Business of Media
US giant set to join streaming wars
Network Ten owner ViacomCBS’ new streaming service Paramount+ will launch in August, with existing offering 10 All Access to be rebadged, reports AFR‘s Miranda Ward.
Going live on Wednesday, August 11, Paramount+ will cost $8.99 a month, $1 cheaper than 10 All Access’ $9.99 monthly rate.
Paramount+ will feature a library of original series and movies from production studios including Showtime, Bet, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, the Smithsonian Channel and Sony Pictures Television, in addition to a local content offering.
Free-to-air and streaming ‘can coexist’, says Ten as Paramount+ gears up
Free-to-air television and subscription streaming services will comfortably coexist in the same industry for a long time to come, according to the local boss of Network Ten, reports News Corp’s James Madden.
Beverley McGarvey, chief content officer and executive vice president of the Australian arm of ViacomCBS, which owns Network Ten, said on Wednesday that while her organisation boasts a “phenomenal pipeline of content” for its yet-to-be-launched subscription service Paramount+, the shift into the streaming market will not come at the expense of free-to-air offerings.
There is still a “water-cooler” audience that wants to “watch content today, they don’t want to watch it tomorrow”, she said.
Southern Cross and Network 10 affiliate deal ‘proceeding well’
Southern Cross Austereo and Network 10 are ploughing ahead on making ready to sign an affiliation agreement, with Southern Cross already selling advertising packages for Network 10 programs in regional areas, reports AFR’s Miranda Ward.
Speaking at the Macquarie Australia Conference, SCA chief executive Grant Blackley said SCA and Network Ten-owner ViacomCBS were “working cohesively” to finalise all terms for an affiliation agreement.
“We are proceeding well with our negotiations for a three ad market affiliation in regional Queensland, south NSW and regional Victoria,” he said.
Facebook is pretending it cares how its platform affects the world
The world is a lot better off without Donald Trump as president of the United States. And Facebook is a lot more peaceful without Trump’s unhinged calls for vengeance against his political opponents and fabricated tales of voter fraud echoing across the platform. What’s more, the world is a lot better off now that Trump can’t use Facebook to execute his plans, reports The Guardian‘s Siva Vaidhyanathan.
The Facebook Oversight Board, a company-selected team of free speech experts, ruled on Wednesday that while, based on Trump’s statements, the company was justified in banning Trump for some period of time, doing so indefinitely meant the company was treating Trump differently than it does other users and other world leaders. The board kicked the decision back to Facebook, meaning that this saga is far from over.
Lachlan Murdoch’s Seven visit sparks News chatter
News Corp’s Holt Street bunker is an intense place at the best of times, but when one of the most powerful members of the Murdoch family is in town the rumours and paranoia often move into overdrive. That’s been the case this week, with billionaire co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch in Australia during what could be another key juncture for the company, reports SMH‘s Zoe Samios.
Murdoch was spotted outside the Martin Place offices of Seven West Media last week, re-igniting speculation about some form of tie-up between two of the country’s most well-known media companies, both helmed by billionaire media moguls. At the same time, there is lingering intrigue about the future of pay TV platform Foxtel, 65 per cent owned by News Corp.
News Corp digital shift drives earnings jump
News Corp has delivered better-than-expected third quarter pre-tax earnings as the media major said it was on track for its most profitable year in nearly a decade, underscoring the digital transformation of the business, reports News Corp’s James Madden.
The company, which owns The Australian and metropolitan titles including the Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser, and has a majority stake in Foxtel, posted total March quarter earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation of $US298m ($382.9m), which was up 23 per cent from the same time last year.
This takes total EBITDA for the nine months to end-March to $US1.06bn, up 30 per cent on the same period a year earlier.
News Brands
Porter’s lawyers seek to keep parts of ABC defence confidential
The legal team acting for federal industry minister Christian Porter in his defamation action against ABC has lodged an application to keep chunks of the public broadcaster’s defence temporarily confidential until the Federal Court can rule on whether parts can be struck out altogether, reports AFR‘s Max Mason.
The ABC lodged its defence with the court on Tuesday evening, and it has not been made available to the public.
Porter is suing the public broadcaster and its journalist Louise Milligan over a February 26 article alleging a rape in 1988 by an unnamed senior male cabinet member.
Fox News keeps profits flowing at Murdoch’s Fox Corporation.
Fox News, the cable news giant controlled by Rupert Murdoch, kept its parent company flush in the first three months of the year, notching a slight gain in profit and sales despite a drop in viewers, reports The New York Times’ Edmund Lee.
Altogether, Fox Corporation beat Wall Street expectations with a sevenfold increase in profit to $567 million and a 6.5 percent drop in revenue to $3.2 billion compared with the same period a year prior. A change in how the company valued some of its assets was a key reason for the profit surge. Investors were looking for a $332 million profit and $3.1 billion in sales.
ABC: We’re not expecting any surprises in the budget
When the Federal Budget is handed down next Tuesday ABC is not expecting any surprises, according to Chair Ita Buttrose, reports TV Tonight.
But never say never….
“The ABC has been assured that our funding is guaranteed under the current triennium. We’re not expecting any surprises in the budget. But one can often be surprised. I take that as read,” she said at the National Press Club.
Radio
Mix 102.3’s Richie Wright moves from content director to new national role
Mix 102.3’s Richie Wright has been moved on from his role as content director, but management is denying it has anything to do with rumours of tension between him and the station’s top-rating breakfast duo, reports News Corp’s Anna Vlach.
Wright had been in the role for Mix and Cruise 1323, which are both owned by ARN (Australian Radio Network).
He has returned from holidays to be promoted to a newly created position.
Wright was named in rumours of an alleged rift with Mix 102.3 breakfast announcers Mark Soderstrom and Erin Phillips.
When asked if Wright’s new role had anything to do with the rumours a spoksperson for ARN gave a firm “no”.
Television
‘Hey Hey killed Young Talent Time’
Veteran TV host Johnny Young believes Young Talent Time deserves the title of Australia’s longest running variety program, a title which arguably lays with Hey Hey it’s Saturday, reports TV Tonight.
“Daryl claims that Hey Hey was the longest running variety program. It wasn’t because halfway through his run on Channel Nine, he left and went to Channel 10. So he never had the run… we were on air for 18 years,” he tells TV Tonight.
Hey Hey it’s Saturday ran for 29 seasons starting from 1971 – 1977, then 1979 – 1999, plus revivals in 2009 – 2010. It will mark its 50th anniversary in October, which YTT has coincidentally just celebrated. Alas for Young, even Hey Hey‘s 1979-99 run it outstrips YTT by two years.
Sex And The City-style comedy filming in Melbourne
A new Sex And The City-style comedy about a divorced mother of two looking for sex without commitment has started filming in Melbourne, reports News Corp’s Nui Te Koha.
The eight part comedy, Spreadsheet, has been commissioned by Network 10, and its US owners, broadcasting giant Viacom CBS.
The show centres around Lauren, a divorced mother-of-two and corporate high flyer, played by British actor Katherine Parkinson, who uses a database to help with her sex life.