Prime Minister Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, federal minister for cities Alan Tudge and new NSW opposition leader Michael Daley were among the special guests at the fifth Bradfield Oration held in Sydney this week.

The annual event, to honour the legacy of NSW engineer John Bradfield, is sponsored by News Corp Australia and The Daily Telegraph.

Held at the NSW Art Gallery, Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine hosted the evening.

Australia’s new Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivered the Oration and during his speech endorsed the work of the News Corp Australia daily in the city he calls home.

PM Scott Morrison speaks at the Project Sydney Bradfield Oration

“I want to congratulate The Daily Telegraph for being a voice for Sydney,” said Morrison, singling out the work former editor Paul Whittaker.

“In 2014, there was a lot of nervousness about our decision to build the Western Sydney Airport. There were 50 years of resistance.

“But the government felt that the time had come and, to the credit of the Telegraph, you did too.

“This is a paper that is not just proudly Sydney but persuasively puts the case for a Sydney with more roads, better services, and a stronger economy and safer communities.

“We don’t agree every day but you are a clear, persuasive voice in this city and country and I thank you for your support of this Oration and our Emerald city.”

Also in the room listening to Morrison were several News Corp Australia executives including executive chairman Michael Miller and HWT chairman Penny Fowler.

Prior to the Oration, The Daily Telegraph’s new editor Ben English welcomed the prime minister and spoke about how the news brand has been campaigning recently on behalf of its readers:

The Daily Telegraph’s editor Ben English at the 2018 Bradfield Oration

“The theme of our Bradfield Oration campaign of coverage in The Daily Telegraph this month has been red tape. All right, granted, this appears to break a couple of golden rules of tabloids – it’s not new and it certainly is not sexy.

“But the dead hand of red tape is at the heart of why our city has yet to fully realise its potential. Our coverage has focused on the miasma of planning bodies that mire progress.

PM Scott Morrison speaks with Ben English and Michael Wilkins

“One of the breakthroughs of our Oration series has been the establishment of the Greater Sydney Commission, whose overarching remit has been to slice through this bureaucratic impasse and ensure that all big decisions about Sydney are made through the framework of its grand masterplan.”

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Top Photo:  PM Scott Morrison, The Daily Telegraph editor Ben English and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian

By James Manning

Mediaweek recently spent time with visiting UK-based BBC executive George Dixon who oversees editorial for its channels around the world. He visits Australia regularly and has been busy in New Zealand too this year with the recent launch of BBC Earth in that market.

As global editorial director, he provides editorial leadership for the global channels including BBC First and BBC Earth.

Prior to his current role, Dixon was controller of RTE One, where he maintained the channel’s position as the most popular in Ireland while reinvigorating programming strategy to attract younger and more upmarket audiences.

In 2011 he joined Channel 4 Television leading the scheduling and acquisitions team. Dixon previously spent a number of years in BBC Television as head of scheduling for BBC Daytime, BBC TWO and BBC One.

Before leaving the BBC in 2011 he was head of scheduling for BBC Television, overseeing the entire public service portfolio and BBC iPlayer.

Although Dixon currently has a broad remit, he explained a central part of his role is negotiating content partnerships. “We look after programs that we invest in, things we commission, which is becoming more and more important because of the size of the company,” he told Mediaweek.

“I also help to run the global brands – the channels. Australia and New Zealand are such an important market for us and we need to come and speak to people face-to-face rather than doing it all over the phone.

“One of the reasons we do quite well here is because of the cultural overlap. It is quite pleasing that some of our comedy programs work here where they don’t work in some other markets.”

While global programming strategies are growing in significance for many, Dixon said they have always been important to what was BBC Worldwide and now BBC Studios. “If we want to make things with ambition, like [David Attenborough’s] Dynasties, which recently went out in the UK, or our big dramas like Les Misérables, you need to have scale both in terms of your production capability, which we now have, but you also need significant investment. It is important our shows work not just in Britain, but beyond the UK.

“People expect BBC shows with a lot of ambition with writing talent and acting talent, so we need to have international customers to make them work.”

While BBC Earth might be a newer brand to Australian audiences, it launched together with BBC First close to four years ago. BBC First we have of course, but BBC Earth, while now in New Zealand, doesn’t have a dedicated TV channel in Australia. Content is available via its website though and it also has a YouTube channel.

Dixon said they look to leverage all their channels around the world, not in any particular one place.

“Dynasties is a big global moment for the BBC Earth brand. In addition though we have locally run channels in various markets which are equally important to the different portfolios that we have here, in Africa, Asia and so on.”

Dixon was careful to point out there is no monolithic schedule for any of the brands that is sent down from on high. “Each part of the world has their own channels programmed for their own audiences as you need to be able to speak to what is important for different audiences.”

While habits of content consumption are changing everywhere, Dixon noted it varies from region to region.

“Some markets are moving more to on demand while some markets are still bedding in pay TV. The encouraging thing for me is that our branded services, in a world that is pretty disrupted, are as strong as ever. We launched BBC Earth in New Zealand last month and it has done incredibly well.

“We launched BBC First in Poland last month, and we recently launched BBC First and CBeebies in the Middle East.

“We are very careful about where we launch our branded services. But the trend is we are launching more of these channels around the world and they are proving successful.”

The big challenge for BBC Studios, and it’s a big one, is to make sure it gets the best content across all the genres. “Now that we are a production entity as well as a distributor it is really important. We have our in-house teams – like the Natural History Unit for example – but we also have our growing independent production capabilities via companies we invest in.

“Lookout Point is making Les Misérables for us. We have just invested in Sid Gentle, which makes Call The Midwife and Killing Eve.

“We want the best creatives who want to work with us across a range of genres.

“For the channels we have, we continue to make sure they are healthy and looking at their audiences, making sure they are still strong. At the moment they seem to be.”

Dixon said much of the natural history content is made in 4K. “We usually commission in the highest technical standard we can manage. We know these programs are so brilliant they will be watching them for many years. When Blue Planet went out last year we know a lot of people watched the original series again. We really want the best, not just now, but in three years’ time.”

BBC Studios locally has just been commissioned to make Mastermind for SBS.

Dixon said they are always on the lookout for Australian projects that could translate well to other markets and the UK. “I scheduled Kath & Kim on BBC2 when I was scheduling that channel and it proved very popular.” He also programmed Summer Heights High.

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Top Photo: BBC’s George Dixon

oOh!media today announced a new Executive Leadership Team (ELT) that will be responsible for driving the continued growth of the business, following on from its successful acquisition of Adshel.

The new ELT, formed after an extensive discovery process of both businesses and a strategic review of future business needs, will drive long-term strategy for oOh! and be accountable for leading the oOh! business.

oOh! Chief Executive Officer Brendon Cook said the new structure centred on serving all of the media company’s customers.

“The ELT brings together talented leaders who will drive the next chapter of oOh!media as a scaled major out-of-home and online company,” Cook said.

“It will be supported by an equally talented Senior Leadership Team (SLT) which we are in the process of finalising. The SLT will support the ELT in the execution of oOh!’s strategy to grow the overall market while maintaining our market leadership.

“We are blessed to have a depth of talent that will be vital to the success of the business moving forward, although unfortunately the overlap in talented senior executives means some will not be staying in the business such as Adshel CEO Mike Tyquin who will finish at the end of the year to pursue other opportunities.

“Mike is a talented business leader and has been a big part of the out-of-home evolution for many years, both leading Adshel and at the helm of EYE in Australia and New Zealand.

“Over the years Mike has been instrumental in establishing Australia’s first out-of-home rail proposition, delivered the world’s first small-format digital network and in recent times was behind Adshel’s digitisation, data and automation transition and has been a great fellow board member of the OMA.

“Mike has been a true leader and contributor to the business during the integration of Adshel into oOh! and I thank him for that. I can wish nothing but the best for Mike in his future endeavours.”

Mike Tyquin said it had been his great pleasure and privilege to have led Adshel and be part of the many great things it had accomplished.

“There is no other medium that has better prospects or more opportunities than out-of-home,” Tyquin said.

“The next chapter of oOh! will bring even more opportunities for the business and, although the changes mean the end of the road for me, I firmly believe that the expanded oOh! is in a unique position to not just lead in Australia and New Zealand but become a tier one media business on the global stage.”

Effective as at December 1, 2018, the ELT, which includes executives with a dedicated focus on key customer groups and connected by three critical enablers of Finance, People & Culture and Technology functions, will be:

• David Scribner as Chief Customer Officer, with responsibility for Sales, Marketing, Data & insights, Client/Media Operations and Content delivery
• Noel Cook as Chief Commercial & Operations Officer, with responsibility for Road, Retail, Locate, Network Operations, Assets, Commercial Ops/Admin and Cactus Print
• Robbie Dery as Chief Commercial & Product Officer with responsibility for Street Furniture, Rail, Fly, Product Development, Bid team and Mobilisation
• Neil Ackland as Chief Content & Creative Officer and CEO of Junkee Media with responsibility for Junkee, online publications and oOh! Creative Development
• Sheila Lines as Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for Finance, Legal and Investor Relations
• Steve Reid as Chief People & Culture Officer with responsibility for People & Culture, Internal Comms, Facilities, Process Excellence and Integration
• Andy McQuarrie as Chief Technology Officer with responsibility for Systems Development, IT Infrastructure, IT Operations, Cyber security and Projects

With the recent appointment of Scribner as Chief Customer Officer, there will be changes to the Sales and Marketing function, with the role of Chief Marketing Officer being replaced with Head of Marketing. Under the new structure Phil Eastwood will be Group Revenue Director, while Jodie Koning will take the role of Head of Marketing.

Scribner said: “This unfortunately means that Michaela Chan and David Roddick, both of whom have proven to be great leaders and massive and highly successful contributors to the success of oOh! and Adshel respectively, will be leaving the business in the near future.

“On behalf of everyone at oOh! we thank them for their commitment to the business and wish them both well in their new endeavours.”

He told Mediaweek they would like to do an election series as they always enjoy them.

See also: The Chaser unplugged: Taylor, Firth, Knight and Hansen unload

However, when the ABC revealed its programming plans for 2019 there was no sign of The Chaser or an election special.

What has happened to the relationship between Australia’s premier comedy troupe and the Australian public broadcaster?

Obviously disappointed, The Chaser tweeted on Monday about the decision not to have the team confronting politicians across Australia:

“First time since 2001 that the ABC has declined to fund it. Perhaps Sky News provides enough satire nowadays?”

A little later they revealed what they may do in 2019:

“Instead of doing an election show, we’ve decided to set up a conservative competitor to GetUp.”

Chaser member Charles Firth told The Sydney Morning Herald that the ABC claimed “they didn’t have the money” for an election series.

Firth added:

“The ABC is an institution in crisis, and it’s a very deliberate thing that’s happened.

“This decision, along with lots of other decisions, should leave everyone in no doubt that the Liberals have done their work on the ABC and it’s not the institution it once was.”

The ABC, however, told Fairfax Media: “The Chaser didn’t pitch an election special to the ABC for next year and advised us it was already in discussions with a commercial network.”

Firth confirmed to Fairfax the group had undertaken negotiations with commercial broadcasters.

“We talked to everyone. When we talked to Nine they said, ‘Why doesn’t the ABC fund it? It’s what the ABC should’ve done!’”

Programs from The Chaser over the years have been among the highest rating comedies to screen, not just on the ABC but on any TV channel.

Just last year the ABC decided to end production of the consumer affairs show The Checkout. The ABC said at the time it was on hiatus, but the series, which first appeared in 2013, has yet to be recommissioned.

While not a production from The Chaser, the show from CJZ featured The Chaser’s Craig Reucassel and Julian Morrow.

Listen: Mediaweek’s podcast with The Chaser’s Dominic Knight

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Top Photo:  The Chaser 2018: Craig Reucassel, Chris Taylor, Charles Firth, Dominic Knight and Andrew Hansen

Recently a large focus of this forward movement has been on music as Instagram has aimed to establish itself as an exciting platform for artists to interact with fans, industry, and press.

In this spirit  Instagram hosted Instalounge: Music where it shared insights from the local Instagram team, along with a panel of industry leaders and artists including Tuka from Thudamentals, Alex Zaccaria, Angus Truskett, and Hugh Cruckshank who talked about the success they have had on Instagram, and their opinion on the future.

Some of the info that we took away from the event included: 

• 56% of millennials discover new music on social media;
• Five out of eight Instagram accounts with 100M+ followers are music accounts;
• 46% (nearly half) of all users on Instagram follow at least one music account;
• Five of the top 10 global accounts are musicians.

By James Manning

SBS managing director James Taylor said at the start of the presentation: “As our sector continues to experience unprecedented change, SBS has embraced the opportunities this presents, and today we are proud to be connecting with more Australians than ever before.

James Taylor

“In a cluttered market, SBS continues to offer a genuine point of difference, championing the benefits of an inclusive society to inspire Australians to better understand and respect each other.

“As we navigate the changing face of modern Australia and the shifting needs of audiences, SBS’s 2019 lineup will continue to exemplify our unique purpose with distinctive multiplatform content relevant to all Australians.”

Director of TV and online content Marshall Heald said: “At SBS, we tell stories and show people on screen that you don’t see anywhere else, giving a voice to communities that would otherwise go unheard. We thrive on telling stories that explore complex issues and can have meaningful impact. We look for creative approaches that scare us and concepts that will emotionally connect with audiences.

Marshall Heald

“We also want to celebrate the ways in which diversity enriches Australia, so even if we’re grappling with a serious issue, we are optimistic in our approach, and are always looking for the light in the dark.”

SBS also revealed a its new brand positioning for 2019 – “SBS, a world of difference” – which follows on from previous brand statements: “Bringing the world back home”, “The world is an amazing place” and “Six billion stories and counting”.

Director of marketing Jane Palfreyman said: “Over the last 40 years, SBS has become a trusted and much loved part of our culture, as the only network to reflect the true makeup of Australia. In 2019 SBS’s new brand proposition beautifully sums up our belief that together, our collective differences make for a better society… and better entertainment.

“These differences don’t just make a difference – they make ‘a world of difference’.”

Jane Palfreyman

SBS programming notes: New for 2019

Hungry Ghosts is a new four-part Australian drama series produced for SBS by Matchbox Pictures (Safe Harbour, The Family Law) that takes elements of the Japanese and Korean “supernatural thriller” genre to explore the lives of three generations of Vietnamese Australian families dealing with the aftermath of war. It’s about lost loves, buried secrets, and how unresolved trauma can be handed down through generations until a young woman, planning for the future, connects with her past as a way forward.

The Hunt delves into one of the biggest issues of the social media era – cyberbullying.

The new drama series intimately imagines the lives of four teenagers, their friends, their families, their teachers, their communities during the lead-up, revelation and aftermath of a nude photo-sharing scandal. Produced by Closer Productions with major funding from Screen Australia, and using teenagers and non-actors to tell the story, it is the kind of provocative local drama that only SBS would make.

Following the success of SBS On Demand’s first drama commission, Homecoming Queens, comes new comedy Robbie Hood. The six-part online series produced by Ludo Studio and Since1788 with major investment from Screen Australia follows Robbie, a teenage troublemaker with a heart of gold living in a remote Aboriginal community, and is the heart-warming story of three friends who are fixing injustices they see. While they have the best of intentions, it doesn’t always go quite to plan.

After a hugely successful 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, SBS will continue to unite communities through sport in 2019, as the exclusive free-to-air broadcaster of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup France from June 7. Australians can follow The Matildas in their pursuit of football’s biggest prize with every Matildas match, and the complete finals series, live and in HD as well as daily highlights and analysis shows from the SBS team at home and on the ground in France.

SBS’s commitment to women’s sport doesn’t stop there, with coverage of the Australian domestic football competition the W-League, and the WNBL Women’s National Basketball League, highlighting our homegrown female athletes at the elite level.

Documentary programming for 2019 sees SBS explore the complex multicultural history of everyday Australians with new commissioned series including My Family Secret (working title), hosted by Noni Hazelhurst, Australia in Colour, which features archival footage brought to life in glorious colour showing this country’s true multicultural face, and Medicine or Myth in which Dr Charlie Teo leads an expert panel as they put family remedies to the test.

The network will also have more returning commissioned documentary series than ever before, building on successful titles and bringing consistency to the schedule.

In 2019, SBS will delve further into key themes such as religion, social disadvantage and cross cultural relationships with new seasons of Who Do You Think You Are?, Secrets of Our Cities, Marry Me Marry My Family, Struggle Street, Untold Australia, and the follow-up to Muslims Like Us – Christians Like Us.

International documentaries will screen every night at 7:30pm with programs including Dr Michael Mosley’s Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, the return of the 7 Up series, one of the boldest documentary experiments of all time; a special local version of Michael Portillo’s successful Railway Journeys series with Great Australian Railway Journeys; and the epic BBC series Civilisations, which was shot in six continents, 31 countries and celebrates everything there is to say about human ingenuity and creativity.

SBS introduced viewers to slow TV with The Ghan, which was a ratings smash in 2018. Next year, the network presents Slow Summer – featuring one “nail-biting” slow TV event each week in January, including two new Australian productions – an east/west train journey on The Indian Pacific and a boat ride through The Kimberley.

After relaunching last weekend, the newly evolved SBS Food channel builds on this offering with a premium serving to audiences. The dedicated food channel is now less reality and more real food, and features more famous Australian and global food personalities including SBS’s homegrown favourites like Adam Liaw, Poh Ling Yeow, Shane Delia, Peter Kuruvita, Luke Nguyen, Maeve O’Meara, Kylie Kwong, as well as international chefs like Nigella Lawson and Rick Stein.

Wednesday nights are dedicated to food with a commissioned content slate that includes the return of SBS’s food brands Gourmet Farmer with Matthew Evans, and celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott’s Australian explorations in Ainsley’s Market Menu. SBS will also unite its audiences’ love of trains with one of the network’s most loved chefs Luke Nguyen in the ultimate SBS series, Luke on a Train. Nguyen returns to Vietnam for a culinary train trip from north to south of the country on the Re-unification Railway.

International dramas in 2019 include a TV adaption of the multimillion-selling novel, Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. The new eight-part drama series stars John Turturro as an 8th century Franciscan monk who witnesses a series of murders at a secluded monastery in the Italian Alps.

From the acclaimed team that made Gomorrah, the recently acquired Zero Zero Zero follows three different worlds, all participating in a single shipment of cocaine from three different perspectives that will explore what globalisation means – its consequences and contradictions. Shot on four continents, predominantly in English as well as Spanish, French, Wolof, Arabic and Italian, this new drama stars Gabriel Byrne and airs exclusively on SBS and SBS On Demand in Australia.

International Emmy Award-winning Anna Friel stars in the heartfelt Butterfly, about the acrimonious relationship between separated parents and their division in opinion over how to support their gender variant child.

Academy Award-nominated Sharon Stone, John Malkovic and Jude Law team up in the sequel to Paolo Sorrentino’s The Young Pope in The New Pope.

Mark Hamill joins the cast of the second season of Knightfall, the critically acclaimed legal drama The Good Fight welcomes Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominee Michael Sheen to the upcoming third season fast-tracked from the US, the epic Vikings saga continues and the popular award-winning The Handmaid’s Tale returns.

SBS’s entertainment offering will extend to the competitive 6pm slot in 2019 with an all-new Australian version of the iconic BBC game show, Mastermind, to play five nights a week. Famous for its challenging questions and intimidating setting, Mastermind is a true global smash. Each night, four contestants will take the iconic Mastermind chair to answer questions on their own specialist subject and compete for the prestigious title of Australia’s Mastermind.

SBS is saving the announcement of the host for now.

Synonymous with the catchphrase “I’ve started so I’ll finish” and the fearsome, black, spotlighted chair for its contestants, the series was announced by SBS at its Upfronts.

Airing in the UK for over 40 years, Mastermind is the legendary quiz that sets the toughest questions on television. No matter who takes to the iconic black chair, the tension is always immense.

In round one, four contestants have one minute to answer as many questions as possible on their specialist subject. In round two, each contestant has one minute again, this time on general knowledge. The contestant with the highest combined score wins and goes on to compete against other program winners for a place in the grand final.

In the UK, the latest season of this popular long-running series on BBC Two increased its reach. Its success around the world has also seen the show trending on Twitter, as it fires up discussion and engagement.

An Australian version of the show aired on ABC TV 40 years ago where it had a six-year run. The game show was hosted by Huw Evans, who also hosted ABC Radio’s PM program for over a decade.

SBS revealed it will strip the format at 6pm weeknights.

BBC Studios ANZ director of production Kylie Washington secured the commission from Josh Martin, commissioning editor, entertainment at SBS.

Jon Penn, managing director of BBC Studios ANZ, said: “Mastermind is an incredible UK success and a great first commission for Kylie, who set up our production arm just two months ago. We’re excited to bring this globally renowned format, combined with BBC production values, to SBS in 2019.”

Washington said: “We are thrilled to bring this iconic BBC quiz to SBS and can’t wait to find Australia’s smartest mastermind.”

SBS director of TV and online content Marshall Heald said: “Mastermind is the perfect commission to lead the evolution of our 6pm timeslot. Famous for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness, this iconic BBC game show will celebrate Australians’ general knowledge and fierce competitive nature in a fun nightly challenge as they compete for the prestigious title of Australia’s Mastermind. We can’t wait to launch it in 2019.”

Mastermind is a BBC format, produced for SBS by BBC Studios Australia and distributed by BBC Studios. Filming commences in Melbourne in early 2019.

Allen will be replacing Derrick Crowley, Chief Transformation Officer of News Corp Australia, who is returning home to the UK after three years in Australia with his departure planned for June 2019. In the meantime Crowley will work with  Allen while continuing his responsibilities in leading the strategy to simplify News Corp’s business for growth.

“Ruth is a highly talented HR executive and brings a wealth of experience across a variety of industries to News Corp Australia,” Miller said.

 Allen’s most recent position was at Origin Energy where she held the dual roles of General Manager People and Culture for the Integrated Gas business, and GM Capability and Culture for Origin.

Allen will commence her role next month from News Corp’s Surry Hills office.

By James Manning

Seven

Home And Away dipped under 600,000 to 577,000 after launching the week on 616,000.

There were wedding bells for Melissa and Aalden and Jess and Seyat on Bride & Prejudice, which was a clear winner at 7.30pm with 711,000. That was up on Monday’s episode and also the Tuesday episode of last week on 653,000.

The Good Doctor was a winner too on 676,000 giving Seven three of the top four shows last night and four of the top seven. The Doctor did 602,000 a week ago.

The Resident keeps Seven’s medical theme alive on Tuesdays with last night’s episode on 253,000 with a 10pm start.

Nine

Nine News and A Current Affair were the channel’s entries in the top 10 shows. Domestic violence was addressed on the latter along with coffee machines and neighbours from hell in the country. The episode did 743,000 after 800,000 on Monday.

Family Food Fight was on 435,000 after 433,000 Monday and 419,000 a week ago.

An hour of The Big Bang Theory did 428,000 for the new episode and then 344,000 for a repeat.

Two Kath & Kim episodes started around 10pm with audiences of 202,000 and then 177,000.

10

Ambulance Australia attracted the biggest audience with 560,000 after 539,000 a week ago.

The Project 7pm was next best on 426,000 with Kaz Cooke on the show promoting a new book and one of the ambos from Ambulance Australia also stopped by.

Later in the night FBI did 290,000 followed by NCIS: Los Angeles on 200,000.

10 Boss had its biggest share since rebranding with 5.4% thanks to coverage of the Australia v Lebanon game that featured the final appearance of Tim Cahill playing for his country. Sadly Cahill couldn’t manage a goal in his few minutes on the pitch, but he came close. Australia were easy winners 3-0. The match did 235,000 and peaked at close to 400,000 near the end when Cahill played. The national average was 329,000.

The 10 Boss/ONE best share for the year was 6.0% back in January.

ABC

Repeats of Simply Nigella have taken over the 8pm timeslot, with 318,000 watching last night.

Are You Autistic? screened at 8.30pm and attracted 313,000.

The battle between developers and residents in Waterloo, Sydney, was then chronicled in There Goes Our Neighbourhood with 188,000 tuning in.

SBS

Another night of Child Genius did 193,000 at 7.30pm.

The final episode of Insight for the year did 236,000.