Tuesday September 29, 2020
As Bauer becomes Are Media, publisher explores new revenue opportunities
The CEO of what was Bauer Media Australia, Brendon Hill, yesterday revealed the new name of the company as Are Media. Initially a bit of a surprise, it starts to make sense when the private equity-owned business starts to use the name in marketing slogans: We Are Women, We Are Lifestyle etc.
See also: Bauer Media rebrands: Are Media marks new era for publisher
“It is great to have a fresh start with a positive beginning which is a big thing for us,” Hill told Mediaweek shortly after the brand reveal. “We had a huge internal project that had a steering team working all the way through.
“We started with 200 names and then got it down to 15 and then down to six. It eventually came down to a final two with the senior leadership team voting on it. It works for us in a number of ways. It sums up what we do really well – great audiences, great reach and really engaging content.”
Hill pointed to the design of the logo, noting things that may not be instantly recognised. “The leaning in of the ‘a’ and ‘e’ signifies attention-grabbing content we create”.
When asked about the involvement of the new owner Mercury Capital in either the operation of Are Media and the rebrand, Hill said: “It is great to be under Australian management and they are involved. We have owners who are willing to invest which is great.”
The Are Media CEO said initially the new brand plan was taken to clients and the ad market. “We wanted to understand what the market wanted from us and also what our weaknesses were. We took away the feedback to help us shape the new brand.”
Hill noted the main thing that helped whittle down the list of possible company names was what was available to register. “It is very tough at present to register a good name and the accompanying URL. There were a lot of clever names we liked that weren’t available, but we are delighted with what we have got. Are Media was a clear winner.”
The Are Media business still has a big group of brands despite some culling from Bauer Media over recent years. “We have about 50 in total in Australia and New Zealand,” said Hill. “We have the consumer business here and New Zealand, plus we have the big trader and motoring business down in Melbourne. The consumer business still reaches six in 10 Australian women every month.”
As to speculation in Australia about Hill’s future with the publishing business under new ownership he told Mediaweek: “I am really looking forward to getting this rebrand out and growing the company. There is so much opportunity in both countries for this business which I am delighted to lead.
“The more you look at the combined portfolio of what was Pacific and Bauer you see the strength. In our digital area alone we have the listings and reviews businesses like Beauty Heaven and Beauty Crew, and we have just launched Bounty Rewards, we have diversified revenue streams and there is so much opportunity to invest in those products to grow them.
“The Better Homes and Gardens online shop is going gangbusters at the moment and we have a great opportunity to roll out the e-commerce platform for different brands and verticals.”
Hill and his teams are working toward a November virtual showcase event with further details about plans for the 50 Are Media brands. “We will be presenting a big piece of research at the showcase.”
Although the brands are stable at present, Hill said they are always looking to evolve them.
Demand from advertisers is moving in the right direction. “We are very positive about growth toward the end of the year and next year is already looking better than we originally thought earlier this year. We now virtually have all the big homemaker titles and they have all done very well.”
Despite Are Media controlling both Woman’s Day and New Idea, Hill said they will continue to compete fiercely for readers. “And so they should. There was something of a momentous day a few weeks ago though when the New Idea and Woman’s Day editors had a glass of wine together. Something that would have been unheard of in days gone by.”
Print demand and retail opportunities
Hill: “Covid was a tough period for us and many businesses and in retail it really impacted our travel and transit sales. Otherwise supermarkets and newsagents have been performing incredibly well as has our subscription volume. Before Covid struck our readership had been going up for the previous 18 months.
In the Nielsen digital numbers all our big digital sites are up over 30% year-on-year including Now To Love, Homes To Love and Which Car?”
Hill revealed that the business has been working on expanding its retail partnerships. “We have just done a deal with Australia Post to trial magazines after all the foot traffic increase from people picking up parcels. We have also done a deal with Aldi to sell the kids’ magazine Bluey. It’s the first time Aldi has sold a magazine and hopefully it might be the start of further opportunities with them.”
New Zealand up and running
Are Media has now re-started all six of the New Zealand magazines it planned to – NZ Listener started yesterday and the others already on newsstands are NZ Women’s Weekly (actually a weekly), Air NZ inflight title Kia Ora, Your Home & Garden, Woman’s Day NZ and Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
The titles sold by Bauer/Are Media: Metro, Home, North & South and Fashion Quarterly.
As reported recently in Mediaweek former Bauer New Zealand staff led by Sido Kitchin and including former NZ and Australia Bauer boos Paul Dykzeul have started up an opposition business called School Road Publishing. “That’s fantastic for the industry,” Hill told Mediaweek. “It will be great to have more magazines in the market and we are looking forward to seeing what they are like at launch.”
See also:
Ex-Bauer boss and award-winning magazine editor believe in print
New media venture School Road Publishing launching four titles
Radio Ratings 2020, Survey 6: Highlights + Full Results
Sydney
• 2GB withstands superstar departure: Ben Fordham now breakfast king
• 2CH and smoothfm only commercial radio brands to grow share
• A big breakfast: Robbie and Wendy give ABC Sydney a boost
• smoothfm narrowly leads KIIS and ABC in drive radio race
Biggest movers
UP: 2CH +1.0
DOWN: 104.1 2Day FM -1.8
Read more: Sydney Radio Ratings 2020: Survey 6
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• Audience loving new 3AW breakfast: Ross & Russel climb 8.0 to 26.1%
• ABC and Triple M attract breakfast audience wanting news & information
• 3AW & ABC rule in drive, Mick and Jane buck the down trend on FM
UP: 3AW +3.0
DOWN: smoothfm/101.9 Fox FM -2.2
Read More: Melbourne Radio Ratings 2020: Survey 6
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• Less Covid threat keeps audiences tuned to FM as Nova returns to #1
• Nova and 4KQ the biggest movers in breakfast, Nova still #1 drive
UP: 4KQ +1.3
DOWN: 4BC -0.5
Read More: Brisbane Radio Ratings 2020: Survey 6
Loading...Adelaide
• Mix strengthens grip as #1 overall, but Penbo & Will clear #1 breakfast
• Nova’s Ben & Liam #1 FM breakfast, but Nova drive slips behind Mix
UP: Mix 102.3 +1.1
DOWN: Cruise 1323 -2.1
Read more: Adelaide Radio Ratings 2020: Survey 6
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• Nova #1 overall and in breakfast, 6PR biggest breakfast mover
• Perth loving Nova drive as new combo climbs higher at #1
UP: 6PR +1.0
DOWN: Hit 92.9 -1.4
Read More: Perth Radio Ratings 2020: Survey 6
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Big radio week gets even bigger: Bob Rogers retires – final week at 2CH
After 23 years’ presenting mornings on 2CH, a health scare saw Bob hand his microphone over to Tim Webster in 2018, but he continued his highly successful Saturday night show Reminiscing. This year marks Bob’s 25th year at Classic Hits 2CH.
Bob’s retirement, marks the end to a broadcasting career unapparelled in Australian and international radio history. It coincides with the change of ownership at the station as Crocmedia takes over and 2CH moves to DAB+ later in October. The old 2CH AM frequency will become SEN 1170 Sydney in mid-October.
Bob Rogers began his career in 1942 in Melbourne at 3XY as a panel operator, moving to Mildura with his first job as an announcer, he then went to Hobart, and learnt how to be a disc jockey. After smuggling in a record from the USA: Vaughn Monroe’s Ghost Riders in the Sky and playing it, he got a huge audience reaction and Bob quickly learnt if he could play hit music he could get more listeners and be different from everyone. Thus, the beginning of the ‘Radio DJ’.
He then went to Brisbane’s 4BH and in 1957 he was the first person to discover Slim Dusty and play Pub with No Beer.
Between 1958 and 1962 Rogers presented Australia’s first Top 40 show on 2UE, and was Australia’s top radio DJ for the next eight years. What no one remembers is John Laws was his news reader on 2UE.
It was there that Bob and John began a feud that lasted until 2019, with both only recently burying the hatchet. The reason for the feud is too long to tell however maybe one day Bob and John will share this story.
In 1962, Bob joined Sydney’s 2SM and his show was an instant success shooting straight to number 1. Because of his success, Bob was chosen to cover the Beatles on their tour across Europe, Asia and Australia, this is when he was officially named as the Fifth Beatle.
It was 1976, Bob wrote Rock and Roll Australia, the birth of the Australian rock industry.
In 1995, Rogers accepted an offer from station owner John Singleton to join 2CH and this is where he will end his amazing 78-year career.
Bob will say his goodbyes to his extensive and loyal audience on Reminiscing Saturday 3rd October 6pm to 12 midnight. His final show will be filled with tributes from celebrities, the music industry, fellow broadcasters and his own Classic Hits 2CH team.
“I have absolutely loved my time in this industry – I have met so many wonderful people and built such a treasured connection with my listeners and team, but at my age (93 years) I feel it’s the perfect time to say goodbye and hand over the microphone to my fellow presenters,” Bod said.
“I wish to thank my devoted and brilliant producer Gary King, my general manager Cherie Romaro and my fellow presenters, Tim Webster, Chris Kearns, and Trevor Sinclair. I will miss radio, my listeners and my work friends, but it is time,” he added.
2CH’s Cherie Romaro paid tribute to Bob: “I have worked with Bob for a relatively short time, but I quickly learnt there was no other radio presenter like Bob Rogers his preparation and devotion to his listeners is second to none. Bob will leave a lasting legacy, not only at Classic Hits 2CH but the entire Australian broadcast industry.
“He is a legend in the truest sense of the word, and I was privileged to be able to witness him at work firsthand. He will always be remembered as one of the best at his craft. There will never be another Bob Rogers,” she said.
Classic Hits 2CH will move from AM to DAB+ on 17th October.
Publicity bombshell: Jamieson Campbell about to leave the Foxtel building
Campbell is the latest Foxtel senior executive to depart the platform in a year of big change not just at the streaming and subscription TV platform, but in all media.
Although he learned of his fate late last week, Foxtel’s chief communications officer Paul Edwards shared the news with Foxtel staff on Monday. It soon spread around the industry and Campbell’s phone has been buzzing and ringing non-stop since.
“I’ve had an incredible 13 plus years at Foxtel and am very proud of my long term tenure at such a great company,” Campbell told Mediaweek. “We launched and promoted an amazing array of shows, sport, talent, content and company advancements, and I’m honoured to have worked with so many fantastic people.
“To be led and mentored by the best of the best – Brian Walsh – has been a true gift, as have the endless opportunities I was given by Foxtel over the years. I’m departing very proud and humbled by my team and go with lifelong friendships, both inside and outside the organisation. I’m looking forward to a nice break now and lots of new adventures.”
Edwards told staff the changes was driven by bringing together like-functions across the group to support the Foxtel, Kayo and Binge brands and the desire to be a more efficient, lower-cost business. “We will miss Jamie,” said Edwards.
“Jamie’s enthusiasm for shows and the talent associated with them will long be remembered. His achievements include breakout hits such as Gogglebox, Selling Houses Australia, and The Real Housewives Of Melbourne; signature drama series such as Wentworth, A Place To Call Home, Secret City, Upright and Mr Inbetween together with major sports campaigns and landmark company events. He leaves behind an outstanding team along with many friends at Foxtel who admire his professionalism and warmth.”
Kieren Cooney, chief customer, marketing and sales officer added:
“Jamie is rightly known as one of Australia’s best publicity leaders – and will be missed, not only for his expertise but also for his team and cultural leadership.
It was Jamie that signed Chris Hemsworth to Foxtel, and it was Jamie who suggested to Brian Walsh that we look at a show from the UK called Gogglebox and see if we could make it work here in Australia. And now it’s our customers’ favourite and most-watched show.
“One of Jamie’s legacies is the incredible team that he has built. As an interim measure, the group publicity team will move to report into Paul Edwards, our chief communications officer – to give them excellent leadership as we bed in these changes. Paul and I will work together to continue strengthening how publicity works in a more digital age and the shift to more agile ways of working, at which stage it will be rolled back into this department.”
The Foxtel publicists team will be lead by Brooke Cashell with Helen Johnson, Vanessa Hollins, Victoria Richards and Dee Stewart in Melbourne, Foxtel events manager Aisha Jefcoate, Liz Hunter who manages the Foxtel magazine together and Ryley McKay and Stef Rezzara at Fox Sports. Asha Burns, publicity lead at Kayo and Binge, will also be joining the group team.
Campbell had been managing his 15-strong publicity and talent team at Foxtel publicity since 2007. He started in media 30 years ago spending just over 12 months as a producer at 2GB. He then spent six months with Markson Sparks Publicity before entering the TV industry where he has been ever since.
Campbell worked for Network Ten as a publicist for two and a half year from mid-1992. He then moved to Los Angeles for eight years working as the US publicity boss for Ten, later working from the US for TVNZ and then the Nine Network.
Upon returning to Sydney Campbell stayed with Nine publicity, eventually taking over as director of publicity until 2006. It was in 2007 he flipped to subscription TV taking over as publicity and talent boss at Foxtel.
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Photo: One of the greats of Australian television – with Olivia Newton-John
Netflix partners with film bodies for first Australian original documentary
Filmed in Australia on The Great Barrier Reef, the sophisticated supermacro techniques specifically developed for the film are intended to immerse viewers, for the very first time, in the exquisite world of the reef’s tiny, weird and wonderful inhabitants.
Head of documentary at Screen Australia, Bernadine Lim, said: “Wild Pacific Media and BioQuest Studios have joined forces to create an incredibly innovative project, one which we are proud to support. The techniques that have been developed specifically for this project are ground-breaking and demonstrate the creativity and ingenuity of Australian filmmaking teams.
“Microworlds: Reef will allow viewers to explore hidden worlds often too small to be seen by the human eye, and we are excited Netflix will bring this documentary to both Australian and international audiences.”
Jo Dillon, chief creative officer, Screen Queensland, said: “Screen Queensland is pleased to support Microworlds: Reef through our Finance Program as Netflix’s first original Australian documentary. The documentary will take global audiences on an immersive journey through one of Queensland’s most iconic natural treasures and celebrated tourist attractions. BioQuest Studios is an innovative Far North Queensland screen business and, by supporting this production, we are successfully delivering on the Far North Queensland Screen Production Strategic Plan to create opportunities for the screen industry and generate economic impact in the region. Microworlds: Reef is able to continue production safely in accordance with an approved COVID-safe industry plan, which speaks to the overall resilience of the Queensland screen sector despite current challenges.”
Producer/director Nick Robinson added: “We are thrilled to have been commissioned by Netflix to co-produce their first original Australian documentary with the support of Screen Australia and Screen Queensland. Some of the smallest creatures on our planet play the greatest roles. This film aims to take us into the most beautiful of micro worlds – a world as epic as the African plains and as alien as the frontiers of space. It’s a hugely ambitious project but a vital story to tell in the face of our changing planet.”
Microworlds Reef is a BioQuest Studios and Wild Pacific Media production for Netflix. Major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland.
Director: Nick Robinson
Producers: For Wild Pacific Media Electra Manikakis, Nick Robinson, Peta Ayers (Australia’s Ocean Odyssey, Australia: The Wild Top End, Out of Bounds Mountain Adventure), for BioQuest Studios Pete West, Louise Polain, Daniel Stoupin.
Box Office: New #1 as Tenet is finally knocked off the top
The film knocks off Christopher Nolan‘s Tenet which has dominated the Australian box office since its release five weeks ago amassing a total of $9.84m making it the most successful film since cinemas began to reopen.
The only ‘new’ release to make the top five this week is Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi which has continued the original trilogy’s strong performance in recent months with each film making the top five.
Overall, the Australian box office has declined 4% after generating $3.52m in revenue.
#1 Trolls World Tour $729,508
The family-friendly animated film has proven to have legs after a lengthy stint in the top five has seen it move to #1 knocking off a heavy hitter in Tenet in the process. This past weekend the film averaged $2,795 on 261 screens.
#2 Tenet $650,640
After five weeks the sci-fi blockbuster has finally slipped from the top spot, not falling far though as it lands in the #2 spot after averaging $1,942 on 335 screens, making it the most screened film in the country.
#3 The Secret Garden $351,548
The fourth film adaption of the 1911 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett averaged $1,441 on 244 screens, bringing its total to $906,375 to date.
#4 After We Collided $311,996
The sequel to After based on the novel of the same name by Anna Todd has now spent three weeks in the top five after averaging $1,793 on 174 screens this past weekend. The film’s total is now $2.33m.
#5 Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi $251,526
37 years after its initial release the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy finds itself in the top five of the Australian box office after averaging $1,277 on 197 screens.
TV ratings: Monday Week 40 2020
Primetime News
Seven News 1,067,000/1,031,000
Nine News 959,000/958,000
ABC News 771,000
10 News First 382,000/211,000
SBS World News 178,000
Daily current affairs
A Current Affair 755,00
7.30 590,000
The Project 335,000/546,000
Th Drum 200,000
Breakfast TV
Sunrise 244,000
Today 220,000
News Breakfast 188,000
Late night news
The Latest 117,000
ABC Late News 110,000
Nine News Late 97,000
SBS World News Late 52,000
Monday TV
Seven: Home and Away kicked off week 40 on 552,000 after an average of 535,000 last week.
Back-to-back semi-final episodes of America’s Got Talent followed filling close to three hours of primetime. The audiences were 226,000 and 160,000.
Nine: A Current Affair started a new week with Leila McKinnon hosting with Chris Allan updating the court appearance of three girls who travelled from Brisbane to Melbourne and back again several months ago to much media attention. The episode was on 755,000 after an average of 689,000 last week.
The Block was head-first into kitchen week with major construction underway and pressure mounting on some of the tradies. The episode was on 837,000 after 887,000 last Monday. Shaynna Blaze is making a special Tuesday appearance this week with some advice for one couple.
Celebrity IOU featured the first of two episodes about Jeremy Renner calling on Drew and Jonathan to transform his mother’s dated condo with 298,000 watching.
10: The Project featured an interview with legendary Aussie author Paul Jennings. The 7pm audience was 546,000 after an average of 467,000 last week.
Part two of Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story continued her incredible story. After 365,000 on Sunday, the final episode of the two-part documentary surged to 549,000. For people who stuck with the program there many fascinating interviews and lots of home video featuring the Chamberlains and friends. The interviews with the three children, separately and together, were also a highlight.
Guest contestants on Have You Been Paying Attention? were Hamish Blake, Hayley Sproull and Anne Edmonds. It has been four years since Blake’s last appearance on the show, but he was back for episode 201. After 578,000 for last week’s anniversary, the episode last night was on an improved 636,000.
On Drunk History Rhys Darby and Stephen Curry were recalling the stories of Ned Kelly and Pharlap for 241,000.
ABC: Leigh Sales had an interview with David Attenborough on 7.30 with 590,000 watching.
A fascinating episode of Australian Story featured farmer Charles Massy and his revolutionary regenerative farming technique that protects land from the ravages of nature. The show made the top 10 with 639,000 after 574,000 last week.
An audience of 531,000 watched a Four Corners episode tracking the financial fallout from Covid closures and restrictions.
Media Watch was on 487,000 followed by Q+A with 269,000.
SBS: How the Victorians Built Britain did 173,000 at 7.30pm.
24 Hours in Emergency followed with 147,000.
Week 40: Monday
| MONDAY METRO | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven | Nine | 10 | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 14.5% | 7 | 13.7% | 9 | 20.0% | 10 | 15.8% | SBS One | 4.5% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 2.1% | 7TWO | 3.7% | GO! | 2.6% | 10 Bold | 3.8% | VICELAND | 1.2% |
| ABC ME | 0.4% | 7mate | 4.0% | GEM | 3.0% | 10 Peach | 2.5% | Food Net | 0.7% |
| ABC NEWS | 1.1% | 7flix | 1.5% | 9Life | 2.3% | 10 Shake | 0.4% | NITV | 0.1% |
| 9Rush | 1.2% | SBS World Movies | 0.9% | ||||||
| TOTAL | 18.1% | 22.9% | 29.1% | 22.5% | 7.4% | ||||
| MONDAY REGIONAL | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Seven Affiliates | Nine Affiliates | 10 Affiliates | SBS | |||||
| ABC | 13.9% | 7 | 14.6% | 9 | 14.5% | WIN | 12.6% | SBS One | 3.9% |
| ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 2.1% | 7TWO | 5.3% | GO! | 3.0% | WIN Bold | 5.3% | VICELAND | 1.8% |
| ABC ME | 0.7% | 7mate | 6.1% | GEM | 5.2% | WIN Peach | 2.9% | Food Net | 0.5% |
| ABC NEWS | 0.6% | 7flix (Excl. Tas/WA) | 2.0% | 9Life | 2.1% | Sky News on WIN | 2.6% | NITV | 0.2% |
| SBS Movies | 0.5% | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 17.3% | 28.0% | 24.8% | 23.4% | 6.9% | ||||
| MONDAY METRO ALL TV | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTA | STV | ||||||||
| 87.7% | 12.3% | ||||||||
Monday FTA
- Seven News Seven 1,067,000
- Seven News At 6.30 Seven 1,031,000
- Nine News Nine 959,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 958,000
- The Block Nine 837,000
- ABC News ABC 771,000
- A Current Affair Nine 755,000
- Australian Story ABC 639,000
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 636,000
- 7.30 ABC 590,000
- The Chase Australia Seven 556,000
- Home And Away Seven 552,000
- Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story 10 549,000
- The Project 7pm 10 546,000
- Four Corners ABC 531,000
- Hot Seat Nine 522,000
- Media Watch ABC 487,000
- 10 News First 10 382,000
- The Project 6.30pm 10 335,000
- Hot Seat -5pm Nine 324,000
Demo Top 5
16-39 Top Five
- The Block Nine 207,000
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 192,000
- The Project 7pm 10 139,000
- Nine News Nine 125,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 122,000
18-49 Top Five
- The Block Nine 356,000
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 322,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 252,000
- Nine News Nine 248,000
- The Project 7pm 10 235,000
25-54 Top Five
- The Block Nine 410,000
- Have You Been Paying Attention? 10 361,000
- Nine News 6:30 Nine 312,000
- Nine News Nine 301,000
- The Project 7pm 10 276,000
Monday Multichannel
- NCIS (R) 10 Bold 191,000
- NCIS Ep 2 (R) 10 Bold 181,000
- Bluey AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 154,000
- Doc Martin PM 7TWO 140,000
- Noddy Toyland Detective PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 129,000
- M- Lucy PM (R) 7mate 127,000
- Peppa Pig AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 121,000
- American Pickers-Ep.2 Pm 7mate 121,000
- Peppa Pig PM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 117,000
- Dinosaur Train AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 114,000
- Play School AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 114,000
- Floogals AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 113,000
- Bananas In Pyjamas AM ABCKIDS/COMEDY 112,000
- School Of Roars ABCKIDS/COMEDY 111,000
- ABC News Mornings AM ABC NEWS 110,000
- Bluey ABCKIDS/COMEDY 109,000
- Midsomer Murders 9Gem 106,000
- Bargain Hunt PM 7TWO 105,000
- Spicks And Specks ABCKIDS/COMEDY 105,000
- Law & Order: SVU (R) 10 Bold 103,000
Monday STV
- Paul Murray Live Sky News Live 95,000
- The Bolt Report Sky News Live 87,000
- Alan Jones Sky News Live 80,000
- Credlin Sky News Live 79,000
- PML Later Sky News Live 50,000
- The Kenny Report Sky News Live 46,000
- Live: NRL 360 FOX LEAGUE 38,000
- Live: On The Couch FOX FOOTY 37,000
- Last Week Tonight With John Oliver FOX8 37,000
- Live: AFL 360 FOX FOOTY 36,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 31,000
- Jeopardy! FOX Classics 30,000
- Newsday Sky News Live 29,000
- Blue Bloods FOX One 28,000
- Afternoon Agenda Sky News Live 27,000
- Afternoon Agenda Sky News Live 26,000
- NCIS: Los Angeles FOX Crime 26,000
- Newsday Sky News Live 26,000
- Escape To The Country Lifestyle Channel 26,000
- The Simpsons FOX8 26,000
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
Australia’s biggest online retailer Booktopia preparing for December IPO
Working on the float is Shaw and Partners and Morgans.
It comes after the company experienced a 28 per cent lift in its new book sales during the 2020 financial year, with total sales topping $165m for the first time.
Booktopia has a customer database of 4.5 million, with 1.4 million active customers.
The company has been operating for 16 years and is the country’s largest vertically integrated Australian-owned book retailer.
It sold more than 6.4 million books in the 2020 financial year.
Chief executive Tony Nash this month told The Australian that part of Booktopia’s success to the fact that he was prepared to stock books many bookshop owners weren’t.
While an overseas expansion is “definitely on the road map”, Nash said expanding the domestic business remains the priority for now.
AC/DC and Kylie Minogue among acts sought for live music recovery
Fans starved of live shows have kept more than 80 per cent of tickets to productions rescheduled in the wake of the pandemic shutdowns, according to TEG CEO Geoff Jones.
As Australia continues to control the community spread of COVID-19, promoters are now courting international acts for post-COVID tours with the wishlist topped by AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams.
Local live heroes including Midnight Oil and Powderfinger are also weighing up potential tours for next year.
Jones said the sporting hubs employed by the NRL and AFL to complete their 2020 seasons – and the incremental increase of crowd sizes – gave the live industry a blueprint to entice international artists back to Australian stages.
The COVID Safe model employed by events including Van Gogh Live! and Pixar Putt are also buoying the confidence of Australians to get out of the house for entertainment.
News Brands
Peter Newell, one of Wollongong's greatest adopted sons, dies aged 71
Peter is survived by his wife Judy, children Karen, Steven, Robert and Kelly and their partners Leanne, Heather and Stephen, and 10 grandchildren. His friend, and former colleague, Nick Hartgerink, paid tribute in the Mercury to a man who made a great impact on those who knew him – and to the city:
Wollongong has lost one of its greatest adopted sons, with the passing of newspaperman and clubs industry leader Peter Newell OAM this week.
As a journalist, editor and general manager at the Illawarra Mercury from 1970 until 2000, Peter led many community campaigns, most notably the battle to greatly improve road safety on the notorious Mt Ousley Road, which had become a busy, single-lane death trap by the 1970s.
Peter Newell arrived in Wollongong to join the Mercury in February 1970, aged 21, having started in journalism as a cadet at The Manning River Times. His editor at The Times, David Lonsdale, had moved to the Mercury and invited his protégé to join him. Peter thought he might stay in Wollongong for a year, then head off with a mate from Taree on a long-planned trip to London.
Former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith is starting over at CNBC
Did the network betray you? “They never interfered with what I was doing.” Is it different from when it started? “Well, I think every network has evolved since 1996.” Did you leave because you were fed up? “You know, it was time.”
Smith, the former Fox News chief news anchor with an easy Mississippi lilt, abruptly left his television home of 23 years last October after clashing with one of the channel’s conservative stars and relentless taunts from President Trump, who denounced Smith for his skeptical coverage.
In the end, it was Smith’s decision to step away. Colleagues were stunned, but friends said he had grown disillusioned by the direction of the network – a frustration compounded when the Fox News prime time host Tucker Carlson mocked him on-air – and the disconnect between its pro-Trump punditry and the reporting generated by its newsroom.
Smith returns to television on Wednesday as the host of a nightly newscast on CNBC, declaring a renewed focus on “the facts, the truth, the news,” adding, “It’s a complicated time with so much information and along with it, disinformation, and we just want to just cut through the noise.”
Social Media
Peter FitzSimons: My 7 top tips for dealing with vicious trolls
1.Accept trolls as a fact of life. The incontrovertible truth is that in this third decade of the 21st century, if you are going to poke your head anywhere above the parapet of public life and have any presence whatsoever, vicious trolling comes with the territory. A TV journalist friend told me 30 years ago that doing a stand-up with a camera anywhere in public was a sure-fire “idiot magnet”. There might be 2000 people going up and down a busy street. How to find the dozen idiots? Start talking into the camera. Within 30 seconds, those dozen idiots will be jumping up and down behind you. Ditto, with trolls.
2. Death threats aside, do not take them seriously. If you say something clever or even just standard-brand sensible like, say, “I accept that the experts are right and that restricting movement will help restrict coronavirus and will save lives”, set your watch. Within 60 seconds you will be besieged by people who – despite the fact they can’t spell – know better than winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
3. Take it as a badge of honour. If people this nasty and this ignorant are against you, you must be doing something right. Just imagine how troubling it would be if you had them on your side. Just how wrong would you have to be on, like, everything? It would be like being lauded by Alan Jones’ old talkback audience – you’d have to ask yourself, just where have I gone wrong?
Media Tech
Telstra lays down 5G gauntlet for NBN Co with fixed-wireless product
With Telstra and its peers locked in a tussle with NBN Co over the high wholesale prices charged by the company in charge of the national broadband network, the launch of the ‘5G Home Internet’ product sets the scene for Telstra to keep more money in its pocket by bypassing the NBN.
The telcos can avoid paying the wholesale price to NBN by connecting a home directly to their 5G fixed-wireless services, which offer high-speed plans at prices comparable to existing NBN plans.
The 5G service, to be launched on Wednesday, is priced at $85 a month and will offer 500GB of data to eligible customers. Telstra said it expects customers to achieve typical download speeds between 50Mbps (Megabits per second) and 300Mbps.
Optus already has a 5G fixed-wireless service in the market and is planning to launch two new high-speed plans, priced at $75 a month and $90 a month respectively, later this year.
Podcasting
Grant Denyer explains fight with former Sunrise producer Adam Boland
Detailing an extraordinary blow-up on the set of breakfast show Sunrise, the 43-year-old claimed the monumental blow up with former executive producer Adam Boland took place while on assignment in Hawaii.
“It wasn’t his finest hour, it certainly wasn’t my finest hour and so I just blew up,” the father of two, with another on the way, said in a new episode of his It’s All True? podcast with wife Cheryl Denyer.
“This is not something that I am particularly proud of but is something that did happen in the workplace.”
Denyer presented the weather on the top breakfast show from 2004 to 2012 before making a shock exit from the prime spot.
It was this altercation, he said, that formed part of his reason for leaving the show.
The Hawaii blow up, he explained, is one of two fights he has had in his life. The first was in year four of primary school.
“I am ashamed of my actions and I would do it differently now but I had a fight with the boss of Sunrise, the EP, the executive producer, his name is Adam Boland,” he said, adding that he and Boland had since cleared the air.
See also:
Podcast Week: Nothing but the truth with Grant & Chezzi, Trace reveals Gobbo’s return
Podcasting calling axed Nova 106.9 Brisbane announcer Katie Mattin
Mattin, who presented the morning show, as well as afternoon presenter Jack Tree were made redundant earlier this month – despite both their contracts extending until December next year – as part of Nova’s cost-cutting strategy in response to the ongoing challenges of the global pandemic.
Sydney presenters DC and Smallzy are now being broadcast to Nova’s Brisbane audience, while Adelaide also lost their local daytime shows.
“It was Friday 11:55am doing my last (talk) break, I had a feeling, ‘this is my last break’. At 12:30pm they said ‘We are making your role redundant and that was your last show’,” Mattin said.
Still hosting her popular podcast Am I A Bad Mum? with Rachel Thaiday – who she met through her Nova radio show with Sam Thaiday – Mattin is already planning a move full-time into podcasting through her husband Jay Walkerden’s new company, Podshape, which has recently notched up 1 million downloads.
Mattin and Thaiday will add a second podcast, called Girls + Wine = Inappropriate Conversations, next month, which will be a weekly girls’ night where nothing is off limits.
Radio
Remembering former 3AW announcer David McGee
1955, the year before television started in Melbourne, David McGee began work as an announcer at 3AW in a career that would last 31 years.
Within a year his talents were recognised and David was quickly promoted to senior announcer. David was popular with listeners and clients of the station.
Surviving the onslaught of television, radio evolved by taking the focus off its former prime time shows and concentrating more on the morning programs. David was there through it all.
In 1964 when the government first allowed the replaying of recorded phone calls on the wireless David was working alongside Norman Banks on his program “I’m On Your Side” which was among the first programs to adapt to these new permissions.
Talkback radio was next when it became legal in 1966, and that was the fateful year that David partnered with Peter James. Peter had joined 3AW in 1959.
Both were successful in their own right but their on air chemistry was noted by management and they formed and hosted the “Ansett Pioneer Show”.
Television
Noni Hazlehurst: COVID “a perfect excuse to drop local quotas”
“They’re just taking advantage of the fact that they can say, ‘Now we’ve got the perfect excuse to cut all these quotas.’ It’s very, very disturbing, indeed,” she tells TV Tonight.
“They’ve been trying to do that for years. The reality is they put so much money into sport, which certainly came back to bite them on the bum, and stretching the boundaries of what constitutes Australian content.
“I just feel so despairing,” she continued. “They’re all in financial dire straits – all the networks. In one sense, understandably, because they’ve not really given people much that’s worthwhile. So people are seeking out other forms of entertainment, quite rightly. So, it’s a bit of a chicken and egg argument.”
Hazlehurst, currently presenting Every Family Has a Secret for SBS, has long been passionate about Australian content, awarded an Order of Australia for her services to children and the performing arts and inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.
Adam Briggs says Chris Lilley won’t learn from ‘blackface’ TV shows
Chart-topper Briggs said Lilley’s blackface characters, featured in four shows dumped by Netflix over claims they are racist, are part of a bigger problem in the TV industry.
“Chris Lilley didn’t do these shows last week, and he’s not the only one,” Briggs told Confidential. “He became the poster child for that cancel moment … but you can still download and buy his products. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.
“But anyone who knows how TV shows get made; there’s a lot of people that sat around, let it happen, and thought it was a good idea. But this isn’t a teachable moment yet because he hasn’t learnt. He hasn’t accepted the ramifications of what he’s done.”
After Netflix ditched his show, Lilley posted deleted scenes of his blackface character Jonah Takalua on his YouTube channel.
Briggs is the guest editor of GQ Australia’s September-October edition, now on sale. The magazine features pieces on artist Reko Rennie, actor Nayuka Gorrie, musician Barkaa, and Corey Tutt, founder of Deadly Science, an initiative that provides science books to remote schools, and the Rumbalara Netball Club in Shepparton.
Sports Media
Cricket Australia to keep cricket clean with Dettol sponsorship deal
Along with supporting elite men’s and women’s cricket, Dettol is set to supply hygiene products to the 3,455 cricket clubs around the country as Australia continues its battle with COVID-19.
Dettol will now be front and centre during men’s one-day and T20 internationals on Australian soil as the naming rights partner for the white-ball formats, as well as featuring on the kit of the support staff and supporting the Australian Women’s Cricket Team.
CA has been exploring the use of disinfectant on cricket balls following the International Cricket Council’s move to ban the use of saliva to shine the ball.
Dettol got wind of this move and will now work with CA to develop hygiene protocols for players, staff and community cricket.
The new ball-shining rules were first in place during England’s Test summer against the West Indies and Pakistan.
Players predominantly used sweat to shine the ball, but old habits arose a few times when players instinctively used saliva.
In those instances, the umpires cleaned the ball and returned it to the bowling side. However, should a player repeatedly use saliva during a match, they will be given a warning from the umpires, with two warnings resulting in a five-run penalty to the batting team.
Australia’s international summer began on Saturday with Meg Lanning‘s side facing New Zealand in Brisbane.
The men’s international schedule is yet to be finalised, but men’s domestic cricket returns from October 10 when the Marsh Sheffield Shield begins in South Australia.