Business of Media
Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial judgment date set
After 14 months, dozens of witnesses, weeks of hearings and sordid allegations of prostitutes, cocaine and corporate credit card spending, the blockbuster defamation case between Bruce Lehrmann and Network Ten has a judgment day: Monday, April 15, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
At 10.15am in courtroom 18B in Sydney’s Law Courts Building, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee will deliver a verbal and written summary of his decision, which will decide whether Network Ten and its former star journalist Lisa Wilkinson defamed Lehrmann.
See Also: Copied documents and financial perks: Lehrmann judgment delayed as new evidence emerges
Meta denies sharing Facebook users’ messages with Netflix in latest claim of mishandling data
Meta has denied it allowed Netflix access to Facebook users’ direct messages – an accusation made in unsealed court documents – as “shockingly untrue” as it faces fresh allegations of mishandling user data, reports The Australian’s Jared Lynch.
The claims come two years after Meta agreed to pay $US725m ($1.1bn) to settle a data privacy class action over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which involved data belonging to millions of Facebook users being harvested without their consent.
TikTok launches new rewards app to boost growth
TikTok’s growth in Europe has slowed down so much that it’s rolling out a new app that gives people financial incentives to watch its videos, reports The Information’s Kaya Yurieff.
The Chinese-owned company is introducing a new app in Spain, France and other countries that will encourage users to watch videos, invite friends to sign up and perform other actions by awarding them points they can redeem as gift cards or digital tips to give creators, according to a written description circulated internally and viewed by The Information. The app, called Coin App within the company and TikTok Lite to the public, is designed to help TikTok boost growth among people aged 18 and older.
The Sun loses £66m amid costs from phone-hacking scandal
The Sun lost £66m last year and its online audience dropped by 4 million readers as the newspaper continued to grapple with the fallout from the phone-hacking scandal, reports The Guardian’s Jane Croft.
Total losses at the Murdoch-owned tabloid have now reached £515m over the past five years, amid declining print sales and the high cost of paying damages to victims of illegal information gathering.
Television
At 28 minutes, The Sign is Bluey’s longest-ever episode. Is a movie next?
While international hit Bluey might be aimed at preschoolers, any adult who has been drawn into an episode of the critically acclaimed animation will know in only seven minutes the canine Heeler clan can easily bring tears to the eyes with its gentle depiction of the joys and challenges of family life, reports Nine Publishing’s Nicole Elphick.
Actor Melanie Zanetti, who voices seven-year-old pup Bluey’s mother Chilli, is not immune to Bluey’s ability to hit one right in the feels. Most recently, when she watched the heavily anticipated 28-minute episode The Sign, she found herself blubbering.
“Analog rules in a digital world”: Networks react to Prominence, Anti-siphoning recommendations
A government committee has recomended Prominence rules putting Free to Air on Smart TV devices be intoruced in a 12 month time frame, instead of 18 months, but not recommended they are required of sets and devices already in Australian homes, reports TV Tonight.
Free to Air networks have welcomed the shorter time frame but urged for a retrospective requirement.
They are particularly disappointed that anti-siphoning recommendations, after urging free broadcast and free digital streaming rights be acquired by a free broadcaster before the event can be acquired by a pay TV or subscription streaming provider.
Samsung launches new 2024 television and audio range in Australia
Everyone knows bigger is better when it comes to televisions right? Well not always. You can have the biggest screen on the block, but if the technology behind it, or the content driving it, is poor, it will look terrible, reports News Corp’s Mark Furler.
But combine great technology, a huge screen, superb sound and you have the ultimate cinema, sports viewing or gaming experience right at home.
That’s the promise of Samsung’s 2024 audio visual line-up, unveiled in Sydney this week, which now offers three 98 inch models with prices starting for what some 65 inch screens were only a few years ago.