Most watched programs:

1  Prime News Monday to Friday  PRIME  75000
2 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 65000

3 60 Minutes NBN 62000

4 Seven News Monday to Friday PRIME 60000

5 McLeods Daughters NBN 60000

6 RPA Where Are They Now? NBN 59000

7 Seven News Sunday PRIME 55000

8 Getaway NBN 51000

9 Friday Night Football Eagles v Bulldogs NBN 49000

10 Deal or no Deal PRIME 49000

Station ratings:

                Week 25
2007     Week 25
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN             30.9                 31.6                     30.8             32.7

PRIME         31.3                 28.1                     31.7             29.5

TEN             18.0                 21.1                     19.7             20.6

ABC             14.7                 13.8                     12.8             12.5

SBS              5.1                  5.4                        5.0               4.7

Popularity: 1%

Most Watched Programs:

1  State of Origin Game 2 – Match  NBN  93000
2 State of Origin Game 2 – Post Match NBN 75000

3 Prime News Monday to Friday PRIME 72000

4 State of Origin Game 2 – Pre Match NBN 65000

5 60 Minutes NBN 65000

6 Seven News Monday to Friday PRIME 60000

7 NBN Evening News Sunday – Newcastle Flood Special NBN 59000

8 It Takes Two PRIME 56000

9 Deal or no Deal PRIME 51000

10 Where Are They Now PRIME 51000

Station Ratings

                Week 24
2007     Week 24
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN             32.0                 34.2                     30.8             32.8

PRIME         31.8                 26.6                     31.7             29.6

TEN             18.9                 20.0                     19.8             20.5

ABC             12.9                 11.7                     12.7             12.4

SBS             4.4                   7.5                       5.0               4.6

Popularity: 1%

Most Watched Programs

1  Prime News Monday to Friday  PRIME  74000

2 60 Minutes NBN 69000

3 Seven News Monday to Friday PRIME 62000

4 McLeods Daughters NBN 54000

5 Seven News Saturday PRIME 53000

6 The Lost Tribes NBN 48000

7 RPA Where Are They Now? NBN 48000

8 M-Shrek 2 NBN 47000

9 Ten News Saturday TEN 46000

10 All Saints PRIME 46000

Popularity: 1%

Most watched programs
1  Prime News Monday to Friday  PRIME  68000
2 Seven News Monday to Friday PRIME 58000

3 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 54000

4 McLeods Daughters NBN 53000

5 Friday Night Football Panthers v Eagles NBN 52000

6 60 Minutes NBN 49000

7 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation NBN 49000

8 Friday Night Football Dragons v Broncos NBN 47000

9 Where Are They Now PRIME 45000

10 Seven News Sunday PRIME 45000

Popularity: 1%

Media Hunter has been picking up a lot of readers from Northern NSW, so we thought it might help to occassionally drop in ratings figures for this region. What is interesting is the difference in results from region to region. NBN has long enjoyed a very dominant position in the Hunter Region. Prime rates very well inland, while TEN fights well above its weight on the North Coast. It illustrates how regionality plays a big part in viewing habits, as these results are all vastly different to the national ratings landscape. Please note that these results are for the week of State of Origin 1 and therefore are very strong for NBN.

North Coast NSW

                Week 21
2007     Week 21 2006     Prog 2007     Prog 2006

NBN         32.5                     32.1                     29.2             28.5

PRIME     19.4                     25.2                     24.8             24.8

TEN         24.2                     24.5                     25.6             27.5

ABC         12.6                     8.6                     11.0              10.8

SBS         11.2                     9.5                     9.3                 8.4

New England/North West/Mid North Coast

                Week 21
2007     Week 21
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN         33.1                     36.7                 30.7                 32.3

PRIME     30.1                     28.6                 31.8                 30.0

TEN         20.6                     17.8                 20.0                 20.7

ABC         11.1                     11.7                 12.5                12.7

SBS         5.1                     5.2                     5.0                   4.4

Newcastle

                Week 21
2007     Week 21
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN         37.8                     40.9                 34.6                 36.6

PRIME     22.9                     20.8                 26.3                 22.8

TEN         18.5                     16.7                 16.8                 19.7

ABC         14.8                     14.4                 16.4                 16.0

SBS         6.0                         7.2                 5.8                    4.9

Popularity: 4%

Nick Tabakoff, The Australian, May 29, 2007

JAMES Packer’s PBL empire has confirmed it is in discussions to once more halve its stake in PBL Media, in a move that would see it relinquish management control of its flagship assets and move the family fortune away from "old media" assets.

The discussions, exclusively revealed in The Australian last Wednesday, were about PBL selling down a further 25 per cent interest in PBL Media to "funds advised by CVC Asia Pacific and CVC Capital Partners", its joint venture partner, the company said yesterday.

If the selldown proceeds, it will release about $500 million into the coffers of PBL to invest in "new media" assets, in areas like pay television and the internet.

The deal could also free up a CVC-led PBL Media to become a major player in Australian media consolidation, after some reputed disagreements with PBL on acquisition targets since the private equity firm first took joint control of the vehicle in October.

Under the selldown, PBL Media CEO Ian Law would be charged with executing CVC’s media plans in Australia.

The deal would see the PBL Media-controlled Nine, Ninemsn and ACP Magazines – the latter of which includes a number of iconic Packer family brands such as Australian Women’s Weekly and Woman’s Day – removed from PBL’s grasp.

It is understood PBL wants to finalise its PBL Media selldown ahead of the split of PBL into two companies: Crown, which will hold PBL’s gaming assets; and Consolidated Media Holdings, which will hold the PBL Media stake, as well as a number of "new media" plays it wants to remain undiluted, including its 25 per cent stake in Foxtel and holdings in Fox Sports and Seek.

It is proposed that the split will be executed, subject to shareholder approval, in August. Documentation detailing the terms of the split is still to be finalised.

But Mr Colman did not believe it necessarily represented the end of PBL’s media ambitions, saying the funds PBL and Consolidated Media raise from the selldown could be put towards a possible Foxtel takeover of Austar.

"It looks like it could be an Austar refinancing, if Foxtel decides to go for Austar without James putting extra money into Consolidated Media."

Talks between Foxtel and Austar about an acquisition recently stalled over price, but Foxtel is believed to maintain a long-term interest in a takeover.

Sources close to Park St have told The Australian that PBL Media’s capital structure of 70 per cent debt and 30 per cent equity could see it remain as an attractive vehicle for PBL to make media purchases through.

Given Consolidated Media’s likely 25 per cent stake in PBL Media, it would only have to contribute $75 million in equity towards every $1 billion purchase PBL Media would make.

Popularity: 1%

Caroline Overington
    of The Australian reports:
April 27, 2007

THE ABC is preparing to embrace a more commercial future under managing director Mark Scott, with the potential for ABC-owned, commercially funded websites being investigated.
New revenue-raising plans may also include charging people a fee to download popular programs from ABC websites.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian Magazine, to be published tomorrow, Mr Scott said the ABC had to seek new sources of revenue. More than 95 per cent of the ABC’s funds are currently provided by the taxpayer.

"The ABC is certainly pursuing new sources of revenue," he said. "We are going to have to make changes and make choices. We are going to have to be bold."

In his first magazine interview since being appointed last May, Mr Scott resisted entreaties from some staff to rule out website advertising.

"I won’t make any blanket statements about what we will rule in and what we will rule out," he said. "We are looking at ways of maximising revenue and, of course, of protecting our reputation."

The ABC already allows advertising in its range of magazines including Delicious and Gardening Australia.

He said the ABC would "look at the potential for wholly owned ABC websites, such as the Countdown site, which take advertising".

The ABC would also consider charging people to download programs from its sites, just as it charges people to buy copies of its programs on DVD.

"People already pay for the ABC’s archive," Mr Scott said. "If people decided they would rather download the program from the website and pay for that download, would that be appropriate? Perhaps."

Mr Scott said the ABC would benefit greatly from increased revenue, which could be put towards program-making.

There was no reason to believe the federal Government would cut funding if the broadcaster started raising more of its own revenue, he said.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan said in a statement last night that there were no plans to cut ABC funding, regardless of whether it raised more funds of itsown. "In terms of funding, the Government supports the ABC and current level of funding provided to them, regardless of any commercial opportunities that the ABC may or may not propose," Senator Coonan said.

She said the ABC charter would protect ABC-TV and radio from commercialisation.

The secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union’s ABC section, Graeme Thomson, said: "I’m surprised by the approach Mr Scott is taking. If you are genuinely trying to protect the ABC, you must prevent advertising on all the platforms.

"The minute you’ve got ads stuck around ABC sites, or sites that the public know are ABC-owned sites, you may as well then start putting them on the TV screens as well."

Friends of the ABC campaign manager Glenys Stradijot said Mr Scott’s statements were "very worrying".

"The fact is that news and programs made for the ABC end up on the website. He seems to believe that you can firewall between editorial and commercial, and you can’t, and the SBS is a living example of the pressures that are brought to bear once the commercial foot is in the door."

Broadcaster Quentin Dempster, who has served on the ABC board, said the ABC’s enabling act "should immediately be amended to extend the current prohibition on advertising from TV and radio to ABC Online".

Popularity: 1%

The Hunter Region has a new export industry champion with local marketer Gordon Whitehead adding his voice to export news with The Marketer. This new blog concentrates on all the latest exporting and marketing related news from the Hunter Valley.

I can vouch for Gordon and his passion for these topics as he also works with me at Sticky Advertising.

Blog on Gordon!!!

Popularity: 1%

April 26, 2007

Newcastle rockers Silverchair will perform and be awarded the Australian MTV generation’s equivalent to a lifetime achievement award at the music channel’s Video Music Awards on Sunday.

Silverchair will receive the first Australian Video Vanguard Award for their "profound effect on the MTV culture" after the release of the band’s fifth number one album, Young Modern.

The award has been presented at the American Video Music Awards since 1984 to artists including Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Rolling Stones.

But this will be Australia’s first in the third year of the MTV Australia VMAs.

"This award is MTV Australia’s way of thanking Silverchair for providing a fantastic and progressive soundtrack to many of our viewers’ lives," MTV Networks Australia executive producer Ean Thorley said.

"In the eyes of MTV Australia there couldn’t be a more perfect choice for their first Video Vanguard Award than Silverchair."

The group exploded onto the international music scene in 1995 as bright-eyed and long-haired teenagers with their debut album Frogstomp and have since started to rival Madonna in the art of reinvention.

Bass player Chris Joannou said it felt weird to be getting an award for their career’s achievement at age 27, but the band would gladly accept it.

"We actually always used to hate making videos … so they should really be giving this award to all those poor directors we’ve worked with over the years," he joked.

"But MTV have offered the gong to us for some reason so, of course, we are happy to step in now and take all the credit for their hard work."

The band will most likely perform their single Straight Lines at Sunday’s awards at Sydney’s Acer Arena which will be hosted by Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas and pop-punk act Good Charlotte.

They will join a star-studded line-up including P!nk, 30 Seconds To Mars, Teddy Geiger, Eskimo Joe, Evermore, Stephanie Macintosh, Sneaky Sound System, Nicole Ritchie, Damien Leith and Welsh daredevils, Dirty Sanchez.

Internet and text message voting continues until Saturday in categories such as best female and male artist and spankin’ new artist.

The awards will be broadcast on Foxtel, Network Ten and MTV’s broadband channel Overdrive.

Source: AAP

Popularity: 5%