MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Nine mulls future of talkback amid exits and cuts

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 9-Dec-24

Nine Entertainment’s radio division posted revenue of $103m in 2023, compared with $131.8m in 2019. Nine Radio contributes less than four per cent of the listed media group’s overall revenue, and 1.6 per cent of group EBITDA. Nine’s flagship radio stations are focused on talkback, which is competing with podcasts and streaming music platforms for audiences. Nine Radio director Tom Malone is confident about the future of the group’s radio arm. However, further on-air changes at Nine’s radio stations are possible following an overhaul at 6PR in Perth, where a recent ‘reset’ resulted in several presenters being axed and the breakfast show being extended by an hour.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE RADIO PTY LTD, 6PR SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD

Australia Post, ABC, Aussie Broadband, CSIRO and Red Cross win most trusted services and communications brands in 2024

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Dec-24

Roy Morgan has presented the annual Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards for services companies and communications brands. Over 200 brands were in the running for these awards, across the five categories of Services, Charities, Government Services, Media and Telecommunications. Aussie Broadband has been named Australia’s ‘Most Trusted Brand in Telecommunications’ for a third consecutive year, ahead of Amaysim and TPG. Red Cross has won the ‘Most Trusted Brand in Charities’ Award for the first time, ahead of the RSPCA and The Salvation Army. The ‘Most Trusted Brand in Services’ award has been won by Australia Post, one of the few brands that touches nearly all Australians on a frequent basis. The ABC has in turn been named the ‘Most Trusted Media Brand’, having led this category since the inception of the survey six years ago, while the CSIRO is the winner of the ‘Most Trusted Brand in Government Services’ for 2024.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSSIE BROADBAND LIMITED – ASX ABB, RED CROSS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA POST, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, CSIRO

Broadcasters go all in on reality shows

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 17 : 3-Dec-24

The Nine Network’s head of programming Hamish Turner notes that the death of reality television had been forecast two decades ago. However, the format remains as popular as ever, and research from Ampere Analysis has found that unscripted shows now account for 75 per cent of all TV programs that are commissioned worldwide. Unscripted shows also comprise four out of every five TV shows that are commissioned in Australia. Local free-to-air networks will rely heavily on reality TV again in 2025; the Ten Network will broadcast the latest iteration of ‘Big Brother’, more than 20 years after launching the format in Australia.

CORPORATES
NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, AMPERE ANALYSIS

14.8 million Australians read magazines in print or online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Nov-24

The Roy Morgan Australian Readership report for the 12 months to September 2024 shows that 11.5 million Australians aged 14+ (51.1%) now read print magazines. This market broadens to 14.8 million Australians aged 14+ (65.6%) who read magazines in print or online either via the web or an app. There were widespread increases in print readership over the last year with six magazine categories increasing their readership. The most widely read magazine category continues to be Food & Entertainment, with a massive readership of 7,408,000, over 3 million ahead of any other magazine category and reaching nearly a third of the population. Better Homes & Gardens is still Australia’s most widely read paid magazine, with print readership of 1,825,000 (up 1.1 per cent from a year ago), ahead of The Australian Women’s Weekly on 1.2 million. These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 64,871 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to September 2024.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

News Publishing reaches 21.8 million Australians with engagement across multiple brands

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Nov-24

The latest Total News Publishing readership figures from Roy Morgan show that news now reaches 21.8 million Australians aged 14+ each month, and 18.4 million every week. The Roy Morgan data underscores the depth and diversity of Australians’ engagement with news; some 93 per cent of Australians read up to five news brands every month, 63% engage with at least three categories in any given month and 51% engage with four or more news brands. However, General News remains the most read category at 93% of the population. These figures shine a light on the variety of news publishing content and the passions of highly engaged and attentive audiences that advertisers can tap into. The Total News Publishing audience data is based on monthly readership averaged over the 12 months to September 2024.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Crown versus Alan Jones, accused sexual predator

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Original article by Stephen Lunn, Liam Mendes, Ellie Dudley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 19-Nov-24

Veteran broadcaster Alan Jones was charged on Monday with 24 counts of historical sexual and assault ­offences by NSW police, with his lawyer, Chris Murphy, saying Jones "denies any misconduct" and will "assert" his innocence in court. The charges followed Jones’ arrest at his Circular Quay apartment at around 7.45am, with his alleged offences involving eight males. Assistant commissioner in charge of state crimes Michael Fitzgerald told a press conference that the youngest of Jones’s alleged victims was 17, and that police ­believe more people would come forward with allegations against Jones; Jones was granted conditional bail to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on 18 December.

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ABC sorry for fake gunshot in Afghanistan stories

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth, James Madden
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Nov-24

The interim report of an independent review of the ABC’s ‘fake audio’ scandal has concluded that there is no evidence that the public broadcaster’s employees had any intention to mislead audiences by doctoring the Afghanistan footage. However, director of news Justin Stevens has released a statement on the ABC’s website in which he says the broadcaster "sincerely regrets and apologises" for the editing errors which resulted in additional gunshots being added to the video footage of an Australian military operation in Afghanistan. Stevens also said the video editor who had worked on the stories has left the ABC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

A giant of Australian journalism, George Negus dies at 82

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 16-Oct-24

Media industry identities have paid tribute to veteran journalist George Negus, following his death at the age of 82. Negus was one of the founding team of reporters on the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes program, while he was also a presenter on the ABC’s Foreign Corresponde and SBS’s Dateline in a career that spanned both print and broadcast journalism. Negus had been coping with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in recent years, and his family has released a statement advising that he died "surrounded by loved ones" after a "gracious decline" from the disease.

CORPORATES
NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Nine exec quits before cultural review hits

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 15-Oct-24

Nine Entertainment has lost another executive, with the departure of its director of communications and public relations, Victoria Buchan. Interim CEO Matt Stanton has indicated that her exit was by mutual agreement as part of a restructuring of the media group’s leadership team. Buchan’s departure is not believed to be linked to the upcoming release of the findings of an independent review of Nine’s workplace culture. The review was sparked by the exit of Darren Wick, the former director of news and current affairs; Buchan is said to have been close to Wick, who had been accused of inappropriate conduct.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

A numbers game: how NRL can claim it’s the most watched sport

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 8-Oct-24

Data from OzTAM shows that the NRL Grand Final on Sunday attracted a national television audience of 3.4 million. The AFL Grand Final a week earlier was watched by 4.06 million people. However, the NRL’s premiership showdown was viewed by 762,000 people via the Nine Network’s free 9Now streaming platform, compared with a streaming audience of 654,000 for the AFL season decider via the rival 7plus app. NRL CEO Andrew Abdo contends that rugby league has a larger TV audience than any other sports code in Australia. The NRL will soon begin to negotiate a new broadcasting rights deal beyond 2027.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, 9NOW, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, 7PLUS, OZTAM PTY LTD