Tuesday May 26, 2020

Matt Okine on return to breakfast with his triple j co-host Alex Dyson

By Trent Thomas

PodcastOne Australia recently launched the Matt and Alex: All Day Breakfast podcast which they are calling Australia’s first on-demand breakfast show. 

Hosts Matt Okine and Alex Dyson are best known together for their time as national breakfast hosts at triple j with Dyson hosting the show from 2010 and Okine joining in 2014 replacing Tom Ballard.

Since the show concluded at the end of 2016 the pair had mostly gone their separate ways besides catching up for the occasional beer, but the wheels were set in motion for a reunion when they worked with YouTube Music as part of the 2019 ARIA Awards.

 

Mediaweek caught up with Matt Okine to talk about the new show and what changes are to be expected from the slightly older hosts on a commercial platform.

Okine has had a busy three and a bit years since triple j and he has now squandered being able to sleep in after producing two seasons of his Stan original series The Other Guy, writing the book Being Black ‘n Chicken, and Chips, performing sold-out comedy tours and recently starting a family.

“I feel like from this point on in my life I am always going to be tired and I have to deal with it. That’s just one of many many things, I have realised. I am sore all the time now and my back hurts and I just realised it’s never going to not hurt and that’s what being old is a sore back and being tired.”

Okine said the foundation of the new show was laid when Dyson said he had been talking to Hamish and Andy’s former producer Sam Cavanagh and he was keen to have a chat on the way to filming the ARIA video for YouTube.

“We talked about everything really, we talked about doing TV, we talked about doing radio, we talked about doing podcasts and it really came down to the best situation for all of us. When you are a new parent you still have a lot to work out at home so flexibility was one of the biggest things I was looking for in a show.”

With the podcast releasing five episodes a week both Okine and Dyson didn’t want to sacrifice being able to work on other projects.

“Waking up every morning at 4:30 am then working till 1 pm or 2 pm in the arvo was not gonna work for all the other things that I want to do to the best of my ability, like turn my novel into a movie and hopefully work on another season of The Other Guy, or another show.”

 

Okine said that the pair are still trying to find their feet at the moment and figure out what works best for them and their audience schedule-wise with the daily podcast.

“It can change any day, some days we are up early, and some days we are up late, it depends on the news cycle, guests, and the topics we are covering. If we have to break news we can’t record the afternoon before, but if we are asking what is your favourite juice then we can ask that any time.”

All Day Breakfast is a different show to the one that ended in 2016, but Okine said that he is thankful that their audience has aged with them, and that it would have been ridiculous to pretend they are 20-year-old partying uni students again.

“It was getting to the stage in triple j when they would call you into a meeting and say maybe avoid talking about going bald because the 16-year-old kids listening aren’t worried about that right now. I remember making a reference to Dhalsim in Street Fighter II and they were saying you know that game came out almost 20 years ago, can you update your references please!”

“We want it to be the same but we do want it to be different and we don’t want to lean on any crutch in any shape or form. While I am still a crumb and he is still a rat dog I don’t think we will be making a version two of a pack her up boys video.”

One thing that has changed is the on-air feud with Richard Wilkins who was a two-time winner of the ‘Crumb of the Year’ award.

“Richard Wilkins was in The Other Guy and plays the actor who is going to play my character’s dad in the show and we talked about it on the red carpet at the Logies and I think we put that beef to rest. I can walk around Channel Nine now without looking over my shoulder.”

When asked about the adjustment of going from a public broadcaster to a commercial network Okine said that he is enjoying the change.

“It is really great having your own show where you can decide what you do. When you are in a big network whether its the ABC or big commercial networks a lot of your show gets dictated by the PR teams from other shows and stuff saying what needs to be on your show so it’s nice being able to be selective at this stage.”

One obvious change is the existence of advertisers which Okine says has never been an issue with him as long as its something that he is comfortable endorsing and he points to his current relationship’s with Furphy and Stan as an example.

“Alex mentioned hummus on-air the other day and then suddenly 20 packets of hummus turned up on our doorstep so that’s certainly one of the perks. There is this idea that we will be scared by the commercial aspect but I have done commercial stuff before and after triple j. I have no problem aligning with brands that I appreciate and we do certainly have our limits and the things that we would object to advertising. Stan is one of our sponsors and we have to talk about Stan, but I have a show on Stan and I love talking about Stan, and I want people to go on Stan so it is great.

10 Play rolls out unified app strategy on Telstra TV

10 has launched the first phase of its unified app strategy with a new 10 Play experience available for users and advertisers on Telstra TV.

With a simplified design, development and content delivery the platform also features a re-imagined interface for users with a smoother content delivery experience.

Dell, eBay and Mitsubishi have joined as partners on the new platform which introduces high-impact advertising products, including a Premium Pause ad product.

 

The new platform is underpinned by You.i TV’s Engine One platform using You.i TV’s software development tools for cross-platform app development.

Network 10’s general manager – digital, Liz Baldwin, said: “The launch of our new 10 Play app on Telstra TV is a significant milestone in our streaming strategy as we continue to enhance and invest in the technology and content of our streaming products. With a compulsory login feature, the new platform will also provide further scale to our data and targeting capabilities.

“This is just the first step. Over the coming months, we will continue to roll out the platform on Android TV, Samsung and tvOS with a fully consistent, high fidelity, app experience across all devices live by the end of the year.”

Network 10’s digital sales director, Sophie Hicks Lloyd, said: “Brands and advertisers have reacted positively to the immersive advertising opportunities that will be available on the new 10 Play app. It’s fantastic to be launching the new platform on Telstra TV with Dell, eBay and Mitsubishi who are all utilising the Premium Pause ad product.

“The conversations we are having with the market on the other high-impact, non-intrusive ad products available on the new platform have been really positive.  Watch this space.”

Head of ads at You.i TV, Allan Isfan, said: “It’s exciting to see how Network 10 has brought premium branded experiences to life on Telstra TV (Roku) — and it’s only the beginning. With You.i Engine One powering these non-intrusive ads, Network 10 and its early-adopter advertisers are leading the way to the next generation of ad-supported video.”

The roll out of the new app experience follows the relaunch of the 10 Play website in 2019. 10 Play is having its biggest year ever, up 28 per cent year-on-year. 

APRA Music Awards: How to hold a major virtual awards show

The show had to go on and it did. Despite significant challenges brought on by COVID-19, the 2020 APRA Music Awards took place Monday evening, but this year in the global online space as the Virtual APRA Music Awards.

In a shortened version of the usual live, gala event, the awards went ahead to celebrate the talented song writers that have achieved outstanding success in the previous year.

The verdict is in for the biggest peer-voted music award in Australia. APRA members have chosen Dance Monkey by Tones And I as the Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year. In what can only be described as a phenomenal song writing success story Tones And I is also the 2020 Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year, an honour that is determined by the APRA Board of Writer and Publisher Directors.

Tones and I

Hip-hop trailblazers Hilltop HoodsBarry Francis (DJ Debris), Matthew Lambert (Suffa) and Daniel Smith (Pressure) – have been named Songwriter of the Year. Their album The Great Expanse (released 2019) is a song writing tour de force, chock full of the band’s classic Aussie wit, punchy beats and lyrics that speak to the human experience.

Hilltop Hoods are dual winners for 2020 with Leave Me Lonely taking out the Most Performed Urban Work. They share their honour with co-writer Leigh Ryan aka Plutonic Lab. It’s the second year in a row that Hilltop Hoods have won the Most Performed Urban Work category.

Hilltop Hoods

“We’ve spent our entire lives writing and making music. To be awarded ‘Songwriter of the Year’ by the APRA Board is an absolute honour. We couldn’t be more thrilled or grateful,” said the Hilltop Hoods.

In his first appearance at the APRA Music Awards, seventeen-year-old songwriter KIAN, and co-writer Jerome Farah, received awards for Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Alternative Work for their beguiling collaboration Waiting. Hailing from Castlemaine, VIC, KIAN has gone from strength to strength since winning triple j’s Unearthed High competition in 2018, with Waiting reaching number 20 on triple j’s 2019 Hottest 100 and achieving double platinum status. Songwriter and producer Jerome was a dual APRA nominee in 2019 for his work with Baker Boy. Jerome and KIAN have joined creative forces again on KIAN’s new single Every Hour.

Taking out the Most Performed Country Work in back-to-back years was country pop crossover songwriter Morgan Evans, for his feel-good song Young Again. John Butler received his 6th career APRA Music Award for Just Call in the category of Most Performed Blues & Roots Work.

John Butler and Mama Kin

Winning their first ever APRA Award, for Most Performed Dance Work, were all-star co-writers Hayden James, Matthew Kopp (who performs as Running Touch, and is the featured vocalist on the track), Jack Glass (Bag Raiders), and Cassian Stewart-Kasimba (Cassian), who earned themselves the honour for Better Together.

Dean Lewis took out the Most Performed Pop Work for the emotional 7 Minutes, while Troy Cassar-Daley’s powerful anthem Shutting Down Our Town, (performed by Jimmy Barnes featuring Troy Cassar-Daley) has scored a gong for Most Performed Rock Work. Troy was inspired to write the song after reading Jimmy Barnes’ memoir Working Class Boy, where Jimmy writes about growing up in Elizabeth, SA and the impact of the closure of the Holden car factory.

For the third consecutive year, Sia (along with co-writer Greg Kurstin) took out the Most Performed Australian Work Overseas for Cheap Thrills.

Meredith Music Festival was earlier named Licensee of the Year for their excellent music citizenship, and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s duet Shallow was previously announced as the Most Performed International Work.

The 2020 Virtual APRA Music Awards were hosted by APRA AMCOS Ambassador and previous Songwriter of the Year honouree Briggs. Musical Director Kate Miller-Heidke worked her magic curating the music performances remotely. The virtual awards featured stellar performances of artists taking on each of the five Song of the Year compositions. John Butler and Mama Kin performed a joyful rendition of Guy Sebastian’s Choir, Kira Puru and Mo’Ju teamed up for their interpretation of Thelma Plum and Alexander Burnett’s Better in Blak. Folk troubadour William Crighton put his spin on 5 Seconds of Summer’s Teeth, while Los Angeles-based Nikka Costa and Justin Stanley performed The Teskey BrothersI Get Up. From New York City, The Dawn of MAY delivered her mesmerising interpretation of the Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year Dance Monkey.

You can re-watch the 2020 Virtual APRA Music Awards here until Wednesday 24 June.

The 2020 APRA Music Awards nominees and subsequent winners are determined by performance activity as reflected by earnings between 1st July 2018 to 30th September 2019.

WINNERS OF THE 2020 VIRTUAL APRA MUSIC AWARDS

Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year Title: Dance Monkey
Artist: Tones And I
Writer: Toni Watson
Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Tones and I

Songwriter of the Year
Hilltop Hoods

Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year
Writer: Toni Watson pka Tones And I
Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Tones And I

Most Performed Australian Work
Title: Waiting
Artist: KIAN
Writers: Kian Brownfield / Jerome Farah*
Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo KB Recording / Mushroom Music*

Most Performed Alternative Work
Title: Waiting
Artist: KIAN
Writers: Kian Brownfield / Jerome Farah*
Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo KB Recording / Mushroom Music*

Most Performed Blues & Roots Work Title: Just Call
Artist: John Butler Trio
Writer: John Butler
Publishers: Downtown Music Publishing obo Family Music

Most Performed Country Work
Title: Young Again
Artist: Morgan Evans
Writers: Morgan Evans / Chris DeStefano* / Joshua Kear^
Publishers: Warner Chappell Music / Sony/ATV Music Publishing* / Downtown Music Publishing^

Most Performed Dance Work
Title: Better Together
Artist: Hayden James feat. Running Touch
Writers: Hayden James* / Matthew Kopp^ / Jack Glass+ / Cassian Stewart-Kasimba
Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Future Classic* / BMG Rights Management^ / Universal Music Publishing+

Most Performed Pop Work
Title: 7 Minutes
Artist: Dean Lewis
Writers: Dean Lewis / Nicholas Atkinson* / Edward Holloway*
Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Specific Music / BMG Rights Management*

Most Performed Rock Work
Title: Shutting Down Our Town
Artist: Jimmy Barnes ft Troy Cassar-Daley Writer: Troy Cassar-Daley
Publisher: Mushroom Music

Most Performed Urban Work
Title: Leave Me Lonely
Artist: Hilltop Hoods
Writers: Barry Francis (DJ Debris) / Matthew Lambert (Suffa) / Daniel Smith (Pressure) / Leigh Ryan* / Richard Berry^
Publishers: Sony/ATV Music Publishing / Native Tongue Music Publishing* / Campbell Connelly^

Most Performed Australian Work Overseas
Title: Cheap Thrills
Artist: Sia
Writers: Sia Furler / Greg Kurstin*
Publishers: Sony/ATV Music Publishing / Sony/ATV Music Publishing obo Kurstin Music*

Most Performed International Work
Title: Shallow
Artist: Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
Writers: Stefani Germanotta*^ / Mark Ronson*+ / Anthony Rossomando*> / Andrew Wyatt*>
Publishers: Universal/MCA Music Publishing* / Sony/ATV Music Publishing^ / Native Tongue Music Publishing+ / Downtown Music Publishing>

Licensee of The Year
Meredith Music Festival

The Chaser’s comedy album – almost a decade after albums disappear

The Chaser has released its first comedy album, just one decade after albums became not a thing.

The album, called The Non-Essential Collection, is a tribute to all the non-essential workers who’ve done so little for society in the past couple of months. It features 100 audio sketches from the team plus a bonus original song by Andrew Hansen called The Pandemic Panic.

The album is available to buy on the Apple iTunes store, and can be streamed on all major platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer, whatever that is.

“Proceeds from the album will go to Tipping Point, Australia’s leading climate change movement, known for helping the awesome student strikers,” said Chaser co-founder Charles Firth.

The team are releasing a special personally signed double CD of the album, which is available from Monday on ChaserShop.com. “This is great for anyone who wants to use technology from the mid-1980s to listen to our sketches.”

This is undoubtedly the greatest album of sketches from a radio show that ran from 2017-9 released this year,” said Dom Knight. “I am so happy that we’ve finally released our very own album, 21 years after The Chaser started and a decade after the album format died forever.

“It’s exactly like an André Rieu album, except it’s intended to be funny.”

“We had a lot of interest from the big record labels,” said Andrew Hansen. “But that fizzled out when they realised Harry Styles isn’t part of our group.”

The Chaser’s acerbic sketches will sit seamlessly beside Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus in any Spotify party playlist.

The Non-Essential Collection is akin to The Beatles‘ masterpiece Abbey Road, in that all the tracks had to be recorded separately because the group’s members can’t stand each other. 

To listen to the album, visit Spotify

 

Mushroom Group
Matt Gudinski grows collective of labels within Mushroom Group

Matt Gudinski’s collective of labels within the Mushroom Group is growing, with the launch of the newest entity 100s + 1000s, a full service music development company with the predominant focus on discovering and nurturing talent for a global audience.

Stepping aside from genre-based parameters, 100s + 1000s creates a platform to empower artists and provide a dedicated team to deliver the unique support and strategy required for each artist and individual project, offering artists a one stop outlet for their creative and release needs. First conceived more than twelve months ago, the team has taken time to assemble, develop and nurture a roster of diverse artists that align with the global vision of the label.

100s + 1000s launches with a roster featuring some of Australia’s most promising and talked-about young artists – rising alt-pop star Fergus James who’s recent single Good Man (written with Frequency and Nat Dunn, produced by Spike Stent) has added to the already 10+ million streams accumulated across his releases to date, critically acclaimed electronic producer Tobiahs who has just released an enticing and cathartic new single Running, inspired by the sweat and spirit of Beirut’s all-night club scene, and recent triple j Unearthed feature artist, singer/songwriter D’Arcy Spiller who just announced her debut EP Little Demons and shared new single Deep Black Sea.

All artists debuting on the 100s + 1000s roster are managed internally within the Mushroom Group, with the careers of Fergus James and D’Arcy Spiller being managed by Marc Scarborough, and Tobiahs managed by Foreign Echo’s founder/director Sasha Chifura and head of management Callum Wallace.

“I couldn’t be more excited to launch 100s + 1000s. Our goal is to create something much more fluid and holistic than a traditional label. We’re taking a super artist-friendly, collaborative and transparent approach, and so far it feels like we’ve got something very special on our hands. It helps that we’ve launched with three of the country’s most exciting young artists too!” said Matt Gudinski.

Matt Gudinski

100s + 1000s sits alongside what is already a strong collective of labels and artists assembled by Matt Gudinski and his team. The collective includes leading local label brands I OH YOU Records in partnership with Johann Ponniah, who featured yet again in The Music’s Power 50 2019 along with Matt, and electronic imprint Soothsayer headed up by Chris Rigney. As part of the Mushroom Group’s labels division, 100s + 1000s also joins the distinguished likes of Liberation Records, Ivy League, Bloodlines and Liberator Music.

In addition to 100s + 1000s, Matt has unveiled another exciting development through a partnership with up-and-coming Melbourne music industry entrepreneurs Sasha Chifura and Shelley Liu and their label Valve Sounds, with exciting movements on the horizon and further news to drop soon.

Matt’s label collective has started 2020 with a bang. Brisbane heroes Violent Soho released their fifth studio album Everything Is A-OK, earning the band their second ARIA #1 debut. Fresh signings Hayley Mary, Andy Golledge and Juno Mamba released debut projects while label residents Jack River, Willaris. K and Love Deluxe continued alluring the industry with new music.

Top Photo: Matt and Micahel Gudinski

TV Ratings Monday May 25 Week 22 2020

By James Manning

• The Sebastian Brothers help keep Nine and The Voice #1
• MasterChef introduces COVID-19 rules in relay challenge

Seven News 1,231,000/1,187,000
Nine News 1,132,000/1,053,000
A Current Affair 876,000
ABC News 819,000
7.30 648,000
The Project 363,000/618,000
10 News 423,000/285,000
Sunrise 283,000
The Drum 232,000
The Latest 208,000
Today 207,000
News Breakfast 200,000
SBS World News 182,000

Seven: Home and Away started its week on 678,000 after 621,000 across week 21.
House Rules: High Stakes featured the judges’ opinions on the latest renos with 579,000 watching after 565,000 on Monday a week ago.
9-1-1 followed with 324,000.

 Nine: A Current Affair had one of its biggest episodes of the year with 876,000 after a week 21 average of 743,000.
The Voice dropped below 1m for its second episode which featured another solid showcase of aspiring vocalists. Amongst the talent was Guy Sebastian’s brother Chris who has a voice good enough to inspire all judges to turn around, Chris then chose to go with Team Kelly. Chris first appeared on The Voice as a contestant in year one of the format in Australia. Team Kelly started the episode with no singers and ended it with two. However, it is Team Guy making the running with five performers on his roster.
Nine kept the music theme going The Queen + Adam Lambert Story with 440,000 watching.

10: The Project commenced its weeknight run with 618,000 at 7pm after an average of 602,000 last week.
It was the first episode of a post-lockdown MasterChef with new social distancing rules in the kitchen with a relay challenge proving problematic for all teams. The good news was that just one person will be eliminated this week. With Melissa Leong on a day away, Jock and Andy judged the dishes, and they are no longer allowed to share plates of food. The episode did 928,000, narrowly trailing The Voice all people, but outperforming it in the key demos.
Have You Been Paying Attention? followed with a welcome return for Mick Molloy. The episode did 815,000, the smallest audience this year, but one that easily enables the show to keep its average well above 800,000. It was also a timeslot winner with all ages.
Season two of Kinne Tonight launched with its best segment about how a wink can change a sentence. The episode did 372,000 after season one launched with 392,000.

ABC: Australian Story started with Adam Hills in his Melbourne carport studio introducing an episode about performers and COVID-19. The episode rated 656,000 after Roy and HG did 786,000 a week ago.
Four Corners looked at how fear and disease spread on the Ruby Princess with 646,000 watching.
Media Watch then did 648,000 followed by Q+A on 337,000.

SBS: An audience of 206,000 tuned in for Secrets of the Royal which examined culinary traditions with an episode on Royal Kitchens.

Week 22 TV: Monday
MONDAY METRO
ABCSevenNine10SBS
ABC13.9%716.9%922.5%10 15.8%SBS One3.8%
ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY2.2%7TWO3.2%GO!1.8%10 Bold3.7%VICELAND1.3%
ABC ME0.3%7mate2.8%GEM2.3%10 Peach2.1%Food Net0.8%
ABC NEWS1.1%7flix1.6%9Life1.5%  NITV0.3%
    9Rush0.9%  SBS World Movies1.2%
TOTAL17.6% 24.6% 29.0% 21.6% 7.2%

 

MONDAY REGIONAL
ABCSeven AffiliatesNine Affiliates10 AffiliatesSBS
ABC13.8%720.1%920.5%WIN11.2%SBS One3.4%
ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY2.2%7TWO3.6%GO!2.3%WIN Bold3.9%VICELAND1.6%
ABC ME1.0%7mate4.0%GEM3.7%WIN Peach1.8%Food Net0.7%
ABC NEWS0.6%7flix (Excl. Tas/WA)1.4%9Life1.6%Sky News  on WIN2.0%NITV0.1%
        SBS Movies1.2%
TOTAL17.6% 29.3% 28.2% 19.0% 7.1%

 

MONDAY METRO ALL TV
FTASTV
86.7%13.3%
Monday FTA
  1. Seven News Seven 1,231,000
  2. Seven News At 6.30 Seven 1,187,000
  3. Nine News Nine 1,132,000
  4. Nine News 6:30 Nine 1,053,000
  5. The Voice Nine 953,000
  6. MasterChef Australia  10 928,000
  7. A Current Affair Nine 876,000
  8. ABC News ABC 819,000
  9. Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 815,000
  10. The Chase Australia Seven 681,000
  11. Home And Away Seven 678,000
  12. Australian Story ABC 656,000
  13. 7.30 ABC 648,000
  14. Media Watch ABC 648,000
  15. Four Corners ABC 646,000
  16. Hot Seat Nine 640,000
  17. The Project 7pm 10 618,000
  18. House Rules: High Stakes Seven 579,000
  19. The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story Nine 440,000
  20. 10 News First 10 423,000
Demo Top 5

16-39 Top Five

  1. MasterChef Australia  10 316,000
  2. Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 298,000
  3. The Project 7pm 10 177,000
  4. The Voice Nine 166,000
  5. Kinne Tonight 10 144,000

 

18-49 Top Five

  1. MasterChef Australia  10 470,000
  2. Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 457,000
  3. The Voice Nine 349,000
  4. The Project 7pm 10 288,000
  5. Nine News Nine 280,000

 

25-54 Top Five

  1. MasterChef Australia  10 472,000
  2. Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 462,000
  3. The Voice Nine 388,000
  4. Nine News Nine 355,000
  5. Nine News 6:30 Nine 329,000
Monday Multichannel
  1. Bluey AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 176,000
  2. Neighbours 10 Peach 169,000
  3. Peppa Pig PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 167,000
  4. NCIS Ep 2 (R) 10 Bold 165,000
  5. Thomas And Friends: Big World! Big Ad ABCKIDS/COMEDY 163,000
  6. Nella The Princess Knight PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 161,000
  7. NCIS (R) 10 Bold 155,000
  8. Doc Martin PM 7TWO 150,000
  9. Rita And Crocodile PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 146,000
  10. Floogals PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 146,000
  11. Shaun The Sheep AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 145,000
  12. Bluey ABCKIDS/COMEDY 143,000
  13. Rusty Rivets PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 137,000
  14. Peppa Pig AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 137,000
  15. Play School Nursery Rhyme News Time- ABCKIDS/COMEDY 135,000
  16. Dog Loves Books ABCKIDS/COMEDY 133,000
  17. Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom ABCKIDS/COMEDY 130,000
  18. Luo Bao Bei ABCKIDS/COMEDY 129,000
  19. Hey Duggee ABCKIDS/COMEDY 126,000
  20. Bargain Hunt PM 7TWO 124,000
Monday STV
  1. The Bolt Report Sky News Live 72,000
  2. Paul Murray Live Sky News Live 71,000
  3. Credlin Sky News Live 60,000
  4. Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 54,000
  5. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 51,000
  6. Blue’s Clues & You Nick Jr. 50,000
  7. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 49,000
  8. PML Later Sky News Live 48,000
  9. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 48,000
  10. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 48,000
  11. Kenny On Media Sky News Live 47,000
  12. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 47,000
  13. Calvin & Kaison’s Play Power Nick Jr. 45,000
  14. Blaze And The Monster Machines Nick Jr. 44,000
  15. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 42,000
  16. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 41,000
  17. Ready Set Dance Nick Jr. 41,000
  18. Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 40,000
  19. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 40,000
  20. Blue’s Clues & You Nick Jr. 40,000

Shares all people, 6pm-midnight, Overnight (Live and AsLive), Audience numbers FTA metro, Sub TV national
Source: OzTAM and Regional TAM 2018. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) without the prior written consent of OzTAM

Media News Roundup

Business of Media

Inside the impact bid to save AAP: Sale or closure planned for June

The impact investing consortium seeking to buy parts of Australian Associated Press, if successful, will look to reduce the amount of stories and photos sent out on the newswire and raise as much as $12 million to fund a purchase and transition the service into a viable business, reports The AFR’s Max Mason.

The consortium is seeking to acquire the newswire service, the fact-check unit and photography as the core focus of its bid. It is also open to acquiring the directories service, MediaNet press release service, and analytics business MediaVerse.

It does not want to acquire production and subediting business Pagemasters, the racing and form news or custom editorial divisions. MediaNet has more than 2000 customers and 51 per cent of its revenue comes from annual contracts.

“AAP 2.0” would be run as a not-for-profit business and led by the existing core management team with new appointments made by the consortium.

AAP Newswire, historically a loss-making division, has more than 200 media and corporate subscribers, including the ABC, the Daily Mail, Private Media, Guardian Australia, Australian Community Media and Verizon Media.

The consortium put in a non-binding indicative bid on April 26 and is planning to put in a final bid on May 31. The AAP board, made up by News Corp and Nine executives, is expected to make a decision about sale or closure soon after. AAP newswire will be closed on June 24 if no buyer is favoured.

However, Seven West Media, which owns 8 per cent, and Antony Catalano’s Australian Community Media, 3 per cent, could use the service as subscribers if it continues.

[Read more]

The $2.7b gamble: Quibi could be the costliest flop in history

Chances are you’ve never heard of Quibi. Even if you’re young and hip with a finger raised to the wind for the zeitgeist, you may never have heard of Quibi, reports The London Telegraph.

It’s a new paid-for TV app for mobiles, a sort of Netflix for your phone, even though its makers are desperate to avoid that comparison. And it’s absolutely rolling in A-list talent – from Steven Spielberg to Jennifer Lopez to Bill Murray to Kendall Jenner. All its shows are 10 minutes or less – they’re quick bites, or quibis, hence the name, which is pronounced “kwibee” not “kweebi”. But, however you say it, Quibi looks set to be one of the most expensive flops in history.

If it does bomb, it will enter product Room 101, where dust-covered Sony Betamax machines sit beside stacked cans of New Coke, Evian’s breast-cooling Water Bra, and the charred remains of Samsung’s exploding Galaxy Note 7.

Of course, some ideas are just bad ideas, but Quibi is an idea with a very special pedigree. It’s backed to the tune of a staggering $US1.75 billion ($2.7 billion) and it’s the baby of DreamWorks’ co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg – the former studio boss of Paramount and CEO of Disney, who, during his illustrious career in film, has overseen the production of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Lion King (1994), and Shrek (2001).

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Stuff sets the stage for a new independent media in New Zealand

For the last few years, all the talk in New Zealand’s media has been of a need for consolidation, reports The Spinoff’s Duncan Grieve. That our big for-profit media companies – TVNZ, Sky, MediaWorks, NZME and Stuff – all needed to get bigger to survive. Literally every one of them has been linked with a merger or acquisition at some point in the last five years.

The government has proposed merging TVNZ and RNZ. Sky offered to buy Three from MediaWorks, while also trying to merge with Vodafone. Most famously NZME, publisher of the Herald and owner of around half New Zealand’s commercial radio stations, has been desperately trying to get together with Stuff for four years, a saga which finally ended in yesterday’s extraordinary scenes, when Sinead Boucher snatched Stuff in a management buyout for $1. While this apparently ends that long courtship, it’s absolutely not the end of the idea that scale is the best solution to what ails our media.

The irony is that most of our scale media entities are already the result of consolidation. NZME grew out of a merger of APN’s publishing and TRN’s radio arm. Stuff grew out of INL, who grew from one newspaper (The Dominion) to acquire more than 80. Sky started as three channels, before buying assets like Prime, Lightbox and an outside broadcasting company. MediaWorks grew from the combination of TV3 with RadioWorks.

Despite this rampant consolidation, all are in some variety of trouble.

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New Zealand’s MediaWorks planning to cut 130 roles in restructure

Staff at New Zealand television channel Three owner MediaWorks have been told of plans to cut 130 roles as part of restructuring, reports Stuff.

They were called into a meeting with chief executive Michael Anderson at 10am Monday.

Most of the cuts will come in the radio and sales departments.

In an email to staff, Anderson said it was “truly one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my professional career”.

“As you know, Covid-19 has simultaneously changed the world and impacted our business in ways that we could not predict or prepare for.

“It has also completely changed the market that we operate in and this means that we must adapt to ensure our survival and sustainability in the coming months.

“As of today, we must begin reducing the size of our business and we are now entering a restructuring process across our sales, out-of-home and radio divisions.

“It’s proposed that in the region of 130 of our friends and colleagues will have to leave our business.

“Because the sale process for TV is ongoing, there will only be a handful of changes to this area of our business and corporate at this stage.”

The television and radio business, which is majority owned by United States private equity firm Oaktree, asked all its staff to take a pay cut of at least 15 per cent in April, when Anderson told staff that the business was in a “fight for survival”.

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News Brands

Channel 9 claims Wagners were ‘doubly compensated’ for defamation

Channel 9 has told a court the wealthy Queensland Wagner family, who they were ordered to pay almost $4 million to in defamation damages, were “doubly compensated”. But the Wagners’ barrister has fired back, reports The Toowoomba Chronicle’s Danielle Buckley.

Toowoomba’s four Wagner brothers were each awarded $600,000 in defamation damages from Channel 9, plus $63,000 in interest, after being defamed on a 60 Minutes program.

The program falsely linked their quarry wall’s collapse to the catastrophic Grantham floods.

Journalist Nick Cater was also ordered to pay Denis, John, Neill and Joe Wagner $300,000 damages each, plus $31,500 in interest.

Channel 9’s barrister Sandy Dawson said that the Wagners were effectively awarded “double compensation”.

Dawson said Cater and Nine were jointly liable for the imputations made by the 60 Minutes program about the Wagners, but the brothers were “compensated for Cater’s words twice”.

Nine also appealed on the grounds that the Wagners should not have been awarded aggravated damages because of the defendants’ failure to correct, retract or apologise.

Dawson said there was no evidence that the Wagners’ hurt was aggravated by Nine not giving an apology.

The Wagners’ barrister Tom Blackburn said Nine also had the opportunity to apologise after the brothers’ “vindication” in the lawsuit against broadcaster Alan Jones.

In 2018, Jones, his employer Harbour Radio Pty Ltd and Radio 4BC were ordered to pay the Wagners’ defamation damages.

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Good news for Naracoorte as new publication rises from crisis

ABC’s Landline last weekend featured a story on the launch of the new regional newspaper The Naracoorte Community News which has replaced ACM’s Naracoorte Herald.

Earlier this month InDaily’s Kate Hill reported on the newspaper’s launch:

Frustrated at the decision by Australian Community Media to suspend publication of the town’s 145-year-old newspaper, former Naracoorte resident Michael Waite stepped in with a bold new start-up.

From idea to print in just three weeks, Michael and a small team worked around the clock to produce the first weekly edition of The Naracoorte Community News.

The first issue went on sale in the first week of May, selling out its print run of 1,700 copies within 36 hours.

The issue sold for $2 a copy, compared with the $1.75 charged for the Naracoorte Herald.

As to why he made the decision to launch a country newspaper in the midst of a pandemic, Michael acknowledges it’s a personal mission.

“A town the size of Naracoorte does not deserve to be without a newspaper,” he said, simply.

Australian Community Media, which publishes more than 160 newspapers across the country, suspended operations at many of its regional sites until the end of the financial year, laying off hundreds of staff.

The 145-year-old Naracoorte Herald, which continued printing through two world wars and the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, was one of those affected.

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Television

No more working from home: HYBPA? is in the building

Have You Been Paying Attention? panellists are no longer zooming from home, as nimble producers find new ways to work within COVID-19 restrictions while still keeping everybody safe, reports TV Tonight.

When the 10 show returned earlier this month, stars including Ed Kavalee and Sam Pang were at home while Tom Gleisner was in the studio. Viewers praised Working Dog for subtle touches such as identical backgrounds and buzzers for the panel.

But as restrictions begin to ease there are also new ways of making the show, with 10’s Como base in South Yarra now proving a versatile space across multiple floors.

While Gleisner remains in the studio, Kavalee, Pang and Melbourne talent are cleverly dotted around various suites and offices on three levels. Producers are mindful to keep cast and crew safe, but it also means there are dedicated links for broadcast quality, and avoiding reliance on the NBN.

Production sources confirmed there are a few exceptions. Hayley Sproull was in New Zealand this week, while Amanda Keller was in Sydney last week. Guest quizmasters are now beaming in from across the globe – an added bonus in the current situation.

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