By James Warburton, Managing Director and CEO Seven West Media

Meta’s announcement on 1 March that it will not renew any of the deals struck with Australian media companies for use of news content on its platforms proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is a corporate bully. What’s the best way to deal with bullies? Stand up to them. Don’t flinch. Don’t blink. Stare them down.

The Albanese Government needs to stand up to Meta, designate it and not waiver. Meta will fight back, hard. It will get very messy. But we are a sovereign nation that should not – and will not – be bullied by multinational tech behemoths.

Meta’s petulant, extreme but not totally unexpected decision underscores a significant shift in the digital landscape, highlighting the complex interplay between large tech corporations and the media industry. It also raises crucial questions about the balance of power, the sustainability of journalism and the role of government regulation in safeguarding a diverse and fair news ecosystem.

At the heart of this issue are concerns about Meta’s significant market power and its potential to undermine the financial viability of news organisations. By choosing not to renew the news deals, Meta is not only affecting the revenue streams of many media organisations but also impacting the public’s access to reliable and diverse news sources.

Meta’s decision reflects a broader challenge facing the news industry: how to sustain quality journalism in an era where digital platforms control significant portions of advertising revenue and audience reach. It earns billions of dollars in revenue from Australian advertisers and invest little to any of it back into trusted professional news and media content. Further, companies like Meta are taking most of the profits back overseas and not investing it back into the content from which they earn ad revenue.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) plays a pivotal role in this context, given its role in ensuring fair competition and preventing abuse of market power. The ACCC’s recognition of Meta and other digital platforms as gatekeepers to the Australian consumer market (making them unavoidable trading partners) underscores the need for regulatory oversight. It’s imperative for the regulators to scrutinise the actions of tech giants, ensuring they do not engage in practices that stifle competition or harm consumer interests.

The situation in Australia serves as a microcosm of a global challenge. Governments and regulatory bodies worldwide are grappling with similar issues and trying to create legal and economic frameworks that support a healthy news media landscape. This includes exploring ways to ensure that digital platforms contribute fairly to the news ecosystem, recognising the critical role of journalism in democracy and society.

The debate over Meta’s decision here also touches on the broader theme of misinformation and the importance of trusted news sources. In an era marked by concerns over fake news and information overload, the availability of verified and reliable news content is more important than ever. Digital platforms must take responsibility in supporting the news industry, not just for the sake of individual media outlets, but for the health of public discourse and democracy itself. Despite what Meta appears to believe, it is part of Australian corporate life and Australian society, with all the responsibilities that entails. It isn’t an island, or a law unto itself.

When the News Media Bargaining Code was introduced, it was lauded as a revolutionary new approach to competition and regulatory policy. But regulating monopolies and organisations with dominant market power is far from new: it’s been happening since the advent of the railway.

In Australia, we are comfortable and familiar in regulating monopolies. We regulate access to our energy infrastructure, telecommunications networks, have competition rules for gas markets, airports and seaports, and so on. Imagine if one of these regulated businesses didn’t like the rules and decided to simply not play. The regulators and Governments would come down on them like a tonne of bricks. Meta is no different. We should not look at regulating these large digital platforms as something new and novel, but just a matter of course on how we regulate businesses that dominate certain markets.

The regulation of monopolies and the enforcement of competition laws are crucial in maintaining market fairness and protecting consumer interests. The current situation with Meta and the news industry calls for a similar approach, albeit adapted for the digital age. Governments and regulatory bodies must work together to ensure that digital marketplaces operate transparently and fairly, supporting a diverse and sustainable news media landscape.

Meta’s bullying decision not to renew news content deals in Australia is a wake-up call for policymakers, regulators, and the media industry. It highlights the urgent need for a balanced approach that safeguards the interests of news organisations, promotes fair competition and ensures the public has access to a wide range of reliable news sources. No one likes bullies and no one wants them to win.

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See Also: ‘No one can tell brands how they should react’: Will advertisers punish Meta for exiting news deals?

The International Women’s Day 2024 theme, “Count Her In: Invest In Women. Accelerate Progress.” centres on the pathways to greater economic inclusion for women and girls everywhere.

Here’s how businesses across the media and advertising industry have, or are, marking the day.

Publicis Groupe

VivaWomen!, Publicis Groupe’s employee resource group dedicated to supporting and developing women in the company, hosted a discussion with TV and radio presenter Amanda Keller.

Keller shared her experiences with challenges and successes in her media career, as well as the benefits and impacts of gender equity and allyship both inside and outside the workplace.

In the evening, Publicis Groupe Sydney also hosted a dinner and discussion panel in partnership with women’s media company, Mamamia.

The panel discussion covered topics such as how brands can authentically show up on International Women’s Day, what seems to be resonating with audiences in the lead up to the day and what can be done to accelerate women’s progress in the workplace.

The event included a Q&A with Mamamia editor-in-chief Eliza Sorman-Nilsson facilitated by Spark Foundry chief investment officer Lucie Jansen, as well as a panel with Mamamia executive editor Holly Wainwright, writer and podcast host Emily Vernem and chief revenue officer Natalie Harvey with Digitas chief operations officer Kara Bombell.

Pauly Grant, Publicis Groupe chief talent officer ANZ, said: “International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to pause and celebrate the incredible achievements of women across our industry. It is also a time to reflect on our continued efforts to create a more diverse, equitable and supportive environment for all.

“At Publicis Groupe, we’re focused on fostering a culture of fairness where every one of our people has the chance to succeed. Currently, we have women occupying 57% of senior leadership roles across our Australian agencies and, last year, 68% of promotions across the Groupe were women.

“We have a Gender Equity strategy in place to continue to make progress as an inclusive and progressive employer; and have introduced several policies and programs to help attract more women into our business and provide an environment for them to thrive.

“This includes closely analysing salary increase and promotion decision making; ensuring that we’re recruiting more diverse talent; supporting leaders in their inclusive leadership journey; providing paid Menopause Leave; and having a Parental Leave carer swap program in place.”

Seven

Seven West Media celebrating its fourth year in partnership with UN Women Australia as the Australian broadcast partner for International Women’s Day.

UN Women Australia’s partnership with Seven West Media, set up in 2021, has seen the network support key International Women’s Day events around Australia the lead up to the day.

Across this week, the partnership has seen UN Women Australia CEO, Simone Clarke, appear on The Morning Show on Wednesday; a town hall with 7NEWS’ Gemma Acton and Home and Away’s Ada Nicodemou held yesterday for Seven West Media staff; and 7NEWS anchors hosting UN Women events in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Canberra today, with a package to appear on air tonight.

Seven West Media’s women leaders also shared their thoughts on economic inclusion empowerment. Sunrise co-host, Natalie Barr, said: “To me, it means empowering and encouraging women into higher levels in workplaces. When that happens, the evidence shows, more women are given more chances.”

The Morning Show co-host, Kylie Gillies, said: “This is a very meaningful partnership. Marking international days such as International Women’s Day is important to highlight where and what we can do better. When we invest in women, everyone wins.” 

7NEWS network finance editor, Gemma Acton said: “Knowledge is power. Economic empowerment is about understanding your finances so you can make the best decisions for you and your loved ones at every stage of your life. It’s about not getting pushed around by people who don’t have your best interests at heart. It’s about setting yourself up to feel confident about your finances so you can earn, save and invest enough to live the wonderful life you want.” 

Chief executive officer, WA, Maryna Fewster, said: “One of the great things about my role is being able to champion and mentor our future female leaders and help empower them to achieve their potential. If we believe, we can! It’s up to all of us to continue working towards true equality for women in a meaningful way.”

Lucinda Gemmell, chief people and culture officer, said: “We are so proud at Seven that women represent nearly half of our team members and our leadership team. Continuing to provide opportunities for all our team members to flourish and have strong opportunities to develop and have successful careers at Seven is core to who we are. As the major media sponsor of UN Women’s IWD events again this year, we are proud of the work we do both within our teams at Seven and to promote the importance of economic empowerment.”

Melissa Hopkins, chief marketing and audience officer, said: “While inclusion of women in the workplace has made strong strides, empowering women to reach their full economic potential is the next big frontier. Building confidence and providing tools not only drives females to reach more potential than they thought possible, but it also drives substantial economic growth and value.”

Director of morning television, Sarah Stinson, said: “Economic empowerment of women means giving women an all-access pass: access to equal pay, access to flexible work arrangements, access to education and affordable childcare and sharing of caring responsibilities. Every IWD it’s amazing to celebrate so many inspiring females and their accomplishments. It’s my hope that soon we won’t have to talk about breaking through any glass ceiling because there won’t be one: men and women will have all access to the rooftop terrace of equal opportunity.” 

Sarah-Jane Tasker, editor of The Nightly, said: “We need to constantly be pushing forward so it becomes the norm that women are economically empowered; it should be a given. It not only provides them the ownership to set the course of their own destiny, but it can also lift national economies and increase productivity and have real outcomes more broadly.”

Enero Group

Enero Group hosted a discussion panel for the women of its companies, BMF, Hotwire, CPR, OB Media and Orchard, that centred on the theme of ‘Inspire Inclusion’ and ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate progress’.

Abigail Dawson, Enero’s group communications director, moderated the discussion panel, which featured Irina Hayward, BMF’s executive director of digital and direct strategy; Melissa Cullen, Hotwire Australia’s managing director of communications APAC; and Fiona Walters, Orchard’s digital analyst, data and strategy.

The discussion celebrated women’s economic empowerment and examined the continued progress surrounding gender equality.

Enero Group also streamed a keynote speaker, Rabia Siddique, one of Australia’s top 100 women of influence and an Australian of the Year. 

She shared her harrowing story about her experience with battling discrimination, abuse, chronic illness, and post-traumatic stress after her involvement in a hostage crisis in Iraq, and how it led to inspiring greater diversity, inclusion, and cultural change.

Ten/Paramount

10 and Paramount is marking International Women’s Day by celebrating the women in key broadcast positions and leadership roles in news. Beverley McGarvey, executive vice president, chief content officer & head of paramount+ at Paramount Australia said she was proud of the women who lead news coverage across the country.

“It’s certainly important to celebrate and recognise our talented women in news on days like today, but we also live and breathe this focus on gender equity every day with a strong commitment to investing in women across our entire business.

“And while we know we have more work to do, we’re also pleased to have the smallest gender pay gap across the broadcast industry,” she added.

Among 10’s team of experienced news anchors are Kate Freebairn on 10 News First Adelaide, Jennifer Keyte for 10 News First Melbourne, Narelda Jacobs OAM on 10 News First Midday and 10 News First Afternoon, Natalie Forrest for 10 News First Perth and Sandra Sully AM for 10 News First Queensland and 10 News First Sydney.

The Executive Editors leading the bulletins across the country are Gerda Jezuchowski for 10 News First Adelaide, Nicole Strahan for 10 News First Melbourne, Pamela Magill for 10 News First Perth and Erin Edwards for 10 News First Queensland.

Covering red carpets around the world and all things entertainment is Angela Bishop OAM as the network entertainment editor for 10 News First.

In Canberra, Ashleigh Raper is the network political editor, the only female political editor across all the commercial networks, showing that not only does Federal Parliament remain a male-dominated field, but so too does the reporting of it.

Rashell Habib, head of digital news and strategy said the successes of women in media are often overlooked.

She said “I don’t want gender to be an issue for news and journalism, but it is. I think we’ve got to be louder about our successes as women in news and shout about our own achievements as well as the accomplishments of our female colleagues.

“We can’t do it alone and need to support each other and find allies in our workplaces and across the industry too.”

Paramount Australia says it is working towards gender equity in the workplace offering flexibility, gender neutral 14 weeks paid parental leave and an increased focus on equitable recruitment activities surrounding process and pay.

A fact supported by the 2023 Women in Media Gender Scorecard that found gender inequality prevalent across the industry with most byline authors male, particularly in prolific media areas such as sport (82% male, 18% female), finance (63% male, 37% female) and politics (59% male, 41% female).

Social-first news publication The Daily Aus will continue to diversify its revenue streams and push into international markets, co-founder Zara Seidler tells Mediaweek in response to the uncertainty of news’ future on Meta platforms.

The business launched on Meta-owned Instagram and has 530,000 followers on the platform, putting The Daily Aus in a “complex” position, Seidler says.

The government and publishers alike have condemned Meta for pulling out of future News Media Bargaining Code agreements. The government now faces the option to “designate” Meta, which would force the tech giant into arbitration with publishers.

“We never benefited from any of those commercial deals, so there’s not a direct hit to revenue in that sense. Our concern lies with whether the government chooses to designate Meta, and then it follows what’s happening in Canada and decides to remove news from its platforms. That will have a direct consequence for us and our revenue,” Seidler says.

Canadians cannot access The Daily Aus‘ Instagram account. But while Instagram is still central to The Daily Aus’ platform and revenue – the team has brand partnerships that take the form of Instagram Stories and on-platform polling – the last couple of years have seen the brand work to diversify its offering.

Seidler says the brand’s strategy for the current financial year has been ‘from an Instagram page to a media company.’

“Our fastest-growing revenue channel is actually newsletters at the moment. We’re really going to be pushing as much as we can to strengthen those numbers and those commercial partnerships in the newsletter space, so that we aren’t in a position where we can suddenly have it taken away from us.

“We’re going to continue to push for newsletters, a push for podcasts, and building out our website and YouTube presence. I think it’s really important to continue to meet people where they’re at, and we never want to go down a singular stream. We always want to be platform agnostic.”

When Meta’s decision was announced, The Daily Aus asked its Instagram audience to subscribe to its newsletter.

Starting the business as an Instagram page “was a risky strategy, because it meant we were reliant on a third-party,” the team wrote.

“For the last two years, we’ve been trying to build a more direct relationship with you through the newsletter.

“We’re in this for the long run… we hope you are too.”

The Daily Aus has also been planning to expand the brand into the UK and USA. Seidler says Meta’s decision won’t have “a direct impact” on the expansion plans, however, they do create an unanticipated hurdle. 

“Our priority needs to be on our biggest newsroom and the Australian market. It’s a bit of a distraction, but it doesn’t change the commercial reality of us wanting to expand. Priorities are always shifting and we didn’t foresee this happening, so we just need to reevaluate and just make sure that we’ve got all our ducks in a row.”

Outside of the impacts on the brand itself, Seidler adds she is “quite horrified by the prospects” of Meta’s decision when it comes to consumers.

“All we’ll see is moving from trust in brands, to young people looking at influencers or creators to give them news and commentary. That is going to be void of any fact-checking or any kind of evidence-based claims, and I think that it’s a huge issue that needs to be taken seriously. 

See Also: ‘No one can tell brands how they should react’: Will advertisers punish Meta for exiting news deals?

“The bottom lines of big media companies need to be taken into consideration, but so do consumer habits. They’re not going to change how they get their news tomorrow, so what will come and fill that void? That’s my concern.”

On LinkedIn, Seidler added: “The Daily Aus engages young Australians who didn’t read any news before us, and won’t read any hard news if we disappear. It’s no accident we’ve grown to be one of the biggest news pages in the country – we serve a new generation of news consumers who see Instagram as a key, irreplaceable source of news.”

Former Meta staffer Jenni Ryall – currently at Bastion helping news organisations on transformation projects – agrees: “Your take is an important and intelligent one based in reality of younger and new consumption habits. A collaborative model is going to benefit consumers that want access to news and information — and digital news providers that rely on a healthy distribution ecosystem. Collaborate for fair revenue shares and models, platform priority, data sharing and a sustainable funding model.”

Ending Fontgate

In January, The Daily Aus launched a brand refresh via agency Hatrik House, with the goal of reflecting that the outlet was ‘growing up’. This rebrand came with a new font, which didn’t prove overly popular with readers, who flooded the comments thread of Instagram posts complaining.

Two days ago, an Instagram post reading, “We hear you. The old font is back for our front covers” marked the end of what quickly became known as ‘Fontgate’.

“It was definitely a checkered journey,” Seidler laughs when asked about the return to the old font.

“We were really united and really happy with the rebrand – obviously, there was some strong feedback there, but we wanted to not give up anything too early. We’ve always thought that you need to give something a real shot to understand if it’s just an aversion to change, or if it’s something deeper.

“Audience is king, and we always want to be responding to and wholly transparent with our audience. We decided to change it and get back to the news, because that’s what we do best – not fonts, clearly.

“It’s really nice to have such an audience buy-in for our brand identity, I think it shows that we’ve established a close relationship with our audience that hopefully remains on Meta and beyond.”

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Top Image: Zara Seidler

“Good morning Melbourne, Clint Stanaway with you on Nova 100,” were the first words muttered by the new Jase and Lauren breakfast regime at the station that used to be the breakfast home of Ben and Liam and Belle.

After the news, the new breakfast show started with some clips of the last show hosted by Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips at KIIS 101.1. “Jase and Lauren never wanted to leave you Melbourne,” said the voiceover.

“I got retirement gifts when I got fired, do I have to return them?” asked Lauren as the new hosts went live.

She admitted she didn’t sleep much last night. Jase said he woke at 4.10am and had a shave.

It was a big deal day at Nova. The hosts explained chief executive Peter Charlton came to Melbourne for the first show. The boss forgot his pas and sat outside for a while listening to the show on the Nova app.

Jase tested Lauren if she knew the new phone number. “The only phone number I remember is Pizza Hitt,” she laughed.

“It’s 13-24-10,” the Nova number he reminded her.

“We used to work on another radio station and we got the arse last year,” he continued. “Thanks to the people at Nova we have felt so welcome. We are so glad to be able to work together.

“We call the new executive producer The Thumb.” That’s Brodie Pummeroy who worked with Ben, Liam and Belle and before that Chrissie, Sam and Browny.

Getting sacked was the hot topic on day 1 at Nova

Clint Stanaway still on board too

Melbourne supporter, newsreader and sports guy Clint Stanaway was working on the show from Sydney where he watched his football team Melbourne lose. Although he did leave at three-quarter time when the game was still in the balance. (Other Melbourne supporters who stayed wish they’d left at that point of the game too.)

The returning breakfast show started on the Friday of what is a long weekend in Victoria. “That was tactical,” noted Stanaway. Perhaps because they had a tip that Kyle and Jackie O would be announcing their start date on Tuesday next week.

Talking about the team, Jase explained it was like a marriage: “We all fight and don’t sleep together.”

Pre-show Jase took the opportunity to take the family for a holiday at the Radisson Blue in Fiji. Lauren’s socials indicate she was in Los Angeles recently. Both got tickets to Taylor Swift. Jason sat alongside the “man who took us from Centrelink” – Nova program chief Brendan Taylor.

See also: We have a date! Kyle and Jackie O set to launch in Melbourne

Exploiting their sacking

Embracing that you got the sack is always better than spinning any other version in the media. It’s working for Jase and Lauren.

“Should we take a look back at what happened over the past few months,” asked Jase in the first hour.

“After a testing few months for all of us, this is a really happy ending,” said Lauren.

Jase: “For people who aren’t normal Nova listeners, we got the boot because they are networking in Kyle and Jackie O. It really sucked. The show was starting to get some momentum and the rug was pulled from under us.

“We are not naïve, this is the entertainment industry and people lose their jobs all the time.”

Jase admitted that losing the job wasn’t the sting, it was how it was done. “People were talking about us, [ARN] wasn’t talking to us,” Lauren agreed.

“The real sting was we were being replaced by a show from Sydney. Melbourne deserves better.”

Lauren: “We thought TV was brutal, wow, what about radio.”

Jase: “We always joked one day the swipe cards wouldn’t work. And boy they didn’t one day. The support we have had since we got the boot has been sensational. People everywhere have been so supportive.”

After 27 years in radio, the radio vet Jase said he told management at his new home: “I’ll die on this station. I hate moving.”

Archive image of their former life!

Former fans tune in

First caller was Jackie from Geelong. “We are so glad you are back.” Jase replied: “Not as happy as we are, especially for the mortgage repayments.”

Young four-year-old Noah was next with his mum admitting she was woken up by the youngster about 5am.

Steve from Narre Warren was next who said his daughter had been counting down the days until the show returned.

Music on the new Nova breakfast

Plenty of tunes this morning (four in first hour) starting with Raye after an opener running less than 10 minutes. Across the morning the station featured mainly female artists on International Women’s Day including Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Tate McRae, Katy Perry and Ricki-Lee.

Guests on Day 1 at Nova

Former KIIS regular on the show Christian Petracca from Melbourne Demons moved with the hosts to Nova. Joining on the first show were Ricki Lee and Pete Helliar.

Ben and Liam say goodbye

It should be noted that Ben and Liam finished their breakfast years yesterday. With producer-turned-coast Belle, the team are moving to the other end of the day.

Partly to fill a contract obligation they have been given two hours from 6pm nationally to work their magic.

In creating a new “late drive” timeslot, Nova has taken slots from Fitzy and Wippa and also Smallzy. We have written before about how they are creating a new Late Drive slot. They have maybe two years to make it work when they might be an option for a new regular drive show at Nova or elsewhere.

Ben and Liam had a long and largely successful career hosting breakfast. They have got good more recently at farewells.

In October 2019 they farewelled their Triple J breakfast audience. Then in October 2022 they sort of farewelled their Adelaide Nova breakfast audience. They did an hour 6-7am for a while after leaving.

Last week they farewelled the Melbourne Nova breakfast audience.

Grab the popcorn…it’s Kyle v Jase, Jackie O v Lauren, Brooklyn v Clint

Melbourne FM radio audiences are facing the biggest programming shake-up in years. Yes, bigger than Marty Sheargold moving to Triple M, bigger than Christian O’Connell moving from London to Gold 104.3. Maybe even bigger than Fifi Box starting her reign at Fox a decade ago, taking over from Matt and Jo.

Kyle and Jackie O will announce on Tuesday their Melbourne start date.

Kyle Sandilands has dropped harsh summary of the radio market in that city ahead of his arrival. Fiona Byrne has detailed what unfolded on the KIIS 106.5 program this week:

KIIS king Kyle Sandilands has launched an extraordinary tirade at new Nova100 breakfast hosts Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips describing their yet to launch show as the “sh***est in Melbourne.”

“Melbourne, I can’t wait to go there. I can’t wait for the whole show to go completely national live,” Sandilands said.

“All the Melbourne stations, they are all circling the wagons.

“They keep telling everyone in the press, ‘Aw yeah, we are not worried.’ They are sh***ing themselves and I don’t blame them. I am not here to come second.

Sandilands did confirm he considered Hawkins a friend.

“Don’t forget Jase was my protégé,” he said.

“I taught him everything he knows. A lot of slave work was also part of that protégé scheme. He had to live with me and I did treat him like a personal slave.

“They put that other flop from the Weekend Today show, he is going to read their news over at Nova. So what is his name Cl*t, Cl*t, Cl*t Stowaway?

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; Kirsty Muddle, CEO at Dentsu Creative; Paul MacGregor; director of strategy & marketing at Val Morgan; Liana Dubois, CMO at Nine; Laura Aldington, co-founder at Supermassive; Darren Woolley, CEO of Trinity P3; Sam Buchanan, CEO at IMAA; Lindsey Evans, Partner at Special; Alex Derwin, chief creative officer at BMF; Rochelle Burberry, 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.

Tracksuit is building momentum following a recent $20.5 million Series A investment injection, and co-founder James Hurman says the brand tracking start-up’s big pull is simple: it’s cheaper than competitors.

Speaking to Mediaweek, Hurman said that while traditional brand tracking, provided by large research companies, has been around for decades, it is expensive — ranging from $80,000 to $100,000 a year.

“For most businesses, it’s just out of the question in terms of its affordability,” he said. Tracksuit’s offering is much more cost-effective, he continued, at $15,000 to $25,000 annually.

Hurman also highlighted Tracksuit is a “friendlier, more delightful tool to use.”

“Traditionally, the way research was presented to an organisation was via a big PowerPoint deck, with many charts and graphs and numbers, some of which were useful, some of which didn’t tend to be.

“We just put it all on a dashboard that sits alongside performance marketing dashboards, which marketers are used to nowadays. It is a much more fit-for-purpose way of taking in the brand health tracking information you’re getting so that you can use it as a diagnostic tool for where to take your brand next.”

Hurman is also an author and the founder of the New Zealand-based consultancy Previously Unavailable, which conceived and built Tracksuit alongside research firm TRA. Alongside Tracksuit, it has built insights platform Ideally, and drinks brands AF Drinks and Odd Company.

Tracksuit’s Series A funding round was led by Silicon Valley-based firms Altos Ventures and Footwork, and takes the start-up – founded in 2021 and led by co-founders and CEOs Connor Archbold and Matthew Herbert – to a valuation of $142.9 million. The round’s investors included co-founder of frank body and branding agency Willow & Blake Bree Johnson, ex-Airbnb founder Lenny Rachitsky, and Allbirds co-founder Tim Brown.

Matt Herbert and Connor Archbold

Hurman explained that the funding would allow Tracksuit – which tracks more than 4,000 brands across Australia, New Zealand, US, UK, and Canada – to accelerate the growth of its operations, particularly in the US and the UK.

It will ramp up in those markets by hiring more people and reaching more businesses “that have benefited enormously from being able to afford brand health tracking, where they would not have been able to before,” Hurman added.

Some of Tracksuit’s Australian clients include Bondi Sands, Arnott’s, GHD, and Heaps Normal. The brand tracking company has also worked with several global companies, including MyFitnessPal, Supergoop, SkillShare, and Steve Madden.

Hurman said that feedback from clients has been positive across the board.

“We’ve got many customers who are ex-big corporate marketers who had the budget for this. They’ve gone and worked for smaller, more exciting companies with much lower budgets. The fact that they can afford this is one of the things that they love.”

Hurman noted that the quality of the dashboard experience and the explanations make it much more reportable for marketers. Marketers can easily take the information from Tracksuit and use it to present to their executive teams and boards to prove that what they’re doing is working, he said.

“That’s enormously valuable if you’re a brand marketer in any business. It gives those around you the confidence that what you’re doing is generating a return.”

Tracksuit will now focus on its data offering to customers and the business’s “growth path” in the year ahead.

“Those are the two things to expect in the coming year—a little more presence and a focus on how we create an amazing experience for the marketers using Tracksuit.”

Hurman on humour: “It’s hard to fit the purpose in a hilarious way.”

Hurman also shared his thoughts on introducing a humour category to this year’s Cannes Lions.

Over the past 10 to 12 years, the industry has seen a drop in humour, he said, which is a result of marketers leaning into purpose.

“Whether it’s a social or environmental purpose, that kind of marketing position can be pretty sombre; it’s hard to fit the purpose in a hilarious way.”

Hurman noted that part of the shift is due to marketers believing they need to give more thought to the humour they use in today’s world. 

“There’s been some hesitation to use humour as much as it has been in the past. However, from an effectiveness perspective, humour is one of the most effective strategies for driving sales and market share. When we connect on an emotional basis, we use humour to do so.

“The community around Lions, and certainly Lions themselves, have recognised that humour would do well in the marketing effectiveness community.

“So this is a way of encouraging us to not get too serious about everything we do.”

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Top image: James Hurman 

LiSTNR has launched of an advertising technology suite of innovations and services called LiSTNR’s AdTech Hub. 

The AdTech Hub will offer commercial opportunities in digital audio for agencies and brands. The new suite leverages LiSTNR’s owned and operated model with its known user base of 1.8 million-plus listeners. 

LiSTNR’s AdTech Hub’s ‘big three bets’ include increased personalisation and targeting, extensive dynamic creative optimisation, and an Australian-based CDP and first-party data clean room solutions and services. 

SCA’s chief commercial officer, Seb Rennie, said: “LiSTNR’s new and advanced AdTech Hub brings together the massive reach and audience of digital audio across LiSTNR’s owned and partner brands, without geographic boundaries. LiSTNR’s AdTech Hub will enable the measurement of every campaign’s ROI across an unrivalled audio ecosystem.

“This will ensure our advertiser’s budgets go further, and engage more people, more effectively. It is a game-changer for the audio industry, business owners, marketers and media agencies.”

Executive head of LiSTNR commercial, Olly Newton, added: “When it comes to advertising to digital audiences in 2024, times have never been more challenging for brands. As the industry adapts to the discontinuation of third-party cookies, advertisers must explore alternative privacy-preserving data solutions to anticipate the evolving digital landscape.

“LiSTNR’s new app, along with its new AdTech Hub and advanced technology capabilities and services, will offer a frictionless universe of advertising options that deliver ROI for brands and add value for advertisers and listeners.”

Hatched head of digital, data, and tech, Denise McCormack, said: “At Hatched we understand that the ability to safely and effectively apply our clients’ data via clean room solutions will be pivotal to campaign successes in 2024 and beyond.

“We’re excited by LiSTNR’s AdTech Hub, as its perfectly aligned to our business strategy and our addressable product, HatchedID. We can’t wait to work alongside them to advance the Australian digital audio industry.”

Despite industry reports that the Kyle & Jackie O show would be starting their stint on Melbounre radio on Friday, KIIS 101.1 breakfast is still being held down by Byron Cooke  – who originally promised that the pair would be on air “soon.”

The biggest question in Australian radio is set to be answered next week, with Cooke revealing that the Sydney powerhouses will officially give the date to expand south on Tuesday, March 12th. They’ll be giving the city all the details at 8am.

The announcement comes smack in the middle of the second survey period of the year, with the first set of radio ratings to be released on Thursday, March 14th.

Kyle had previously spoken about how the Melbourne launch would come after the duo made the move from their North Ryde studios into new facilities in North Sydney. 

“I told the management of the network, when you move us into the new studios,” he said, going on to describe the North Sydney building as “the greatest radio studio ever built.”

This was the show’s last week in North Ryde, with the pair testing the new studios ahead of their move next week. 

Elsewhere in Melbourne, Jase & Lauren – who were axed from KIIS 101.1 to make room for Kyle & Jackie O – began their stint on new home Nova on Friday morning. 

See Also: Jase and Lauren Day 1 at Nova: First review – Lots of chat about their sacking at from KIIS

Succeeding in Melbourne

After survey eight last year, Mediaweek asked ARN’s chief content officer Duncan Campbell what the show will have to do to succeed in Melbourne.

“What Christian O’Connell has proved is that it’s about the content and not necessarily about where you’re from,” he said.

“The challenge is about changing perceptions in Melbourne – we’ve done some research that shows perceptions of the show are based on the shock jock era, it’s not the show that people think it is. It’s an improved show, the content is very strong.

“We will have the ability to do localised breaks if a big story breaks in Melbourne, and there will be split news bulletins and local information. We don’t have to modify the show much at all, really. It’s the promos and imaging for the Melbourne audience versus the Sydney audience, that’s where the difference will be.”

Chemist Warehouse is set to expand its current alignment with the brand and become the foundation partner for the show’s first year in Melbourne. This was confirmed last year alongside the record-breaking contract renewal, keeping the duo on air with the network until the end of 2034.

Broad Radio’s equity crowdfunding campaign has raised $357,000 with over 250 investors, in what is being called a “huge success for the startup”.

The radio network – run by women, for women – revealed that it has secured over 250 investors in line with International Women’s Day, after launching the campaign with Birchal in January.

When it came to raising the money, the Broad Radio team reached out to individuals who believe in the network’s mission of amplifying and connecting women’s voices in media. 

The funds will allow the network to release its app, introducing a platform for female-led live radio and podcasts. It will also be used to expand programming and distribution, and invest in commercial partners.

Ahead of the launch of the fundraising push, Broad Radio founder Jo Stanley said that crowdfunding was the best way to bring creatives and listeners of the network together.

“My vision for Broad Radio was always about having intelligent, inspiring, funny and, most importantly, real women on the air,” Stanley said.

“Opening the company to other real people who share our core values is such a special way to help us grow. Quite literally, everyone can become a shareholder.

“The crowdfunding process has been streamlined and the potential is really exciting for us. We’ve taken the opportunity to organise specialty events such as webinars and soirees for interested investors. It will be so great to see our community coming together in the flesh.

“We have so many exciting plans for the future of Broad Radio, including our purpose-built app that means our listeners will be able to listen wherever they are. Crowdfunding with Birchal will be an imperative part of making these plans happen.”

With only 27% of voices on the radio being women, Broad Radio is aimed specifically at Australia’s 5 million-strong female-over-35 audience. Since launch, the network has live-streamed over 100 hours, reaching over a million people.

The spate of “huge data breaches that we saw last year” from the likes of Optus, Pizza Hut, JB Hi Fi, and Harvey Norman informed impending privacy laws, Australian Information Commissioner Angelene Falk has confirmed.

The federal government is working to overhaul Australia’s privacy laws, with the bill to amend the Privacy Act 1988 anticipated this year to make the legislation ‘fit-for-purpose’ in the digital age.

Speaking to Syzmon Duniec, the CEO of ORIMA Research, at yesterday’s ELEVATE Australian Data and Insights Association (ADIA) Leaders Forum, Falk said digital transformation provides both opportunities and risks.

“Coming off the back of data breaches and the increased cyber risks that you see in our geo-political environment is the government’s cyber security strategy that was recently released,” Falk said.

“There is an ambition for Australia to be a world leader in cyber security by 2030, and so we see amendments to the Privacy Act being really instrumental in supporting that ambition. You need to have strong privacy laws that ensure that all of the economy is covered by the Privacy Act.”

Another major reason Falk pointed to when it comes to the importance of the reforms is that 89% of the community has indicated they want government to pass more laws to protect privacy.

“The act only covers businesses with $3 million turnover or more, and actually, that means that 95% of all businesses registered in Australia are not required to comply with the Privacy Act. 

“We say that it’s really fundamental to change that, so that it really secures the supply chain for Australia in cyber.”

Duniec opened the session by claiming the stakes are high: “Privacy protection is an existential issue for our industry.

“We’ve talked about workplace relations and various other elements of the operating environment, but if we drop the ball of privacy protection, we lose our social licence. That undermines our credibility, trust, and really would make it impossible for us to do our job.”

Key reforms

Falk said business owners should be across three major reforms.

The first is that the government has agreed, in principle, to a new requirement that makes sure all information handling is “fair and reasonable.”

“This really accords with our sense of what’s right and just, it’s a standard that’s known in other legal contexts,” Falk told the room.

“That, for the first time, expressly requires organisations to put the interests of the individual at the heart of any of its information handling practices, and to ask whether they could or are likely to cause harm to individuals.”

The second is another accountability measure, which is a requirement to undertake a privacy impact assessment.

Falk described this change as “a risk assessment about how personal information will be handled, and how you can mitigate that. That would apply whenever there’s a handling of personal information that creates a privacy risk.”

The third is the addition of further security measures. 

“There will be security outcomes that will be placed into the legislation if it goes ahead as proposed, and that will require organisations to make sure they have the level of resilience required to protect personal information,” Falk said.

Getting ahead of the curve

Duniec asked Falk if she had any key advice for businesses looking to make sure they are prepared for the likely reforms.

“The reforms are building on the current framework, so if you’re already fully compliant, you’re going to be well placed for the reform compliance,” Falk assured.

For those businesses looking to be more prepared, Falk advised: “If you’re not already building in privacy by design and a system that undertakes privacy impact assessments, I’d build that in as part of your risk assessment now.

“Also make sure in terms of a notifiable data breach, that you’ve got a data breach response plan in place. Make sure it’s not gathering dust in the bottom of the drawer, it’s actually being operationalised in your organisation.”

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Top Image: Angelene Falk

After more than a decade off-air, Ten is reviving Ready Steady Cook for not only a new generation but also a new primetime slot. 

Rachael Brand, executive producer at Paramount ANZ Brand Studio and network producer for Ready Steady Cook told Mediaweek that the rebooted cooking program is being slotted in on Friday nights to get viewers thinking of recipes for the weekend.

“It’s perfect viewing at the end of a busy week,” she said.

“We wanted something fun, warm and family-friendly and the reboot is exactly that. It also provides so much practicality as well for the weekend and the week ahead in terms of food and recipes.

“The inbuilt nostalgia of the show is perfect for that primetime slot.”

The show will welcome some of Australia’s best chefs, who will join forces with everyday Aussie home cooks to cook meals using only five ingredients.

Brand said the foundations and format of the show are very similar to the original; the network didn’t want to mess with that because it’s well-known and loved, and has worked for so many years in different countries.

In the original version of the show, episodes would usually end with two chefs working together to create a dish. However, the reboot pits the chefs against each other.

“In our shiny primetime version, we have our celebrity chefs go head-to-head for the final challenge. We’ve really gamified it so it’s a different food challenge every episode and they have only 10 minutes to come up with something cheffy,” Brand said.

“What some of them do come up with in 10 minutes is quite outrageous, it’s going to blow viewers’ minds.”

The celebrity chefs set to make an appearance include Adriano Zumbo, Hayden Quinn, Anna Polyviou, Khanh Ong, Mindy Woods, Sarah Todd, Sergio Perera, Diana Chan, Alastair McLeod, Mike Reid, Adam D’Sylva and Alice Zaslavsky.

Speaking on the chefs, Brand said the reboot allows viewers to get to know them in a different kind of way. 

“Everyone knows the chefs for their accolades but the way the show is formatted, it allows them to share their stories about cooking throughout their life and viewers will learn things about them that we wouldn’t know about before.”

While the Friday night primetime slot is more competitive than ever with the return of the NRL and AFL, Brand is confident that the family-friendly nature of the show will resonate deeply with new and returning viewers.

“Any cooking show is about entertainment, but it’s also about connections, connecting with our chefs, our host Miguel Maestre and of course, the food, which viewers can make in their own kitchen.”

Woolworths is the main sponsor for the reboot, with integrations including shopping lists, contestant bags and ingredients. 

Ready Steady Cook is produced by Endemol Shine Australia, and premieres Friday 8 March at 7:30 pm on 10 and 10 Play.

Whether it’s a childhood jingle that you can still sing word for word, or a campaign that influences the way you work today, everyone has an ad that has really stuck with them.

Mediaweek has been asking the industry to take a trip down memory lane, to find out all about the ads that made us.

Howard Parry-Husbands – CEO, Pollinate

The Guardian – “Points of View” 1986 Commercial

“Growing up as a teenager from a solidly middle-class London suburb in Thatcher’s Britain, I never read The Guardian or so much as thought of it. But it was The Guardian’s Points of View commercial that first showed me how symbols and stories can create meaning out of contradiction.

“It made sense to me: My home life held very traditional points of view, even though my school was in starkly multi-cultural Lewisham. Skinheads were somehow symbols of anti-authoritarianism and singers on Top of the Pops. It helped to realise that life is more complex than it appears, and it gave me a new framework to make sense of the world and the confidence to challenge conventions.

“Moreover, I started to read The Guardian and a wide variety of other news sources in an attempt to more fully understand what’s going on out there.”

Joanna Geroges – Head of ANZ, Scope3

T Mobile Welcome Back

“There are a couple of reasons why this one will always be a favourite. This was at the beginning of mainstream Guerilla marketing and so felt like a breath of fresh air for a big corporation. It also felt personal. I was living in London and a little homesick so had just committed to returning back home to Sydney.

“The ad brings up all the feels an airport provides, excitement, relief, tears and laughter all with an incredible slogan Life’s for Sharing – it’s an ad that speaks to connectivity in a way that many ads haven’t and even though it’s three minutes long I dare you to watch it and not want to see the whole thing.

“Something many great ads have in common is their ability to bring people together to generate the ‘feels’ required to create a deep emotional connection to the brand.”

Asier Carazo – National Head of Strategy at Atomic 212°

The 2017 Qantas safety video

“Not a traditional ad per se, but one of the most influential pieces of creative of my life.

“Back in 2017, I was living in Barcelona when I got a call offering me a chance to move to Melbourne for work. It felt like an exciting opportunity, but I didn’t know much about Australia at the time. Spaniards don’t get much exposure to Aussie culture, other than Crocodile Dundee. Then, by chance, I stumbled upon the Qantas safety video for that year.

“It wasn’t like a regular ad; it was a seven-minute ad. It gave me a glimpse into Aussie life, the people, and the stunning landscapes. That video was the push I needed to make the move. Fast forward seven years, and I’m still loving life Down Under and proudly flying as a Qantas Platinum Frequent Flyer. It just goes to show how something as simple as a safety video can be an extremely influential piece of advertising… no wonder Qantas has gone so big in producing these over the years.”

See Also: The Ads That Made Us: Cordial, Cadbury, and Colgate Gel

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Top Image: Howard Parry-Husbands, Joanna Geroges, Asier Carazo

To submit an ad, please email [email protected]

News Corp has announced that, for the first time, it will bring its entire business together under one umbrella to cover the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. 

Its coverage will incorporate talent from its daily and regional masthead, The Australian, news.com.au, Fox Sports, and Sky News Australia as well as lifestyle titles including Vogue, Body+Soul, Escape and delicious.

The 45-strong Olympics team will feature Fox Sports stars Matty Johns and Hannah Hollis, journalists Robert Craddock, Jacquelin Magnay, Jessica Halloran, Julian Linden and Jon Ralph as well as guest analyst in former Olympic swimming star James Magnussen.

News Corp’s national weekend editor and chair of the editorial board Mick Carroll will return as Olympic editor while Fox Sports managing director Steve Crawley will act as Olympic director. 

Carroll said while the team would provide 24/7 coverage of the major sporting events, News Corp Australia is in a unique position because it can leverage its other brands to amplify Olympic content, such as Vogue, Escape, stellar and Body+Soul.

“Paris is an incredible city so we’ll also be focusing on lifestyle content away from the sporting action, including travel, food, fashion and celebrity in order to appeal to a diverse audience. Not only is our journalism unrivalled but we’ll also use new and enhanced ways to tell the Olympic story which will better engage our audience across all of our platforms,” he said.

Across the 16 days of Olympic competition, News Corp will produce video podcasts, 24/7 digital coverage, print coverage, a special digital print edition, blogs, blogs and newsletters as well as commercial content for brands. 

Managing director national sales Lou Barrett said this approach opens new levels of integration for clients and takeovers across all of News Corp’s networks including sport, news, food, travel, women, prestige, home, business and auto.

“At News Corp Australia, we are committed to delivering tailored marketing solutions and going beyond off-the-shelf commercial packages,” she said.

“Through our client strategy and solutions arm, Newsamp, we’ll collaborate closely with brands to create bespoke marketing and content solutions. This enables us to offer clients much deeper integration, ensuring unparalleled visibility and engagement.”

In a departure from conventional nutraceutical advertising, Melbourne-based independent creative agency Bullfrog has debuted a unique approach for the brand launch of pioneering osteoarthritis medication, Epijoint.

Directed by Sam Holst from MOFA, the centrepiece of Bullfrog’s integrated campaign is a film featuring an octogenarian blacksmith, capturing the spirit of Epijoint’s message and brand platform, ‘Move How You Feel.’

The campaign aims to challenge traditional perceptions surrounding joint health products and solutions, inspiring audiences to embrace vitality at any age.

Bullfrog assisted in developing the new-to-market product’s design system, website, and all campaign assets. The product is scheduled for release in Australia, followed by a subsequent launch in the United States.

Epijoint is an over-the-counter option to relieve mild joint pain and mild osteoarthritis symptoms.

See also: Bullfrog announces expansion into Sydney led by expanded leadership team

The work’s launch follows Alex Watts’ departure from the creative agency after six months spent opening and leading the Sydney office. Bullfrog also plans to launch a UK offering.

Watts told Mediaweek it was a matter of trusting his gut: “I needed something a bit different that matched my professional ambitions and personal focuses, and so we parted ways graciously. With these things, it’s better to make a call when your gut tells you versus waiting and seeing.”

See also: Alex Sol Watts departs from creative agency Bullfrog

Campaign credits:
Client: Interpath
Creative agency: Bullfrog
Casting: Studio P
Casting director: Peta Dermatis
Production Co: MOFA
Director: Sam Holst
Executive producer: Llew Griffiths
Producer: Linzee Rose
Production manager: Mo Duggan
Department of photography: Simon Walsh
Key gaffer: Adam Hunter
Sound recordist: Francis Byrne
Production designer: Maddie Kerry
Editor: Paul Rowe
Colourist: Martin Greer
Post production: Mr. Fox
Music / sound design: RanRun
Stills: Benjamin Guy

Former chief strategy officer for Clemenger BBDO Jacqueline Witts founded the start-up Neighbourhood Strategy in January, specialising in providing strategic solutions for marketers and agencies.

“We call ourselves ‘Neighbourhood’ because we believe a good neighbour is the right kind of relationship you want for someone who works on defining your brand. We know enough to open you to new ideas, but we never lose the clarity an expert on the outside brings,” said Witts.

Harris Scarfe is currently engaged in an extensive brand strategy project with Neighbourhood Strategy.

Laurelle Esse, head of marketing at Harris Scarfe, said: “Nowhere else would we find the depth of brand experience and discipline offered by Jacs and the team to help us redefine the Harris Scarfe brand.”

See also: Clemenger BBDO encourages bowel cancer conversation with its Irregular Valentine’s Day campaign

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Top Image: Neighbourhood Strategy team

This is the sort of podcast series that we like to hear about on International Women’s Day.

Women Who Move Nations features influential women working in public transport. They reveal how they got to the top of one of the world’s most male-dominated industries in the new Australian podcast series.

They work in a sector where just 4% of CEOs are female.

The fortnightly series will share insights on how these leaders from Australia and around the world are overcoming significant challenges. They include dealing with artificial intelligence, building sustainable transport networks and ensuring communities are safer and more inclusive.

The long-running podcast series is produced by the Public Transport Association Australia New Zealand (PTAANZ) and is sponsored by NEC.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Women Who Move Nations episodes

PTAANZ has released details of the new episodes in the latest series:

• Legendary equality trailblazer Michelle Sheppard, who works as a senior advisor at Victoria’s Department of Transport and Planning. She has worked to raise awareness of the barriers that LGBTIQ+ communities face in the workplace. She’s designed and implemented workplace inclusion programs that have created more diverse workforces and ensured communities feel heard.

• Author and international transport researcher Dr Nicole Kalms is an authority on how cities of the future can be made more female friendly. Kalms is associate professor and director of the XYX Lab at Monash University’s Department of Architecture. Her focus is on devising public transport policies that protect women’s safety.

• Author Veronica Davis is a former director of transportation in Houston, Texas and has delivered over $100 million in projects that primarily benefit black and brown communities in areas afflicted by poverty.

Davis features in the first episode of Women Who Moves Nations, released on Friday March 8. She argues that transportation is one of the most important factors in making lives better. Part of that is getting drivers out of cars – something she says is already happening.

NEC’s Kylie Gorham

NEC involvement

“One of the big trends that we’re seeing is that kids aren’t getting their driver’s licence,” said Davis in the episode. “We really need to be thinking about investing in other modes of transport for them like biking, walking and public transport because we know that people can thrive if they can access jobs and education.”

NEC senior product manager Kylie Gorham has over 20 years of experience in the transportation industry.

“Knowing that we make the lives of millions of people easier every day is so rewarding,” she said.

“In Australia, while women have historically been pivotal in customer-facing positions within transportation, it’s essential to foster greater inclusion of women in leadership roles such as design consultation and engineering to help develop safer, more accessible transport services the public can depend on.

“Smart transport solutions are improving passenger experiences from ticketing to safety and real time data and we share some amazing insights on the podcast.” Gorham added.

The podcast series is hosted by former PTAANZ chief executive Michelle Batsas, currently the executive director of future mobility at the Department of Transport Victoria.

Dr Gillian Miles, interim chief executive officer at PTAANZ said: “Women Who Move Nations highlights how women are shaping the future of how people move around our cities and towns.

“We hope to inspire future generations of female leaders to consider a career in public transport because our workforce needs to be as diverse as the communities we serve.”

Women Who Move Nations is available on all platforms, including Spotify and Apple.

Podcast guest list (more announced soon)

March 8
Veronica Davis – Author and former director, transportation and drainage operations for the City of Houston, Texas.

March 21
Ishra Baksh – Executive director, strategic insights and transformation, Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland

April 4
Dr Nicole Kalms – Director, XYX Lab & associate dean [research] Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Monash University

18 April
Mel Barber – Managing Director, NEC New Zealand

17 May
Michelle Sheppard – Senior Adviser, diversity and inclusion for LGBTIQ+ programs, Department of Transport and Planning, Victoria

Every Thursday in Mediaweek: Weekly audio update in Podcast Week

Two anticipated shows this week with Shōgun and The Regime. One is a can’t-miss blockbuster, the other fails on every level.

Shōgun is a mesmerising new version of James Clavell’s bestselling novel. The 1980 mini-series, starring Richard Chamberlain, delivered NBC its highest-ever ratings to date, and was second only to Roots (1977) in its impact.

Roots was remade for The History Channel in 2016 so it’s more than time for a new Shōgun. Even though it was all filmed in Japan, locals there considered it to be historically inaccurate Despite this version being filmed in Vancouver and Ireland, the Japanese have already given it a thumbs up.

Cosmo Jarvis is compelling and charismatic as John Blackthorne, the shipwrecked sailor dealing with suspicious but curious samurai (Hiroyuki Sanada, Takehiro Mira) and untrustworthy religious rivals (Nestor Carbonell, Tommy Bastow). 

Shōgun

Shogun is a winner. The Regime (Foxtel/Binge) is not. Kate Winslet plays the Chancellor of some mythical kingdom where everyone speaks in a different accent. She spends most of the first episode obsessing over mould. None of it is funny.

Winslet won Emmy Awards for her last two forays into television, Mare of Easttown and Mildred Pierce. She will not win any awards for this. The Regime is supposed to be a satire but the joke may be on us.

Ricky Stanicky (Prime) is the latest gross-out comedy from Peter Farrelly. Jon Cena and Zac Efron are funny, and because it’s filmed in Melbourne, look out for Debra Lawrence, Heather Mitchell, Ryan Shelton, and Stan Grant.

Kate Winslet in The Regime

Welcome to TV Gold: Mediaweek’s weekly TV podcast

Listen now on your favourite podcast platform for 30 minutes of TV reviews and recommendations every week from Mediaweek’s Mercado on TV columnist Andrew Mercado and editor-in-chief James Manning.
We want your comments, feedback and questions – [email protected].

This week: Shōgun, The Regime, Mary and George

Three very ambitious dramas this week – two set in Europe and the third in 17th century Japan. Shōgun (Disney+ series, 10 episodes) tells the story of how a British sailor was captured in Japan after his ship ran aground. It’s a big budget, sprawling historical drama.

The Regime (Binge/Foxtel series, 6 episodes) brings Kate Winslet back to television in this satire about a Central European regime. After her brilliance in The Mare of Easttown, does Winslet bring the magic again?

Mary and George (Binge/Foxtel series, 7 episodes) is a British history drama about King James I and the male lover he takes after the young man’s mother hatched a plot to get him into the royal household. The series features some wonderful scenes with Julianne Moore facing off against TV Gold favourite Nicola Walker.

Listen online here, or on your favourite podcast platform.

Junkee and Pinterest Australia have partnered for a content series that aims to empower and inspire Gen Z LGBTQIA+ Australians to celebrate Pride in the ways that are most authentic to them.

The series explores the theme of “Quiet Pride” and delves into LGBTQIA+ trends and topics over 230 pins Junkee and Punkee’s Pinterest accounts.

It features an in-convo series with Junkee journalists Talecia Vescio and Ky Stewart, who share their experiences of growing up queer in Australia, reflecting and informing on queer social issues and celebrating all things Pride. 

The series will spotlight inspiration for a more peaceful pride celebration that covers bedroom arts and crafts with friends to smaller Pride events that give cosy vibes and a chance to chat with fellow like-minded queer folk. 

Jace Molan, content partnerships lead at Pinterest ANZ, said the partnership between the Pinterest and Junkee teams provided a platform for the many different ways these celebrations can come to life. 

“People turn to Pinterest as a positive place where they can discover new ideas and to be authentically themselves. For the LGBTQIA+ community celebrating Mardi Gras, this might mean donning glitter and sequins, or it might mean cosying up with friends and talking.”

“This partnership isn’t just about providing inspiration over the Mardi Gras festivities, our content celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community is year-round, and this new series with Junkee only adds to the engaging content already on the platform. Pinterest is proud to be a place for people to celebrate their identities and find their inspiration,” Molan added.

Alice Griffin, Junkee Media’s editor-in-chief, said Pinterest’s values of inclusivity, fostering creativity and community aligned with the ethos of Junkee and Punkee and its young audience.

“Our Pride content series with Pinterest gave a really important additional spotlight to the work we do throughout the year to bring attention to the issues facing the LGBTQ+ community and to celebrate queer experiences and stories.

“Junkee’s ever-talented Ky Stewart and Talecia Vescio brought their whole selves to this series, challenging what is commonly known about ‘pride’ and getting creative in exploring the many ways that pride and identity manifest day-to-day.”

In Stewart and Vescio’s fireside chat, Stewart said that Quiet Pride is simply giving a label to living life as a queer person and permission to relax into your identity.

“You don’t have to perform, you don’t have to be the only queer person in the room,” she added.

Talecia echoed that sentiment, noting that you don’t need to change yourself for a single event, “you are queer the whole year.”

The partnership follows the successful launch of Junkee Media’s Pinterest accounts, which have helped Junkee Media expand its reach and meet its audience.

Gen Z is Pinterest’s fastest-growing, most engaged audience—over 42% of its audience is made up of Gen Z.

TV Report March 7, 2024:

Nine TV Report

NRL – Knights v Raiders

Nine’s draw for the night was the Newcastle Knights vs Canberra Raiders game, which saw the Raiders take their revenge and overcome the odds to beat the favourites 28-12 at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle.

A Current Affair

Over on A Current Affair, the program spoke to Samantha Murphy’s friends and family after a local man was charged with her murder. Police have confirmed that the man, believed to be the son of a former AFL footballer, is not known to the family.

Seven TV Report

AFL 2024 Opening Round – Sydney v Melbourne

Over on Seven was the first match of the 2024 AFL season, as the Sydney Swans took victory over the Melbourne Demons at the SCG. The Swans ended up winning by 22 points over Melbourne.

Home & Away

Earlier in the night was Home & Away as Theo held out hope on Valerie, Harper and Dana clashed and Cash scoped out Stevie’s body of work.

10 TV Report

The Project

The Project on 10 revealed Sam Kerr’s alleged racial slur that occurred and chatted with Robert Irwin about his catwalk debut and Nazeem Hussain joined the desk.

The Dog House Australia

On 10’s The Dog House Australia, it was love at first sight for the Banken Family as they met three-month-old Jefford and lovebirds Meg and Matt were smitten with Travis the staffy. 

ABC

7:30

On 7:30, the show highlighted the 10-year anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a development in the case of missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy and Sarah Ferguson interviewed Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.

Foreign Correspondent

Foreign Correspondent looked into the moving of a megacity in Indonesia. The country has embarked on a plan to relocate its sinking capital Jakarta to the jungles of Bornei. A $45 billion mega city is currently being built but critics say it’s too expensive and remote. 

SBS

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

Actor Stanley Tucci visited the Veneto, home to the “Floating City” of Venice. Once the centre of a world-trading empire, Tucci explored the ingenuity of the Venetians, who have embraced the unexpected delights and challenges of the lagoon, reaping the benefits of Veneto’s fertile land. 

See also: TV Report March 6, 2024: Sara’s bombshell secret shocks the Cocktail Party on MAFS

The AFL is back, with the 2024 season shaping up to be the longest planned season on record since the league was established. The season will stretch across almost seven months with 23 rounds of matches to be played for each team. 

The first match of the season kicks off tonight at 7:30pm AEDT as the Sydney Swans go up against Melbourne at the SCG. The match will be live and free on Channel Seven and 7mate. 

Charlie Spargo has been named by Melbourne for its Opening Round game against Sydney, while Josh Schache has been selected ahead of Tom McDonald for the match.

The weekend is also dedicated to the Opening Round as Brisbane takes on Carlton on Friday 8 March at 7:40pm, Gold Coast is up against Richmond on Saturday 9 March at 4:20pm and the Giants go against Collingwood at 7:30pm.

Seven is also welcoming two new commentators to its team including two-time AFLW Best and Fairest winner, Erin Phillips, and Premiership captain Joel Selwood, who will also co-host the season-long broadcast of Talking Footy.

The new recruits will be joined by Seven’s group of callers including Brian Taylor, James Brayshaw, Alister Nicholson, Jason Bennett, Luke Darcy, Luke Hodge, Abbey Holmes, Matthew Richardson, Shaun Burgoyne, Jobe Watson, Dale Thomas, Tim Watson, Cameron Ling, Nathan Jones, Chris Johnson, Jude Bolton, Mark Soderstrom, Ryan Daniels, Nigel Carmody and Campbell Brown. 

Triple M has also bolstered its commentary lineup for the AFL 2024 season including Erin Phillips, Isaac Smith, James Brayshaw, Brian Taylor, Jason Dunstall, Dale Thomas, Abbey Holmes, Mark Ricciuto, Andrew Embley, Kate McCarthy and Bernie Vince. 

Sydney v Melbourne, SCG, 7:30 pm AEDT

Sydney Swans lineup

B: L.Melican 43 T.McCartin 30 D.Rampe – C 24
HB: N.Blakey 22 O.Florent 13 J.Lloyd 44
C: J.McInerney 27 Ch.Warner 1 E.Gulden 21
HF: I.Heeney 5 L.McDonald 6 J.Amartey 36
F: T.Papley 11 H.McLean 2 W.Hayward 9
Foll: B.Grundy 4 J.Jordon 17 J.Rowbottom 8
I/C: B.Campbell 16 M.Roberts 34 H.Cunningham 7 S.Wicks 15 R.Fox 42

Emergency: A.Sheldrick 12 P.Ladhams 19 Co.Warner 37

Melbourne lineup

B: B.Howes 22, S.May 1, J.Lever 8
HB: J.McVee 4, A.Tomlinson 20, C.Salem 3
C: E.Langdon 15, C.Petracca 5, T.Rivers 24
HF: J.Viney 7, J.Schache 19, J.van Rooyen 2
F: A.Neal-Bullen 30, B.Fritsch 31, C.Spargo 9
Foll: M.Gawn 11, T.Sparrow 32, C.Oliver 13
I/C: C.Windsor 6, J.Billings 14, B.Laurie 16, J.Bowey 17, K.Chandler 37

Emergency: T.McDonald 25, T.Fullarton 33, T.Woewodin 40