Business of Media
Elon Musk’s X in political advertising push to offset revenue falls
A push by Elon Musk’s X to bring in US$100 million (AU$148 million) from political advertising in 2024 is being met by scepticism from industry insiders, hitting its hopes of offsetting revenue losses caused by big brands leaving the platform, reports The Australian Financial Review’s Hannah Murphy.
See also: Mediaweek’s A to Z of 2023: X is for X (formerly Twitter)
Earlier this year, X’s billionaire owner reversed a ban on political advertising instituted by former chief executive Jack Dorsey, a move designed to align with Musk’s stance as a “free speech absolutist”.
ABC cuts Q+A schedule by 40pc in 2024
The ABC has slashed the 2024 schedule for its Q+A panel discussion show, reducing its run to 24 episodes from 40 as it reshapes its content line-up for the year to reverse audience declines, reports The Australian Financial Review’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
The show, which will be hosted by Radio National presenter and journalist Patricia Karvelas next year, will run on Monday nights in six-week slots, according to internal notes sent to staff.
See also: Patricia Karvelas to take the reins of Q+A permanently in 2024
There will be one run from February 19 to March 25, a second from April 29 to June 3, a third from August 12 to September 16, and a final run from October 21 to November 25.
Pulitzer-winning authors join OpenAI, Microsoft copyright lawsuit
A group of 11 nonfiction authors have joined a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court that accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of misusing books the authors have written to train the models behind OpenAI’s popular chatbot ChatGPT and other artificial-intelligence based software, reports Reuters’ Blake Brittain.
See also: Data Never Sleeps report reveals ChatGPT users send 6944 prompts every 60 seconds
The writers, including Pulitzer Prize winners Taylor Branch, Stacy Schiff and Kai Bird – who co-wrote the J. Robert Oppenheimer biography American Prometheus that was adapted into the hit film Oppenheimer this year – told the court on Tuesday that the companies infringed their copyrights by using their work to train OpenAI’s GPT large language models.
News Brands
SBS breaches Code of Practice in Referendum discussion
SBS Ombudsman Amy Stockwell has found two breaches of the SBS Code of Practice following a broadcast of The Point: Australia Decides broadcast on 14 October, reports TV Tonight’s David Knox.
The broadcaster received 8 complaints under its Code of Practice. The Ombudsman found two breaches of the SBS Code of Practice as part of those investigations, relating to impartiality and balance.
In a heated interview between former SBS Board Member and No campaigner Warren Mundine hit out at Yes campaigner Marcia Langton.
ABC summer host Antoinette Lattouf sacked over anti-Israel activism that enraged Ita Buttrose
A fill-in host for one of the ABC’s most coveted radio spots has been sacked for a slew of anti-Israel posts after an influx of complaints from the Jewish community reached the public broadcaster’s chairwoman Ita Buttrose, reports News Corp’s Sophie Elsworth.
Antoinette Lattouf had been hosting ABC Sydney’s mornings program for just three days when numerous complaints were received about her conduct, including recent commentary on social media that “gas the Jews” footage from Sydney’s Opera House was unverified and accusations Israeli forces had committed rape.
Sports
Are Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler the next Posh and Becks?
It is early days but marketing experts are already excited at the prospect of Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler becoming Australia’s equivalent to Posh and Becks.
Together former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and her footballer husband David [Beckham] are worth $800 million. As Matilda’s star Mary Fowler was yesterday unveiled as the ambassador for a south Sydney kindergarten there was clearly a long way to go.
“They may have the potential to be a micro version of Posh and Becks but only if you squint,” said Gruen TV show marketing expert Toby Ralph.
Entertainment
Amazon to Bring Warhammer 40,000 to the Screen, With Henry Cavill
There’s big news this week for tiny warriors, reports The New York Time’s Emmett Linder.
Games Workshop, the company behind Warhammer 40,000, the wildly popular tabletop game with miniature figurines, announced on Monday that it had reached a deal with Amazon Studios to bring the game to life on television and film screens.
The actor Henry Cavill, known for his roles in the Superman franchise and as the title character on Netflix’s fantasy series The Witcher, is set to appear on the show and be its executive producer.
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Top Image: Elon Musk