Mumbrellacast

It was a sad week for the ABC. Up to 250 job cuts, the loss of ABC Life and the 7:45 news broadcast. Shadow minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, joined the Mumbrellacast and weighed in on the implications these cuts will have on Australia's media landscape and its access to diverse and regional content. Some big moves took place in media agency-land, including Hearts & Science acquiring an agency and a restructure in Carat's strategy team. For Carat, it is one of the biggest moves from CEO Sue Squillace since she stepped into the role last September. Will this be what gets the agency back in the game after a tough couple of years? The team debates Tik Tok marketing. Is it worth it? How do marketers do it? Is the platform just a fad?

This week on the Mumbrellacast: the job ad creating waves throughout the industry. What started as Dr Mumbo diagnosing problematic language in an ad for a “senior executive assistant / office manager / professional governess” at Ultimate Edge Communications, became an industry discussion about discrimination and burnout. Mumbrella's Vivienne Kelly goes behind the scenes on her interview with Aleisha McCall. Over in publishing, the Bauer Media saga is almost coming to a close after it was sold to Mercury Capital earlier this week. Following a merger with Pacific Magazines, hundreds of job cuts and with a number of its print titles on hold, the team wonders what the future will hold for the business. Mamamia's group director of marketing and commercial partner solutions Rob Farmer and editor Clare Stephens join the Mumbrellacast to explore how the publisher has navigated content and commercial opportunities throughout COVID-19.

In this week's Mumbrellacast, the team asks has Australia's media industry missed its Me Too moment? The topic comes about after it was announced NOW Australia, the organisation created by Tracey Spicer to assist victims of workplace sexual harassment and indecent assault, is shutting down. The team looks back on 2018, the promises made and allegations revealed, and analyses what went wrong. The AFL is returning in one of the biggest weeks for Seven this year. The network is promising record-breaking ratings to its advertisers, but will it live up to the hype? The hopes of Foxtel and its sports streaming service Kayo are also on the line, with football a huge draw card for attracting subscribers to both. Luckily, Kayo's chief commercial officer Ant Hearne joined the Mumbrellacast and weighed in on how much the sports streamer has learned about subscribers during lockdown. Alongside Louise Crompton, chief marketing officer of new entertainment streaming service Binge, the pair also discussed the launch of th

This week, Marc Fennell dropped by the Mumbrellacast to talk about his latest podcasting venture with Audible, Nut Jobs. He describes his adventures in the USA to explore the illegal nut trade, explains Audible's interest in storytelling, and ponders if there really is a podcast for everything? Over in adland, a couple of big leadership changes took place. Wunderman Thompson CEO John Gutteridge announced he was stepping down with Lee Leggett taking over. Gutteridge was the last WPP AUNZ CEO to oversee one of its famous creative agency mergers, closing another chapter in the holding group's saga. The team also analyses the slow introduction of a new leadership team over at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne. The week in media saw News Corp announce the closure of women's content network Whimn. Was it purely a branding decision? Or is this the latest cost-cutting measure? This was soon followed by a slump in readership of news.com.au and the ABC firmly holding first place. And, how did the first weekend of the NRL fare

It's been called the darkest day in Australian media - News Corp has closed 100 print titles, with 14 to close permanently and what is speculated to be near 1,000 job losses. The Mumbrellacast team breaks down the social, political and financial implications these closures will have on regional areas and wonders what the future is for the industry. The Hallway CEO, Jules Hall, revealed on Mumbrella earlier this week that his agency will continue working from home indefinitely, sparking a conversation about the value of maintaining an office. With benefits including saving on costly real estate and creating more flexibility for staff, plus overcoming the impracticalities of socially distant commuting, the only question is - how do you create and continue company culture? M&C Saatchi's new CEO, Justin Graham, weighed in maintaining the agency's culture while it continues to work from home when he joined the Mumbrellacast to discuss the ins and outs of taking over an agency in the midst of the pandemic. With c

Just days after celebrating its second birthday, 10 Daily announced it would be closing at the end of this week. It is another sad piece of news for the industry, but despite an email from Ten boss Beverley McGarvey saying it was part of a wider strategic move from Viacom CBS, the Mumbrellacast team can't help but wonder if the closure is shrouded in COVID-19 revenue struggles. Also in publishing, the latest chapter of the Bauer Media saga is its push for some positive PR, announcing that its magazine subscriptions have increased by 60%. Is this a very faint light at the end of the very long tunnel for magazines? Alan Jones received one last strike from ACMA, ruling that his infamous comments about New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern breached broadcasting decency rules, but he was let off with a slap on the wrist due to his impending retirement. And in fortuitous timing, Jones' replacement on Brisbane's 4BC Neil Breen joined the Mumbrellacast alongside head of content for Nine Radio Greg Byrne to tal

In this week's bumper edition of the Mumbrellacast, the team bids farewell to 2GB's breakfast radio king, Alan Jones. From the on-air announcement of his retirement, the cultural and commercial impact he had on radio, and the comments of support from Nine's managing director of radio Tom Malone one question must be answered: did he jump, or was he pushed? Ten's chief content officer Beverley McGarvey and chief sales officer Rod Prosser joined the team to give insight into the goings-on at the network. With a new mysterious channel on the horizon, the successful launch of a refreshed Masterchef and operating within a merger and pandemic, it's been a busy couple of months at Ten. McGarvey and Prosser also give a hint at what the rest of 2020's content will look like. Also in media, the team mourns the loss of Buzzfeed following an announcement to staff this week that the business would be withdrawing its Australian editorial arm. It is another sad development in Australia's rapidly shrinking media landscape,

This week saw WPP AUNZ lift the bonnet at its annual general meeting, but don't worry about new CEO Jens Monsees. Despite the fact he stepped into the leadership role just before a global pandemic, he promises Mumbrella's Brittney Rigby he's 'doing fine', even facing a potential $10m loss for the group from H1 CY20. Foxtel hung on to the exclusive rights to HBO's content in Australia. It's a massive win for the pay TV provider, with shows like Succession, Big Little Lies and the upcoming reboot of Gossip Girl a huge drawcard for consumers. The deal has put the launch of streaming service HBO Max on the back burner, but how long will it last? And how many magazines will hit newsstands when publishers come out the other side of COVID-19? Just days after Bauer Media took ownership of Pacific Magazines, 60 staff were cut from the business. As it stands, 140 Bauer and 100 Pac Mags staff have been stood down or made redundant and several titles have been suspended. How will the business piece together its magazin

Straight off the back of revealing the acquisition of Red Engine SCC, entrepreneur and creative chairman of McCann Worldgroup Australia, Ben Lilley, joined the Mumbrellacast to discuss his industry homecoming. Lilley discusses his return to McCann as its owner, his long-term acquisition strategy, and whether a creative classic, like 'Dumb Ways To Die', will emerge in the near future. Across the industry, we've seen the loss of the Logies, further job cuts and salary sacrifices at Bauer Media, Southern Cross Austereo, Domain and IPG Mediabrands, and Princess Cruises named the most trusted cruise brand. It's hard to go a week without mentioning the impacts COVID-19 has had, although some organisations (here's looking at you, NRL) are insisting on forging ahead in 2020. The week in ads saw humans hypnotised to believe they are tigers. The team debates the merits of hypnotism and using people in the campaign instead of real tigers - Netflix's Tiger King may have come into play. Plus, is a rugby tackle on the st

This week on the Mumbrellacast, the team reflect on the state of Australia's media industry after it sank to 26th place on the World Press Freedom Index for 2019. Following the raids on the ABC headquarters and News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst and the closure of AAP newswire, is Australia's reputation as a respected home of democratic journalism at risk? The week in adland saw industry watchdog Ad Standards ban a couple of ads. Despite its best efforts to redefine the term 'whipped', frequent flyer Sportsbet copped a ban for an ad suggesting that Prince Harry was pussy whipped by Meghan Markle. And, an ad for Coles' Stikeez collectables caught the attention of the community panel over the question of whether it amounted to pester marketing. And, what is the value of a pre-recorded radio show? Highlights of the Christian O'Connell show will now air nationally on weeknights, and Stevie Jacobs will be hosting breakfast with his links pre-recorded and inserted into the music programming. As budge

Masterchef is 'Back to Win' and back with a vengeance in the TV ratings. Was it the lack of MAFS? The familiar faces on screen? COVID-boredom? Or, just the perfect storm for Ten to take out the colossal win? The team chats through how no one came close to guessing the 1.268m metro viewers launch on Easter Monday, and the pay off from Ten's programming decision. Also in TV, the team was joined by Nine's head of content production and development Adrian Swift to chat through the 2020 launch of last year's smash hit, Lego Masters (39:21). He talks through what the TV landscape will look like now that COVID-19 has put a production on hold, what Australians can expect from Lego Masters' latest season and what ratings figure for the launch will have him doing a jig. And, the week also saw the government introduce a relief package for the media industry which suspended some content quotas for Australian content across free-to-air and subscription television for 2020, tax relief for commercial TV and radio compani

This week saw the ultimate game of chicken being played by Bauer Media and Pacific Magazines. Rumours had it that Bauer was ghosting Pac Mags over its impending $40m acquisition. Pac Mags took Bauer to court, then told the ASX 'Everything is fine'. 24 hours later the deadline for the sale was pushed back a month. The Mumbrellacast team discusses what is really going on. And, as is the sad reality of the industry right now, more cuts took place at Foxtel, ARN and WPP AUNZ. While lower paid staff face heavy implications, the team took a deep dive into the salaries of WPP execs to determine who really needs to take a pay cut. And why is it that on-air talent at ARN aren't having their hip pockets hit as hard as behind-the-scenes staff? Plus, Trinity P3's Darren Woolley joined the Mumbrellacast to talk through the changing nature of the client-agency relationship (53:01). He reveals that, surprisingly, a number of marketers have enquired about running a pitch, what a self-isolation pitch even looks like, and wh

It was another big week in the media and marketing industry: print was the latest victim of the coronavirus-economy, more pay cuts and redundancies were rolled out, April Fools’ Day was cancelled and Easter, would you believe, is on the horizon. This week Mumbrella investigated the rights and responsibilities media employees have when it comes to protecting their incomes. With job and pay cuts continuing to roll out across the industry, the team chats through the implications of standing employees down, and really giving them no choice but to accept less money. Is it employer versus employee, or are we all in this together? Plus, Bauer Media closed its New Zealand operation, a week after the ACCC cleared its acquisition of Seven’s Pacific Magazines. Given the tough economic conditions created by coronavirus, the team speculates on Bauer’s local future. Meanwhile, News Corp suspended 60 community newspapers and Nine paused many of its lifestyle print sections. And, Ad Standards CEO, Fiona Jolly, joined the

It's been the hardest week the modern media and marketing industries have ever seen. Media owners and agencies are fighting to protect their staff and businesses as COVID-19 has brought Australia to a standstill. Redundancies, forced leave, pay cuts and trading halts: is the industry that is meant to lead in creativity being creative enough [...] The post Mumbrellacast: Media's most difficult week appeared first on Mumbrella.

This week's Mumbrellacast comes to you from three different suburbs of Sydney (and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge) as the team has started working from home and experimenting with recording video conferencing. Content director Tim Burrowes and editor Vivienne Kelly chat through the Mumbrella events that have been postponed over the next six months as [...] The post Mumbrellacast: COVID-19, government communication and what's happening to Mumbrella's events appeared first on Mumbrella.

This week's Mumbrellacast comes to you from the lunch hour at Mumbrella's Travel Marketing Summit, when the team sat down to talk through the week of media and marketing. Ten CEO and Viacom CBS ANZ VP, Paul Anderson, announced he was stepping down, with his role not to be replaced. Chief content officer, Beverley McGarvey [...] The post Mumbrellacast: Ten goes without a CEO, ABC topples Kyle and Jackie O, and the ACCC launches ad tech inquiry appeared first on Mumbrella.

This week on the Mumbrellacast, head of Telum Australia and New Zealand David Skapinker joins reporter Brittney Rigby and head of Mumbrella's professional division Damian Francis to weigh in on the closure of the Australian Associated Press (AAP). The trio discuss the implications the shuttering will have on the wider industry, and how media owners [...] The post Mumbrellacast: How the AAP's closure will impact journalism, coronavirus hits the industry, plus Telum's David Skapinker appeared first on Mumbrella.

Mumbrella's outgoing co-founder and CEO, Martin Lane, makes a very special appearance on this week's Mumbrellacast just one month out from moving on to his next project. Martin reveals the worst decision he made at Mumbrella, the process of building and selling businesses and how the media, marketing and advertising industries have changed over the [...] The post Mumbrellacast: There's a lot going on - Nine, Premium Content Alliance, HT&E, Ooh Media and WPP appeared first on Mumbrella.

This week Wavemaker CEO Peter Vogel joined the Mumbrellacast to talk through the media agency's focus for 2020, the 'fresh eyes' of WPP AUNZ CEO Jens Monsees, and the energy new clients such as Mondelez bring to the agency. Vogel also joined the team to talk through the news of the week, including the new [...] The post Mumbrellacast: Peter Vogel on Wavemaker and WPP, the future of Seven and the ACCC adtech inquiry appeared first on Mumbrella.

This week, it was 'revealed' that the industry was at risk of becoming a 'predominantly male, middle-aged, white workforce'... which was not particularly shocking. The Mumbrellacast team breaks down why the gap between men and women in this industry remains so significant, and what the data tells us. Plus, News Corp execs declared cricket was [...] The post Mumbrellacast: The industry's pay gap and diversity problem, plus Foxtel's latest shake-up appeared first on Mumbrella.