Channel Seven welcomes Olympian Matt Shirvington to the team – H2 new line ups and H1 performance of networks.
• Shirvington this week begins his new role with 7NEWS Sydney’s top-rating team
Channel Seven has welcomed Olympian and seasoned broadcaster Matt Shirvington to the network.
In his new role role, Shirvington joins Australia’s #1 news team and will also be part of Seven’s commentary team for the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Shirvington this week begins his new role with 7NEWS Sydney’s top-rating team – including Mark Ferguson, Mel McLaughlin, David Brown, Michael Usher and Sally Bowrey – as the new weekend sports anchor.
He’ll present sport alongside newsreader Michael Usher on Fridays and Saturdays.
In a sporting career spanning two decades, Shirvington brings with him more than 10 years’ experience presenting and reporting from some of the world’s biggest sporting events including multiple Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
Shirvington said he’s excited to start a new chapter at Seven.
“I couldn’t be more excited to start this new chapter at Channel Seven,” Shirvington said.
“To be working in a newsroom alongside the best in the business is a privilege.
“It’s a return of sorts, having begun my television career with Seven.
“And it would be no surprise that as an Olympian, being able to work on another Games coverage is exactly where I want to be.
“I have gained a wealth of experience from my time at Foxtel and Fox Sports, for which I am grateful, which will only strengthen my contribution to the 7NEWS team.”
Network director of news and public affairs Craig McPherson said Shirvington’s addition starts an “exciting new chapter”.
“Matt brings a wealth of experience and energy to our superb team,” McPherson said.
“The drive and commitment required to be an elite athlete has benchmarked Matt’s broadcasting career.
“Instilled qualities to be the best at what he does with a Sydney and sporting pedigree across athletics, rugby league, Australian Rules and rugby.
“This is an exciting new beginning for our 7NEWS sport department, 7Sport and Matt.”
Sydney News director Jason Morrison added: “Matt has proven himself to be a champion in everything he’s tackled, and he’s excelled in his media career. We can’t wait to have him working with Mel McLaughlin and our sports team.”
Born and raised in Sydney’s north-east, Matt Shirvington is one of the greats of Australian track and field and represented his country at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the 1998 and 2006 Commonwealth Games and seven World Championships.
He began his media career with the Seven Network in 2005 as a host and reporter on Beyond Tomorrow before joining Sky News in 2009. Since 2013, Shirvington has been a mainstay of Fox Sports NRL coverage, most recently as host of NRL Tonight.
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Mediaweek Roundup: Seven West Media, 10, Free TV, The Bachelor + more
Network 10, Netflix, Stan, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, AAP, A Current Affair, Seven News Spotlight Investigates, and Fox Cricket
Business of Media
Network Ten swings to $226m loss as virus triggers sports writedown
Network Ten has slumped to a $226m loss and been forced to write off tens of millions from the value of its sports broadcasts deals and program rights, reports The Australian’s John Stensholt.
The network, usually the third-highest rating among the free-to-air-broadcasters, has also taken a major hit to its revenue because of COVID-19, copping months where income was as much as 38 per cent less than the same time in 2019 since the economic repercussions of the global pandemic hit Australia in March.
Details of Ten’s financial performance were revealed in the company’s 2019 financial report, lodged with the corporate regulator late on Friday and obtained by The Australian.
Excluding significant items, Ten recorded earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $24.2m for 2019, and an underlying after-tax loss of $45.3m.
After asset sales, Seven West Media nears deal on debt covenants
Seven West Media is believed to be almost out of the woods for now with its financiers, with suggestions that the free-to-air broadcaster is close to announcing a deal to waive its debt covenants, reports The Australian’s Bridget Carter.
It comes as the group has moved swiftly to sell down assets and cut costs, which is understood to have pleased the lenders.
The media group is not thought to be taking on any additional debt.
It is understood that US-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management made an approach to buy the business, but was rebuffed by Seven West.
Oaktree was one of the private equity firms that recapitalised Seven’s rival Nine Entertainment when it was on the brink of collapse and also made efforts to buy the Ten Network when it went into administration.
The AFR’s Street Talk reports:
It is understood James Warburton’s team is set to tap Grant Samuel to find a buyer for Seven West Ventures, which includes the network’s stakes in Airtasker, Health Engine and SocietyOne.
The portfolio is on Seven West Media’s books for about $95 million, and it’ll be Grant Samuel’s job to try to find another venture capital-minded buyer to take the investments.
Free TV wants to abandon content quotas to battle streaming giants
Australia’s peak commercial TV body is calling on the government to abandon “outdated” local content quota rules and allow traditional broadcasters to compete with the fast-paced growth of streaming services, reports The Australian’s Angelica Snowden.
Free TV Australia, which advocates for commercial free-to-air television networks including Channel 7, Nine and Network 10, said the effects of shrinking advertising revenue and the introduction of streaming services had been exacerbated by COVID-19 and left some parts of the industry “fighting for survival”.
Regulations require commercial broadcasters, but not subscription video-on-demand services, to air a minimum of 55 per cent Australian content on their primary channel and an additional 1460 hours on secondary channels each year between 6am and midnight, as outlined by the Broadcasting Services Act.
Free TV Australia CEO Bridget Fair said the federal government should deregulate quota obligations other than an overall Australian content target.
Netflix, Stan, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video unite on content review
Major streaming players Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ have united to reach consensus on local content requirements, arguing if the government is set on regulation a light-touch approach would ensure the young industry is not stymied, reports The AFR’s Max Mason.
Sources said the three global streaming giants and Stan, which is owned locally owned by Nine have collaborated on a submission to the Supporting Australian Stories on our screens options paper released by Screen Australia and the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
It is understood the streaming players argue there is no market failure to address in terms of investment in Australian content and heavy regulation on an industry in its early stages could have unintended consequences in a rapidly changing environment.
The subscription video on-demand businesses will urge any policies need to take into account the varying business models across subscription video on-demand and a one-size-fits-all approach is not the best outcome.
Group investing in AAP’s future now numbers 35
The AFR’s Max Mason speaks with Nick Harrington, a 30-year old sustainable investment manager and winner of the 2017 BOSS Emerging Leaders MBA Scholarship, and one of the investors in AAP.
Harrington says, like most, he read about the closure of AAP on March 3 when the company said it was no longer viable to continue. Its largest shareholders Nine and News Corp decided they could no longer subsidise the newswire by more than $10 million a year as they continued to cut their own costs amid structural changes in the media sector. ACM and Seven both contributed more than $1 million per year. Clients of the service pay much less to access AAP content.
“I genuinely assumed someone would pick it up. There’s so much value and heritage in the business. As it progressed, it wasn’t until mid-to-late April, it looked like no one would buy it, and it looked like it would close, so I reached out to a few impact investors,” Harrington says.
“Speaking to the non-shareholder customers – ABC, SBS, Guardian, ACM, Schwartz Media – to hear from them and the concerns for life without AAP was pretty powerful.”
The AAP newswire funding group has grown to 35 people or organisations from five states and from a range of occupations, including people who have worked in media, finance and even aviation.
News Brands
Former Liberal leader sues A Current Affair, Tracy Grimshaw
Former Liberal Party leader John Hewson is suing Channel 9 and A Current Affair presenter Tracy Grimshaw, alleging they falsely portrayed him as the incompetent chief of an insurance company that “dudded” victims of a savage storm, reports News Corp’s Perry Duffin.
GSA Insurance Brokers, chaired by Dr Hewson, was identified as the “insurance company” recommended to Storage King North Parramatta customers Nicole and Adrian Dolahenty in the segment aired in May this year.
The Dolahentys put in a claim to GSA after they lost the contents of their storage unit when hundreds of millimetres of rain fell across Sydney in early February and the unit was inundated.
The former federal opposition leader launched a defamation case in the Federal Court against Nine, Grimshaw and journalist Danielle Post late last month saying they all knew Dolahanety’s claims were false.
Seven takes on 60 Minutes with launch of investigation series
Seven is restoring long-form current affairs to its schedule six months after the disappearance of Sunday Night and Today Tonight, reports The Australian’s Nick Tabakoff.
The new show, to be called Seven News Spotlight Investigates, will start later this month.
It is understood that the show will start airing in late July with the much-anticipated interview of Danny and Leila Abdallah, who tragically lost three children when they were hit by a car in Oatlands in Sydney’s northwest.
The Abdallah interview with Michael Usher won’t be going head-to-head with 60 Minutes, with that first instalment to screen on a weeknight.
And indeed, Seven News Spotlight Investigates won’t have a regular schedule at all, running on any night between Sunday and Wednesday on any given week.
Television
The Bachelor to premier in August after filming resumes
Network Ten’s latest instalment of The Bachelor has resumed filming with extensive protocols in place to protect the cast and crew during the pandemic crisis ahead of its premier next month, reports The Australian’s Lilly Vitorovich.
Ten’s head of entertainment Stephen Tate says the eighth season is in full swing, with this year’s bachelor and former Survivor contestant Locky Gilbert back after filming was suspended in March over fears about the spread of the virus.
A cocktail party and rose ceremony was filmed at the show’s mansion last Friday with strict social distancing and other health protocols in place. They include temperature testing twice a day, daily QR code sign-in and out requirements and restricted access to some areas.
Prior to the resumption of filming, cast and crew were put in isolation and tested twice. The Bachelor’s wider team, which includes catering and other staff, “runs in the hundreds”, he said.
Given the extraordinary situation, The Bachelor will also feature virtual dates that took place after the suspension of filming at the mansion.
Sports Media
England v West Indies to be shown on Fox Sports as Test cricket returns
Australia has been saved from a cricketing blackout, with Fox Sports striking an emergency deal to broadcast the game’s long-awaited return from the wilderness, reports News Corp’s Ben Horne.
England’s COVID-19 bubble Test series against the West Indies starts next week and the hastily arranged return to action had left TV chiefs in a race against time to seal a deal to show the action.
However, Fox Sports has come to a temporary agreement with the England Cricket Board, meaning there will be prime time Test cricket on Australian screens from Wednesday night.
There is ever-growing optimism that Australia will be able to tour the UK for a one-day tour in September, and negotiations are ongoing between Fox and the ECB to get a long-term TV deal in place to ensure Aaron Finch’s team are shown down under.
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ARIA Chart : New #1, Jack Harlow goes top 10, Guy Sebastian top 30
• Albums: Home Front #1 second week, Khruangbin and Haim top 10
Singles
The cosy chart dominance we talked about last week has been broken with a new #1. Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo see Savage Love climb to the top after three weeks on the chart, up from #3 last week. This the fourth time at #1 for Derulo and the first for 17-year-old Josh Nanai from Auckland, also known as producer Jawsh 685. ARIA notes that Nanai is the first New Zealand lead artist to have a #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart in 24 years, and only the third since the ARIA charts began. It follows Dave Dobbyn with Herbs’ Slice of Heaven (#1 May 1987) and OMC’s How Bizarre (#1 April 1996).
US rapper and songwriter Jack Harlow has slipped into the top 10 at #9 after 13 weeks on the chart, up from #38 last week.
Two other top 50 debuts:
#12: Blackpink with How You Like That. The K-pop act land in the top 50 for the second time in 2020 after their Lady Gaga collaboration peaked at #8 last month.
#23: Guy Sebastian with Standing with You. It’s been a massive couple of weeks with the recording artist and coach on The Voice. The release of a new first single coincides with charges being laid against his former manager. His 24th entry on the singles chart is another track from his next studio album and the first to chart since Choir exactly 12 months ago.
Albums
It’s another week at #1 for Music From The Home Front which means another week at #1 for an Australian album. The triple vinyl set we mentioned last week won’t be released until the end of this month.
New albums to the chart this week include two making the top 50:
#4: Khruangbin with Mordechai. Chart debut for the third album US rock trio from Texas.
#7: Haim with Women in Music Part III. The three American sisters make the ARIA top 10 for the third time with their third album.
#18: Gordi with Our Two Skins. The second album from folktronica singer/songwriter Sophie Payten performing as Gordi had a stunning gestation judging by the backstory associated with the song writing. Her previous album Between Reservoir peaked at #20 in 2017.
#30: Grey Daze with Amends. A compilation album from Grey Daze, a band that featured the late Chester Bennington before he left to join Linkin Park. The album includes new music from the members of Grey Daze with vocals from the vault.
#33: Pop Smoke with Meet the Woo 2. The second mixtape from the US rapper was released just days before his death in February this year. The first and final album from him, Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, was released in the past couple of days.
#40: Bananagun with The True Story of Bananagun. First album from the Melbourne psychedelic band comes after the release of two singles in the past 12 months. The band held a live stream album launch just over a week ago.
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Week 27 TV Ratings: Seven makes it four consecutive weeks at #1
• Big Brothers episodes were all close to 700,000 as the franchise continues to lower the age of Seven’s audience.
A familiar pattern played out again during week 27. And it wasn’t just Seven winning its fourth consecutive week all people and in key demos. The weekday results have been unchanged during that time too – Nine won Sunday and Monday with help from The Voice before Seven then takes over winning the five remaining nights of the week.
Seven Week 27
Seven again dominated at 6pm for its News bulletin on every night of the week.
The three episodes of Big Brother were next best with all close to 700,000 as the franchise continues to lower the age of Seven’s audience.
The channel’s other key contributors to the primetime victory were AFL, Home and Away, America’s Got Talent, Better Homes and Gardens and The Front Bar.
Sunrise had another winning week too with an average of 289,000 on weekdays.
Primary all people 20.2% (Last week 20.7%)
Network all people 28.8% (30.5%)
Multichannels 7TWO 3.3% (3.4%) 7mate 3.4% (4.0%) 7flix 1.8% (2.1%)
Nine Week 27
The final episodes of The Voice battle rounds had audiences of 867,000 on Sunday and 775,000 on Monday – along with Nine News and A Current Affair they were the only entries in the top 20.
60 Minutes showed up in the top 30 for the week while Paramedics made the top 40.
Primary all people 18.0% (Last week 17.9%)
Network all people 26.5% (25.9%)
Multichannels GO! 2.7% (2.5%), Gem 2.4% (2.3%), 9Life 2.1% (2.2%), 9Rush 1.3% (1.1%)
10 Week 27
The three episodes of MasterChef were the key performers as they were again all around 950,000 or higher and again all earned a spot in the top 10 for the week.
Have You Been Paying Attention? had its biggest audience for several weeks and was safely above 800,000.
There’s a bit of a gap though to the channel’s next best though with The Project 7pm on 510,000.
The Living Room returned to the schedule, making Friday night a bit more competitive with an audience of 468,000.
MasterChef Australia was up 50% compared to its 2019 average while Have You Been Paying Attention? was up 9% compared to its 2019 average. The Living Room new-look season kicked off on Friday night with its biggest launch since 2016 and was up 14% compared to its 2019 launch.
The Dog House lifted 10’s audience timeslot on Saturday 85% compared to its 2019 average.
Primary all people 12.5% (Last week 11.9%)
Network all people 19.0% (18.3%)
Multichannels 10 Bold 4.1% (4.0%), 10 Peach 2.4% (2.4%)
ABC Week 27
ABC News was the only programming over 700,000 with Back Roads the next best on 639,000 followed by 7.30 on 622,000.
Pushing above half a million were Four Corners, Foreign Correspondent, Home Delivery, Media Watch, while The Weekly was oh-so-close on 499,000.
Primary all people 11.7% (Last week 12.3%)
Network all people 16.8% (17.1%)
Multichannels Kids/Comedy 2.6% (2.7%), News 2.0% (1.7%), ME 0.5% (0.5%)
SBS Week 27
The primary channel had its best share in eight weeks. The biggest difference was the Saturday share which was boosted week-on-week by Extreme Railway Journeys and then two hours of Life Drawing Live with Rove hosting.
The channel’s best was Who Do You Think You Are? which climbed above 400,000 again for the Julie Bishop episode.
Primary all people 5.2% (Last week 4.6%)
Network all people 8.9% (8.1%)
Multichannels Viceland 1.4% (1.5%), Food 0.9% (1.1%), NITV 0.2% (0.2%), World Movies 1.2% (0.8%)
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TV ratings Saturday July 4, 2020
