Business of Media
‘We see silence filled with fear’: female Afghan journalists plead for help
When president Ashraf Ghani slipped out of Afghanistan with no warning, he took with him any glimpse of hope left for the nation’s women – especially those who are educated and outspoken, reports Guardian Australia’s Kate Banville.
Aaisha* is that and more. As a prominent news anchor and political talk show host, she has watched her life’s efforts crumble in what felt like seconds.
“For many years, I worked as a journalist … to raise the voice of Afghans, especially Afghan women, but now our identity is being destroyed and nothing has been done by us to deserve this,” Aaisha said on Monday.
Aaisha is one of dozens of female Afghan journalists who have communicated with the Guardian over the past weeks, documenting the fall of their nation to share the devastation with the world. Now they fear that reporting without fear or favour will be the very thing that costs them their future.
Proposal for new $150m studios in Penrith
Penrith Lakes look set to be home to a new $150 million film & TV studio, reports TV Tonight.
Lakeside Studio and Penrith Lakes Development Corporation has announced an agreement to develop a world-class purpose-built studio and production training facility.
Producer James Vernon (Hacksaw Ridge, The Kings Daughter) said, “With Sydney’s FOX studios being so heavily booked, it’s rendered Sydney without a full-service film studio.
“We’ve spoken to many studios and streamers and they are not thinking of the current situation, but of the future. Sydney still stands as one of the best places to come and film.”
CBS’ New York headquarters building sells for $760M
ViacomCBS has sold the original CBS headquarters in midtown Manhattan, or Black Rock, for $760 million to Harbor Group International, a private real estate investment and management firm, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Etan Vlessing.
The deal, unveiled on Monday, marks the first sale of the CBS headquarters at 51 West 52nd Street since it opened in 1964. Owner-occupier ViacomCBS will now lease back property on a short term basis, with the transaction set to close before the end of 2021.
Selling Black Rock is also the latest deal by ViacomCBS to unload non-core assets that do not serve the Hollywood studio’s unfolding streaming focus. ViacomCBS completed earlier sales of CNET and Simon & Schuster to finance its expanding content and streaming strategy.
TikTok is the new Facebook – and it is shaping the future of tech in its image
Against the backdrop of a global pandemic that has kept millions of people inside with nothing but their phones for company, the short-form video-sharing app TikTok has quietly ascended to the top ranks of tech, writes The Guardian’s Chris Stokel-Walker.
TikTok was the world’s most downloaded app last year, and according to App Annie, a mobile analytics company, in March 2020 alone, users spent as much time on it as there has been since the stone age: 2.8bn hours, or nearly 320,000 years. Last month, TikTok became the first app not owned by Facebook to cross the 3bn download mark. For context, there are 5.3bn mobile phone users worldwide.
News Brands
‘We will be number one’: Seven boss determined to dominate TV sector by end of year
Seven West Media boss James Warburton has expressed confidence the broadcaster’s television network will be crowned number one in ratings by the end of the year after the company returned to profitability following a period of steep financial losses, reports SMH’s Zoe Samios.
The Kerry Stokes-controlled media company swung to a net profit of $318 million from a $163.3 million loss the previous year, with revenue rising 3.5 per cent to $1.3 billion. However, shares in the company tumbled 7.8 per cent to close at 47.5 cents amid investor unease about a forecast rise in costs.
Seven’s biggest business, its free-to-air television network, recently achieved record-breaking ratings for its telecast of the Tokyo Olympics. That has fed into strong viewership for its flagship shows such as The Voice, which Warburton said has put the network on track to achieve its first annual ratings win since 2018.
“No matter how you want to cut it – a calendar year, survey year, Easter included, Easter out – at the end of the day, we’ve won 19 of 33 weeks and if you look at a whole survey year – 15 of 25 weeks,” Warburton said. “We are number one, and we will be number one. We are very confident that we will win the year.”
Carsales international business drives growth
Carsales.com believes it is well placed to weather the current COVID-19 lockdowns after the domestic business reversed declines in leads and private ad volumes in the year to June 30 after the lockdowns and uncertainty of the first half, reports AFR’s Miranda Ward.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 20 per cent to $427.2 million for the full year, and revenue rose 8 per cent to $394.1 million.
Net profit rose 9 per cent to $130.7 million, driven largely by strong international growth – particularly in South Korea and Brazil. Australian revenue grew a modest 2 per cent due to the effects of COVID-19.
“While the COVID-19 environment has been very challenging for Carsales, we are proud of the way we have navigated the challenge,” chief executive Cameron McIntyre said.
Entertainment
Denise Drysdale’s heartfelt tribute to Ernie Sigley
Denise Drysdale — broadcaster Ernie Sigley’s long-time partner on the small screen and pop charts — says the beloved “little Aussie battler” was one of a kind, reports News Corp’s Nui Te Koha and Jackie Epstein.
“We’ve lost one of the all-time greats of Australian TV and radio today,” Drysdale said in a statement.
“Ernie Sigley was one of a kind. He was enormously generous to me. In fact, if it wasn’t for Ernie, I doubt that my career would have turned out the way it did. He always just let me be myself and that is the greatest gift of all.
“I will cherish the memories of all the mischief we got up to together. He still makes me laugh just thinking about him. Love and respect, dear Ernie. Vale Ernie Sigley.”
Her heartfelt tribute followed a long line of bittersweet messages for Sigley, who passed away, aged 82, on Sunday after a five-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Television
Major change coming to TV ratings
Changes are coming to OzTAM daily ratings, with Overnight rankings set to be released from 10am instead of 9am, reports TV Tonight.
The changes are the result of networks seeking to find a way to change the focus to Overnight figures to a “Total TV” figure (aka VOZ) and better reflect the way viewers are watching.
For 3 weeks OzTAM has been releasing weekly VOZ data on its new VOZ website. These combine Overnight / Metro / Regional / BVOD and Consolidated numbers.
‘Bullied’: Block stars Mitch and Mark slam the judges
Past contestants Mitch and Mark were given a dismal score for their guest bedroom reveal on Sunday night’s episode of The Block, and they’re absolutely furious about it, reports News Corp’s Bianca Mastroianni.
During Monday’s episode, their fellow contestants agreed the judging of the experienced renovators’ room was quite harsh.
“Mitch and Mark are not happy, and I can’t blame them because they really got slaughtered. They got punished at judging, it was so extreme,” Georgia told the camera at the start of the episode.
“We got bullied actually,” Mitch tells the camera.
“We actually felt hurt,” agreed Mark.