Radio bosses, editors, marketers and agency chiefs join Mumbrella360 for focus on media

Radio bosses, editors, marketers and agency chiefs join Mumbrella360 for focus on media     mUmBRELLA 360 Vert 2012 CMYK 234x135Some of the most senior players within the Australian media industry can today be announced as part of the lineup Mumbrella360, as we reveal another four major sessions for the conference, all themed around the media.

Mumbrella360 takes place in a fortnight’s time, on June 5 and 6 at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney.

There will be a high profile panel featuring the bosses of Australia’s major radio networks in conversation about the challenges faced by the indystry. A further panel will developing publishing models from  people involved in developing alternative models at first hand. Another will explore the future of media regulation. Also being revealed for the first time will be a survey of media industry sentiment – and discussion of what it means.

Commercial radio: The year everything changed

Radio bosses, editors, marketers and agency chiefs join Mumbrella360 for focus on media     Russell Tate image 100x150

Tate: Rewrote the playbook

The commercial radio panel will feature Cathy O’Connor, who is CEO of DMG which owns Nova and smoothfm; Ciaran Davies, CEO, Australian Radio Network which owns the Mix and Classic Hits networks;  Adam Lang, who is CEO of Fairfax Media’s radio group which include high profile talk sations 3AW in Melbourne and 2UE in Sydney; and Russell Tate, CEO, Macquarie Radio Network, parent company of 2GB.

In a discussion moderated by Mumbrella’s Tim Burrowes, the quartet will looks to the future via the lessons from one of the most dramatic years in the radio industry’s history. Tate rewrote the social media playbook in his handling of the station’s Alan Jones crisis; the major global music streaming brands launched in Australia and partnered with the networks; Read more »

Vodafone uses Jensen Button to compare its network problems to a broken down Datsun

Vodafone is continuing its series of ‘self depreciating’ advertisements with ad which compares the network’s coverage to a broken down Datsun 120Y.

In the ad, Vodafone invited British Formula One driver Jenson Button to attempt a lap record at the Calder Park Raceway in Victoria. During the lap – resembling Top Gear’s “star in a reasonably priced car” segment – the Datsun apparently breaks down on the driver.

A voiceover then says: “Some people used to say the old Vodafone network was like this but we’ve come a long way and there’s still more to come.”

The ad then promotes Vodafone’s 4G offering which switches on in some metro areas of Sydney and Perth next month, along with “some coverage in Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Newcastle and Wollongong” according to the small print of the ad. No mention is made of Victoria.

Read more »

Conroy’s underpants auction raises $2bn – mostly from Telstra – in spectrum sell-off

Conroys underpants auction raises $2bn   mostly from Telstra   in spectrum sell off    Screen Shot 2013 01 23 at 10.13.27 AM 234x284The government’s spectrum auction to telcos has raised just under $2bn for the government, less than market expectations.

Telstra snapped up the most expensive spectrum – suggesting it is likely to extend its dominance in the market offering 4G and 3G mobile services.

Optus bought more than half a billion dollars of spectrum according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority announcement.

TPG Internet spent a relatively modest $13m and Vodafone withdrew from the auction, suggesting its poor network reputation is unlikely to see much relief.

Some spectrum remained unsold.

The auction – in part made up of the airwaves which will be freed up when the analogue TV signal is switched off – became infamous after media minister Stephen Conroy boasted that he could make the telcos wear red underpants on their heads if he wanted to do so as part of the process.

The winning bids: Read more »

Q&A with Amanda Duthie – CEO and festival director of the Adelaide Film festival

Q&A with Amanda Duthie   CEO and festival director of the Adelaide Film festival    ajd head shot 100x150Amanda Duthie, CEO and festival director of the Adelaide Film Festival in a Q&A that first appeared in Encore.

Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?

Person: Stephen Conroy

Company: Apple

Distribution: NBN Read more »

A $olid investment?

Will the government’s $20m investment in attracting overseas productions actually make a difference to the local screen industry? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Cameron Boon finds out.

The federal government’s March 13 announcement of a $20 million cash injection for the film industry has not died with Simon Crean’s career, and still remains a solid strategy if it is a precursor to an eventual permanent increase say those in the industry. Read more »

Straight from the Ministry of Truth

As everybody knows, Rupert Murdoch does not tell his editors what to write.

But he sure does hire people who think alike…

Yesterday’s Sun in the UK:

Straight from the Ministry of Truth    Screen shot 2013 03 22 at 7.59.45 AM Read more »

The best way to appreciate press freedom is to lose it

I’m late to this fight.

I find myself a little uncomfortable standing in the same corner as the over-the-top Daily Telegraph response to Stephen Conroy’s proposals for media regulation. But in truth, I’m a fellow traveller.

Conroy’s proposal to effectively end press self regulation is a bad thing.

The risk posed to freedom of the press is relatively small, but it opens the door a crack.

And in the last few days, I’ve found myself thinking about the miserable year I spent editing a magazine in a country that censored the press. Read more »

Mining magnate Clive Palmer tweets PM offer to help with media reforms

Dr Mumbo is delighted that eccentric mining magnate Clive Palmer has volunteered himself as an adviser to Julia Gillard while the new media reforms are implemented.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer tweets PM offer to help with media reforms    Screen Shot 2013 03 19 at 12.10.13 PM Read more »

Brave new Labor

Dr Mumbo thought he’d woken up in Dubai when he opened up today’s Daily Telegraph. Story after story was full of praise for the brave government leadership as the newspaper took a crack at the sort of stories it claims media minister Stephen Conroy wants.

“Senator Conroy,” reported The Tele, “one of the most successful and handsome members of cabinet, gave the public a rare treat by playing in the annual Stephen Conroy versus The Rest of the World soccer match.

Brave new Labor    Screen Shot 2013 03 19 at 11.04.43 AM 468x316

“The minister especially stunned onlookers with an ingenious move in which he pretended to fall over so he could closely inspect the turf.” Read more »

Bad chemistry in media battle

Yesterday saw a string of media bosses appear before the politicians – and cameras – in Canberra. The Conversation’s Michelle Grattan was there.

The media chiefs expect to have the last word about the government’s plan for a print media watchdog – more poodle than pit bull – and a public interest test to prevent further ownership concentration. And in private, the last laugh.

If, as seems likely, these media reforms crash, they will chuckle over how they put that upstart Communications Minister Stephen Conroy in his place.

They came to Canberra, tempers variably in hand, and locked horns with the feisty left senator Doug Cameron. Read more »

Ten hits out at media reform proposals, ‘It is now obvious to everyone that SCA plans to merge with Nine’

Ten hits out at media reform proposals, It is now obvious to everyone that SCA plans to merge with Nine    ten logo 100x99Ten’s newly appointed boss Hamish McLennan has issued an angry statement in response to the government’s media reform proposals.

He has called plans to scrap the 75% audience reach rule “staggering” and said it would enable Nine Entertainment Co’s widely rumoured merger plans with the TV assets of Southern Cross Austereo, formerly known as Southern Cross Media, to go ahead.

McLennan said that it was now “obvious to everyone” that Southern Cross Austereo plans to merge its TV assets with Nine and suggested that “whispers have taken place over the back fence” between media minister Stephen Conroy and the potentially merging parties. Read more »

Twitter reminds media moguls about stones in glass houses

Twitter reminds media moguls about stones in glass houses    mumbo 468x662In the wake of the Daily Telegraph’s front page comparing Stephen Conroy to Stalin, Mao, Castro, Kim, Mugabe, and Ahmadinedjad, Dr Mumbo has been watching the reaction of social media quite intently.

One of his favourites so far has been a slightly modified poster tweeted by No Fibs Geek (@Geeksrulz) early this afternoon. Instead of comparing the minister to dictators it compares him to media moguls.

 

These people believe in controlling the news cycle… but where’d they get the idea from?

These people believe in controlling the news cycle... but whered they get the idea from?     Telegraph 234x312Dr Mumbo loves a good tabloid front page and today’s edition of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph certainly delivers.

The Tele has chosen to compare Australia’s communications minister  Stephen Conroy with no less than the dictators: Stalin, Mao, Castro, Kim, Mugabe and, just for good measure, Ahmadinedjad.

Dr Mumbo is pleased that the Tele was careful not to fall foul of Godwin’s Law (the first side of an argument to compare the other to Hitler or Nazis automatically loses), after all using Hitler would have been too much.

But he does wonder where the idea came from…  Read more »

Conroy proposes media reforms: the experts respond

Conroy proposes media reforms: the experts respond    Senator Conroy 100x141By Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation

Australian print and online news organisations will be self-regulated through voluntary membership of a press standards body, under media reforms proposed by the Federal Government today.

The reforms comprise the government’s official response to the Convergence Review and Finkelstein Inquiry into the media in Australia.

Among the proposals is the creation of Public Interest Media Advocate, who would oversee mergers and acquisitions of news organisations, and a new Public Interest Test to ensure that diversity of voices is considered when mergers take place.

Minister for Broadband, Communications, and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, said news organisations that join up to a press standards body will be rewarded with a special exemption from certain sections of the Privacy Act. Read more »

Q&A with Peter Fray – director of media start ups News Armada and FrayJobSearch.

In a Q&A that first appeared in Encore, Peter Fray talks about is media habits and the long list of journalists he’d like to poach.

Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?Q&A with Peter Fray   director of media start ups News Armada and FrayJobSearch.    Peter Fray 100x130

Tempted to say Rupert Murdoch (or Kim Williams) but truth is it’s the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. He/she can change the rules for all media. So, at the moment it’s Stephen Conroy.After that, well, I guess if Tony Abbott doesn’t punt him to foreign affairs, the answer is Malcolm Turnbull.

Read more »

News Limited: Speculation on us buying Ten is ‘highly fanciful’

News Limited: Speculation on us buying Ten is highly fanciful    Screen Shot 2013 02 25 at 4.58.18 PM 234x62News Limited has this afternoon rejected speculation that it is interested in purchasing Channel Ten, describing the suggestions as “conspiratorial, highly fanciful and wrong”.

The statement comes after the Greens today urged Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to toughen media ownership rules due to fears the appointment of former News Corporation senior executive Hamish McLennan as CEO of Channel Ten could be a sign of a desire by News to purchase the free-to-air TV station.

In a statement, a spokesman for News Limited said: “Much of today’s reporting and commentary is conspiratorial, highly fanciful and wrong.  News Limited has no plans to acquire Channel Ten. Read more »

Cabinet to discuss media reform

The Federal cabinet will meet today to discuss media minister Stephen Conroy’s plans for law reform, The Australian Financial Review reports. Read more »

Production sector opposes local content quotas with cartoon campaign

Production sector opposes local content quotas with cartoon campaign    Screen Shot 2013 02 22 at 12.28.41 PM 234x171A cartoon of the ghost of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo interviewing Senator Stephen Conroy is part of a new campaign from the production sector to oppose changes to the local content sub-quotas that governs Australian TV stations.

The cartoon is drawn by Crikey’s First Dog on the Moon and sees Skippy grilling Conroy over the amount of American television on Australian screens and what the production sector calls Conroy’s ‘sweeping regressive changes to local content sub-quotas’ to the TV network’s multi-channels. Read more »

Next Page »