Seven’s YouTube page hacked with Elon Musk videos
Seven’s YouTube page has been hacked with videos of Elon Musk and the Tesla logo.
At one point, multiple video streams of Musk talking were being viewed by over 100,000 people.
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The page has since been removed, presumably by someone at Seven.
In a statement given to Mumbrella on Thursday morning, a Seven spokesperson said: “Seven is aware that some of its branded YouTube channels are not appearing as they should.
“Seven is investigating and working with YouTube to resolve the situation as soon as possible.”
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The incident comes after a huge week for the media titan, which announced a “new operating model” under three divisions – television, digital and Western Australia – “designed to deliver on the strategy that includes optimising its television business and delivering on the digital future”.
As part of the changes, Seven said that “a number of redundancies and other cost actions are being taken” on the back of up to 150 jobs reportedly cut, which includes chief marketing officer Melissa Hopkins, chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette and Seven Melbourne’s head of sport and managing director Lewis Martin.
It’s since been reported that Seven is looking to axe $100 million in costs on the back of a tough advertising landscape and the end of its multi-million dollar news media deal with Meta.
Speaking exclusively to Mumbrella on Thursday morning, Hopkins said: “I am proud of my contribution over the past 15 months at Seven, the connections I have built, initiatives led and the external perspectives I have been able to provide as Seven firmly shapes itself as a digital first business.”
On a new episode of the Mumbrellacast, editor Neil Griffiths and publisher Adam Lang discussed the major announcement just hours after it was made, noting the string of controversies that has plagued the network lately, including the sacking of crime reporter and occasional newsreader, Robert Ovadia, just last week.
Listen to the full episode here.
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