In terms of working in adversity, you’ve got this incredible brand but a substandard product in a market where the whole industry has shifted on its axis,” he said, speaking on The Growth Distillery vodcast.

“I learned much more about resilience and leadership in that period than I did when Nokia was riding high.”

It’s a lesson Johnson has held onto throughout his career, telling Mediaweek that marketers should feel proud about the role they play in wider businesses. His own marketing roles have “really opened my eyes to the impact that marketing can have on a business and day-to-day sales numbers.”

“I really worry about the notion that the marketers in the boardroom can only be there if you become the chief commercial officer or the CFO. There is a role for strategic, creative thinking and problem-solving at all levels of the business,” Johnson said.

“The CEO and the board don’t want you to be the CFO because they’ve got one of those. They want you to be the strategic, creative problem solver who’s building demand for whatever product or service is it that you sell. Be proud about that and use that to your advantage.”

Host Dan Krigstein and Adam Johnson

This is critically important in the current marketing landscape, with Johnson pointing out that the role of a marketer has changed so much, and senior marketing leaders are often expected to be all things to all people. 

“We’re data scientists as much as creative experts, brand strategists, and everything in between. You have to really remind yourself to be authentic, given that you’re expected to be so many different people, depending on the situation that you’re in.”

The vodcast series – hosted by News Corp Australia’s director of the Growth Intelligence Centre and independent think tank The Growth Distillery, Dan Krigstein – explores what it means to be a good leader. “It’s as difficult to be a good mentee as it is to be a good mentor,” Johnsons said. He told Mediaweek that the best mentors are people who have learned how to be mentees.

“The best mentoring relationships I’ve had have been when there’s a live problem or project to work on together. I’m a bit of a fixer – I love building and fixing things, and therefore I do struggle a little bit with what can be the slightly navel-gazing approach of chatting about stuff. 

“I really like it when you go, ‘I’ve got this challenge, you, as a mentor, have lived experience in this area or adjacent to it. How can you help guide me through that?’”

Johnson has a long history with vodcast partner The Marketing Academy; he was the first person to be both a scholar and a fellow of the organisation. He said he jumped at the chance to appear as a guest to help pay it forward.

“I was really intrigued by the subject matter that was initially pitched, this notion of the masks that we wear. Also, I’m a Growth Distillery listener, so it’s nice to go on to a vodcast that you listen to.”

–

Top Image: Adam Johnson

McDonald’s (Macca’s) has teamed up with creative agency DDB Sydney to launch a campaign celebrating the return of the Australian footy season.

Narrated by league commentator Ray Warren, the campaign features prominent figures from the world of Rugby League, including Mitch Moses, Kezie Apps, Reuben Cotter, Jai Arrow, Sam Thaiday, Ricky Stuart, and Wally Lewis, among others. 

The campaign launched last week across broadcast TV, online video, out-of-home, paid social, digital, and in-stadium advertising, aiming to cement the fast-food brand as a go-to destination for fans, players, and enthusiasts alike throughout the season.

See also: DDB Sydney secures creative duo from The Monkeys, Emmalie Narathipakorn and Seamus McAlary

Matt Chandler, DDB executive creative director, highlighted the campaign’s focus of showcasing Macca’s as a post-game destination.

“It’s amazing the people who show up at Macca’s after the game,” said Chandler.

“In this latest spot, Wally, Ricky, Ronald, and a proper dream team of league legends do a great job of helping Macca’s further build its connection with Aussie footy fans.”

While Amanda Nakad, McDonald’s director of marketing, added: “We know how much our customers love footy, and we are proud to provide a place for fans to meet before or after a game.”

“Win or lose, we’ll always be there for fans and this campaign is the perfect expression of that,” said Nakad.

See also: “Longevity is the hope”: DDB’s mission to restore Australia’s love for Volkswagen

Creative Credits 

Client: McDonald’s 
Amanda Nakad – Marketing director 
Matthew Wallace – Senior manager – sport partnerships

Creative Agency: DDB 
Matt Chandler – Executive creative director
Nick Cole – Senior creative 
Patrick Allenby – Senior creative 
Nick Cleeve – Group business director 
Kurt Griffin – Business director 
Laura Oleart – Producer 
Katharina Wynne – Strategy partner 

Media agency: OMD 
Christian Agliozzo – Manager – sports partnerships 
William Cottle – Executive – sports partnerships 

Production: 
Production Company – Powered Studios 
Liza Goodall – Executive producer 
Justin McMillan – Director 
Tom Low – Producer 
Chris Budgeon – Photographer 
Tim Tregoning – Director of photography 
Post House – Heckler 
Andrew Holmes – Editor 
Fergus Rothman – Colourist 
Sound production – Rumble Studios 
Daniel William – Sound design 
Michael Gie – Sound producer

Omnichannel retail media platform Zitcha is launching operations in Europe with an office in London, which will be led by Darren Jacobs and Dan Sands, who have been appointed as EMEA sales directors.

Zitcha’s retail media platform integrates on-site, off-site, and in-store assets and works with retailers in seven countries, including Coles Group (Australia), The Warehouse Group (New Zealand), Peavey Mart (Canada), and Axonet (US). The platform also collaborates with global brands, including Unilever, Fisher & Paykel, and Microsoft. 

The European retail media market is maturing quickly as retailers and brands look for omnichannel solutions to unify their existing offerings and streamline their operations to capitalise on digital advertising’s third wave. In Western Europe, retail media is expected to peak in the UK, where eMarketer predicts ad spending is set to almost double from US$4 billion in 2024 to US$7.91 billion by 2027. 

CEO Troy Townsend said that the Zitcha team has had many conversations with major players in the UK/EMEA market for the year and sees it as “mature and innovative with a cast of really great retail media networks.”

“We already have partners and runs on the board in the UK, and I believe the growth for our solution and its ability to scale brand and retail businesses is compelling.”

Townsend also added that the Zitcha team was looking forward to be working with Jacob and Sands. He said: “Their knowledge will be exceptional in helping set the tone and culture for Zitcha in the UK. Expect more in the near future as we see Europe as a critical region for us.”

Sands joins Zitcha with over a decade of experience working in retail, supporting brands and retailers, globally, to optimise how they engage shoppers. He was EMEA sales director for CitrusAds, where he worked with retailers to create a unified retail media offering.
 
Most recently, Sands was the EMEA director of retail partnerships at Firework. Prior to that he held multiple leadership positions at Nielsen Brandbank, working with retailers such as Carrefour, Tesco, Sainsbury and Loblaws, alongside the world’s largest CPGs, to effectively create, manage, measure and optimise product content.

Sands said of joining the Zitcha team: “It’s the channel with the most excitement around it right now, and we’ll be here for all European retailers and brands to build on those expectations within the sector.”

Jacobs has spent two decades honing his sales craft across multiple markets including the UK, Singapore and Australia working for Dennis Publishing, Yahoo, iClick, Nugit and Shuttlerock. The latter three were global sales leadership roles saw him focus on go to market and building teams in multiple markets.

He has also worked with all the major media agency networks, plus directly with global brands and partners such as Nestle, P&G, Unilever, Kellogg’s, Diageo, Stellantis, Ford, Meta and TikTok.

Jacobs said: “Zitcha is genuinely a one-stop-platform for brands and retailers. Retail media provides so much opportunity and is the fastest growing advertising sector. It’s grown rapidly and with Zitcha’s European arrival, that’s only set to act as a further catalyst for maturation as retailers can harness the platform’s power across markets and buy retail media across multiple retail media networks on a single platform.”

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Top image: Troy Townsend

The OMA’s full-year net media revenue results for the out of home (OOH) industry have shown a total increase of 12.23% on net media revenue in 2023.

This week, the category breakdowns have been released.

OOH Category Results for 2023:

Roadside Billboards (over and under 25 square metres)
$507.8 million

Roadside Other (street furniture, bus/tram externals, small format)
$271.3 million

Transport (including airports)
$140.8 million

Retail, Lifestyle and Other
$273.8 million

OOH Category Results for 2022:

Roadside Billboards (over and under 25 square metres)
$466.5 million

Roadside Other (street furniture, bus/tram externals, small format)
$238.6 million

Transport (including airports)
$100.7 million

Retail, Lifestyle and Other
$257.9 million

See Also: OMA: Out of Home industry revenue up 12.2% for 2023

Net media revenue for 2023 increased to $1,193.7 million, up from $1,063.6 million for 2022.

Digital out of home (DOOH) revenue accounts for 73.9% of total net media revenue year-to-date, an increase over the recorded 64.5% for the same period last year.

When the results were published, OMA CEO Elizabeth McIntyre said, “In 2023, we have seen our members invest into the future of the Out of Home channel, with the launch of OASIS, the boom of Programmatic buying and the development of MOVE2. This is a testament to our industry’s commitment to offering transparency and accountability for every dollar spent on OOH.”

Reflecting on the results, Ben Baker, managing director, APAC at Vistar Media said “The ongoing growth of the OOH market comes as no surprise to anyone working in the industry. OOH continues to deliver significant results for marketers so more brands are taking advantage of the channel every day.

“Programmatic OOH is surging ahead showing a commitment to measurable impact for every ad placed. With the targeted, dynamic solutions that this technology offers, we expect to see it continue to grow in influence every quarter. It was especially telling to see that DOOH revenue accounts for 73.9% of total net media revenue year-to-date, a 9% increase for the same period last year. This proves that brands are finding value and investing in the offerings from DOOH.”

Earlier this year, Mediaweek spoke with oOh! Media CEO Cathy O’Connor who said out-of-home is “equally a great companion to television.”

O’Connor says OOH is already growing at television’s expense. “We’re [oOh! Media] the largest player in out of home. So obviously, we stand to benefit the most when out of home grows … I think we’ll have to see how radio goes over the next couple of years to see if the same applies to them,” she said.

In 2023, Guideline SMI’s figures showed that television was down 13.9%, radio down 5.9%, and outdoor up 15.1%.

See Also: OOH and radio “will both grow at television’s expense”: Cathy O’Connor

Forethought has appointed Diane Shelton and Andrew Slot as joint managing directors of the marketing advisory, strategy and analytics company.

The appointment marks Shelton’s return to a full-time executive role at Forethought. She joined the business in 2017 as executive General Manager before being promoted to CEO in 2018. Shelton stepped aside as CEO in late 2021 and has been a non-executive advisory board member at Forethought for the past 18 months.

Shelton’s career includes senior roles in the retail, telecommunications, higher education and financial services sectors here and overseas, including senior vice president, Strategy and Transformation, at South Eastern Grocers in Florida; general manager, consumer strategy, at NBN Co Limited; general manager, customer knowledge and insight, at Coles; managing director of Ipsos in China and Hong Kong; and group manager, market knowledge, at Telstra.

Slot joined Forethought in 2013 as general manager of consulting after holding senior marketing and brand roles at Billabong, ADvTECH and BlueScope Steel. At Forethought, he has worked across the retail, aviation, quick-service restaurants, media and telecommunications sectors.

In their new roles, Shelton and Slot will work closely with and report to Forethought executive chairman and founder Ken Roberts.

Roberts welcomed Shelton and Slot to the team and called them the “best and most experienced marketing strategy and insights people in Australia” and said: “both have been an integral part of the Forethought family for many years.”

He added: “It’s great to have Diane back in the driver’s seat alongside Andrew. I’m looking forward to seeing their skills and talents come together to drive Forethought forward and build on our reputation as one of Australia’s leading marketing advisory, strategy and analytics companies. It’s going to be an exciting year for Forethought and for our clients.”

Shelton said: “I’m thrilled to take the helm at Forethought alongside Andrew, and I can’t wait to see our different strengths and insights combine to deliver better strategies and results.”

Slot added: “After several years working with Diane in various capacities, I’m really excited to welcome her back to the company and look forward to working closely with her to deliver great results for our clients and our people.”

–

Top image: Andrew Slot, Ken Roberts and Diane Shelton

Communities are crucial when it comes to long-term business growth, according to a report from The Growth Distillery in collaboration with Present Company.

The report titled Virtuous Value Creation: A Briefing On Community reviewed the gaming sector, an industry the report says is made up of businesses that are seeking connection, meaning and influence. 

The study revealed the gaming sector represents global best-practice in cultivating a sense of community with their customers, describing their community as a true asset.

The deep dive found that a healthy community uses a simple value exchange model. To unlock growth, a business contributes to key consumer needs like identity, collaboration, status, access, belonging, rituals and outcomes. 

In exchange, consumers allow businesses to pursue their objectives like influence, fostering advocacy, product creation, trial, growth, revenue and profits. 

The research identified eight community-first principles:

1. Experience beats engagement: in an age of media saturation, tangible products and
experiences are the most powerful anchors
2. Clear and evolving value exchange: powerful communities exhibit a shared expectation of
building collective value
3. Self-identification is everything: a community is self-aware and will quickly give indications of
how they are feeling
4. Risk and jeopardy are as powerful as wins: imperfection will be met with forgiveness when
the intent is to benefit the group
5. You must cede power: companies must provide governance and self-determination options to
other community members
6. Proxy as a system, not just a structure: supply the community with the flexibility to identify
what they believe the value system is and they’ll develop it accordingly
7. Provide a currency, foster an economy: let community members exploit the asset value the
community generates to create and justify their own premium
8. Play to all sides: no niche is too niche with one customer usually a member of many
communities

Director of The Growth Distillery Dan Krigstein said cultivating community represents an exciting new frontier for long-term value creation.

“If you want to see what the future holds, look to gaming. This ecosystem has fundamentally changed the way communities can be built, nurtured and virtuously grown,” he said.

“Gaming companies have been amongst the very best at realising the importance of nurturing their communities in not only an authentic way but an altruistic one.

“They have demonstrated that communities can not only build better experiences but establish new lines of business and grow lifetime customer value through mutual acts of service. This space presents a fundamentally new model of virtuous value creation and a new level of fandom.”

By Lauren Joyce, Chief Strategy and Connections Officer at ARN

Today is International Women’s Day. A day designed to reflect on how much progress we’ve made towards equality for women and a day to acknowledge that there is still work to be done.

A few years ago, a campaign was launched across the media industry called Fck the Cupcakes. It is about moving beyond the tokenistic pink cupcakes adorned with hearts and IWD motifs to put real action in place for closing the opportunity gap between men and women. It is well-intentioned and absolutely necessary.

But as I sat eating my cereal this morning, I pondered my experience as a woman in the media industry, the theme of this year’s IWD – Invest in Women – and what needs to happen to close the gap.

And I realised that cupcakes are quite important really.

In all their sugary pink glory, what they represent is a moment to converse. To stop, grab a cup of tea, and take a moment to listen.

For me, the cupcakes are quite important. They stand for investing time in listening to different women’s experiences of the media: their opportunities to consume it, work in it, and be represented by it. To be heard. And for the people who choose to invest time in listening, to consider how different women’s experiences differ from their own and why that is the case.

It’s 2024 and today we will still hear some ask, “Why isn’t there an International Men’s Day?” There is. It’s 19 November. Feminism is still attached to negative connotations, despite the definition being: The belief that women and men should have equal opportunities.

And, we will hear people say, “but things are equal”: superficially they do seem that way because those before us have done so much work to close the gap, but systemic inequalities like unequal access to parental leave, or gender domination within some industries, continue to prevent equal opportunity for all and lead to outcomes like a 28% superannuation gap.

These are the discussions that we should be having today, on IWD.

It’s not a men versus women issue. It’s about equal opportunity.

This is the role of the cupcake: To give permission for people to stop, listen, and gain perspective on why investing time and money into creating equal opportunities is what is needed to help people, individually and collectively.

See also: How Publicis, Seven, Enero, and Ten are marking IWD

Five months after stepping down as chair of News Corp, billionaire Rupert Murdoch is engaged for a sixth time, this time to retired scientist Elena Zhukova. 

As reported in the New York Times, last April, rumours circulated that the 92-year-old was dating Zhukova, 67, just four months after he ended his two-week-long engagement to Ann Lesley Smith. 

Murdoch and Zhukova reportedly met at a family gathering hosted by his third ex-wife, Wendi Deng.

Zhukova was once married to a different billionaire, Russian Alexander Zhukov, and her daughter, Darya Zhukova was also once married to oligarch and former Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovic.

The wedding will reportedly be held later this year at Murdoch’s estate in California. 

Murdoch first married Patricia Booker which ended in divorce in 1967. That same year he married Anna Torv, and had three children with her – Lachlan, James and Elisabeth. That marriage lasted 22 years, ending in 1999 when he married again in that same year to Wendi Deng. 

His marriage to Deng also ended in divorce in 2013 and he wasn’t married again until 2016, this time to Jerry Hall. The marriage reportedly ended over email in 2022. 

The news of Murdoch’s soon-to-be fifth marriage comes as the media mogul stepped down as chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corp in September 2023.

His son, Lachlan Murdoch, is now the sole chair of News Corp and continues as executive chair and chief executive officer of Fox Corporation.

“On behalf of the Fox and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” said Lachlan Murdoch upon his father’s departure.

“We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted. We are grateful that he will serve as Chairman Emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies.”

See also: Rupert Murdoch steps down from News Corp & Fox, Lachlan sole chair of both

Hawke’s Brewing Co., the Marrickville-based, independent brewer named after former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, has introduced a bespoke gaming machine, the ‘Game for Good’. It’s a play on the classic pokies machine, but with a twist: the “takings” go towards environmental causes.

Developed in collaboration with tech innovation company Nakatomi, the machine will be stationed within Hawke’s’ hospitality venue, The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre. Guests who purchase a beer from the bar will receive a donation token, granting them access to the game.

Operated by an algorithm devised by Nakatomi, the machine provides players with opportunities to win various prizes, including Hawke’s beer, merchandise, and snacks from the venue’s Lucky Prawn Chinese Restaurant.

When a player unlocks the “jackpot,” the total amount is directed towards supporting local environmental organisations. Additionally, players have the option to donate the value of their prizes directly to the jackpot pool.

See also: Hawkes Brewing takes larrikin spirit online with new e-commerce site by Wonderful

The ‘Game for Good’ is partially powered by solar energy sourced from the brewery’s 100kW rooftop solar farm, one of the largest installations of its kind in Sydney’s inner west.

Its game, titled ‘King of The Climate,’ is an homage to Bob Hawke’s environmental advocacy during his tenure as Prime Minister.

David Gibson, co-founder of Hawke’s, described the ‘Game for Good’  initiative as “a parody” of a vintage “one arm bandit” pokies machine.

“In this case, our guests can play without the harm associated with pokies,” Gibson said. “Instead, every token put into the machine will equate to a real contribution to a local environmental group in the form of a real payout.”

Gibson described the company’s existential commitment to environmental cause.

“The Hawke’s journey started with Bob Hawke passing on his royalty share to help the company support environmental causes. Since then, every Hawke’s beer enjoyed has helped us keep that promise.

“The ‘Game for Good’ is a continuation of that spirit, while delivering an important message around our collective gamble with the environment. Ultimately, if the environment loses, we all lose. If it wins, we all win.”

See also: Crafting a success: How Nathan Lennon’s “hold my beer” attitude built Hawke’s Brewing Co.

TV Report March 10, 2024:

Nine TV Report

Married at First Sight

Nine’s evening began with a Commitment Ceremony on Married at First Sight. 

All that’s on anyone’s lips is the revelation from the Dinner Party that Sara has been catching up with her ex-boyfriend whilst in the experiment with Tim.

The first couple to face the experts was Lucinda and Timothy, who displayed a real shift on the couch. Timothy explains that he had an emotional breakthrough at the retreat, culminating in a deeply bonding hug between himself and Lucinda. Both write stay.

Next up was Eden and Jayden. Eden spent the retreat burdened by Sara’s text about planning to visit an ex, and on the couch, the couple discussed how Eden’s resulting anxiety caused issues between her and Hayden. Both write stay.

Cassandra and Tristan arrive on the couch for Tristan to reveal to the experts that he told Cassandra he loves her. However, Cassandra reveals she doesn’t reciprocate Tristan’s feelings. Cassandra ends up writing leave, while Tristan writes stay. 

Andrea and Richard’s mood quickly unravels when it’s revealed that the couple hadn’t been intimate in weeks. Expert Mel suggests that they’re not listening to each other and that this is a critical point in their relationship. They both write stay. 

Lauren and Jono and Tori and Jack wrote stay while Michael and Stephen both wrote leave.

Last up on the couch was Sara and Tim. The experts were searching for answers from Sara as she attempted to explain herself. When Tim tries to explain how Sara has hurt him, Sara shuts him down. Tim said his trust is broken and has written leave. To everyone’s surprise, Sara chooses to stay as she says she’s determined to make it up to Tim and win back his trust. 

60 Minutes

Over on 60 Minutes, the team spoke to the family of murdered 23-year-old Celeste Manno about their fight to ensure the man who stalked and murdered their daughter is never released from prison. They also caught up with Matchbox Twenty as they celebrated three decades of chart-topping records. 

NRL Sunday Footy: Dolphins v Cowboys

Sunday afternoon also saw the Dolphins take on the Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium as the Cowboys thrashed the Dolphins 43-18.

Seven TV Report

Australian Idol

Over on Seven, all of the top 8 sang for a chance to get into the top 6. 

The night saw the viewers choose the songs the contestants performed and the judges ended up saving Ivana as she went straight into the top 6. 

The songs performed included:

Ivana: Edge of Midnight – Miley Cyrus
Dylan: End of the Road – Boyz II Men
Drea: No Tears Left to Cry – Ariana Grande
Denvah: God Only Knows – The Beach Boys
Isaac: Wonder – Shawn Mendes
Trent: She Looks So Perfect – 5 Seconds of Summer
Kiani: A Thousand Miles – Vanessa Carlton
Amy: What Was I Made For – Billie Elish

Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370

Seven’s documentary special followed the ten years after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and its 239 passengers and crew vanished. 

10 TV Report

The Sunday Project

The Sunday Project saw the program look into female footballers fighting for better pay and spoke to Leah Purcell and Ziggy Marley.

Australian Survivor

On 10’s Australian Survivor, Raymond’s big move has left Feras desperate for attention and Alex and Mark without their ally, Valeria. A boy’s alliance is formed, with Rianna and Kirby in their sights and while the overnight reward would be a fantastic opportunity for the boys to solidify their plan, Alex wins and decides to take his enemies instead. 

Mark does the real work back at camp and plants some seeds with Feras who is finally ready to take out his frenemy in the game, Kirby. 

ABC

Death in Paradise

The team joined Naomi in Saint Barnabas when her best friend’s father was murdered at a wedding. Marlon tries to prepare for his sergeant exams but is easily distracted.

SBS

History’s Greatest Mysteries

History’s Greatest Mysteries looked into the puzzling pyramids of Egypt and investigated why no one fully understands how they were built.