I was recently interviewed by Amy Spear for a syndicated community radio program called Insight regarding advertising and the emerging digital and social media landscapes. The interview has since played on 50 radio stations around Australia.

Maybe the most remarkable aspect of this interview is that it has been generated by community radio, not the mainstream media who still seem either oblivious or opposed to this next generation of media thinking.

Also on the interview is Josh Grace, head of Direct Marketing at Leo Burnett.   
   

Source: Simon Canning, The Australian

THE ABC’s surprise hit of 2008, The Gruen Transfer, which wound up last night, may have unwittingly taught the advertising industry a lesson that for too long has fallen on deaf ears.

Over eight weeks, the show, which revealed the dark underbelly of the industry, attracted more than a million viewers per episode.

But has it been good or bad for adland?

The show’s producer, Jon Casimir, and Zapruder’s Other Films founder Andrew Denton set out two years ago to work out how to bring to life on TV what happens in the boardrooms of agencies.

The format was a big risk for everyone involved, from the ABC all the way down to those appearing on the show — and, of course, their clients.

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Source: Geoff Elliott, Washington correspondent, The Australian

It was in Knoxville, Tennessee where I was put in my place as a foreign correspondent covering a US election.

Democrat Harold Ford, a young, up-and-coming leader in the mould of Barack Obama, was running for a US senate seat andhe refused to answer any questions.

"We’re not talking to you, you don’t win us any votes," his spokeswoman helpfully informed me.

Never mind that Ford had just said in a speech that Australia wanted to pursue nuclear weapons (still waiting for a clarification on that Harold) but I’m not at all convinced his spokeswoman’s premise holds, at least if it is also framed in the negative.

Ford lost the election. He lost for many reasons (the Republican attack machine that created a racially coded advertisement was disgraceful) but on substance there’s a chance Ford’s gaffe as I reported could have cost him a couple of votes.

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Newcastle TV ratings week 30, 2008

Normal transmission returned to Newcastle TV viewing last week with Prime back in front of SC Ten and NBN way out in front as usual.

After a few weeks of SC TEN upsetting Prime’s normal second place standing, the ratings numbers fell back into their traditional order for week 30. The biggest surprise of the week was the massive Sunday night audience for NBN News when 143,000 viewers tuned in.

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National TV ratings by David Dale, Sun Herald blogs

It was back to domesticity and reassuring predictability in Australia’s entertainment choices last week. According to OzTAM, Channel Seven averaged 28.6 per cent of the prime time audience, scoring with its Sunday news, Better Homes and Gardens, City Homicide and RSPCA Animal Rescue.

Channel Nine got 25.9 per cent, thanks to 60 Minutes and Domestic Blitz. Only Wipeout suggested some viewers prefer a little edginess. Over the ratings year so far, Seven and Nine are neck and neck, each with 27.7 per cent of the audience.

Channel Ten (21.1 per cent last week) finally found an audience for Big Brother, which drew 1.4m for the announcement of its winner, but otherwise Ten could not get a program into the top 30 (see below). On the ABC (17 per cent), The Hollowmen have lost their sheen, dropping 200,000 to 907,000 (are viewers finding the show too cynical for these idealistic times?). But The Gruen Transfer and Spicks and Specks continue to soar, and Peter Cundall’s final appearance on Gardening Australia drew 932,000 on Saturday.

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Source: David Dale, Sydney Morning Herald

LAST week marked the end of Australia’s second age of television and the start of the third age. On Monday, Channel Ten farewelled Big Brother, and with it the notion that broadcast TV can save its own life by targeting viewers aged 16 to 39. On Wednesday, the ABC welcomed iView, and with it the notion that people who own computers need never use their TV sets again. Both hastened the doom of the networks as we know them.

The first age of television lasted from the mid-’50s to the mid-’80s, a period when the networks made and bought TV shows designed to appeal to everyone. The second age began when Channel Ten limited its audience to viewers aged 16 to 39, recognising that it could not compete with Nine and Seven for the mass market. The launch of Big Brother in 2001 was the pinnacle of this niche marketing.

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Source: Bernard Zuel, Sydney Morning Herald

He brought FM to Australia. Now the music industry
veteran plans to bombard listeners with radio opportunities.

Glenn Wheatley knows we are not exactly short of radio options
in Sydney. You can listen to more than two dozen stations, half of
them claiming to be music stations, though their bombardment of
commercials, inane announcers, severely restricted playlists and
risk aversion suggest music is anything but their focus.

It sounds more than enough, but Wheatley is banking on your
wanting 30, 40 or even 100 more - and being happy to pay for
it.

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The second radio ratings results of 2008 have given the struggling NEWFM a shot in the arm, delivering the station a slight increase of 0.8 in the overall ratings.

Guy Ashford, now the apparent NEWFM manager, told the Newcastle Herald that the small increase was a "welcome boost" for the station after the station had recorded its lowest ever ratings in Survey One of just 5.6%.

Media Hunter hears that station management were very happy with themselves when the results were announced yesterday. Ashford claimed that, "It’s a sign that we’ve bounced back and the tides are changing."

He told the Newcastle Herald: "NEWFM did lose its way but it’s back on track, and it’s going to offer NXFM some serious competition. Within 24 months we’ll be on an even playing field with NX."

Pardon? Even playing field with NXFM within 2 years? In the immortal words of Daryl Kerrigan in The Castle - Tell him he’s dreaming.

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Nine Press Release:

The Nine Network today announced the closure of the Sunday program from Sunday, August 3, to be replaced by a weekly one-hour News bulletin on Sundays at 8.00am.

Nine’s nightly late night news program, Nightline, will also wind up tonight, with the Network scheduling more newsbreaks through the evening to provide viewers with regular news updates.

The Network’s Director of News and Current Affairs, John Westacott, said the decision to close Sunday was difficult but inevitable.

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Note: Blatant self-promotion

Newcastle-based advertising agency Sticky recently announced their transformation to become the Hunter Valley’s first digital, social and tradition media agency. The agency is particularly focusing on better web design and search engine optimisation, and already are achieving spectacular results.

Less than one month after making the announcement, Sticky has secured numerous new clients for their fully optimised web designs.

Sticky’s search engine optimisation approach has been working even better than the agency anticipated. The following is from the Sticky Advertising website:

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