John Laws makes final broadcast
30Nov07

Source: Arjun Ramachandran, Sydney Morning Herald

 

Radio host John Laws has signed off from radio by thanking his
listeners and asking them to "be kind to each other".

The man known as "Golden Tonsils" retired from radio station 2UE
today after his regular morning talkback program.

"I’ve not written a goodbye … I simply say goodbye in my own
way," Laws said at the end of the program.

"You know how I feel, I don’t have to tell you how I feel,
because you’re listeners.

"I’m here now to simply say thank you very much for being
there.

"I thank you for listening and I hope you can be kind to each
other."

Laws said it would be strange not being able to broadcast his
opinions on current affairs anymore.

"[I'll think] how I’ll have something to say about that tomorrow
but I’ll have no one to say it to.”

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Popularity: 1%

Seven dwarfs former broadcast giant
29Nov07

Source: Amanda Meade , The Australian   

THE
Seven Network has won the television ratings race for the first time in
a non-Olympics year since 1980, overtaking the vanquished Nine Network
by more than two share points.

Channel 7 CEO David Lecke happy to win this years TV rattings. Picture: Lindsay Moller

Seven’s
winning share, ahead of the last day of the official 40-week OzTAM
ratings year on Saturday, is 29.0, Nine’s is 26.9, Ten’s is 22.3, the
ABC’s 16.6 and SBS’s 5.5.

Seven’s chief executive David Leckie declined an interview with
Media yesterday, saying he preferred to let the record speak for
itself.

Australian advertising guru and Mitchell Communication Group
executive chairman Harold Mitchell said Mr Leckie could take the credit
for the resurgence.

"He invented the meaning of the word momentum in television
operations, and Seven has it. You’ve got plenty of competition now that
he has raised the bar to a very high level."

Last week Mr Mitchell said Seven was set to break through the magic
40 per cent revenue share barrier in the $2.8 billion metropolitan TV
advertising market for the first time.

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Popularity: 1%

Nine’s new look after year to forget
29Nov07

Source: Michael Bodey, The Australian

THE
chief executive of the besieged Nine Network, David Gyngell, has turned
defence into attack by announcing a rebranding of the network and
unveiling 40 new programs for 2008.

In his first
industry address since resuming Nine’s reins last month, Mr Gyngell
last night admitted to an audience of advertisers, staff, media, CVC
Asia Pacific boss Adrian MacKenzie and WIN-group owner Bruce Gordon,
that by his and Nine’s standards, "2007 hasn’t been our greatest year".

"There’s some history to all that, which everyone here knows. That’s by no means an excuse, rather a reality," he said.

He committed to helping return Nine "to its historical profitable
position of pre-eminence in Australian television" with a mix of
rebranding, broader revenue streams, renewed focus on audience and a
doubling of Nine’s marketing spend.

"We will drive audience engagement and compete 24 hours a day, every
week: not just in prime time, or 25-54, or grocery buyers, but in each
audience target that is relevant to our key programs, and we will be
flexible," he said.

Typical of this push is a renewed focus on the daytime schedule,
including the reintroduction of Wide World Of Sports on weekends. The
network will also abandon its unofficial "all things to all people"
strategy for more specific targeting and a "sexier" feel.

Its focus will extend beyond the 40 weeks of the ratings year to
summer, when its cricket schedule offers strong promotional and
advertising opportunities.

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Popularity: 1%

Westacott’s a “fuc*ing idiot”: Gyngell
29Nov07

Source: MediaSpy

Nine Network chief David Gyngell has labelled his own news boss “a f…ing idiot” for telling dumped reporter Christine Spiteri she would be better off at SBS.

Sources yesterday confirmed that Gyngell blasted news chief John Westacott for
telling the Maltese reporter that “with a surname like Spiteri you
should try SBS” as he told her her contract would not be renewed -
while she was on maternity leave.

As Spiteri prepared to turn to the courts to fight her axing, Nine
sources yesterday accused her of “mischief-making”, saying she was
“bitter to the core” after being denied her dream role of news
presenter.

“She’s no newsreader. Pregnant or not, she wasn’t good enough for a
newsreading role,” a management source said yesterday. The former Los
Angeles correspondent is due to return to Nine when her year’s
maternity leave ends in January.

It is understood she has been offered either her former LA role or a
role in the Sydney newsroom until her contract expires in March.

While Gyngell yesterday blasted Westacott over his SBS comment, he is believed to have backed his decision.

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Popularity: 1%

Macquarie hunts for regional radio
28Nov07

Source: Nick Tabakoff, The Australian

THE
John Singleton-controlled Macquarie Radio Network – owner of Sydney’s
top-rating radio station, 2GB – says it is keen to buy radio networks
with a prominent regional presence, such as Bill Caralis’s 2SM
Supernetwork, as it looks to maximise the value it gets out of its
multi-million-dollar salary bill for on-air staff.

Macquarie
Radio chief executive Angela Clark told The Australian yesterday she
was looking for a broader audience outside of Sydney for the company’s
content, through measures such as moving into regional radio and
launching a national expansion of the company’s new website,
Livenews.com.au.

“What I’m saying is that regional radio stations teamed with metro
has some logic,” Ms Clark said. “We have from time to time looked at
the possibilities of a regional network combined with a Sydney network.
I think there are still some compelling arguments as to why that would
be, you know, a good idea.”

Ms Clark has become the second radio boss in less than a week to
admit to looking for new regional radio acquisitions. Prime Television
CEO Warwick Syphers last week said he was looking to challenge
Macquarie Media’s regional radio dominance through radio purchases on
the eastern seaboard, including the 2SM Supernetwork, after recently
building a network of rural stations in Queensland.

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Popularity: 1%

New England/North West/ Mid North Coast TV ratings week 46
26Nov07

Most watched programs:

1    Spicks & Specks    ABC    54000
2    Prime News Monday to Friday    PRIME    50000
3    The Chaser Decides 2007    ABC    47000
4    Who Wants To Be A Millionaire    NBN    46000
5    Better Homes & Gardens    PRIME    45000
6    TEN News Sunday    TEN    45000
7    Surf Patrol    PRIME    45000
8    Border Security    PRIME    43000
9    20 to 1    NBN    42000
10  All Saints   PRIME  41000

Station ratings:

            Week 47 2007    Week 47 2006    Prog 2007    Prog 2006
NBN            27.3                    35.7                30.3            33.8
PRIME        28.9                    29.6                31.6            29.6
TEN            21.2                    18.5                19.5            20.3
ABC            18.4                    12.7                13.9            12.2
SBS             4.3                      3.6                  4.6              4.2

Popularity: 1%

Newcastle TV ratings week 47
26Nov07

Most watched programs:

1    City Homicide    PRIME    96000
2    Dancing With The Stars 7    PRIME    93000
3    NBN Evening News Sunday    NBN    85000
4    All Saints    PRIME    84000
5    NBN Evening News Monday to Friday    NBN    76000
6    The Brief    ABC    75000
7    Criminal Minds    PRIME    75000
8    CSI: Crime Scene Investigation    NBN    74000
9    Better Homes & Gardens    PRIME    72000
10  House 4    TEN   71000

Station ratings:

            Week 47 2007    Week 47 2006    Prog 2007    Prog 2006
NBN            29.7                    38.5                33.8            36.6
PRIME        27.1                    24.8                25.3            22.4
TEN            18.8                    16.3                18.5            19.2
ABC            18.3                    14.9                16.4            16.2
SBS            6.0                        5.5                5.9               5.6

Popularity: 1%

Election Week TV Ratings
26Nov07

Source: David Dale, Sydney Morning Herald

When big events happen, Australians prefer calm, sensible reportage –
even with occasional computer glitches — to bells and whistles.
Channel Seven shot itself in the foot by promising its election
coverage would be a laugh a minute.

Mel and Kochy and that panel of boofy boys who kept interrupting each
other averaged only 967,000 viewers in the mainland capitals, while the
ABC, with Kerry O’Brien, Julia Gillard and Nick Minchin, averaged 1.1
million.

Nine’s Grumpy Old Men — Ray Martin, Laurie Oakes and Joe Hockey,
plus a token Tanya — averaged just 763,000, which meant the Nine
coverage fell behind Ten’s repeat of The Empire Strikes Back (869,000). Well, Empire IS the best of the Star Wars Series.

This column was shocked on Saturday night to discover we’d been a
more accurate predicter of the election result than many pollsters.
Last week The Tribal Mind observed that the nation has been in a "sit
forward" mood this year, which was reflected in higher audiences for
Channel Seven and lower audiences for Channel Nine.

In fact, the fortunes of Nine and Seven were running parallel with
the fortunes of John Howard and Kevin Rudd.
Working out a "two party preferred" vote based on the two networks’
shares of the prime time audience, we said Rudd would draw "just over
52 per cent " and Howard would draw "just below 48 per cent". We can’t
wait till the 2010 election to see if ratings-based psephology works
again.

Seven won last week with an average of 28.9 per cent of the prime
time audience, with Nine on 26.5, Ten on 20.8, ABC on 19.0 and SBS on
4.8.

What Australia watched, week ending 24/11/2007
1 CITY HOMICIDE Seven 1,763,000
2 SURF PATROL Seven 1,687,000
3 BORDER SECURITY (R) Seven 1,685,000
4 DANCING WITH THE STARS Seven 1,646,000
5 CSI Nine 1,443,000
6 THE CHASER DECIDES 2007 ABC 1,418,000
7 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,404,000
8 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,403,000

9 60 MINUTES Nine 1,368,000
10 HOUSE 4 Ten 1,359,000
11 MISSING PERSONS UNIT Nine 1,343,000
12 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 1,341,000
13 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 1,332,000
14 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,329,000
15 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,301,000

Popularity: 1%

Prime TV sends out challenge to Mac
23Nov07

Source: Nick Tabakoff
, The Australian   

THE
Seven Network’s main regional affiliate, Prime Television, has outlined
ambitious plans to take on Macquarie Media Group’s dominance of
regional radio.

Prime
is planning a series of radio takeovers, particularly in NSW and
Victoria, with the aim of increasing cross-promotion between the two
media.

In an exclusive interview on the subject with The Australian, Prime
general manager Warwick Syphers indicated an interest in a number of
regional radio operators, including Bill Caralis’s 2SM Supernetwork
(with more than 20 stations in NSW and Queensland), Janet Cameron’s
Grant Broadcasters (which has a national collection) and the
Victorian-based ACE Radio. (Editor’s note: Newcastle stations NEWFM and 2HD are part of the Supernetwork).

"It’s possible," Mr Syphers said. "I’m not going to say we’ll take
all their licences, because there might be some markets that don’t pass
the test. But there are others that would."

Prime has quietly built its network in Queensland in recent months
to 10 stations from Maroochydore to Cairns. But the relaxation of
cross-media rules earlier this year allows Prime to own both TV and
radio stations in individual markets – clearing the path for further
acquisitions.

Asked after the company’s annual general meeting yesterday about its
agenda to diversify as a media player – in the wake of a vote by
shareholders to rename the company Prime Media Group – Mr Syphers made
it clear the company’s radio play had only just begun.

"The big one is obviously Macquarie (Media) – it has now gone into
television," he said. "Is there something as big as Macquarie out
there? No. Are there other (radio) networks? Yes. They just haven’t
come on to the market."

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Popularity: 1%

Labor to shake up media
22Nov07

Source: AdNews, 22 November 2007

CANBERRA: The Australian Labor Party is promising to shake up the media industry if elected on Saturday (24 November).

Stephen Conroy, Labor’s shadow communications minister, has commented that Labor may offer a fourth free-to-air television license to enhance diversity.

Conroy also stated that Labor plans to give the Australian Competition and Consumer Competition (ACCC) greater powers to scrutinise media deals and acquisitions.

According to media reports, Labor has also announced 31 December 2013 as the firm switch-off date of analogue to digital TV.

Labor is expected to formally announce its media policies today (22 November), including its position on the introduction of a dedicated ABC children’s channel without junk food advertising.

Popularity: 5%