Business of Media
Google, Facebook to bankroll Australian digital publishers alliance
Some of Australia’s most well-known digital publications are using funding from tech giants Google and Facebook to form their first industry body, reports SMH’s Zoe Samios.
Crikey publisher Private Media, Mamamia, The Squiz and Junkee Media are among 20 publishers that are coming together to form what will be known as the Digital Publishers’ Alliance. The body will be led by Junkee’s co-founder Tim Duggan and will aim to boost visibility with advertisers, and give the publications a stronger voice on key industry issues.
“There are a lot of decisions being made right now that are going to affect future publishers over the next decade or so,” Mr Duggan said. “[Google and Facebook] are both supporting it with funding to help set it up as a really easy way to communicate to a large variety of publishers at the same time rather than having to kind of go individually to 20 or 40 different publishers to talk to about issues.”
Other members of the DPA include Future Women, Broadsheet Media, LADbible Group and Solstice Media, publisher of The New Daily, who will pay annual membership fees. Google’s News Initiative has already provided funding, while The Facebook Journalism Project is finalising its contribution. Duggan assured the tech giants will have no say over the directive of the industry body and its priorities.
Nine to push stability and consistency at annual upfront sales event
Nine will push stability, reliability and consistency on Wednesday as the media company sells its wares to advertisers at its annual upfront event, with an emphasis on where it is going digitally, reports AFR‘s Miranda Ward.
While the annual upfront event, which is used to sell the company as the best place for a company’s ads, is traditionally used to announce the following year’s TV offering, it is unlikely there will be any major changes to the 9Network’s line-up as it continues to deliver audiences.
That means more Married At First Sight, more Lego Masters, more The Block, but with a focus on how advertisers can access the show’s audiences through traditional broadcast television and via digital through 9Now.
It is likely the company will announce another season of Celebrity Apprentice, with host Alan Sugar currently in hotel quarantine in Australia in preparation for production of a second season, and a second take of Beauty & The Geek, after satisfactory outings for both shows.
Love Island will probably be back, and the network will use the early schedule of the upfront – its rivals’ events are not until October – to flag shows still to come this year, with the twice announced The Parent Jury, now known as Parental Guidance, to air before the year is over.
James Warburton outlines Seven’s ambitious plan to snare Covid recovery ad revenue
Seven will this week launch an ambitious pitch to capitalise on its strong ratings performance so far this year, offering advertisers a suite of post-lockdown packages as it prepares to announce its on-air schedule for 2022, reports News Corp’s James Madden.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Australian, Seven chief executive James Warburton said Seven, which is leading this year’s television ratings battle, was positioning itself to be at the forefront of the industry’s post-Covid resurgence by offering generous deals to advertisers who want to engage with the network.
The move follows a significant softening of advertising revenue across the media industry during lockdowns.
News Brands
News Corp to launch a major editorial project on environmental issues ahead of UN climate summit in November
The executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, Michael Miller, has announced plans for “a major editorial project” that will inform Australians about the key environmental and climate issues of our time, reports News Corp’s James Madden.
The initiative will also look at the options Australians “would need to consider in order to reach a zero emissions target”.
In a company-wide email to News Corp staff on Friday afternoon, Miller said the project was the brainchild of the company’s editors.
US television networks approach ABC for Fox News program
Multiple US television networks have approached national broadcaster the ABC about buying the rights to broadcast two Four Corners episodes that looked at Fox News and its role in the 2020 general election, reports SMH‘s Zoe Samios.
Industry sources familiar with the talks, who spoke anonymously because no deal was signed, said the ABC has spoken to several news outlets about a licence to exclusively air the program in the US. The sources said CNN – which recently interviewed reporter Sarah Ferguson – was one of the networks interested in acquiring the program, but that no deal was finalised. An ABC spokesperson declined to comment.
The licensing of the program by any US television network is likely to frustrate Fox News Media and escalate tensions between it and the ABC. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed last Sunday that Fox News had formalised a complaint about the two-part program and had written to ABC chair Ita Buttrose and managing director David Anderson demanding an external inquiry be conducted.
Channel 7 reporter Georgia Love taken off air and issued an apology to staff after racial post
Channel 7 news reporter and former Bachelorette Georgia Love has been dumped from her on-air role and has issued an apology to her colleagues after she made an offensive Instagram post about cats and Asian restaurants, reports News Corp’s Sophie Elsworth.
The Melbourne-based reporter came under fire this week after she posted to her 243,000 followers a short video showing a cat sitting in the window of an Asian restaurant and wrote, “Shop attendant or lunch?”
The post which went live on Monday was quickly deleted by Love minutes later but was circled widely online, causing outrage.
The 33-year-old who is a prolific user of social media, hasn’t appeared on camera since the incident and on Friday, Seven confirmed she will no longer be seen on-air after she was disciplined and counselled over the matter.
IPA says errors made in research on ABC and News Corp
The Institute of Public Affairs has admitted its research into the ABC’s multi-platform coverage of News Corporation was flawed – the national broadcaster referred to the media company that owns The Australian 1500 times over a month, not 1700, reports News Corp’s James Madden.
The number of references by the taxpayer-funded national broadcaster to “News Corp” or “Murdoch”, according to the IPA, also counted references to content shared across its network, so that one reference in Melbourne would also be counted in Brisbane, for example.
In trying to prove it wasn’t, in fact, obsessed with News Corp, the ABC on Friday insisted the number of references was much lower by removing syndicated mentions, as well as to more generic or passing references to News Corp, such as in finance reports.
Radio
ACCC grants authority for commercial radio stations to negotiate payment from Facebook and Google
The radio industry has been granted approval to collectively bargain with tech giants Google and Facebook over payment for content used on their platforms, reports News Corp’s Sophie Elsworth.
The competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, will enable radio stations to negotiate with the tech giants for payments relating to their broadcasting and audio content to Australian communities across their analog, digital radio and online platforms.
Commercial Radio Australia – the peak industry body representing commercial stations – will be able to negotiate on behalf of all its representatives except Nine Entertainment – who own stations including 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR.
Nine isn’t included because it has already negotiated its own deals with Google and Facebook.
Television
Andrew O’Keefe facing new charges
Former Seven host Andrew O’Keefe is facing domestic violence-related charges after being arrested on Friday night, reports TV Tonight.
NSW Police confirmed O’Keefe was arrested at an apartment block on Kent St Sydney at 5pm.
He was taken to Day Street Police Station and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm (DV), common assault (DV), contravene AVO (DV) and resist officer in execution of duty.
Police will allege in court that O’Keefe was involved in a domestic-related incident with a woman at a home in Point Piper on Wednesday evening.
Sunrise Covid scare prompts stars’ demand for crew to be vaccinated
The high-profile hosts of Sunrise, Australia’s most popular breakfast show, have refused to have their noses powdered and hair styled by any crew members who are unvaccinated, in what is likely to be a landmark development for the entire local television industry, reports News Corp’s Nick Tabakoff.
The Australian can reveal that the uprising at Sunrise, led by double-vaccinated hosts David Koch, Natalie Barr and Edwina Bartholomew, as well as the show’s executive producer Michael Pell, represents the unofficial first move towards mandatory vaccination in Australian TV.
But Seven’s morning TV pro-vaccination move attracted private grumbles from at least one Sunrise hair and make-up artist who is unvaccinated and therefore barred from working on the show.
The Block’s Tanya Guccione talks about how ‘cheating scandal’ affected her life
It’s the reality TV version of Mean Girls — and at least one of the contestants of The Block is sick of being trolled as a cheat, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
The faux cheating scandal that has dominated this season of a show that was once about home renovation has taken its toll on some of the contestants.
Long after the hammer has fallen and The Block homes have sold, Tanya Guccione fears she will still be tainted as a cheater.
Fashion, fibs and other first world problems! Real Housewives return date revealed
Foxtel has revealed the date for it latest original series: Real Housewives of Melbourne Season 5 will launch on Sunday October 10, 2021.
The programming move sees Foxtel screening two of its most popular originals ever in successive months with episodes of the final season of Wentworth going to air over the next few weeks.
Foxtel is promising The Real Housewives of Melbourne returns for its highly anticipated latest season with four new fabulous, fashion forward, feisty woman who sashay in on their Louboutin heels to join three of the much-loved original cast. “It’s set to be an emotionally charged series where sparks will fly!”
The season five cast includes returning Housewives Gamble Breaux, Jackie Gillies, Janet Roach and four new ladies – yoga guru and wellbeing fanatic Cherry Dipietrantonio, businesswoman and lover of fashion Simone Elliott, entrepreneur and ‘Champagne Dame’ Kyla Kirkpatrick and award-winning journalist and former CNN news anchor Anjali Rao.
Original cast members Gina Liano and Lydia Schiavello earlier made the decision to leave the series and are not part of Season 5.
Foxtel’s group general manager LifeStyle, Wendy Moore, commented when the new cast was revealed earlier this year: “The Real Housewives of Melbourne has had our fans on the edge of their seat – desperate for its return. It’s quite simply the most popular reality program, loved by our audiences for the fun, outrageous and laugh-out-loud personalities. We are thrilled with the new line-up of strong, successful women and can’t wait for viewers to get a window into their lives – it is sure to be, once again, compulsive viewing.”
The 10-part hugely popular reality TV series is produced by Matchbox Pictures, part of NBCUniversal International Studios, in conjunction with Foxtel.
See also: Foxtel announces the cast of The Real Housewives Of Melbourne season five
Sports Media
Seven’s AFL Finals score huge audiences as Demons and Dogs dominate
The 2021 AFL Finals Series continues to be a ratings powerhouse on the Seven Network, with Friday night’s Melbourne v. Geelong match recording the biggest AFL national and capital city audience this year.
Friday night’s clash was watched by 1.3 million people nationally and 1.01 million in the capital cities.
The match was up 76% on the 2021 regular season Friday night average and reached 2.45 million people nationally and 1.87 million in the capital cities.
Seven’s Friday AFL match was the #1 program of the night in 25 to 54s, #1 in its timeslot and pushed Seven to a huge 52.8% network commercial share.
On Saturday night, the Port Adelaide v. Western Bulldogs clash recorded an average national audience of 1.18 million people, up 81% on the 2021 regular season Saturday night average.
In the capital cities, 920,000 people tuned into Seven’s live coverage, up 89% on the regular Saturday night average audience. The match was the #1 program of the night in 25 to 54s, dominated its timeslot and reached 2.4 million viewers nationally and 1.8 million in the capital cities.
In Melbourne, the audience soared 119% on the regular Saturday night average audience and helped Seven win Saturday night with a 49.9% network commercial share across the capital cities.
Seven’s finals coverage to-date has averaged 1.08 million viewers nationally. Across the capital cities, it has an average audience of 834,000.
Dennis Cometti to call AFL Grand Final for 92.9 Triple M or on LiSTNR app
92.9 Triple M is the FM cap cities home of AFL and is SCA network is welcoming the 2021 AFL Grand Final to Perth.
This is only the third time in history that an AFL Grand Final will be played at a venue other than the MCG, and where better to host it than at Optus Stadium in Perth on Saturday, 25 September.
As a broadcast partner of the AFL, Perth’s 92.9 Triple M is covering the 2021 Grand Final with a stable of legendary commentators, including a local call by AFL legend Dennis Cometti (pictured), and with live coverage from the first bounce to the finish.
92.9 Triple M will also launch a competition to give away Grand Final tickets to some very lucky winners in WA, including a Grand Final experience that money just can’t buy.
92.9 Triple M Perth content director Tim Arnold said: “Perth’s love for footy is legendary, so to be hosting the biggest game of the year on our home turf is an honour and the memories will last a lifetime.
“Our local stable of AFL legends including Xavier Ellis, Michael Barlow, Andrew Embley, Luke Shuey and Dennis Cometti are sure to make this game an unforgettable experience for our Perth listeners.”
Listen to Triple M’s AFL coverage with Dennis Cometti can tune in via 92.9 Triple M or live via the LiSTNR app.