MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Ads on Foxtel’s Binge make it 30pc more profitable

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 23-Dec-22

Binge has opted for a different path to advertising-supported streaming than international rival Netflix, which launched a brand-new tier with ads in early November. Foxtel-owned Binge will instead introduce advertisements to one of its existing tiers in March. Foxtel Media CEO Mark Frain says modelling suggests that this strategy will make it a 30 per cent more profitable product. Foxtel Media is already selling advertising packages for Binge, and Frain notes that they are proving to be very popular with advertisers. He forecasts that Binge’s advertising revenue will be within the range of $50m to $100m within several years.

CORPORATES
BINGE, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MEDIA, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Low-budget mindset holds back Aussie TV

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Original article by Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 21-Dec-22

It is estimated that it typically costs between $2m and $2.5m to produce one hour of premium Australian drama. This compares with $US5m to $US7m ($7.5m to $10.4m) an hour for premium streaming content in the US. Former Nine Entertainment CEO Hugh Marks contends that Australia can produce drama programs on this scale, but the focus needs to shift from the current emphasis on quotas regarding the number of hours of local content that TV networks must broadcast. He argues that Australia must produce content that will appeal to global audiences, and that the industry must become more open to overseas funding sources. Marks is now the co-CEO of production and distribution studio Dreamchaser.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DREAMCHASER

Defamation reforms: Australian media may not be liable for Facebook comments in future

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Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 14-Dec-22

A proposed overhaul of Australia’s uniform defamation laws will include the addition of an "innocent dissemination defence". This would protect individuals and organisations that administer Facebook pages from being sued for defamation over comments that were posted by third parties. The proposed reforms follow a 2021 court ruling which found that media companies could be liable for defamatory comments posted on their Facebook pages by people who read or view their content. The Standing Council of Attorneys-General has given in-principle support to the reforms.

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FACEBOOK, AUSTRALIA. STANDING COUNCIL OF ATTORNEYS-GENERAL

MEAA to review standards for Clarion media awards after Walkley Foundation rescinds its award

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: Online : 24-Nov-22

The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance will undertake a review of the state-based Clarion awards. The review has been prompted by the fallout arising from the Walkley award that was given to a news story on former federal MP Andrew Laming which was subsequently found to have been defamatory. Nine Entertainment journalists Peter Fegan and Rebeka Powell also won a Clarion award for their articles on Laming, who intends to make a submission to the MEAA’s review. The Walkley Foundation recently decided to rescind the Walkley award of Fegan and Powell.

CORPORATES
MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, WALKLEY FOUNDATION FOR JOURNALISM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Australian TV news presenters still mostly white, report shows, sparking row over balance

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Original article by Mostafa Rachwani
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 23-Nov-22

A new report highlights the lack of diversity among Australian television news and current affairs presenters. The report from Media Diversity Australia shows that 78 per cent of TV journalists have an Anglo-Celtic background, up from 75.8 per cent in 2020; meanwhile, people from a non-European background account for just 6.1 per cent of appearances on news and current affairs programs, despite comprising 24.7 per cent of the nation’s population. The report is based on a sample of free-to-air news and current affairs programs over a two-week period in June. The ABC’s Gavin Fang says the sample size was not large enough, while restricting it to one media format is also a shortcoming.

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MEDIA DIVERSITY AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Review into ABC and SBS financial stability

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: Online : 16-Nov-22

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has advised that her department has commenced a review of the ABC and SBS that will examine measures to support the stability and independence of the public broadcasters. Rowland disclosed details of review while attending a function organised by ABC Friends, which is not affiliated with the ABC. She emphasised that the review will not consider issues such as funding of the ABC and SBS or proposals to merge them. The review will include public consultation in 2023.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Cricket chiefs look to post a big score

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 19 : 14-Nov-22

Sources have indicated that Cricket Australia was "underwhelmed" by the initial ­offers for the next broadcasting rights deal and has asked broadcasters to make new submissions. Seven West Media and Foxtel paid $1.18bn for the current rights deal, which expires in two years’ time. Seven and Nine Entertainment are believed to have offered around $50m per year solely for Test match rights, while Ten and Foxtel are said to have pitched for the rights to all international and domestic matches. CA’s negotiations with broadcasters follows Nine’s recent renewal of its rights deal with Tennis Australia in a new five-year deal worth a record $425m.

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CRICKET AUSTRALIA, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Streaming services come to the rescue of local TV drama

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Original article by Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 14-Nov-22

Data from Screen Australia shows that pay-TV and subscription streaming services spent $445m on producing Australian drama in 2021-22. In contrast, the nation’s free-to-air broadcasters invested just $208m in local dramas during the last financial year. Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason says streaming services are producing more Australian drama because they know local audiences want to see Australian stories on the screen. However, Mason advocates imposing local content quotas on international streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+.

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SCREEN AUSTRALIA, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, DISNEY+

‘Stuck in a rut’: Diversity rules to be overhauled in major media reform

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Age – Page: Online : 14-Nov-22

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland is to ask the Australian Communications and Media Authority to review current rules that measure and determine the diversity of Australia’s media, with a view to having them revamped. Rowland will tell the Communications and Media Law Association Seminar on 4 November that media policy had been "stuck in a rut" under the previous government, while any change to the way that media diversity is measured could have a big impact on the way that media companies approach further consolidation in the future.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA LAW ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

ABC warns national anti-corruption commission could investigate journalists’ work

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Oct-22

The ABC has raised a number of concerns in its submission to a parliamentary inquiry on the proposed National Anti-Corruption Commission. The public broadcaster said the definition of corruption means the legitimate work of ABC journalists could come under scrutiny by the NACC if they receive confidential government information or documents in the normal course of their work. The ABC has called for editorial work to be excluded from the scope of the NACC’s powers. The Australia’s Right To Know Coalition in turn has expressed concern that warrants could be used to reveal journalists’ sources.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA’S RIGHT TO KNOW COALITION OF MEDIA COMPANIES