Chef de mission salutes gold standard

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Original article by Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 27 : 9-Aug-21

Australia’s chef de mission Ian Chesterman has praised the nation’s Olympics team for its performance in Tokyo, as well as the organisers of the Covid-delayed sporting event. He believes that Japan is the only nation that could have successfully held the Olympics during a pandemic, and describes the Tokyo Olympics as "the Games of our times". Australia won a record-equalling 17 gold medals in Tokyo, plus seven silver and 22 bronze. The nation finished sixth overall on the medal tally; Japan was in third place, behind China and the US.

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Live music industry prepares for a quiet, sad summer

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Original article by Kelly Burke
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 9-Aug-21

The UK recently announced a Stg750 million government-backed insurance scheme to help provide the live music and entertainment sector with a financial buffer against future lockdowns, and the federal government is being urged to do the same for the Australian live music sector. Annabelle Herd, who is the CEO of ARIA and PPCA, claims it will be a "quiet and sad summer" for the live music sector if a scheme similar to the one in the UK is not put in place. It was stated that recently that over 28,000 live events have been cancelled since 1 July, leading to losses of over $84 million.

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AUSTRALIAN RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, PPCA

Australian employment dropped by 176,000 in July as all five mainland States experienced lockdowns

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Aug-21

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows that 1.42 million Australians were unemployed in July, up 28,000 on June, for an unemployment rate of 9.7% (up 0.3% points). Some 1.33 million Australians were under-employed (up 77,000 on June), for an under-employment rate of 9.1% (up 0.6% points). In total, 2.76 million Australians (18.8% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in July, an increase of 105,000 on June. The increase was driven by increases in both unemployment and under-employment. Meanwhile, employment was down by 176,000 to 13,198,000 in July, including 8,765,000 workers employed full-time, a drop of 61,000 from June. There was also a decrease in part-time employment, down by 115,000 to 4,433,000. Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 9.7% for July is nearly 5% points higher than the current ABS estimate for June 2021 of 4.9%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

ViacomCBS launches Paramount+

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Original article by Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 9-Aug-21

The new Paramount+ subscription video-on-demand service will offer a range of exclusive international content and new locally-produced drama when it debuts in Australia on 11 August. ViacomCBS has also invested some $300m on sports broadcasting rights, with soccer competitions such as the A-League and W-League to be shown on both Paramount+ and the Ten Network. Unlike rival streaming services such as Stan and Binge, Paramount+ will have direct access to the output of US film and television studios.

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VIACOMCBS INCORPORATED, PARAMOUNT+, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, THE A LEAGUE PTY LTD, THE W LEAGUE PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, BINGE

Foxtel’s Kayo, Binge drive growth back to profit

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Original article by Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 7-Aug-21

Media giant News Corporation has posted a 2020-21 net profit of $US389m ($525.6m), compared with a loss of $US1.55bn for the previous financial year. Revenue rose four per cent year-on-year to $US9.36bn, while EBITDA was up 26 per cent at $US1.27bn. Meanwhile, News Corp Australia’s revenue was one per cent lower than previously, but the revenue of pay-TV group Foxtel was boosted by strong growth in subscriptions for its Binge and Kayo streaming services.

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NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, BINGE, KAYO SPORTS

It’s a tricky path trying to steer between the prevailing greed and hysteria

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Original article by Terry McCrann
Sunday Herald Sun – Page: 50 & 51 : 8-Aug-21

Data from Roy Morgan shows that 28,000 Australians lost their jobs in July, amid the fifth lockdown in Victoria and the ongoing lockdown in New South Wales. Roy Morgan estimates that 1.4 million Australians were unemployed in July, while an addition 1.33 million were under-employed. These figures do not take into account the full impact of the NSW lockdown and the latest lockdowns in Victoria and Queensland. Meanwhile, official jobs data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for July will not be available for another two weeks, and will cover only the first two weeks of the month. The big question is whether state governments will continue to impose job-destroying lockdowns if the vaccination target of 70-80 per cent of Australians is reached and the nation is still recording new COVID-19 cases and deaths.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Inconsistent YouTube rules challenged by Sky

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 21 : 9-Aug-21

Sky News Australia CEO Paul Whittaker has asked YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki for a clearer explanation as to why 21 of Sky’s videos were removed from its platform and why it was banned from uploading content for seven days. Whittaker contends that YouTube’s policies on COVID-19 are "internally inconsistent and incapable of compliance", while he has asked for an explanation of remarks made by YouTube to other media groups as to why Sky was suspended. YouTube was apparently quoted as saying it was suspended for "content that denies the existence of COVID-19". Whittaker says Sky absolutely rejects that suggestion.

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SKY NEWS, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED

CBA buyback tipped as earnings swell

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 18 : 9-Aug-21

The consensus of analysts polled by Bloomberg is for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to post a 2020-21 cash profit of $8.62bn. This compares with $7.2bn for the previous financial year. CBA’s dividend payout for the full year is expected to be $3.427 per share, with investors having received an interim dividend of $1.50. Meanwhile, Brian Johnson of Jefferies expects CBA to return surplus capital to investors via a $5.5bn off-market buyback. National Australia Bank and the ANZ Bank both recently announced buybacks.

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COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, JEFFERIES AND COMPANY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Seven strikes gold with Games coverage

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Original article by Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 9-Aug-21

The Tokyo Olympic Games have been a ratings boon for the Seven Network, with new data showing that 19.95 million Australians watched its coverage of the first 11 days of the showcase event. Viewers have also embraced Seven’s streaming coverage, watching more 4.6 billion minutes via 7plus during the first 14 days of the Olympics. Seven now boasts some 9.1 million registered users of 7plus, up from 6.4 million prior to the Olympics. Chief digital officer Gereurd Roberts says the strong growth in uptake of the free streaming service demonstrates the power of the Olympics and the success of Seven’s strategy.

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SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, 7PLUS

Sixth death linked to AstraZeneca clotting

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Original article by Rachel Clun, Mary Ward, Lucy Carroll
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 6-Aug-21

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has advised that a 34-year-old woman in New South Wales has died from a rare blood clotting disorder just over a week after receiving AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. It is Australia’s sixth confirmed death from thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, which has been linked to the AstraZeneca jab. There have now been 93 confirmed cases of TTS nationwide. One Australian has also died from immune thrombocytopenia after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

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AUSTRALIA. THERAPEUTIC GOODS ADMINISTRATION