Business of Media
Forbes explores sale, hires Citigroup as banker
Forbes said on Tuesday it was exploring a sale of its business and had hired Citigroup to manage the process, months after it pulled out of a deal to go public through a special purpose acquisition company, reports Reuters.
“There were many interested parties, so we moved forward with a formal sale process and Citigroup was hired to manage this process,” a Forbes spokesperson said in an emailed response.
Details including the enterprise value Forbes was seeking and a timeline for the sale were not disclosed.
Profits slump at CNN as ratings plummet
One of the first moves the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery made when it took over CNN was shutting down CNN+, the nascent streaming service that was touted as the network’s bridge to the future, reports The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin.
The next month, when Chris Licht took over as CNN’s chairman, he told employees in his first town hall meeting not to worry about ratings, a mainstay of TV news used as a benchmark for revenue and relevance.
Now, three months into Licht’s tenure, the network finds itself facing big questions about how it can continue to expand its business with its moonshot streaming service dead and the traditional TV business in structural decline.
Projections from S&P Global Market Intelligence say CNN’s profitability is on a pace to decline to $956.8 million this year. That would mark the first time since 2016 that the network had dipped below $1 billion in profit, according to three people familiar with its operations.
Agencies
Emotive welcomes six new hires across the business
Emotive has welcomed six new hires across the business in brand experience, account management, design, creative and production.
The announcement follows a strong 12 months for the agency that saw six new clients join, the launch of a specialised brand experience service, and the relocation to a new office space in Coogee.
Joining the agency is Rebecca Gelao as head of brand experience. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with experience working for some of the world’s leading organisations in both the Corporate and Government sectors.
Gelao has produced brand activations for Facebook, Instagram and Seven West Media, as well as major public events such as Breakfast on the Bridge, Australia Day, New Year’s Eve and Vivid Sydney for the likes of Prince William, Pope Benedict and The Wiggles.
Dentsu strengthens Brisbane team with three senior appointments
Dentsu QLD has announced three strategic senior appointments following a string of successful business wins.
The Brisbane-based appointments are critical to extending the local capability of the agency network.
Daniel Paull joins as business intelligence lead, iProspect. With over seven years of experience across marketing, data and tech, Paull will focus on scaling the data and intelligence offering in the agency.
Kelly Jack has been appointed as client partner, Carat. She joins the agency from Wavemaker Melbourne and brings more than 15 years of media agency experience into the group. In her previous role, she led accounts including Australia Post, a2Milk, HondaMPE and IG Markets.
Jeremy Thomas joins as digital strategist in customer experience, Merkle. He brings seven years of experience in advertising and marketing technology, and performance and digital media. Most recently Thomas was head of performance at Auto & Generals Compare The Market.
This comes after dentsu QLD recently signed on Amazonia and The Brisbane Heat, and successfully retained The Coffee Club following a competitive review.
Clemenger BBDO announces brand and strategy promotions to Sydney and Melbourne offices
Clemenger BBDO has announced the promotions of Jacqueline Witts as chief strategy officer and Paul Rees-Jones to the newly-created role of chief brand officer, covering both the Sydney and Melbourne offices.
Witts brings more than two decades of knowledge and expertise in strategy and planning to the chief strategy officer role. She was previously the head of planning for Clemenger BBDO Melbourne and has diverse category expertise in retail, financial services, automotive and FMCG.
Witts also remains committed to developing the next generation of talent for Clemenger BBDO and the industry at large, having lectured for the ACA in strategic planning and serving as president of Youngbloods Australia.
Witts previously led strategy and planning functions across several agencies, including AJF Partnership, TBWA Australia and JWT Melbourne, before joining Clemenger Group in 2020.
As chief strategy officer, Witts will be responsible for utilising creativity to help clients identify new opportunities, drive growth, solve complex business problems and build enduring value.
Television
Neighbours reveals why Kylie & Jason had limited dialogue in finale
After the much-lauded Neighbours finale last week, there’s been quite a bit of discussion around Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan having next to no dialogue in their scenes, reports TV Tonight.
This contrasted considerably to the outpouring for Guy Pearce who featured in a major finale storyline, while press has bizarrely speculated whether their ‘silence’ was due to everything from being paid by the word …to being unable to remember lines. Harsh.
Executive producer Jason Herbison tells TV Tonight the timing of their secret shoot meant it stood apart from finale storylines.
“Our discussions with Jason (Donovan) and Kylie were always about making a small appearance. They didn’t want to overshadow the current cast or make the finale about them. We also filmed their scenes before I’d written the episode, so whatever we filmed had to fit in with that. I hate to see Kylie copping any criticism – she was nothing short of amazing on the day,” he said.
Alan Fletcher reveals major career change after Neighbours finale
Neighbours veteran Alan Fletcher is the third longest serving actor in Australian soap opera history, having starred on the iconic soap for almost three decades, reports News Corp’s Lexie Cartwright.
And after the long-running show’s emotional finale last week, which saw viewers say farewell to the residents of Ramsay Street after 37 years on-air, the 65-year-old actor is considering a major career change.
Fletcher, who had played Dr Karl Kennedy since 1994, told Magic Radio’s Breakfast Show: “Now that I’ve finished Neighbours, I’m thinking about actually going into medicine.”
Manu Feildel opens up about ‘missing’ MKR co-star Pete Evans
Manu Feildel has opened up about his friendship with former My Kitchen Rules co-star Pete Evans, and revealed his feelings about working alongside a new celebrity chef in the upcoming season, reports News Corp’s Bronte Coy.
The pair appeared together as judges on the Channel Seven cooking show for 10 years before it was announced in 2020 that the show was being “rested” amid dismal ratings for its eleventh season.
Speaking on news.com.au’s podcast I’ve Got News For You, Feildel was asked if he missed Evans while shooting the new season.
“Of course, Pete and I have known each other for a long time, we’re still good friends today, so yeah – missing that,” he told host Andrew Bucklow.
Winners of hit new reality show Hunted plan to use prize money to start families
In their very different ways, the two winners of the first season of the hit reality show Hunted – in which nine teams of two tried to evade capture for 21 days while being pursued by dozens of former cops and surveillance experts – each felt they had something to prove to the world, reports Nine Publishing’s Karl Quinn.
“I’m the type of person who plans, then over-plans, and then plans again on top of that,” says Rob Harneiss, a 33-year-old married hairdresser from WA. “There’s a certain perception about what I do, so I felt they wouldn’t expect that from me.”
Melburnian Stathi Vamvoulidis, 35, who competed with his friend Matt Bergin, also wanted to shift perceptions. “We were gay men wanting to defy some stereotypes, but also to reinforce some others,” he says. “It’s really important to show the queer community is not just creative artists – we can excel in an operational game-play strategy environment. When we grew up in the 1980s, early ’90s, our community didn’t really have that visibility.”
As the winners of 10’s surprise hit – it has averaged more than a million viewers per episode – Vamvoulidis and Harneiss got to split a prize pool of $100,000. Each plans to use that money to start a family: Vamvoulidis, who is single, through surrogacy, Harneiss and his wife Prue through IVF.