As advertisers and agencies set about kick-starting businesses and marketing campaigns that have been impacted or deferred by Covid-19, News Corp’s managing director of national sales Lou Barrett has been reaching out more than ever with her team to the publisher’s customers.

Barrett was one of the several News Corp Australia executives that took part in the recent IMAA 2020 Bounce Back event last month. The independent agencies have had mixed experiences as to how impacted their businesses have been across 2020.

Barrett told Mediaweek: “We have great bespoke solutions we create that we can tailor to their needs. We are very committed to that category and helping those agencies. That’s why we built things like News Xtend which works well for independent newsagencies.

“More than ever we are dedicated to IMAA agencies and we want to really see them get through this year and help them grow their businesses. We have dedicated group sales directors for those agencies in Sydney and Melbourne. They are pretty special for us.”

Among the topics of interest to media buyers was News Corp’s strategy for regional publishing.

“We now have more than 400 journalists in local areas and we are committed to employing more as we roll out our new hyper local digital mastheads across the country,” said Barrett. “The migration of audiences to digital has been quite successful. There are a number of IMAA agencies in those regional areas as well.

“We have invested in local journalism, moving our business to places and platforms our audiences are turning to every day. That will help us better meet the needs of the agency’s customers and our customers as well.

“The move to digital in regional allows us to offers things to both readers and advertisers they wouldn’t normally get.”

Barrett said News Corp has maintained its regional sales teams during the transition from print to digital. “Jason Scott, our MD for northern NSW, Queensland and Northern Territory, heads up regional alongside News Corp Australia commercial director Belinda MacPherson who is driving the in-market regional sales teams. News Connect has been very helpful with that as well. We know where these people are, we know what they are buying and what they are thinking about buying. Investing in the data with News Connect has really helped us in that space.”

Among the offers now for advertisers is the cost per completed view video solution. “We are selling that in conjunction with News Connect data and it is working really well. There has been a bit of a focus around long form video on BVOD in the past 12 months. People are coming back to short form video again because we are in a space where we have made it really cost efficient.

“There’s also our new Time In View product which guarantees advertisers quality time in front of their target consumer, with 100% of their message in view in our contextually relevant environments. That, or they don’t pay.”

Although Barrett warned us it was still too early to tell in detail about a market recovery in particular spots, she ventured: “Victoria seems to be starting to move.”

Another victim this year has been the travel sector which News Corp’s Fiona Nilsson talked to Mediaweek about recently.

See also: News Corp’s travel passion: The future of domestic & international tourism

Barrett: “So many other media owners have significantly reduced focus on the travel sector. We are very vested in it. We have been running travel industry forums and have had three so far and we will have more.

“We want to get Australians back out there to see more of their beautiful country.”

Among the advertisers that have stuck with News Corp in print and digital this year is Harvey Norman whose daily spreads are impossible to miss.

“Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page was in here recently at News Corp with our CEO Michael Miller and I talking about it,” said Barrett. “Katie won’t do things that don’t work. The money that she has spent in print and digital is working very well, especially their wraps. She’s there all the time and they have just had their best financial result ever.”

But it’s not just Harvey Norman that is having good results from their News Corp investment. Barrett also mentioned Coles and Woolworth’s, Metcash and Chemist Warehouse, and The Good Guys and JB Hi-Fi.

“We are benefiting from advertisers coming back to trusted media in combination with our News Connect data offering.”

With every News Connect campaign that is booked, subject to a minimum spend, News Corp is giving the advertisers a brand uplift study. “We can measure the effectiveness of those campaigns,” said Barrett.

Barrett also mentioned what Ed Faith told Mediaweek recently, that News Corp can reach 65% of Australian supermarket shoppers because of the deal with Flybuys and Quantium. “We are also measuring footfall traffic in bricks and mortar businesses via location data from Near as well. We can tell where people are shopping and how many. We can track how many people saw a message across the News Network and then went into a store as a result of that.”

See also: How News Corp is assisting FMCG marketers manage 2020 demand

While News Corp Australia is working with clients on their 2020 Christmas plans, Barrett also emphasised what will be huge this year will be Black Friday/Cyber Monday – November 27 and 30.

“It’s going to bigger than ever. People have been shopping online more than ever this year and retailers are seeing it more and more as an early Christmas trading opportunity.

“We are going to have a big retail period leading into Christmas as people won’t be able to go anywhere internationally. Many will still have money coming in from the Government via JobKeeper and JobSeeker.

“We are well-positioned because our print and digital assets are really appealing to retailers.”

With retail remaining strong for many, Barrett said she expects a staged recovery for travel. “So much of it is reliant on overseas travel which is where a lot of the big margins are. Opening state borders will have a massive impact though with state tourism bodies and domestic airlines ready to return when allowed.”

Leong was part of the fresh contingent of new judges to spearhead MasterChef Australia earlier this year that also included chefs Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo. This saw the trio go on to lead MasterChef to a ratings resurgence, cementing it as the number one TV cooking show in Australia.

Mediaweek spoke to Leong about her success on MasterChef, the unexpected season of Junior MasterChef and what she has learnt from her cooking show packed 2020.

After replacing long-time judges Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris, Leong was glad that the audience was willing to give the new group of judges a chance.

“My first season on MasterChef was an extraordinary adventure and an exercise in saying yes and taking that leap of faith,” Leong told Mediaweek. “We are all so overjoyed that it came together the way that it did, and it encapsulated so much love and resonated with the MasterChef audience.”

“What Jock, Andy and I bring is a dynamic that is entirely our own. I feel so fortunate to be working with such smart, funny, hardworking, supportive human beings. Our relationship developed really quickly, and I think whenever you find yourself in a work situation when the people around you really do care about you it allows you to rise to the occasion.”

When Leong signed up to the new look MasterChef a return of Junior MasterChef wasn’t discussed, but the newfound success of the franchise and the Covid-19 pandemic led to the show coming together this year. Leong said she jumped at the opportunity to be on the show.

“I was utterly thrilled, and I loved the idea from the get-go. Kids bring so much joy and energy to a space. While it has been several years since the last iteration I thought why not, there is always an opportunity to learn from our youth and I think we forget there is so much that we can learn from the generations much, much younger than us.”

Almost 2,000 young cooks aged from 9-14 applied for Junior MasterChef Australia. Leong said that these mini chefs have come into the competition after growing up in a different generation of food.

“The greatest joy with Junior MasterChef is how bright our future is with kids like this wanting to cook from such a young age. These are kids who have grown up with MasterChef for most of their lifetime and this is really a testament to how much our food IQ as a nation has progressed. That fascination with food helps us connect and learn about each other’s cultures because a lot of the time the easiest way to learn about each other’s cultures is through food.”

Leong said that she had high expectations but was still surprised by the quality of cooking that was presented.

“The calibre of cooking and their interpretation of the creative challenges really surprised me in terms of their maturity, their artistic conception, and their execution. I really hope that the audience can appreciate just how special these kids are.”

While judging and providing feedback differs between adults and children, Leong said that ultimately the judges’ style doesn’t change.

“We always make a point of being honest and constructive in our feedback, so that doesn’t change. It is a slightly different crowd from MasterChef and MasterChef Junior, but the sentiment remains and what makes a show like MasterChef so special is the continuing thread of a love for food.”

When asked if these mini chefs will be allowed to compete on MasterChef when they are older, Leong said she wasn’t sure but that it would be a wild ride.

“How crazy would that be if they could go on Junior MasterChef and then MasterChef and potentially win both!”

Junior MasterChef Australia will return on October 11 at 7:30 pm on 10 and 10 Play

The country’s leading regional media organisations have united to fight for urgent reforms to outdated and obsolete laws that put the future of local media at risk and threaten to leave 9.2 million regional Australians without local news services.

Australian Community Media (ACM), Prime Media Group, SCA and WIN Network today launched the Save Our Voices campaign fronted by veteran television journalist Ray Martin, aiming to raise awareness of the importance of regional media and highlight the need for long overdue regulatory change. 

The campaign rolls out today with a series of television, radio and newspaper ads and a dedicated website (www.saveourvoices.com.au) featuring interviews conducted by Ray Martin with industry leaders, politicians from all levels of government and community figures.

The message is clear: if regional media businesses are to survive, the government must overhaul media regulations that were devised 30 years ago, at a time before the internet existed. 

ACM executive chairman and co-owner, Antony Catalano, said: “To keep the voices of regional Australia strong and to keep our trusted local news services viable, regional media needs to be able to make commercially sensible decisions that allow us to stay profitable, sustainable and self-sufficient. Regional media outlets that have been part of their communities for decades – and in the case of a number of ACM’s newspapers more than 150 years – need the freedom to structure our businesses efficiently so we can achieve the scale necessary to compete with the unregulated digital services of metropolitan media and global internet giants.”

Echoing Catalano’s sentiments, WIN Network chief executive officer, Andrew Lancaster, said: “Media ownership laws blocking regional media companies from operating efficiently are outdated and from the pre-internet era. To continue to provide essential news, information and support services to regional Australia, our industry needs modern regulations that reflect the dramatic increase in competition facilitated by the NBN.”

Noting the vital interdependency between local businesses and local media, SCA chief executive officer, Grant Blackley, said: “Forty per cent of SMEs are located in regional areas and at SCA, we work with 14,000 of those businesses every day – providing a connection between local communities and local businesses and reinforcing the value of local media to the sustainability and growth of those businesses. We should envision a better place where there is a strong and sustainable local voice and where government recognises the contribution of people and businesses outside the capital cities.”

Prime Media Group, SCA and WIN Network have jointly submitted to government for discussion a commercially sustainable, self-funding plan that will enable regional media businesses to more effectively compete against international and metropolitan media companies now operating in regional media markets.

Prime Media Group chief executive officer, Ian Audsley, said: “We are grateful to the government for acting quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic to help fund public interest journalism via its PING program. Along with JobKeeper, that assistance should see us through the worst impacts of the pandemic. However, we need the government to act quickly again on a more economically sustainable plan to ensure regional Australians receive the very best local media services beyond 2021.”

For more information, visit www.saveourvoices.com.au. 

Hywood is a Walkley Award-winning journalist and the former CEO and managing director of Fairfax Media. He is widely regarded as having been instrumental in the turnaround of that company in the face of a changing media environment.

Hywood said: “Free of charge to all Australians, commercial television is highly valued by the community; even more so through these stressful times. It is the major investor in Australian entertainment content and is a centrepiece of our creative economy. As a trusted source of news and current affairs, free to air television provides a critical role in keeping our community open and transparent. I am excited by the opportunity to champion such an important contributor to our culture and economy.”

Hywood will work closely with the Free TV board and with the organisation’s chief executive officer, Bridget Fair, on matters affecting the commercial television industry.

Fair said: “We are delighted that Greg has agreed to take on the role of chairman. He has shown that he has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the Free TV sector and the media landscape more broadly. There is no doubt he will add significant insight and value to the work of Free TV in supporting and advancing the important contribution commercial television makes to Australia’s culture and economy.”

The partnership results in SEN securing exclusive AM commercial metro city radio rights to broadcast International and KFC Big Bash League cricket this summer.

Cricket fans can enjoy all the ball-by-ball coverage on 1116 SEN in Melbourne, 1629 SEN SA in Adelaide and for the first time on the new 1170 SEN Sydney, 1053 AM Brisbane, 1620 AM Gold Coast and 657 AM Perth as well as SEN Spirit 621 AM in Bunbury and 1629 AM Mt Gambier. The new Sydney station is expected to launch next week.

This will also extend to regional Australia where Sports Entertainment Network has exclusive AM and FM radio commercial radio rights to broadcast and syndicate its international and BBL cricket coverage. 

SEN’s chief sports caller Gerard Whateley will head a commentary team to be announced shortly.

“Through this COVID year, audiences have flocked to the comfort of sport in rare numbers and that will undoubtedly continue with cricket throughout the summer,” Whateley said.

“The Test series against India promises to be enthralling given the events of two seasons ago as Australia looks to put things right with a full strength and settled team against the might of Virat Kohli and his men.

“It will be our honour at SEN to share those compelling contests with audiences across the country,” he added.

Australia will host India this summer for four Tests, three ODIs and three T20s from November to January, while the BBL is scheduled to run from December to February.

SEN’s commitment to cricket will also include a dedicated junior cricket show, the Kid’s Edition and cricket.com.au’s new program The Scoop, to air on Sunday mornings.

SEN executive director Chris Giannopoulos said the network was delighted to continue its partnership with Cricket Australia.

“A thrilling summer of cricket promises much welcome relief in what has been a really tough year and we are excited to renew our partnership with Cricket Australia,” Giannopoulos said.

“Cricket has always been an intrinsic part of summer in Australia and this year promises many incredible matches which we look forward to broadcasting across the national SEN radio network and our regional syndicated broadcast partners.”

Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia interim CEO, said he was excited to see SEN expand its cricket coverage this summer.

“We’re proud to deepen our partnership with Sports Entertainment Network, in what’s already shaping up as a massive summer of cricket.”

“SEN is increasingly becoming a go to destination for sports radio across the country, and we’re looking forward to hearing their experts cover what is going to be a compelling Test series against India.

“Taking the game to all parts of the country is crucial for the health of Australian cricket, and SEN’s syndication network will help take the game far and wide.”

All SEN coverage can also be streamed live on the SEN and CA Live app, along with sen.com.au and cricket.com.au.

Fashion designer and entrepreneur Lorna Jane Clarkson, plus Boost Juice pioneer and investor Janine Allis will act as Lord Sugar’s right hand throughout Celebrity Apprentice Australia. They will keep tabs on the celebrities throughout the series, being Lord Sugar’s eyes and ears on the ground, and most importantly – advise Lord Sugar on who isn’t making the cut, and who he should fire.

They will be joined by the following group of celebrities, each using every trick in the book to compete in a series of tasks to raise money for a charity close to their heart – and ultimately be named the Celebrity Apprentice.

Celebrity Apprentice Australia contestants. 

• ARIA Award-winning pop duo, The Veronicas – Lisa and Jess Origliasso
• English comedian and actor, Ross Noble
• Judge on The Block, interior designer and writer, Shaynna Blaze
• Winner of Australian Survivor: All-Stars and international model, David Genat
• Star of Married at First Sight and social media influencer, Martha Kalifatidis
• Writer, comedian, and star of Here Come the Habibs, Rob Shehadie
• Iconic fashion designer and artist, Camilla Franks
• ARIA Award-winning artist, Anthony Callea
• Professional surfer and Instagram star, Alex Hayes
• Celebrity personal trainer, author and TV personality, Michelle Bridges
• One half of Nova FM’s Fitzy & Wippa radio show, Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli
• The most successful woman in Australian Ninja Warrior history and Olympic gymnast, Olivia Viviant

The show was announced at the Nine Upfront 2021, where the company announced that after a six-year wait, Celebrity Apprentice Australia is back on Nine in 2021 with the biggest shake-up the series has ever seen.

Celebrity Apprentice Australia has commenced filming and will air in 2021, and will air on Nine and 9 Now.

Celebrity Apprentice Australia is produced by Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia for the Nine Network, based on the format created by Mark Burnett and distributed by MGM.

Steedman, who was appointed director of WPP AUNZ in April 2016, has enjoyed an outstanding career in the advertising business, spanning over 45 years and roles across Australia and Asia Pacific.

The board’s acknowledgment of his strong leadership and extensive industry knowledge, led to Steedman’s appointment as interim chief executive officer of WPP AUNZ from November 2018 to October 2019. Over the past 12 months, Steedman has been chief operating officer of the company.

WPP AUNZ chairman Robert Mactier said: “John has made an enormous contribution to WPP AUNZ and WPP plc as an executive and a director and his experience, advocacy and pragmatism will be greatly missed.

“John is widely respected as an industry leader in the media buying sector and as a passionate advocate on important issues including diversity and inclusion, and R U OK? suicide prevention and he is a leading voice in seeking greater accountability in online media commentary.

“John is much loved by all at WPP AUNZ and by many clients and respected leaders across the industry. We will miss his friendship and contribution, but we understand his desire to take a step back from the frontline.

“On behalf of all at WPP AUNZ, we wish John a very happy and well-deserved retirement.”

WPP AUNZ CEO Jens Monsees said: “With his deep experience, Steady has provided invaluable support and leadership as COO over the past year as we faced the very challenging external circumstances and successfully changed our workplaces to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I have been very grateful for his contribution as we have embarked on our transformation strategy which is now well underway, and he leaves with my thanks and best wishes for the future.”

Steedman said: “It’s been an honour to serve WPP AUNZ and WPP plc for the past 45 years. Over this time, I have been greatly impressed by the calibre of talent and creativity of the people I work with and their energy to embrace change and growth.

“I have been through cycles of both positive tailwinds and tough downturns, and through each one, it is the fantastic clients and colleagues whom I have had the pleasure to work alongside, that has made this journey so rewarding and colourful.

“I have been considering retirement for a while, and now, having well and truly handed the reins over to Jens, is the right time. I wish the board and management all the very best in their future endeavours.”

Steedman has been inducted in the AdNews Hall Of Fame (2018) and the Media Federation of Australia Hall of Fame (2013).

Seven had the biggest slide this week with network and primary share down.

10 was more competitive this week, particularly on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, yet it posted single figure primary shares on the four other nights.

Nine Week 41

Primary share: 20.5% (19.7%)
Network share: 29.4% (27.9)%
Multichannels: GO! 2.9% (2.5%) Gem 2.7% (2.3%) 9Life 2.1% (2.2%) 9Rush 1.2% (1.2%)

Nine was the clear leader for another week with The Block Australia’s #1 entertainment show of the week. Sunday night’s Room Winner episode was #1 show for the week and attracted a national average audience of 1.439m (Metro: 1.058m Reg: 381,000) and won all key demographics of 25-54s, 16-39s and Grocery Shopper + Child.

Nine had the #1 commercial shares across all key demographics: People 25-54s (39.4%), People 16-39s (36.4%) and Grocery Shopper + Child (40.1%). Nine also won Total People with a share of 39.5%.

Nine also had the # 1 primary shares across all key demographics: People 25-54s (27.37%), People 16-39s (25.53%) and Grocery Shopper + Child (28.8%). Nine also won Total People with a share of 27.45%.

Nine dominated the top 10 shows of the week with a total of seven spots, driven by The Block and news programs.

A Current Affair averaged over 700,000 for the week, 60 Minutes was just under 600,000 and Halifax: Retribution finished its season on 556,000.

Seven Week 41

Primary share: 18.7% (21.3%)
Network share: 28.3% (31.1%)
Multichannels: 7TWO 3.4% (3.6%) 7mate 4.2% (4.3%) 7flix 2.0% (1.9%)

Seven had the second and third best primary and network shares of the week but was unable to match its performance from the week prior. Seven’s share was down week-on-week by both measures.

Seven allowed Nine to build what turned out to be a winning lead after Seven posted sub-15% primary shares Sunday to Tuesday before recovering later in the week off the back of two AFL finals.

The AFL clashes set up what could be a tantalising Richmond v Geelong Grand Final if both teams manage to hold off very tough opposition in Port Adelaide and Brisbane. Both semi-finals this week saw national audiences over 1m which resulted in network metro shares close to 35% both nights.

Seven’s only entries in the top 30 for the week were the football and Seven News which was ranked #1 every night of the week.

Home and Away averaged 538,000 across the week while Better Homes and Gardens did 477,000.

ABC Week 41

Primary share: 12.3% (13.1%)
Network share: 17.3% (17.6%)
Multichannels: Kids/Comedy 2.5% (2.5%) ME 0.5% (0.5%) News 1.9% (1.9%)

A brilliant episode of Australian Story had the channel’s biggest audience of the week with 746,000 watching a tribute to life and time of Aunty Jack’s Thin Arthur – Rory O’Donoghue.

ABC weekday News averaged 667,000 and Hard Quiz did 644,000.

Over half a million for the channel were Four Corners on 570,000, the season final of Mad as Hell on 540,000 and 7.30 on 515,000.

The Treasurer’s Speech just missed that mark with 497,000 on Tuesday night.

10 Week 41

Primary share 10.3% (9.5%)
Network share: 16.9% (15.9%)
Multichannels: Bold 3.8% (3.5%) Peach 2.4% (2.4%) Shake 0.4% (0.5%)

The Bachelorette was behind the network’s growth this week with improved shares on Wednesday and Thursday. The two episodes in launch week were down historically but were demo champs up against the other offerings on those nights.

10 is able to claim four of the top 10 entertainment shows in under 50s and all key demos (25 to 54s, 16 to 39s and 18 to 49s) thanks to the launch week of The Bachelorette Australia, Have You Been Paying Attention? and Gogglebox.

Network 10 and 10 continue to record the most growth of any commercial network and primary channel in 2020, up 10% and 9% year-to-date respectively. 10 Bold has achieved 20 months of consecutive year-on-year audience growth, while 10 Peach has achieved 38 consecutive weeks of year-on-year growth in its key demo of 16 to 39s.

10 Shake in only its second week on air saw share on 0.4% after its first week share of 0.5%.

SBS Week 41

Primary share: 4.9% (4.5%)
Network share: 8.1% (7.6%)

Multichannels: Viceland 1.2% (1.2%) Food 1.0% (0.9%) NITV 0.2% (0.1%) World Movies 0.9% (0.8%)

The final episode of the three-episode season of Every Family Has a Secret was again the most-watched show of the week with 276,000.

Michael Portillo popped up in an unusual timeslot on Saturday night with Greatest Railway Journeys which was down on his regular ratings with 139,000.

* Figures in brackets are Week 40 shares.

Singles

A second week at #1 for 24kGoldn featuring Iann Dior with Mood.

The only new arrival in the top 10 was Jason Derulo with Take You Dancing which sits at #10 after a steady claimb up the chart for the past seven weeks. This is Derulo’s first solo top 10 since Want To Want Me hit #4 back in April 2015. Meanwhile Derulo’s #1 collaboration with Jawsh 685, Savage Love, sits at #4 this week after 17 weeks on the chart.

The highest of five new entries in the top 50 is at #11 from Pop Smoke. The posthumous release of What You Know Bout Love comes from the #1 album Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon.

The title track from the next Shawn Mendes album Wonder lands at #13 on debut. The Canadian singer/songwriter’s album is due just in time for Christmas on December 4. This is Mendes’ first time on the chart since his #1 with Camila Cabello, Senorita, from July last year.

Also new this week:

#27 Blackpink with Lovesick Girls. One of two tracks new from this week’s #2 album.
#39 Savage and Metro Boomin featuring Drake with Mr Right Now.
#42 Blackpink featuring Cardi B with Bet You Wanna.

Album Highlights

#1: Queen are the highest-charting of five iconic rock and pop artists who have spanned long careers and who return to the chart this week. The Queen, Adam Lambert album Live Around the World features performances across the past six years. The album includes the complete playlist from February’s Fire Fight charity concert performance in Sydney. This is the second Queen release to top the chart in the past two years after the soundtrack to Bohemian Rhapsody spent some time at the top of the charts. It’s still charting too – sitting at #40 as it celebrates two years on the chart next week.

The female K-Pop band Blackpink is one of the five artists new to the top 10 this week as their first Korean language album sits at #2 on debut.

Just stopping short of achieving a 10th ARIA #1 were Bon Jovi with 2020 their 15th album landing at #3. This is the band’s first album since This House is Not for Sale made it to #1 in 2016. The new album features tracks inspired by events across the year including Covid-19 (Do What You Can), veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder (Unbroken), politics (Blood in the Water), civil unrest (Lower the Flag) and the murder of George Floyd (American Reckoning).

#4: 21 Savage & Metro Boomin with Savage Mode II. The US rapper 21 Savage and producer Metro Boomin join forces again and land a top 10 hit album, the sequel to their 2016 EP.
#8: Corey Taylor with CMFT. The debut solo album from Slipknot and Stone Sour singer and songwriter. He was last on the chart when Slipknot’s sixth album We Are Not Your Kind peaked at #1 last year.
#11 Bryson Tiller with A N N I V E R S A R Y. The third album from the US R&B singer after his second True Self peaked at #12 in 2017.
#14 and #30 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard with Demos Vol. 1 + Vol. 2 and Live In Asheville ’19. Melbourne’s very prolific King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard take out their fifth and sixth Top 50 entries for 2020 as they debut at #14 with Demos Vol. 1 + Vol. 2 and at #30 with Live In Asheville ’19.
#16 Mariah Carey with The Rarities. The celebration of the 30th anniversary of Mariah Carey’s first album continues with these previously unreleased tracks. The album has also coincided with the release of her memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Seven are reportedly in discussions to try and get Carey as a coach on The Voice in 2021.
#18 Oasis with (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Another music milestone, this time the 25th anniversary of the second Oasis album. The album originally topped the Australian chart for five weeks upon release in 1996.
#19 Angie McMahon with Piano Salt. A seven-track EP from the Melbourne singer-songwriter with alternate versions of five tunes from her debut album plus two covers – Bruce Springsteen‘s The River and Lana Del Rey‘s Born To Die.
#31 Hilltop Hoods with State of The Art (Instrumental Edition). The instrumental version of the Adelaide hip hop group’s fifth album is the first release in a limited-edition vinyl series of the trio’s four most recent studio albums.
#35 Roger Waters with Us + Them. The soundtrack to the concert film of the same name featuring the founding member of Pink Floyd and his band. A dazzling collection of Pink Floyd tunes and solo Waters material. Tracks come from shows in Amsterdam during his world tour which also included Australian dates and featured inventive use of giant video screens. The band features the US guitarist Jonathan Wilson.
#37 Melanie C with Melanie C. This self-titled set from the former Spice Girl is her eighth solo album. She is well aware of the hurdles she faces, recently telling the BBC: “I’m making a pop-dance record and I’m a mature artist, so I have to accept that some radio stations are not going to be playing me anymore.”
#42 Cosmo’s Midnight with Yesteryear. A second album from the Sydney electronic duo made up of twins Cosmo and Patrick Liney. Their debut What Comes Next peaked at #36 two years ago.

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Primetime News
Seven News 930,000
Nine News 913,000
ABC News 686,000
10 News First 197,000/244,000
SBS World News 143,000

Daily current affairs
The Project 328,000/372,000
Insiders 331,000

Breakfast TV
Sunrise 218,000
Today 214,000

Late night news
Nine News Late 268,000

Sunday TV

Seven: Filling the 7pm slot was the 7News special Cruising: The Biggest Storm. The program looked at the history of cruising and the cloud hanging over its future. The CJZ-produced program featured interviews with insiders, whistleblowers, experts and ordinary travellers, and revealed the stories of passengers who contracted Covid-19 on board cruises. After finding a big Sunday audience with Murder in the Outback earlier this year, CJZ has done well again with Cruising ranking #2 in the slot with 658,000, outperforming the launch of Junior MasterChef.

Staring around 9pm, Crime Investigation Australia featured the man dubbed the Mornington Monster. With a finish after 10pm the episode was on 281,000.

Nine: The Block featured the reveal of the Living/Dining spaces and in the lead-up Scott Cam had lunch at his Melbourne residence, a former Block unit in the Port Melbourne complex which the Herald Sun revealed recently cost him just over $2m, with Jimmy and Tam. He managed to find out they have $80,000+ at their disposal as the series reaches its final few weeks. After a good room from Harry and Tash, it looked like Daniel and Jade could be on track for a successive win with a space that wowed the judges. Judge Darren disagreed with Shaynna and Neale earlier in the night but they were all in agreement on how good this work was. Jimmy and Tam were judged last – they had a lamp and storage, but were missing one key feature – a dining table! Shaynna was right: “What were they thinking?” Especially with all that cash in the bank. The room winner was Harry and Tash, although the viewers chose Daniel and Jade, and Harry and Tash got $10,000 plus the use of a Ford Mustang for a week. The audience of 992,000/1,086,000 comes after 981,000/1,058,000 seven days ago.

This week on The Block could be interesting with Harry and Tash in trouble with Keith and Sarah and George having a special “@#$% the judges” week after successive weeks of poor marks.

60 Minutes followed with Tom Steinfort reporting on a fightback underway led by high-profile Australians who have been subjected to cruel and targeted attacks on social media. Former NRL coach Anthony Seibold, who was the victim of a horrendous attack, has launched his own investigation to track down those who spread vicious untruths about him on social media. Channel 9’s Erin Molan, who has suffered years of unrelenting abuse on Facebook and other platforms, is now campaigning for much tougher penalties, including prison sentences for perpetrators of trolling. The episode was on 667,000 after 578,000 last week.

Nine had an audience of 119,000 watching the Suncorp Super Netball final in the afternoon.

10: MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong was the final guest on The Project before the show segued into the launch of Junior MasterChef Australia. After Sunday 7pm did 358,000 a week ago it was on 372,000 last night.

The mini would-be chefs turned up with a parent at the start of Junior MasterChef Australia as they met judges Andy, Melissa and Jock in the herb garden outside the MasterChef kitchen. Before the first cook commenced, they were presented with their MasterChef aprons by Melissa which was used to introduce each of the 14 contestants. The cooking from all contestants was mighty impressive especially Dev and Laura who were judged as having the two best dishes. “Do you know Peter Gilmore,” asked Jock to Laura. “That is as good as his snow egg.” The nearly two-hour episode launched the season with 524,000 watching, well short what the very first episode did with 2.2m almost exactly 10 years ago, and half of the 1m+ watching the launch of season two in 2011. The launch episode has managed to halve in each successive season.

Two episodes of FBI followed on 288,000 and 162,000.

On Sunday afternoon 10 had an audience of 233,000 watching game one of the Bledisloe Cup as Australia managed to secure a draw.

ABC: Series three of Fremantle’s Restoration Australia is not a lot different to Grand Designs Australia from the same production company. Both series make fascinating viewing for those who enjoy renovation, although throwing the ABC version up against The Block might limit the numbers watching live. The series started with a major $5m Millers Point upgrade that attracted 484,000 viewers.

Grantchester followed with 468,000.

SBS: Episode three of Ancient Superstructures focused on The Great Wall of China with 178,000 watching.

Next was Top Ten Mummies of Egypt with 130,000 at 8.30pm, which pushed two episodes of Watergate out to a 10.30pm start.