Wednesday January 31, 2018

TV Ratings Analysis

Primary Channels

By James Manning

Seven again carved out the biggest TV audiences last night with a replay of its Monday schedule – My Kitchen Rules into The Good Doctor.

While My Kitchen Rules takes took spot, Nine’s Married At First Sight ranked #1 in the key demos.

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here was competitive in the key demos and it managed a bigger male audience 25-54 last night.

Seven
Home and Away had its second night over 700,000 after 796,000 Monday and 733,000 Tuesday.

On My Kitchen Rules, Alex and Emily promised big things but weren’t able to get close to Josh and Nic. The opening night score of 87 tops the leaderboard after Alex and Emily earned 70.

My Kitchen Rules was holding just above 1m for the second consecutive night.

Seven also offered up another episode of The Good Doctor with one more episode up its sleeve until it catches up with the US. After 1.09m on Monday, the Tuesday audience was 1.01m.

The veteran US medical drama Grey’s Anatomy returned last night in a clever piece of medical scheduling with 289,000 watching after 10pm.

Nine
After a Monday audience of 900,000, A Current Affair slipped back to 767,000 on Tuesday.

The second episode of Married At First Sight as the no-expense-spared weddings with strangers continued with some hilarious results. The show has held just over 900,000 for a second successive night.

The second season of Britain’s One Night With My Ex then debuted after 9pm with 353,000 watching.

TEN
The Project started on 362,000 at 6.30pm and then climbed to 599,000 after 7pm. As well as more promos for Celebrity, the show welcomed back Hughesy on the night his new show premiered and then spoke with Mrs Brown’s Boys’ Brendan O’Carroll.

Bernard Tomic seemed to have made his mind up on Monday he would quit the reality show and on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here Australia he became the first person to utter those words before they were instructed to depart. After 859,000 on Monday, the Tuesday episode did 852,000.

The premiere of Hughesy, We Have A Problem did 632,000 after Celebrity. Mediaweek’s Andrew Mercado said the show is a version of Beauty & The Beast with Dave Hughes taking on the role of the Beast in this series. Hear Andrew Mercado talking about the series and the long history of Beauty & The Beast in the new Mercado & Manning TV podcast released today.

ABC
The Checkout returned at 8pm with some good FU Tube videos, although Julian Morrow was drowned out at the end by the ABC voiceover promoting the next show. The first show back for 2018 did 523,000, which is close to what recent episodes did on Thursday nights.

Catalyst then returned with 443,000.

The doco Surviving School: My Year 7 Life then followed after 9.30pm with 199,000.

SBS
SBS World News was the channel’s best performer with 157,000 after 6.30pm.

A UK episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Ricky Tomlinson did 137,000.

Next was The Best Of Insight on 111,000 and then One Born Every Minute on 127,000.

Subscribe to the Mediaweek Podcast to hear Andrew Mercado & James Manning talk TV in the latest ep.

Patrick Delany named as Foxtel CEO
  • Peter Campbell to run Fox Sports as COO

News Corp has named Fox Sports Australia CEO Patrick Delany as the new CEO of Foxtel, succeeding Peter Tonagh, who led the company during its crucial merger negotiations.

As arrangements for the final structure of the combined Foxtel and Fox Sports Australia company are made, the latter will be led by Peter Campbell in his current capacity as chief operating officer. Campbell joined Fox Sports Australia last year after four years as general manager of media and broadcasting at the AFL. These changes are effective immediately.

News Corp chief executive officer Robert Thomson thanked Tonagh for his excellent service to Foxtel, News Corp Australia and REA Group during years of great change and challenge in the marketplace.

“There is no question that Peter Tonagh has been a thoughtful, far-sighted leader and his positive influence will resonate for many years to come,” said Thomson.

“Patrick’s astute and innovative leadership of Fox Sports, combined with his broad experience during his nine years at Foxtel, make him the ideal person to take the helm at such a profoundly important moment for Foxtel.”

Tonagh said: “With the process of bringing Foxtel and Fox Sports together proceeding towards a conclusion soon, it is the right time for me to move on and put Foxtel into the hands of the person who will lead the new company. I have known Patrick from his years at Foxtel and Fox Sports, and he is the right person to be at the helm in this new era.

“I am proud of what Foxtel has achieved in recent years. We have dramatically lifted the quality and quantity of Foxtel’s programming while making it more available and affordable for millions of Australians.”

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said that Tonagh’s contributions to Foxtel and News Corp “have helped the companies grow during a time of digital disruption”.

“We are grateful for his many contributions over the years as News Corp Australia’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer and as interim CEO of the REA Group. We also look forward to working closely with Patrick, who has much experience with the people and opportunities that exist in both Foxtel and Fox Sports.”

Delany said: “Peter leaves a great foundation at Foxtel. It has extraordinary assets, great people and a deep subscriber base. I’m excited by opportunities at both Foxtel and Fox Sports to give consumers something better, different and special.”

Continued at mediaweek.com.au.

News Corp Rural: Brands combine for new rural division
  • New TV show launching on Sky News Business 6.30pm Thursdays
  • Mediaweek TV show moving back to 2.30pm Thursdays

News Corp Australia is combining its network of rural newspapers and websites to create a new media unit – to be known as News Corp Rural.

Report: Half the global population uses internet, 3.2b users active on social media

More than half the global population is online now. The Digital in 2018 report from social media management platform Hootsuite and socially led creative agency We Are Social finds that of the 7.593 billion people in the world, 4.021 billion are internet users.

This statistic gets better when Australia’s internet activity is put under the microscope.

According to the report released this morning, 90% of the Australian population uses the internet. Out of the 21.74 million Australians online, 17 million are active social media users – that is two-thirds of the population. Collectively, almost 100 minutes are spent on social platforms each day. Globally, there are 3.2 billion active social media users – up 13% in the last 12 months.

In Australia, more than 19 million people use mobile to access the internet. Australians spend 80% more time on the internet than watching television.

We Are Social’s global consultant Simon Kemp predicted audiovisual content will be more preferred in the future over text.

He said: “With four billion people now online, connectivity is already a way of life for most of us. However, as internet companies strive to serve the next billion users, we’ll see important changes in digital over the coming months. Audiovisual content will take priority over text – especially in social media and messaging apps – while voice commands and cameras will replace keyboards as our primary means of input. Social relationships and online communities will evolve to accommodate these new ways for people to interact with each other. This will result in rich new experiences for all of us, but businesses need to start preparing for these changes today.”

Globally, internet users are projected to spend a combined total of one billion years online in 2018, of which 325 million years will be spent on social media.

Hootsuite CMO Penny Wilson said: “The Digital in 2018 report highlights the continuing growth of the internet and social media to individuals and businesses around the world. This dynamic has forever altered the customer journey as consumers and B2B professionals increasingly conduct research, make buying decisions, seek support, and recommend brands online. To achieve competitive advantage, all executives must dive deep into digital now, meeting their customers where they are to best market, sell, and serve them.”

The seventh annual Digital in 2018 report represents 239 countries and territories.

Exciting year ahead for Who magazine editor Emma Nolan

By Kruti Joshi

Pacific Magazines’ premium entertainment brand Who will be launching a new campaign on February 1 in partnership with Holden called Women Who.

“We are celebrating women who lead, inspire, fight and care,” new editor Emma Nolan told Mediaweek.

“This is a four-week series, in which we will be looking at the visionaries from the world of media, science, politics and a lot more. So there will be some very big names, and also names that you might not have heard of. But these are all women doing amazing things.”

The campaign will run in print and online.

After 15 years of keeping up with the TV landscape for the readers of Bauer Media’s TV Week, Nolan took a leap of faith to Pacific

Magazines late last year when she replaced former editor Shane Sutton.

“There are similarities between the two magazines – they are both very entertainment focused. In that way, it’s been an easy transition,” Nolan told Mediaweek. “But I get to do more celebrity coverage that I didn’t get to do at TV Week: more royals, crime and news. It’s broader than what I did before.”

This year seems to be perfect for Nolan to take on the editorial leadership at Who with two royal weddings and a royal baby coming. “You can’t get better than that,” she said. The royals are popular with the magazine’s readers.

“It’s a new era for the royals. The princess to be, Meghan Markle, is a perfect fit for the Who brand. She is inspirational, is a woman of substance and is out there making a difference in the world. We are really excited to have her as one of our cover stars.”

Continued at mediaweek.com.au.

Behind Seven News’s investigation into the Beaumont children disappearance

By Kruti Joshi

The Seven News investigation into the 1966 disappearance of the Beaumont children made headlines this month after a new lead was found that could possibly unravel the infamous Australian cold case.

Journalist and news presenter Michael Usher is a part of the Seven News Investigates team. He told Mediaweek that the broadcaster has been working on the story for about a year. Investigating this story was a “no brainer”, Usher said. This came down to the advances in technology and the ages of the people involved in the case. “We were mindful that the witnesses, the detectives and the case were getting quite old. We thought now is the time to look at it before memories and good accounts are lost.

“If you are going to look at a cold case you have to go back to those people originally involved and ask, ‘What did you see at the time? What did you hear? What do you know?’”

The team led police to a factory site in Adelaide managed by local businessman Harry Phipps in 1966 after a geophysical test showed disturbed earth the size of a grave. Subsequently, police established the site as a crime scene and will be excavating the area in the coming weeks. In light of the new lead, Seven is making the most of what they have got and will be airing a special about the disappearance on January 31 at 9pm.

“It was quite an emotional reaction when it was found that there was something under there. At the very least what it found was that the two brothers who dug that hole in 1966, three days after the Beaumonts went missing, were telling the truth. They were doubted for so long,” Usher said.

Police had previously excavated the factory site in 2013 but nothing was found.

“I am very mindful that when you shine a spotlight on such a strong case like this you can easily raise false hopes. So we have been so careful to do this scientifically and properly with the cooperation of the major crime squad in South Australia,” Usher said.

Continued at mediaweek.com.au.

Week 5 TV: Tuesday

First show back for the New Year and topics covered include summer TV, Countdown Live, Sophie Monk, this week’s three-way reality TV clash, the future of Doctor Blake, Stan’s Romper Stomper and Wolf Creek, Seven gets The Simpsons and loads more. Mercado even recaps on some of the big summer movies.

TUESDAY METRO
ABCSevenNineTenSBS
ABC9.8%725.4%920.0%TEN16.0%SBS One3.6%
ABC 22.6%7TWO2.9%GO!2.9%ONE2.5%VICELAND0.8%
ABC ME0.7%7mate2.3%GEM3.1%ELEVEN2.1%Food Net1.1%
NEWS 241.5%7flix1.3%9Life1.4%NITV0.2%
TOTAL14.5%32.0%27.3%20.5%5.7%
TUESDAY METRO ALL TV
FTASTV
87.5%12.5%

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

Tuesday fta
  1. My Kitchen Rules Seven 1,062,000
  2. Seven News Seven 1,015,000
  3. The Good Doctor Seven 1,014,000
  4. Seven News / Today Tonight Seven 953,000
  5. Married At First Sight Nine 907,000
  6. Nine News 6:30 Nine 905,000
  7. Nine News Nine 895,000
  8. I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Ten 852,000
  9. A Current Affair Nine 767,000
  10. Home And Away Seven 733,000
  11. ABC News ABC 671,000
  12. Hughesy, We Have A Problem Ten 632,000
  13. The Project 7pm Ten 599,000
  14. The Chase Australia Seven 591,000
  15. 7.30 ABC 531,000
  16. The Checkout ABC 523,000
  17. Hot Seat Nine 457,000
  18. Catalyst ABC 443,000
  19. Ten Eyewitness News First At Five Ten 439,000
  20. NCIS: Los Angeles Ten 374,000
Demo top fives

16-39 Top 5

  1. Married At First Sight Nine 313,000
  2. My Kitchen Rules Seven 266,000
  3. I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Ten 221,000
  4. The Good Doctor Seven 202,000
  5. Hughesy, We Have A Problem Ten 178,000

18-49 Top 5

  1. Married At First Sight Nine 453,000
  2. My Kitchen Rules Seven 404,000
  3. I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Ten 391,000
  4. The Good Doctor Seven 347,000
  5. Hughesy, We Have A Problem Ten 318,000

25-54 Top 5

  1. Married At First Sight Nine 470,000
  2. My Kitchen Rules Seven 455,000
  3. I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Ten 448,000
  4. The Good Doctor Seven 380,000
  5. Hughesy, We Have A Problem Ten 361,000
Tuesday multichannel
  1. Peter Rabbit ABC2 196,000
  2. Octonauts ABC2 178,000
  3. Go Jetters ABC2 175,000
  4. Dot. ABC2 173,000
  5. Neighbours ELEVEN 173,000
  6. Hey Duggee-PM ABC2 171,000
  7. Ben And Holly’s Little Kingdom ABC2 151,000
  8. Floogals-PM ABC2 149,000
  9. Shaun The Sheep ABC2 144,000
  10. Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures ABC2 144,000
  11. Peppa Pig-PM ABC2 142,000
  12. Peppa Pig-AM ABC2 140,000
  13. The Justine Clarke Show!-AM ABC2 138,000
  14. New Tricks 9Gem 137,000
  15. Midsomer Murder 9Gem 133,000
  16. PJ Masks-AM ABC2 129,000
  17. Kazoops!-PM ABC2 126,000
  18. Noddy Toyland Detective-AM ABC2 126,000
  19. Rambo: First Blood Part II 9GO! 124,000
  20. Olobob Top-PM ABC2 121,000
Tuesday subscription tv
  1. Paul Murray Live SKY NEWS LIVE 54,000
  2. Murdoch Mysteries 13TH STREET 53,000
  3. The Gunfighter FOX Classics 47,000
  4. Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 46,000
  5. Jones & Co SKY NEWS LIVE 45,000
  6. Family Guy FOX8 44,000
  7. American Dad! FOX8 43,000
  8. Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 42,000
  9. The Simpsons FOX8 42,000
  10. Paw Patrol Nick Jr. 41,000
  11. NCIS TVH!TS 40,000
  12. Supergirl FOX8 40,000
  13. Mickey And The Roadster Racers Disney Junior 38,000
  14. PML Overtime SKY NEWS LIVE 38,000
  15. Credlin SKY NEWS LIVE 37,000
  16. Family Guy FOX8 37,000
  17. The Big Bang Theory COMEDY CHANNEL 36,000
  18. Open All Hours FOX Classics 36,000
  19. Beat Bugs Nick Jr. 36,000
  20. Peppa Pig Nick Jr. 35,000

Media News Roundup WEDNESDAY

Investment

Blackstone is poised for its largest ever private equity deal by pulling together US$17.3b to take a controlling stake in the financial terminals and data business of Thomson Reuters, making the powerful US money manager a direct competitor to Bloomberg, reports the Financial Times.

The transaction will instantly pit the firepower and network of Stephen Schwarzman, who oversees $387b in Blackstone funds, against fellow billionaire and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who currently dominates Wall Street’s financial information industry.

Under the terms of the deal, Blackstone will acquire a 55% stake in a Thomson Reuters’ financial and risk (F & R) division, which will be carved out into a new company.

[Read the original]

Australia’s news media sector has reported $2.02 billion in advertising revenue for the 12 months to December 31, 2017, according to the latest News Media Index (NMI) with data collated by Standard Media Index (SMI). It remains the third-largest media sector based on advertising revenue.

The sector’s advertising revenue hit a year high in the fourth quarter at $519.8 million, buoyed by advertising related to the Queensland election and the Marriage Equality debate.

The result was underpinned by digital news media revenue that grew 8.5% to $134 million, well above the agency-only growth rate of 6.6% reported by SMI. Digital spend from direct advertisers jumped by 31.8% to $85 million in the quarter.

Programmatic ad revenue also continued to grow strongly, rising by 26.5% to $9.9 million, while digital classifieds rose by 21.6% to $61 million in the quarter.

The total sector was back 9.9% in the quarter.

Unlike the monthly SMI data which reports agency only revenue, the quarterly News Media Index reports all print and digital ad revenue to Australia’s largest news media publishers from both agencies and direct advertisers and is independently verified by SMI.

Media People

Former Grand Prix supremo and Melbourne lord mayor Ron Walker has died aged 78, reports Fairfax Media.

The millionaire businessman and former Fairfax Media chairman had been battling cancer and ill health for several years after he was diagnosed with a melanoma in 2011.

Walker made headlines when he flew to America for treatment with a drug known as Keytruda, then still in clinical trials.

Following his treatment, he told Fairfax Media in 2015: “I don’t want to die, I still have things to do.”

On behalf of Fairfax Media, chairman Nick Falloon said: “Our thoughts are with Ron’s family and friends. A past chairman of Fairfax, he made a great contribution to corporate Australia and was a generous philanthropist.”

[Read the original]

Walker went from building blocks of fairly basic flats across Melbourne to building the city into the events capital of the country and cementing its claim to sports domination, reports News Corp’s Terry McCrann.

He became one of the central figures of the “new” business establishment that developed from the 1980s – of billionaires like Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew and of course, Lloyd Williams.

The two great business partnerships which defined his personal style and business technique were with Williams, in their Hudson Conway partnership from flats to Crown Casino; and with Bernie Ecclestone, the driving force and absolute dictator of Formula One.

[Read the original]

Lachlan Brahe, the former vice president Australia/New Zealand for comScore and the network’s second-in-charge for Asia Pacific, is joining IPG Mediabrands as general manager of the group’s digital experience business Reprise.

Brahe is one of two national GMs appointed for Reprise with Jules Kilmartin, currently head of Reprise Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, promoted to GM with the two executives having different and complementary national roles at Reprise.

Brahe will be tasked with growth and product and Kilmartin will be tasked with client advisory.

Both will report to Dr Grace Liu who was named last week as the incoming CEO of Reprise Australia.

Jules Kilmartin will focus on client leadership including strategy, account management and implementation. He is previously head of Reprise Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide and has been with the business for six years, building a strong track record in delivering unique marketing solutions to client challenges. He led the growth of Reprise Melbourne from three people in 2011 to its current 35. He has also overseen the vibrant Perth market and was directly responsible for launching the highly successful Reprise Adelaide operations.

IPG Mediabrands CEO Danny Bass said: “Accelerating the skill sets, effectiveness and competitive positioning of Reprise is a primary focus for us this year.

“We are placing world-class leadership into the business to drive our plans and with Grace’s pending arrival and the roles for Lachlan and Jules, we are energising what is already a successful business to achieve greater performance.”

Grace Liu will be joining Reprise Australia at a date to be fixed in the near term.

Kilmartin’s appointment is effective immediately and Brahe will join the business this week.

Photo: Lachlan Brahe and Jules Kilmartin

The AFR’s Joe Aston reports that the head of communications at Cricket Australia, and a former editor of The Age, Andrew Holden, is leaving the sporting body.

[Read the original]

News Brands

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has commented on more changes to how the company treats news:

Starting today, we’re going to show more stories from news sources in your local town or city. If you follow a local publisher or if someone shares a local story, it may show up higher in News Feed. We’re starting this first in the US, and our goal is to expand to more countries this year.

People consistently tell us they want to see more local news on Facebook. Local news helps us understand the issues that matter in our communities and affect our lives. Research suggests that reading local news is directly correlated with civic engagement. People who know what’s happening around them are more likely to get involved and help make a difference.

Social Media

Social media management platform Hootsuite has announced a deeper integration with Instagram.

Users will now be able to directly schedule and publish posts on their selected Instagram account through the Hootsuite dashboard. The newly available features roll out today for all Hootsuite customers that operate a registered Instagram business profile.

“Scheduling and publishing of Instagram content has been the number one request for our 16 million customers,” Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes said. “Now, they can manage large volumes of content, multiple team members, and multiple Instagram accounts with ease and security. Hootsuite is excited to launch our new integration with Instagram to help our customers achieve their business goals and succeed with social.”

Regulation

Journalists sent sensitive government documents could face ­charges under new treason laws that “criminalise journalism”, media companies and the union have warned, reports The Australian’s Primrose Riordan.

Media companies, including News Corp Australia, say new laws aimed at fighting growing foreign interference could see journalists, ­editorial support staff and lawyers jailed for possessing classified ­information, even before publishing.

News Corp head of government affairs Georgia-Kate Schubert said as well as being too broad, it was also unclear whether the bill regulated digital media, which could hit newspaper advertising revenue in a sector struggling to compete with digital giants, including Google and Facebook.

[Read the original]

Television

He lasted just three nights but Bernard Tomic says his jungle experience on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here helped him find the clarity he has been seeking that will see him back on the court “as soon as possible”, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.

“I’ve got to get back to where I belong,” Tomic told News Corp in an exclusive post-jungle interview. “It might take me six months but every day is going to be a step closer and every day I spend out there is a day I lose.”

Tomic is the first celebrity in four seasons of the Australian show to walk from the jungle, although some 16 have quit the British version of I’m A Celebrity in its 17 seasons.

“I have lost a lot of money for counting myself out,” he said of his pay packet from the show.

[Read the original]

Nine has named four commercial partners for the fifth season of Married at First Sight, which premiered Monday night. Major brands supporting the latest season of the dating reality show are KFC, HotelsCombined, Youfoodz and Finder.com.au. West Australian hairdressing chain Maurice Meade has also signed on as a commercial partner in Perth only.

Married at First Sight was one of the breakout hits of 2017 and last night’s episode was a great start to this year’s series,” Nine’s chief sales officer Michael Stephenson said. “Last night’s show performed incredibly well across every key demographic, up 12.2% among 25-54s and 17.2% among 16-39s. Overall the program was up more than 10.5% on its 2017 debut and we expect it to continue to grow in the coming weeks.

“Together with our great commercial partners we have been able to build on the foundation established in last year’s supersized show and grow and evolve exciting new opportunities for brands.

Married is a proven performer not only on television but also on social and on broadcast video on demand (BVOD) where we expect 9Now to again break records, as viewers tune to Nine’s linear and digital platforms.”

More details at mediaweek.com.au.

Sports Media

Seven will be the FTA home of the biggest US sporting event of the year next week.

The New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles take the field for Super Bowl 52 next Monday morning Australian time.

This year’s game is at US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesotta, including halftime entertainment from global superstar Justin Timberlake.

Legendary quarterback Tom Brady will lead the Patriots as they aim to win back-to-back titles and their sixth ever Super Bowl.

It will be the third appearance at the Super Bowl for the Eagles, who are still in search of their first win of the NFL’s biggest prize.

Seven will broadcast live from Minneapolis with CBS’s Al Michaels leading the call, analyst Cris Collinsworth and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya.

Justin Timberlake will headline this year’s Halftime Show. The Super Bowl Halftime Show is usually the most-watched musical event of the year with more than 117 million viewers in the US alone last year.

P!nk will perform the national anthem before kick-off.

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