The Mediaweek team has selected nominations in some categories, while readers can vote for anything eligible in other categories.

Our nominations have tended to go for major productions or companies. The nominations in the various categories aren’t exhaustive and there are some omissions. In radio we have stayed with commercial radio because that is our focus at Mediaweek. We don’t completely ignore ABC radio, but it is not our speciality.

In TV, ABC programs are eligible because many of them are made by outside companies, whereas ABC Radio is largely an internal operation. We started rather late planning this year. Next year we anticipate there could be more categories depending on reader feedback.

Vote here.

News Corp Australia’s Sunday magazine Stellar has produced its first one-shot special edition magazine, on sale from today, featuring The 50 Most Talked About Women in Australia.

With national distribution in Coles and Woolworths for one month and on newsstands in newsagents, Costco and Big W for three months, the glossy Stellar one-shot is a compilation of cover stories and inside feature stories of inspirational women, from more than 100 weekly Sunday editions of Stellar since launch in August 2016.

Editor-in-chief of Stellar, Sarrah Le Marquand, told Mediaweek the idea came from colleague Gemma Sutherland in News Corp special projects: “We have chosen to feature an impressive roundup of 50 exclusive interviews and photoshoots of the country’s most fascinating and sought-after women. It is very much an illustration of the unparalleled access and calibre of content we have featured since launch.

“In an era where celebrities are fighting back more than ever about fake news, Stellar is increasingly becoming the only media interview many high-profile personalities will grant.”

The women featured in Stellar’s 2018 oneshot include:

• A-list superstars: Nicole Kidman, Kylie Minogue and Miranda Kerr
• TV favourites: Lisa Wilkinson, Amanda Keller, Lee Lin Chin, Tracy Grimshaw, Georgie Gardner, Julia Morris, Sandra Sully, Samantha Armytage and Carrie Bickmore
• Trailblazers: Julie Bishop, Tanya Plibersek, Dame Quentin Bryce and Gail Kelly
• Sporting stars: Ellyse Perry and Michelle Payne
• Entertainers: Jessica Mauboy, Asher Keddie, Jessica Marais, Tina Arena, Miranda Tapsell, Rebecca Gibney and Delta Goodrem

Nicole Kidman is the cover star. “We shot Nicole and it’s the best shoot she’s every done. When we did the interview with her, it was really all about her longevity and resilience.

“Nicole is very outspoken about issues for women. And when we talked, we talked a lot about the lack of female directors and the role that she plays in mentoring women, the role that she’s played in being mentored.”

Appearing on The Graham Norton Show screened in the UK and Australia over the weekend, Kidman again explained how important it was for her to be working with women directors.

“Kylie Minogue was the first person to be featured on the cover of Stellar three times and I think that’s just because the story resonates.

“When Stellar first launched, our mission was simple,” said Le Marquand. “We wanted to deliver a weekly Sunday publication like no other, a title that embodied the beautiful photography and design of a glossy fashion magazine filled with the news-breaking features and exclusive interviews of a newspaper.

“As the months passed, it became apparent that not only were we establishing a reputation for telling untold stories – but for telling stories with a quintessentially Australian sensibility.”

The Stellar souvenir edition, on sale for $9.99, will be promoted in a print, digital, retail and social media marketing campaign, with front page pointers and display ads on News Corp mastheads nationally.

By James Manning

It’s been ARIA Week for what seems like a while and we are still two days away from the 2018 ARIA Awards event.

ARIA chief executive Dan Rosen told Mediaweek there are over 30 events in the 2018 ARIA Week. On the night before we spoke, Rosen did his best visiting four different ARIA Week events on the same night.

Photographed at the Women In Music event: [L-R] Jacqui Louez Schoorl (CEO & Co-founder Jaxsta), Susan Heymann (managing director Chugg Entertainment), Mardi Caught (head, The Annex), Poppy Reid (managing editor at Seventh Street Media) and Dan Rosen (CEO of ARIA/PPCA)

Were there any special challenges regarding the awards this year?

There are always challenges given the fragmentation of media. But one thing that we’ve been very fortunate with is we have a fantastic partner in Nine, which has been just sensational in promoting and working with us to make the ARIAs a great show.

Nine has been using the Today show each morning to highlight more of the Australian artists we’ve been profiling over the last 10 days, each of the nominees for Song of the Year.

We’ve been able to get video from each of the nominees, from Five Seconds Of Summer to Troye Sivan and Amy Shark, to be part of the Today show. We have been working with our social partners at Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to make sure that we’re getting as many people outside of Australia as possible to engage with the ARIAs.

We are broadcasting the event into Asia on Star World, continuing to build the audience. There are 25 million people in Australia, but two billion people connected to a phone outside of Australia. We’re trying to get to as many of them as possible in the seven-week period between the nominations and ARIAs to be engaged with Australian music.

You’ve done a good job turning around the ARIA Awards. There was a time when it wasn’t considered a very hot media property.

We continue to improve and make things better, and we’re in a very strong place now. That’s reflected by our partnerships with Apple Music, Telstra, Pepsi, Swarovski, Virgin and The Star. Apple is the most valuable brand on the planet, so for it to be our naming rights partner is a wonderful endorsement of us, and we feel very proud of that relationship.

With Nine close to finalising its deal with Fairfax, does that open up more possibilities for you next year?

It’s a question for Hugh Marks. Nine has been a sensational partner, and what it is planning looks very exciting. We hope to be part of whatever the expanded Nine offering is. We’re very fortunate that we get very good support across Fairfax newspapers, and also the News Corp stable. They’ve been incredibly supportive, particularly The Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun. We want to make sure that as many media organisations as possible, across radio and TV, print and online, are talking about Australian music.

Lots of Australian artists have big hits this year and the support of commercial radio’s been really important. And it’s wonderful to be working with Nova on the four of the artists’ Red Rooms in the lead-up to the ARIAs.

How have industry revenues been this year?

Our half year revenues are up about 7%, and so still tracking, hopefully, towards double-digit growth again this year.

That result is driven by streaming services, so it’s looking very, very positive again, which is excellent. I feel like the export market is starting to increase as well, with international revenues of artists, who are starting to build global profiles, using the global streaming services.

Is the industry making moves toward making it easier to podcast music?

It’s just a matter of getting the business model right. There are currently no restrictions – it just comes with a cost – so hopefully the business models will be worked out, and the right technologies will be applied, and smart people will win.

There have been some big Australian success stories on the singles chart – from Five Seconds Of Summer to Dean Lewis.

That was really a positive result. It feels that the industry needed to almost retool itself, to be successful, to work in this global streaming environment. That’s something that we continue to work very hard on, and there’s no method, there’s no silver bullet to solve this stuff. I’m also very hopeful. There’s been a few government inquiries into local content, and then how do we promote local content? That’s across music, film, TV, books, in a global streaming world and there’s massive opportunity, if we get it right, because we’re no longer limited to a population of 25 million people.

What are your future plans around the industry organisation?

One very important thing is that we’re increasing the diversity of the ARIA board. By early next year, one-third of the ARIA board, which is currently all men, will be made up of women.

ARIA is also starting a program for the development young female music executives.

And have a careful look at the ARIAs this year. The two most nominated artists are Courtney Barnett and Amy Shark, and four of the five breakthrough artists of the next generation of females. Then Kasey Chambers is the inductee in the Hall of Fame. We’ve definitely got to keep improving, but it feels like we’re moving in the right direction on that trend.

—

Top Photo: ARIA chief executive Dan Rosen

After launching a beta version just over a fortnight ago, Kayo Sports has officially launched the multisport streaming service designed for sports fans.

The streaming service is set up as a separate business from Foxtel, although it accesses many of the sports Foxtel has rights to in addition to content from other subscription TV sports channels.

Leading the new streaming business is former amaysim MD and CEO Julian Ogrin.

Powered by Fox Sports Australia, ESPN and beIN SPORTS, Kayo promises customers the biggest Australian sports including cricket, Aussie rules, rugby league, rugby union and motorsports, as well as the best from overseas like basketball, gridiron, football, golf and tennis – plus additional content exclusive to Kayo.

All the nonstop sport can be streamed on iOS and Android devices, laptop, PC and on TV with Telstra TV, Apple TV and Chromecast Ultra.

The Kayo iOS app is now available and to-date it has 135 reviews with an average rating of 5.0 out of 5.0.

Sports fans can sign up for $25 per month to access two concurrent streams, allowing them to watch games or events at the same time on two different devices. For $35 per month, users can access three concurrent streams, allowing them to watch games or events at the same time on three different devices.

As the exclusive telco partner, Telstra will bring Kayo into more Australian homes and into the hands of more sports-loving Aussies. Telstra customers can add the service to their home or broadband package, and from tomorrow Telstra customers will be able to watch Kayo at home using a dedicated app on Telstra TV, or on the go via their mobile.

Kayo has also partnered with Cricket Australia to be cricket fans’ one-stop shop for all their action, including every international match of the Australian summer, every match of the KFC BBL, Rebel WBBL coverage, plus plenty more.

Ogrin said: “Kayo will provide a new way for Australians to experience sport, with the biggest Aussie sports and the best from overseas, plus game-changing features.

“Kayo is for people who just want sport, streamed on their terms. They want to watch what they want, when they want, how they want.

“We threw out the rulebook and built a service that gives fans exactly that: only sports streamed, a simple sign-up process, and a personalised experience.

“We launched Kayo earlier this month in beta form to test the service with real customers, in real conditions. We have a customer-centric mentality, and this has allowed us to listen to their feedback and use these insights to continually enhance the product.

“Kayo has been made for Aussie sports fans, and we can’t wait for them to jump in and try it for themselves.”

From today, a national marketing campaign will feature over 2,500 creative executions, live reads across 22 metro and regional radio stations, online homepage takeovers and digital marketing.

The campaign will be led by Kayo’s new generation of sports stars, who include NBA hero Ben Simmons, tennis ace Ash Barty, surfing sensation Stephanie Gilmore, cricket all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, AFL gun Tom Mitchell and NRL rising star Latrell Mitchell.

Fans can sign up now at www.kayosports.com.au for a 14-day free trial and start streaming the action within minutes.

Kirribilli House was the location for a very special game of backyard cricket on Friday November 23.

“A backyard cricket game, with some the best players in the world set against the most iconic view in Australia – howzat!” said the Sydney Nova breakfast hosts.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was part of the action and said, “We play cricket with countries all around the world who are less fortunate. Sport is a great way for people to get involved. This charity helps women in countries like Sri Lanka for example. It is tremendous.”

Fitzy & Wippa’s Charity Backyard Cricket Game donated $5,000 per wicket, for the first five wickets, to Batting For Change, a charity that combines the Sydney Sixers with the generosity of Australians to assist the education of disadvantaged women in cricket-playing nations.

The prime minister was joined by former cricketers Brett Lee and Ed Cowan, as well as Karl Stefanovic, Guy Sebastian, Mel McLaughlin, Sam Frost, Tom Williams and Wippa’s mum (Christine) all of them in whites for the legendary match (full team listings below).

An impressive $25,000 was raised for charity Batting For Change, helping disadvantaged women in other cricket-playing Nations.

Visit https://www.battingforchange.com.au for more information. 

Vital stats from the charity match:

Fitzy’s team won, scoring 67 to Wippa’s 62.

Wippa and the PM started bowling with ScoMo scoring four runs but getting bowled out by cricket legend Brett Lee.

The PM bowled Karl Stefanovic out with Karl scoring 18 (the most for Fitzy’s team).

ScoMo also managed to bowl both Fitzy and Christine Wipfli.

Guy Sebastian managed to score 32 not out and was awarded man of the match despite being on the losing team. 

Team Wippa

• Michael Wipfli
• Prime Minister Scott Morrison
• Guy Sebastian
• Ed Cowan – former cricketer
• Sam Frost from Home & Away
• Sarah McGilvray
• Listener: Sarah Evett from Carlingford
• Listener: Nicholas Bradman from Paddington (Sir Donald Bradman’s grandson)
• Listener: Jake McKinley-Turner Carlingford
• Listener: Jose Martinez from Wanoona
• Listener: Michael Elkhoury from Greystanes

Team Fitzy

• Ryan Fitzgerald
• Karl Stefanovic from Today
• Matt De Groot
• Mel McLaughlin from 7 Sport
• Brett Lee – former cricketer
• Tom Williams – Channel 7 Daily Edition
• Christine Wipfli – Wippa’s Mum
• Listener: Alex White from Maroubra
• Listener: Reegan Smith from Maroubra
Listener: Kath Evans from Penrith
• Listener: Angela Sparks from Greystanes

Umpire: Simon Taufel (Five time ICC Umpire of the Year)

Singles

Not a single new release made the top 50. To go in search of a charting new release we scrolled further down the chart. We went all the way to the 90s where just two new arrivals made it onto this week’s ARIA singles chart:

#95 No Candle No Light from Zayn featuring Nicki Minaj
#96 Beach House from The Chainsmokers

At the top of the chart there was little movement – the top seven songs were unchanged from last week.

Ariana Grande spent another week at #1 with Thank U, Next, which is the only time she’s had a second week on top of the chart.

Editorial credit: Jack Fordyce / Shutterstock.com

The chart’s biggest mover, and the only bullet performer this week, was P!nk with A Million Dreams, which is up from #47 to #27.

Albums

The album charts were seething with action by comparison this week. Nine new releases charted inside the top 50 with four of them inside the top 10 and eight of them inside the top 20.

Michael Bublé must have been favoured to debut at #1 this week, but in a chart upset the soundtrack to A Star Is Born has hung on at #1 for a fifth consecutive week.

Editorial credit: Kyle Besler / Shutterstock.com

Bublé’s Love is new at #2. It’s not a bad debut, but a carefully crafted global promo strategy meant a #1 could have been a chance. The Australian pre-album buildup included a Sydney stadium show, TV concerts for Sunrise and Foxtel plus a smoothfm performance.

As ARIA notes this week, Bublé is no stranger to #2 on the chart. His previous album Nobody But Me peaked there in November two years ago. From 10 albums Bublé has managed five #1s. Sales and streams of his Christmas album might have held back the new release – Christmas is up from #30 to #16 this week.

The greatest chart feat perhaps this week though is The Greatest Showman soundtrack, which occupies two spots in the top 10. The Greatest Showman: Reimagined is new at #4 while the original soundtrack album is still top 10 after 50 weeks at #9.

The Reimagined album features contemporary artists presenting their interpretations of tracks – performers include Panic! At The Disco, Kelly Clarkson, Kesha, Years & Years, Jess Glynne, Missy Elliott and P!nk’s A Million Dreams, which was the only notable mover on the singles chart this week.

Other new arrivals on the albums chart this week:

#5 Mumford & Sons with Delta. Fourth studio album and follow-up to 2015’s Wilder Mind, which peaked at #1.
#8 Little Mix with LM5. Fifth studio album from the British girl group and their fifth top 10. Follow up to Glory Days, which peaked at #2 exactly two years ago.
#14 Mark Knopfler with Down The Road Wherever. The ninth solo album from the former Dire Straits hit machine.
#15 Mariah Carey with Caution. Fifteenth studio album with three of them peaking at #1 and four of them not making the top 10.
#18 Kip Moore with Room To Spare: The Acoustic Sessions
#20 Anderson .Paak with Oxnard
#32 Roy Orbison & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Unchained Melodies

By Luke Reilly, games editor, IGN Australia

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy has dislodged Red Dead Redemption II as the top-selling game at retail in Australia last week, repeating a feat the game already achieved in the UK.

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy has received generally positive reviews, though Activision has faced criticism for leaving the majority of the game off the retail discs (most of the game isn’t actually on the disc and needs to be downloaded, completely dashing the benefit of buying a physical copy of the game at retail in the first place) and not adding subtitles.

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy has so far emulated the success of last year’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. The two compilations certainly seem to have worked out well for Activision, which wasn’t actually involved in the production of the PlayStation originals (Activision picked up the rights to Crash and Spyro in 2008 after its merge with Vivendi, which had previously merged with original Crash and Spyro publisher Universal Interactive back in 2000). The remastered collections are sound examples of the hunger amongst certain fans for reinvigorated versions of previous favourites.

In second spot is Bethesda’s Fallout 76, but things aren’t looking great for a long stint in the charts. Fallout is a potent RPG brand and the game features an open world four times the size of that of Fallout 4, but Fallout 76’s pivot to an online-only multiplayer experience has been met with a reaction one would describe as mixed at best. IGN’s review called it an “experiment gone awry.”

Third and fourth positions are occupied by Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! These are the first Pokémon games for the Nintendo Switch and are based on 1998’s Pokémon Yellow. If the sales of each were combined it’s entirely possible they’d eclipse Spyro, but they’ve been listed separately.

The two remaining new entries last week are Battlefield V and Hitman 2 at eighth and ninth respectively. Despite the large number of new entries this seems slightly low for a big brand like Battlefield, but it’s worth remembering that Battlefield V had a peculiarly protracted release program (owners of certain Battlefield V editions were able to purchase and play the game well ahead of its “official” November 20 release date) and it’s a series with strong PC heritage (most PC game sales are digital, and digital sales on any platform are not reflected in these retail charts).

It’s good to see Hitman 2 sneak into the top 10, especially considering the future was looking slightly bleak for this cult series after former publisher Square Enix decided not to continue its support for the franchise back in 2017, opting instead to sell the rights back to developer IO Interactive.

Quite a shake-up in the charts this week, and it will likely continue following aggressive discounting at retail on a bunch of desirable, evergreen games over the weekend.

By James Manning

Seven

The final week of survey has started with Seven winning all people primary and combined channel shares.

Seven News couldn’t crack 900,000, but it was the most-watched program on TV yesterday.

All Together Now – The 100 crowned a winner and attracted 717,000 metro viewers, up very slightly on 698,000 a week ago. Taking home the $100,000 prizemoney was 33-year-old Brisbane draftsman Lai Utovou.

Sunday Night then did 571,000 for a program mostly devoted to Roxy Jacenko and her husband. The episode was down from 611,000 a week ago.

Nine

60 Minutes was on 647,000, down from 713,000 the previous week. On the penultimate episode of the year Liz Hayes uncovered evil in a church and Charles Wooley met Jacki Weaver. The show’s 40th anniversary episode screens next Sunday.

An hour of RBT then did 507,000 followed by the 2014 Denzel Washington movie The Equalizer on 287,000.

10

The Sunday Project did 312,000 after 353,000 a week ago.

The Graham Norton Show featured Nicole Kidman and Stephen Fry with 366,000 watching, close to last week’s 354,000.

NCIS then did a marginally improved 305,000.

ABC

Episode three of Don’t Stop The Music did 443,000 followed by Missy Higgins & Friends Live on 263,000.

SBS

Pompeii’s Final Hours: New Evidence performed best with 210,000 followed by The Facebook Dilemma doco on 131,000.