Business of Media
Australians ‘more concerned than ever’ on data
Eighty per cent of Australians don’t feel like they have enough control over how their online data is used, new research shows, with a growing number of citizens citing concerns over how their personal data is being collected by tech companies, reports News Corp’s David Swan.
Research from advertising tech outfit The Trade Desk and YouGov found that 81 per cent of Australians say they’re concerned over the collection and use of their personal data on the internet, with Australians reporting the highest level of confusion on data use among consumers in the Asia Pacific region.
It comes as tech giant Google has announced it will end the targeting of ads based on an individual’s web browsing, focusing instead of larger groups or cohorts.
Facebook has beefed up its ‘oversight board’, but any new powers are illusory
Any day now the Facebook Oversight Board, the social media company’s review mechanism for decisions on deletion of content and users, will tell the world whether Donald Trump should remain banned from Facebook indefinitely, reports The Guardian’s Emily Bell.
Before that, Facebook also announced the expansion of the Oversight Board’s remit: initially users could only appeal to have content restored after moderators removed it – now the board will also examine appeals over content that has been left up on Facebook or Instagram following a review by moderators.
With the Oversight Board, the uncomfortable decisions about which controversial material to leave up and what to take down is partly removed from the hands of Facebook policymakers, the executive leadership and the low-paid human moderation staff, and given to a panel of respected experts who become the editorial tone-setters for global media. Now Facebook will make decisions on what it keeps and what it deletes in step with the decisions of an elite board, paid and protected by the company but operating “independently”.
News Brands
ABC apologises to Governor-General, but not dancers at centre of ‘creepy’ editing storm
A Sydney dancing troupe that performed at a naval ship commissioning ceremony has attacked the ABC for failing to apologise to its dancers in favour of Governor-General David Hurley, and accused the public broadcaster of “upskirting” them, reports News Corp’s Richard Ferguson.
The 101 Doll Squadron went viral this week when they “twerked” at the commissioning of the HMAS Supply, and says its dancers feel shamed by the national media coverage.
An ABC story on Wednesday reported government MPs were shocked that the dance was allowed at a ship commissioning with the Governor-General in attendance, but it has since been revealed the dance was before the official ceremony and Hurley never witnessed the performance.
No BBC wall-to-wall coverage of Prince Philip funeral after record complaints
The BBC will not clear all of its television and radio channels for this weekend’s funeral of Prince Philip, after acknowledging that many viewers felt its wall-to-wall coverage of his death was excessive, reports The Guardian’s Jim Waterson.
The BBC received a record 110,000 complaints over the last week after its decision to abandon almost all scheduled programming when the news broke last Friday, with shows such as MasterChef and EastEnders dropped in favour of rolling news coverage and pre-recorded tributes to the Queen’s husband. BBC Two and BBC Four removed all of their planned programming, prompting many viewers to switch off television altogether or turn to streaming services.
Radio
2GB’s Ben Fordham ratings plunge in latest survey results
Nine Entertainment’s breakfast radio programs in the nation’s three biggest markets have all lost considerable ground in the latest ratings survey, with 2GB’s high-profile Sydney presenter Ben Fordham recording the most dramatic slump, reports News Corp’s James Madden and Sophie Elsworth.
Fordham’s ratings have fallen to their lowest levels since he took over the coveted breakfast role from Alan Jones almost a year ago, with his 15.5 per cent audience share down 2.6 percentage points from the first survey of 2021. When Jones retired last April, his final survey result sat at 17.9 per cent.
4KQ surges in latest radio ratings at Nova’s expense
Nova 106.9 has been bumped from both breakfast and overall ratings dominance in a major shake-up of the Brisbane radio field in the latest survey results, reports SMH‘s Stuart Layt.
AM music station 4KQ surged from third place in the last survey to take out top spot in the breakfast time slot this time, with more listeners tuning in to Mark Hine, Laurel Edwards and Gary Clare.
Edwards thanked their listeners for the win.
“Every day when we come into work, we humbly don’t think about ratings. We endeavour to have a great time and include our listeners,” she said.
3AW holds frontrunner status in second radio ratings survey
Melbourne’s second radio ratings survey of the year has delivered a steady-as-she-goes result, with 3AW recording a slight uptick in its overall lead and holding its frontrunner status in the breakfast and mornings slots dominated by Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft and Neil Mitchell, reports SMH‘s Neil McMahon.
Overall, 3AW (owned by Nine, the owner of this masthead) was up from a 16.3 per cent share to 16.9, while the ABC barely moved, from 8.7 to 8.6 – leaving it overall fourth behind 3AW, Gold FM and Smooth.
Similarly, changes in the key time slots were either minimal or non-existent. Mitchell in mornings, as recorded by ratings provider Gfk between 9am and 12pm, was up slightly from 19 per cent to 19.5 – ahead of his news rival at the ABC, Virginia Trioli, who was also up slightly from 9.1 per cent to 9.5.
Television
Petition to stop Netflix’s Byron Baes reality show nears 4000 signatures
Byron Bay’s most sought-after local business have been knocking back approaches to be featured in a salacious Netflix reality series about Instagram influencers, as a petition to block its production nears 4000 signatures, reports News Corp’s Evin Priest.
Last week, streaming giant Netflix announced it had teamed up with Eureka productions to create a reality series Byron Baes, that would explore “fights, flings and heartbreak” among social media influencers who are based in the idyllic town on the NSW far north coast.
The series had brought on Emma Lamb, a highly accomplished reality producer who has previously worked on Married At First Sight and The Real Housewives Of Sydney.
Sports Media
SBS to close World Game, Cycling Central websites
SBS is closing its World Game and Cycling Central websites -two online destinations which have been iconic brands for the broadcaster- in favour of an SBS Sport site, reports TV Tonight.
The World Game launched in 2001 as a weekly television show, hosted by late and legendary broadcasters Les Murray and Johnny Warren. The website launched a year later in 2002.
“The SBS Sport website will be the home of all our sports coverage, and the current websites for The World Game and Cycling Central will not be continuing,” SBS said online.
It added. “We’ll also be increasing our focus on providing live sport streaming and improving our catch-up service on SBS On Demand, so you can easily access more of our sport coverage.”