Features
Is news coverage a safe environment for advertisers?
In this week's Mumbrellacast, the team take a look at what is to come for Paramount and Network Ten as changes to its sales division continue. The team then discusses the industry's response to Ben Shepherd's call for advertisers to consider their role in funding certain sections of the media. Next, with the new leadership structure at Havas Group finally shaping up, what will the hold co's local operation under James Wright look like? Finally, interviews with HT&E's Ciaran Davis and MFA's Sophie Madden.
Paramount and Network Ten this week announced the departure of national sales director Lisa Squillace, who leaves after more than four years with the media group, leading the national sales all screens team, overseeing all advertising revenue across Network Ten, 10 Play and Paramount+. With further changes to its sales division expected in the coming weeks, the team looks at what is to come for the network, and where Squillace might be headed to next.
Earlier this week Dentsu chief investment officer, Ben Shepherd, made a call for advertisers to consider their role in funding certain sections of the media. In a LinkedIn post, he questioned the ethics of enabling and funding certain sections of the media, after coverage of Brittany Higgins in recent days, which he described as bullying. Following the article’s overwhelming response from the industry, the team discusses the longstanding issue of misplaced advertising, and why the issue might have gotten Mumbrella readers so riled up.
Then over to Havas Group, where Dentsu Creative’s Gayle While has been brought in as the successor to Host/Havas CEO Laura Aldington, and James Wright’s rumoured return to Australian shores to head up the group locally has been confirmed. The team discusses what the new leadership lineup might mean for the hold co after a turbulent few months of change.
On top of all of that, HT&E’s Ciaran Davis joins the podcast to talk earnings and potential consolidation, and MFA’s Sophie Madden chats the tough market conditions in 2023 and opportunity from the tech sector.
Episode breakdown
- Lisa Squillace leaves Ten/Paramount (1:59)
- Ben Shepherd’s call to advertisers (6:22)
- The new leadership structure at Havas Group (13:11)
- HT&E’s Ciaran Davis (18:35)
- MFA’s Sophie Madden (28:17)
Hey Hmmm…
The original piece was published on Tuesday, so naturally we have to freshen things up on our home page.
You can still find it in the ‘news’ section on our site. It hasn’t gone anywhere.
Cheers
Calum – Mumbrella
Hi second Hmmm
As I responded to the first Hmmm, the article is classified as ‘news’. If you look at our home page, the oldest article displayed in that section was published on Wednesday morning.
The article in reference here was published on Tuesday morning, and it stayed on our ‘clock’ on the homepage until this morning, Thursday. The news section is ordered by date.
To be clear, we haven’t heard from Dentsu since it was published, nor have they asked us to shift it.
It is simply an old article now, and has moved onto page two as a result.
Hope that clears it up!
Cheers
Calum – Mumbrella
While you’re welcome to do whatever you like with this discussion, don’t pass this off as a point about brand safety.
His original post, and numerous posts before this, are about ‘funding hate speech’. Not whether News Corp is brand safe for advertisers.
Remain focused on the point that he called on advertisers to stop funding ‘bullies’, meanwhile overseeing millions (if Dentsu still books millions) of investment into the publishers he openly attacks over and over again to get cheap likes on LinkedIn.
That is what lead to the response on the initial post.
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Because Dentsu were not happy with the poor publicity so the article “conveniently” fell onto page two. Articles published before that article are still on page one.
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Why has Ben’s initial post disappeared from the home page? There are a lot of older posts on there, which have a lot less comments/engagement.
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