The Spy Report

TVNZ 7 axing based on dodgy figures

Timothy Gassin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:51:53 +0000

It has been revealed that the figures used by the New Zealand government to justify the discontinuation of the country's only general public service channel, TVNZ 7, were completely wrong.

On last night's Media 7, host Russell Brown and statistician Rachel Cunliffe explained how some quick investigations showed that the weekly cumulative audience figure of 207,000 cited by former broadcasting minister Jonathan Coleman and repeated a number of times in the New Zealand Herald was derived from an ill-informed manipulation of statistics. Indeed, Nielsen, the company responsible for gathering television rating data in New Zealand, described the figure as "rubbish".

The figure came about by taking the monthly cumulative audience of 827,800 for the ratings month starting 23 January 2011 and simply dividing it by four, rounding to the nearest thousand. Such a method may seem simple and logical, but, in fact, demonstrates a complete ignorance of how audience ratings work. Coleman's weekly figure is based on an assumption that each of the viewers recorded in the monthly cumulative figure only watched a programme in one of the weeks of that month. In other words, that one group of 207,000 watched TVNZ 7 in the first week of the month, another group of 207,000 watched in the second week, another 207,000 in the third week, and another completely separate group of 207,000 people watched in the final week of the month.

This obviously does not reflect normal television viewing habits. Cunliffe suggests that a weekly cumulative audience for the period in question would likely be much higher, probably in the order of 600,000.

Interestingly, not only was the method of deriving a weekly cumulative audience certain to produce a gross underestimate, but the monthly cumulative on which it was based was the lowest recorded over the preceding year. Since then, TVNZ 7's audience has also grown substantially, recording a cumulative audience of 1.47 million in December 2011.

The use of these figures raises serious question about Jonathan Coleman and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. As those responsible for making decisions about the future of broadcasting in New Zealand, both should have had an understanding of ratings figures. The only two possible explanations are that they are grossly incompetent or that the figures were deliberately manipulated to advance the government's political ends.

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US: House to end its eight year run

Dominic Fay — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:15:22 +0000

Long running American drama House will finish up at the end of its current season (Source: Fox)

Popular American medical drama House will finish up at the end of its current season in the US.

House, which airs on Network Ten in Australia, has been a staple of America's Fox Network since its pilot in 2004.

Starring British actor and former comedian Hugh Laurie, the show has become a fan favourite, with Laurie's title character Dr. House and his often infuriating genius proving addictive television.

Australian actor Jesse Spencer is one of many who have become household names due to the success of the show.

Producers of the show took to Facebook regarding the announcement.

"Since it began, House has aspired to offer a coherent and satisfying world in which everlasting human questions of ethics and emotion, logic and truth, could be examined, played out, and occasionally answered," they said.

"This sounds like fancy talk, but it really isn't. House has, in its time, intrigued audiences around the world in vast numbers, and has shown that there is a strong appetite for television drama that relies on more than prettiness or gun play.

"But now that time is drawing to a close. The producers have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature; he should never be the last one to leave the party. How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air."

President of entertainment at Fox, Kevin Reilly, has expressed his admiration of the team who made "some of the most compelling characters and affecting stories ever seen on television", and his sadness at seeing the show end, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"While it's with much regret, and a lump in our throats, we respect the decision Hugh, David and Katie (executive producers of the show) have made," Mr Reilly said.

"A true original, on the page and amazingly brought to life by Hugh Laurie, there is only one Dr. House."

The show's departure from Fox's schedule does, however, increase the likelihood of dinosaur drama Terra Nova, which also airs on Ten in Australia, being renewed for a second season on the network.

Terra Nova's future has been up in the air since its run ended in the US late last year, with high ratings from new Fox dramas Alcatraz (premiering on the Nine Network next Monday February 13 at 8:30pm) and Touch (airing on Ten in March) making its viewer numbers seem poor by comparison.

The departure of House, however, leaves Fox with room for an extra drama - and quite possibly provides Terra Nova with a second season that until now it seemed unlikely to receive.

The finale of House will air in America in the coming months.

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Game not over for Ten’s AFL show

Dominic Fay — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:18:02 +0000

Popular AFL panel show Before the Game will return on Ten in 2012 (Image: Ten Network)

The Ten Network's popular AFL panel show, Before the Game, has had its continuation on the network in 2012 confirmed today.

The show, which features comedians Dave Hughes, Mick Molloy, and Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann, former player and current Nova announcer Ryan "Fitzy" Fitzgerald, as well as sports journalists Andy Maher and Samantha Lane, was tipped by many to leave the network following Ten's loss of AFL rights to the Seven Network and Fox Footy last year.

However, similarly to the Nine Network's The Footy Show, which continued on despite Nine's loss of television rights in 2006, it will stay on the air, the Herald Sun reports.

Hughes said that positive comments by viewers had convinced Ten to retain the show.

"People were all the time asking 'is the show coming back?'. Once we knew the draw and that there was no live footy on at that time, there was no reason to not have the show back," he said.

"I just love Before the Game, it's a real joy for me. Everyone involved with the show just loves it. My wife's not happy my Saturday afternoons will be taken up, but I keep telling her it's for our kids' future.

The news was followed by a series of tweets from the cast of the show, with Maher tweeting, "Just in case you missed the news - and actually give a toss - Before the Game is back for its 10th year. Let the Tools Of The Year be warned."

Lane followed by confirming that the show will air on Ten in Victoria, and Ten's digital multichannel One throughout the rest of the country.

Ironically, the move means that both Ten and Nine will air AFL light entertainment shows in 2012, while Seven, the station that owns the AFL rights, won't show any - unless one is announced between now and the start of the season in March.

It is believed that Seven had been interested in poaching the format, and perhaps even some of the stars.

Seven's prior attempts at light entertainment AFL shows have been less than successful, with its most recent attempt, Peter Helliar's The Bounce, going on hiatus only a few episodes into its run and never returning.

Before the Game will return on Saturday 24 March in its regular 6:30pm timeslot.

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New lifestyle series from Ten puts Renovators in doubt

Travis Kirk — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:45:44 +0000

A new lifestyle series from Ten puts the future of The Renovators in doubt (Image: Ten Network)

The Ten Network today opened applications for a new lifestyle series, which offers to help homeowners in desperate need of renovating advice and help.

But in contrast to its similarly-themed and highly expensive 2011 reality series The Renovators, participants must own their own home and make a financial contribution to the renovation as well as physically helping with the makeover.

Ten promises to provide the "design expertise, manpower and materials" to turn a do-it-yourself dud or a house seeking inspiration into a "triumph".

Meanwhile, the announcement casts an even larger shadow over a second season of The Renovators. While Ten had originally revealed that The Renovators would return in 2012, it has been vague about the show's future since finding out the full extent of its poor-rating first season.

In a interview with TV Tonight published today, Ten's chief programming officer David Mott said the network still hadn't made a decision on its future.

"Obviously there's been a lot of discussion back and forth on The Renovators, and we obviously have a new chief executive on board who is actively involved and just terrific and wanting to be involved in building brands and content," he said.

"Part of the discussions now are other marquee brands and franchises and in those discussions obviously the sentiment towards a show like The Renovators."

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Radio advertising revenue up to start 2012

Travis Kirk — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:50:33 +0000

The commercial radio industry has recorded an increase in metropolitan advertising revenue of 1.38 per cent for the month of January to a total of $45.372 million.

According to figures from industry body Commercial Radio Australia, which were sourced by Deloitte, advertising revenue grew in two of the five metropolitan markets with the strongest gains recorded in Adelaide.

The capital of South Australia topped the list with revenue reaching a total of $4.415 million, an increase of 6.1 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Meanwhile, Melbourne was second, up 6.07 per cent and totalling $13.729 million. Sydney followed in third, and dropped 0.15 per cent to a total of $13.689 million. Brisbane fell by 1.4 per cent to $7.304 million and Perth followed in last place with a decrease of 4.4 per cent to $6.235 million.

The national body's chief executive, Joan Warner, said the figures highlighted the patchiness of the national advertising market with local events influencing different markets.

"Melbourne has had a strong January and Adelaide has continued to perform well, after recording the strongest growth out of the five metropolitan markets for 2011," Warner said.

Overall, the seven-month year-to-date result for the 2011/12 financial period is down a modest 0.14 per cent, totalling a combined $398m for the five metropolitan markets.

"The resilience of radio as a cost effective and efficient advertising medium is a great asset during tough trading conditions," Warner added. "The industry must continue to promote the benefits of radio and its ability to deliver for advertisers in tighter economic conditions."

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Nine Entertainment’s chief operating officer resigns

Travis Kirk — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:23:05 +0000

Nine Entertainment Co chief operating officer and finance director Pat O'Sullivan announced his resignation on Monday after six years with the company.

O'Sullivan said he was planning to take an indefinite break to spend more time with his family and on other interests.

"I have decided to retire after 30 years of corporate executive roles and to put my energies into other areas of my life. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at NEC and in particular I will miss working with David Gyngell and the great team across the whole NEC business," he said.

Nine Entertainment chief executive, David Gyngell, said O'Sullivan has been invaluable to the company.

"Pat has done a fantastic job for NEC over the last six years and we have worked very closely together. He'll be missed, not only by me but our board of directors and senior management.

"His focus and energy on the operations and finances of the group through a very challenging few years has been first rate. We thank him for his contribution and wish him well."

Gyngell announced the appointment of Simon Kelly as Nine Entertainment's new chief operating officer and finance director from late April. O'Sullivan will assist Kelly in a handover period until 30 June.

"I am delighted to announce Simon Kelly, a highly credentialed executive, as Pat's successor. In his most recent major corporate role he was chief financial officer and director of Aristocrat Leisure where he dealt with many challenges with distinction," he said.

"Simon has held a number of senior operational and finance roles across a diverse range of industry sectors and I am confident that he will add significant value to the NEC business. We all look forward to his arrival at NEC."

Meanwhile, The Australian reports the hedge funds that hold about half of Nine's $2.7 billion senior debt have seized on the departure of O'Sullivan as evidence that the company's chances of refinancing are fading.

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No changes to ABC News Canberra despite ratings plunge

James Ross — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:34:51 +0000

ABC News Canberra has experienced a dramatic fall in ratings in the last three years (Image: ABC)

Despite a dramatic fall in ratings over the past three years, the ABC has no significant changes planned for its nightly Canberra news bulletin.

Average nightly ratings for the national broadcaster's local bulletin in Canberra averaged 47,000 viewers in 2009 - this figure has seen a dramatic drop to an average of just over 16,000 in 2011.

Warren Apps, general manager of local media buying firm Grey Canberra, ruled out the introduction of ABC News 24 as a factor in the falling ratings for the primary channel bulletin, given the digital station averaged a 2.7 per cent audience share in 2011, however, he acknowledged industry rumours that the fall was related to a lack of local content in the bulletin, but had not been able to examine the bulletin to form a view on the matter.

"That said, there is a distinct difference in the feel of the respective bulletins, and based on the numbers we're seeing you could easily form a view that the market is thirsty for more local content at a grassroots level - the one area where [commercial broadcaster] WIN really focuses its efforts," Apps said.

Defending the performance of the Canberra news, a Sydney-based ABC publicist told The Canberra Times that the Canberra edition of the 7:00pm news had the same mix of local, national and international news as any other 7:00pm ABC News bulletin.

"There is no less local content on the Canberra 7:00pm news than there has ever been," she said, also noting that the ABC is the only broadcaster to provide a local bulletin on weekends.

ABC News editor John Mulhall yesterday spoke to 666 ABC's drive programme about the ratings fall, and said that there would be no major changes to the bulletin in an attempt to boost figures, stating that research conducted by the ABC indicated that it had the right mix of news in its bulletin.

"I don't think it means any startling changes and one thing we do know is that ABC audiences don't like change, or not big change or sudden change," Mulhall said.

"So we have no plans to change anything but we will certainly be looking at what we are doing and we will be trying to get some quality audience feedback and we'd be more than happy to hear from our audiences.

"So no, you won't see any wholesale changes, we'll probably take some time to look at this, to analyse it and just find out how best we can respond to it."

Mulhall also refuted speculation that local staff had been laid off or that the broadcaster was producing less local content, stating that the local news team, excluding staff based at Parliament House, had steadily increased over the last decade, with 25 journalists in a team of approximately 30 television newsroom staff.

ABC News, fronted on weekdays by Virginia Haussegger and on weekends by Craig Allen, is one of two half-hour local bulletins serving Canberra and the surrounding regions. However, it is the only bulletin to screen on weekends, with commercial station WIN running a bulletin at 6:30pm weeknights while Southern Cross Ten and Prime7 both run updates throughout the day following the demise of their nightly news in 2001.

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Chaser’s Seven show given green-light

Dominic Fay — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:45:09 +0000

Three of The Chaser boys have begun production on a new panel show for Seven (Image: ABC)

Members of the popular comedy group The Chaser will this week begin filming a series for the Seven Network, confirming rumours that have circulated for some time following the news of a pilot filmed for the station last year.

The show, which has officially been given the green-light and a 10 episode order, will be called The Unbelievable Truth and will feature group members Craig Reucassel, Julian Morrow and Andrew Hanson.

Former The Goodies star Graeme Garden, who hosted the show on UK radio, will join the trio as the permanent cast for its screen adaptation.

Each episode will feature comedians, actors, and other entertainers, who will be challenged to make up a story that includes one strange truth. The panel of four will have to pick the truth from the lies, and buzz in when they believe they've figured it out.

Reucassel, who will host the show, said the partnership with Garden was what enticed the team to join Seven.

"Over the years we knocked back commercial television many times, and the reason we are doing this is this is a show we want to do and they were keen on," he said.

Seven's head of production, Brad Lyons, said he was "very excited" about the new relationship with the comedy team the network once took to court.

With group members Chris Taylor and Chas Licciardello uninvolved in the new series, the team's ties with the ABC remain undamaged by the new project - Licciardello will even be joining the broadcaster's news network ABC News 24 as a commentator for its American Election coverage.

The Unbelievable Truth is expected to air on Seven later this year.

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Nine’s Excess Baggage dumped to GO!

Dominic Fay — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:38:03 +0000

Nine has given up on its first show for 2012, with Excess Baggage moving to GO! (Image: Nine Network)

The Nine Network has dumped Excess Baggage from its schedule as of next Monday, moving the reality weight loss series to its digital multichannel GO!.

Excess Baggage, hosted by Australian music icon Kate Ceberano, was a show that Nine had high hopes for in the 7:00pm weekday timeslot. Instead, it has now become the first television casualty of 2012.

It was thought that the mix of celebrities and regular Australians attempting to lose weight and turn around their lives would entice viewers and secure the timeslot that Nine achieved great success in with reality shows last year.

The FremantleMedia Australia creation has, however, been a casualty of declining ratings, with the Ten Network's long-running weight loss series The Biggest Loser proving the victor in the battle of the pound-shedding shows.

With the ratings period commencing this Sunday (12 February), Nine can't afford to lose viewers for the rest of the evening due to Excess Baggage's poor performances, The Australian reports.

By the end of last week, the show had dipped to 555,000 viewers - down 37 per cent on its debut of 885,000. Despite stronger ratings last night, it was still comprehensively beaten by The Biggest Loser.

Due to the expense of the show, which has already been filmed, it will play out at 6:30pm weeknights on GO!.

Excess Baggage will be replaced by repeats of The Big Bang Theory from next Monday (13 February) on Nine.

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Reuben Mourad joins Ten’s Breakfast team

Travis Kirk — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:52:27 +0000

Reuben Mourad will join Ten's Breakfast team (Image: Vimeo)

Television and radio presenter Reuben Mourad has announced that he will be joining the team of the Ten Network's new early-morning show Breakfast.

Mourad has previously been a presenter on Foxtel and Austar's The Weather Channel, and on the XYZ Networks group of channels including Nickelodeon.

"Really excited to announce that I'll be on air as part of the Breakfast team on Channel Ten, joining Paul, Andrew, Kath and Magdalena," he tweeted on Friday.

It is unclear what role Mourad will have, with Magdalena Rose already confirmed as weather presenter. However, Mourad does possess a sporting background having covered the NBL Championships, Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, and 2007 FINA World Championships.

Ten is yet to announce a launch date for Breakfast.

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Ten chairman says Rinehart has not interfered

Travis Kirk — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:17:46 +0000

Ten Network Holdings chairman Brian Long has refuted claims that shareholder Gina Rinehart has interfered in the broadcaster's editorial content and programming.

The move follows a $192 million raid on Fairfax Media stocks by Rinehart last week, in which she secured a 13 per cent stake in the media and publishing company.

"I need to set the record straight," he said on Friday, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

"Much of the comment is about the presumed motivation of Gina influencing the editorial content at Fairfax...what worries me is almost every article makes the implied or explicit suggestion that her investment in Ten was motivated by the same thing, to influence editorial content to suit her needs.

"I want to make it clear that in all the time I have been chairman - which is as long as Gina Rinehart has been on the board - that neither she nor any other board member has sought to influence programming or editorial. That goes for either inside the boardroom or outside the boardroom."

Long said at no point has the proposed mining resources rent tax been discussed. He also denied suggestion that Rinehart was responsible for the hiring of conservative newspaper columnist Andrew Bolt.

"Andrew was on our payroll prior to Mrs Rinehart joining the board," he said.

"The news and editorial teams were the ones who framed Andrew into the Sunday show."

Long has been chairman of Ten since December 2010, the same time that Rinehart joined the board alongside fellow billionaires James Packer, Lachlan Murdoch, and Bruce Gordon.

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Yahoo!7 appoints chief operating officer

Travis Kirk — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:25:28 +0000

Yahoo!7 has appointed Stuart Sayers as chief operating officer (Image: AdNews)

Yahoo!7 has announced the appointment of Stuart Sayers to the new role of chief operating officer.

Sayers joins Yahoo!7 from ANZ where he is currently managing director of E*Trade. Prior to starting at ANZ in 2006, he was associate principal at McKinsey and Company for four years.

"We've come a long way in the past few years and the Yahoo!7 group has grown substantially across a number of digital brands and a diverse revenue mix," said Rohan Lund, Yahoo!7 chief executive.

"Digital advertising is increasingly becoming just one component of our business. We've come to realise that every visitor to Yahoo!7 is an opportunity for a transaction, not just an ad impression.

"Stuart is an outstanding talent and will bring a valuable set of skills in managing transactional businesses, understanding complex operations and business transformation to help scale the business to deliver on the vision of Yahoo!7."

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