Business of Media
Three Clarion awards for stories on Andrew Laming rescinded
Three journalism awards have been stripped from reporters in one of the biggest reversals of media honours in the profession’s history, reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
The awards were given at Queensland’s state-based Clarion Awards in 2021 for reports on alleged misconduct by former federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming.
The board of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance announced on Monday they had agreed to withdraw three awards including for the best broadcast interview, TV news report and journalist of the year.
Reports by Nine Queensland’s Peter Fegan and Rebeka Powell included false claims Dr Laming upskirted a woman and it won them three 2021 Clarion Awards.
In a statement published by the MEAA it said: “The board of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has resolved to withdraw three Clarion awards that were issued for coverage of Dr Andrew Laming in March 2021.
Television
Melbourne actor Alex Williams transforms into Shane Warne for spin king telemovie
First pictures of the actor who will play cricket legend Shane Warne in an upcoming telemovie have surfaced, reports News Corp’s Nui Te Koha.
With bleached blonde hair, a slight tan and zinc sunscreen on his lips, Melbourne actor Alex Williams transformed into the spin king for Nine’s two-part drama series Warnie.
Other reveals include Marny Kennedy as Warne’s wife Simone, Jacquie Brennan as Warne’s mother Brigitte, Shanti Kali as Warne’s girlfriend — British actor Elizabeth Hurley — and Tom Stokes as Australia cricket great Steve Waugh.
Miranda Tapsell opens up on ‘surprising’ reaction to Get Krack!n racism monologue
When Miranda Tapsell appeared on a satire of breakfast TV four years ago and bared her fury at the way the media had been stoking the fires of racism and xenophobia, she also braced herself for a backlash, reports the ABC’s Georgia Hitch.
“I was so surprised by how people reacted to it,” she told David Wenham for ABC TV’s The ABC Of…
The scene was part of ABC TV comedy show Get Krack!n, where comedians Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan poked fun at the breakfast television industry.
Tapsell, a Larrakia woman originally from Darwin, and episode co-host Nakkiah Lui, a Gamilaroi and Torres Strait Islander woman, starred in the final episode of the show’s 2019 season.
In a goosebump-inducing final scene, Tapsell — sick of listening to three white, faux commentators giving their two cents on whether racism exists — takes to her feet and interjects, delivering a searing monologue about the media’s attacks on marginalised groups.
What David Koch’s departure means for Australian TV’s breakfast wars
Welcome to the third decade of Australia’s own morning wars. In one corner: Today’s Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo. And in the other: Sunrise’s Natalie Barr and … who, asks Nine Publishing’s Neil McMahon?
That is the biggest question in Australian television after Monday’s surprise announcement from Sunrise co-host David Koch that he is hanging up his breakfast boots after 21 years of gangbusters ratings success.
He leaves behind a remarkable television success story. After nearly two decades in the role, he leaves behind a show with a relatively strong set of ratings figures— and a co-host, in Barr, who has been an early morning fixture for 15 years. She was the pre-dawn newsreader, then the Sunrise newsreader, and since 2021 has been Koch’s co-host.
Like Koch, she is a great survivor in a time slot often marked by turbulence.
Koch leaves Barr with Seven settled in a comfortable ratings position — Nine and Seven spar over the demographic breakdowns and viewer numbers in certain capital cities, but the overall figures are still in Seven’s favour. One morning last week, Sunrise even cracked the overall ratings top 20 — rarefied air for breakfast television, and a sign that while free-to-air viewer numbers have taken a battering in prime time, the morning routine remains a key battleground.
While the ABC’s News Breakfast team of Michael Rowland and Lisa Millar have occasionally crept into second-place in the ratings battle, it’s the battle for the commercial juggernauts that attracts most of the attention.
See Also: “Younger and better looking”: Kochie comments on his Sunrise replacement
Why an obscure baseballer from 100 years ago could have spoiled Succession finale
This story contains spoilers for season four of Succession.
When one major character outmanoeuvred the Roy siblings, getting himself named as the US executive running Waystar Royco for GoJo at the end of a rollicking finale of the HBO series Succession, it likely came as a shock to many of the viewers at home. But to fans of baseball’s early days, and internet conspiracy theorists, the signs were there for Tom Wambsgans to come out on top, besting three competitors at the same time, reports Nine Publishing’s Benjamin Hoffman.
“It’s me,” Wambsgans said to his wife, Shiv Roy.
The clues were there for some, thanks to Bill Wambsganss, a second baseman for Cleveland from 1914 to 1923. Wambsganss didn’t hit much, and there’s little indication he was a stellar base runner or a top-notch fielder. But he had one moment of pure glory, turning the first — and only — unassisted triple play in World Series history.
Tom Wambsgans also did not stand out to many before the finale for much beyond his poor treatment of Cousin Greg and his destructive relationship with his wife. But his unusual surname, and the notion that he would have to knock out three opponents at once, caught fire on social media in recent days, thanks to a viral TikTok by Sophie Kihm, the editor-in-chief of Nameberry, an online catalogue of baby names.
Succession finale drew 2.9 million US viewers, a series high
The series finale of Succession drew 2.9 million viewers on Sunday night, a viewership high for the decorated HBO drama, the network said on Tuesday, reports The New York Times’ John Koblin.
That audience was a considerable improvement from the Season 3 finale, which had 1.7 million viewers on the night it premiered, in December 2021. For the fourth and final season, HBO said that Succession was averaging 8.7 million viewers per episode, including delayed viewing, also a new high for the show.
The ratings put an exclamation point on an improbable 39-episode run for Succession, which debuted in 2018 to modest expectations and turned into a critics’ favorite and an awards show beast. In addition to multiple Golden Globes wins, Succession has won 13 Emmys, including best drama (2020 and 2022), acting honors (Jeremy Strong, Matthew Macfadyen) and best writing (three times for the show’s creator, Jesse Armstrong).
Even with those highs, Succession remains somewhat of a niche series, particularly compared with some of HBO’s other recent hits. The second season of The White Lotus, which concluded in December, averaged 15.5 million viewers per episode, nearly double the viewers for the final season of Succession. The second season of Euphoria, which premiered in early 2022, averaged 19.5 million viewers. And mega-hits like House of the Dragon and The Last of Us averaged roughly 30 million viewers per episode, according to the network.
Succession fans flock to Binge for final episode
The gripping finale of hit series Succession has become the most watched episode of the show within a 24-hour period on Foxtel’s streaming platform Binge, capping a final season that more than doubled viewership compared to the previous series, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
Data shared by Foxtel revealed the show, which traces the arc of the Roy family and their global media empire Waystar Royco, has built towards the finale.
“Succession is one of the most talked about shows in the world,” Binge executive director Alison Hurbert-Burns said. “We have seen the series grow season to season.”
The premiere of the last, fourth season more than doubled viewers from season three’s debut. Binge declined to give viewership data but Hubert-Burns said Monday night’s finale was up 166 per cent on the final episode of season three.
“Overall, season four was up 150 per cent on season three, and we know this will grow as more viewers catch up on demand,” she said.