Business of Media
Ben Roberts-Smith was targeted after being awarded Victoria Cross, his barrister tells court
Ben Roberts-Smith was a courageous soldier who sought neither decorations nor fame, but had a target placed on his back by his Victoria Cross, and his reputation torn down by jealous comrades, aided by credulous journalists, his lawyers have told the federal court in Sydney, reports The Guardian’s Ben Doherty.
Closing submissions have begun in Roberts-Smith’s long-running defamation trial against three newspapers over reports he alleges defame him as a war criminal and murderer. He denies any wrongdoing.
The newspapers are defending their reporting as true, including allegations Roberts-Smith committed six murders while deployed to Afghanistan as a member of the SAS, was a bully and a perpetrator of domestic violence.
Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Arthur Moses SC, said the newspaper reports were based on “rumour, hearsay and contradictory accounts”. He said the journalists who wrote them were “all too willing to write sensationalist accounts” and had mounted a deliberate campaign to unfairly malign Roberts-Smith.
Disney+ ad tier, live sports help drive Disney’s $9B upfront
The Walt Disney Co. says that it closed its best upfront in the company’s history, with streaming and live events like sports helping to lead the way, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin.
The company says that it received commitments totaling $9 billion, 40 percent of which was earmarked for digital and streaming. Disney’s upcoming Disney+ ad tier, joined by Hulu and ESPN+, led the streaming ad results.
Disney announced its Disney+ ad tier in March, promising details at a later date. At its upfront in May, the company used the event to highlight the premium content set to come to the streaming service, including Marvel series like She-Hulk, and Dancing With the Stars, which is moving from ABC to Disney+ in the fall.
Hulu is driving more streaming subscribers to Disney than Marvel or Star Wars
Hulu has emerged as Walt Disney Co.’s fastest-growing U.S. streaming service, just as the company loads up on more adult-focused entertainment in a bid to expand its reach to a wider variety of viewers, reports the Wall Street Journal’s Robbie Whelan.
New subscriptions to Hulu have outpaced those of Disney’s flagship streaming platform, Disney+, in 18 of the past 24 months, and total new subscriptions to Hulu have exceeded those to Disney+ in each of the last six quarters, according to data from subscriber-measurement firm Antenna.
Hulu’s subscriber gains come as Disney leadership is under pressure from investors to keep up the momentum in Disney+ subscriber growth. Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek has set a target of signing up between 230 million and 260 million Disney+ subscribers and achieving profitability for the streaming business by September 2024, a goal described as unrealistic by some shareholders.
Television
Lisa Wilkinson breaks silence on absence from The Project as she travels to the US
Lisa Wilkinson has broken her silence on her absence from hosting The Project after claims she could be away from her desk for another month, reports news.com.au.
The star hasn’t appeared as a host on The Project since mid-June. She was expected to return on Sunday night, but The Australian’s Media Diary column has reported she would likely not appear as a co-host on the program again until late August.
Now, Wilkinson has shared a picture of her standing outside the famed Hotel California in Palm Springs – and said she’s there for work.
“Plenty of room at the Hotel California! I’m here in the US for some very special @theprojecttv interviews. Can’t wait to share more…,” she wrote, with three love heart emojis.
Kylie and Jason to re-release ‘Especially For You’ in honour of Neighbours ending
Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan will re-issue their 1988 single Especially For You to mark the end of soap opera Neighbours, which they both starred in in the ’80s, reports Variety Australia’s Vivienne Kelly.
The track originally debuted at No. 2 on the local charts and was Minogue’s most successful single in the UK until 2001’s Can’t Get You Out of My Head.
Neighbours is finishing at the end of the month with a number of former stars returning to say goodbye.
Cameras roll on Turn Up The Volume for ABC ME
Filming has commenced in Melbourne on upcoming ABC ME drama, Turn Up The Volume, reports TV Tonight.
Produced by Matchbox Pictures and Film Camp, the ten-part series will follow a group of young female and gender diverse teenagers who start a band at a music camp held in Melbourne’s inner west.
Inspired by the coming of age documentary No Time For Quiet which followed the first Girls Rock! Camp in Melbourne, Turn Up The Volume explores the power of music, friendship and creativity as forces of transformation and connection. At first disillusioned and disconnected, this group of young teens join together to discover the strength to define themselves on their own terms, and find belonging in the embrace of community.
30 years since The Late Show
Yesterday marked 30 years since The Late Show first went to air on ABC, reports TV Tonight.
The live sketch / satire featured Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Judith Lucy, Tony Martin, Mick Molloy, Rob Sitch, and Jason Stephens -many of whom had featured in The D-Generation – and all of whom are still working decades later.
It ran for 40 episodes over two seasons and lives on in YouTube hilarity.