Media Week returns for 2015 with news that an eastern states’ ad agency is coming to Adelaide, a new media man for Steven Marshall, big media questions for 2015, and much more.
Ad agency comes to Adelaide
Eastern states’ ad agency BWM is opening an Adelaide office.
The agency behind campaigns for the likes of Weet-Bix and John West has recently been awarded the Tour Down Under account and has decided to seal the deal by opening an Adelaide office.
BWM Melbourne managing director Mark Watkin told AdNews that the agency had been eyeing Adelaide for some time.
“It’s an interesting market to us,” he said.
Watkin wouldn’t return Media Week’s calls to expand on what interests him.
Late last year the biodiversity of the Adelaide advertising ecosystem shrunk with kwp! swallowing up the local office of Clemenger BBDO.
BWM, which employs about 150 staff in Sydney and Melbourne, will certainly have the locals sharpening their game.
The year ahead
This year is crunch time for so many media people across Adelaide that it’s hard to know where to begin.
At the ABC, the tortuously unwinding results of budget cuts will be worked through. Who will stay and who will go?
At the Waymouth Street headquarters of News Corp, yet another year of double-digit print sale falls would surely start to focus more attention on the inevitable result – the end of weekday print runs (although, many observers believe that will only happen after Rupert Murdoch vacates his chair at the pinnacle of the global empire).
In radio, will Triple M continue its resurgence? Will the so-far underwhelming SAFM rebadging start to work for Southern Cross Austereo? In the breakfast talk shift, will Matt Abraham and David Bevan regain their ascendancy over the resurgent FIVEaa team of David Penberthy, Jane Reilly and Mark Aiston?
In television, the cashed up newsroom at Channel Nine will move into new city digs, with better technology and a more functional studio. They will be the best-resourced TV newsroom in Adelaide, and they will be desperately keen to make some ground on ratings leaders Seven, which won every single survey last year.
Moving on
Journalist Monique Bowley, also known for her spectacular baking, has taken up a gig as senior editor with Sydney-based website Mamamia. Bowley told Media Week that, among other jobs, she will be executive producer and host of the Mamamia Out Loud podcast. She’s splitting her time between Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide (she’s already desperately homesick) and her column in News Corp’s “The City” will continue for the time being.
One of The Australian’s local reporters, Mitchell Nadin, who only moved here a short time ago to replace the inimitable Sarah Martin after she was promoted to Canberra, is returning to NSW. InDaily understands Nadin is not only leaving the Adelaide bureau, but journalism. He’ll be fulfilling a long-time dream of running a beachside bar on the far south coast of NSW. Can’t say we blame him.
Moving in
Opposition Leader Steven Marshall has finally appointed a new media director – a position that has been vacant since Daniel Gannon left North Terrace in August 2014 to head up the Property Council.
The new media honcho is Paul Armanas, a long-time adviser to Liberal deputy leader Vickie Chapman.
Armanas is an interesting appointment. His primary focus – in my experience – is on detailed policy and issues work. A sign of things to come?
Tightening up
News Corp has tightened security at its Waymouth Street headquarters, where it produces The Advertiser, Sunday Mail and Messenger newspapers.
In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack (and News Corp global chief Rupert Murdoch’s infamous tweet about Muslims), entry to Keith Murdoch House is now scrutinised and controlled more closely.
A sadly needed precaution.
Our favourite TV things
South Australia is meant to be one of the big three AFL states right?
Well, it seems we’re more interested in plodding reality TV than the great game, judging by last year’s full ratings report.
In the AFL strongholds of Melbourne and Perth, the highest rating program of the year was the AFL grand final on Seven.
In Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, the announcement of the My Kitchen Rules winner was the highest rating – and by a long way.
In Adelaide the MKR outrated the AFL grand final by 339,000 viewers to 304,000. The MKR “grand final” (a separately measured program) was locked on exactly the same number of viewers as the real grand final.
The only drama program that made the national top 20 was the rock bio-pic INXS: Never Tear Us Apart.
The rest of the list was made up with reality TV and sport. The data underlines the fact that the truly great TV dramas – such as House of Cards – are no longer to be found on free-to-air TV.
It’s tough to be a teenager
There was an unexpected joy during the preparation of our story this week on the Young Liberals finally winning back editorial control of the Adelaide Uni newspaper On Dit.
The last Liberal editor was young Nick Xenophou (now Xenophon) at the age of 18.
Some industrious soul in the university library has scanned every back copy of On Dit, including Xenophon’s first edition in control in March 1977.
His long editorial rails against past bias and waste (including a previous editor’s decision to spend $750 on a “high quality enlarged version of the Communist Manifesto”).
He also diagnoses what was wrong with the past editions – too much politics.
“The principal problem facing previous On Dits was that of bias. I intend to stop the bias in two ways. Firstly there will be less influence on the heavy politics (particularly international politics) that filled the pages of On Dit in recent times.”
Even back then, Xenophon – a supremely gifted politician – was playing the anti-politician.
Read the full edition here.
Naughty corner
Serious journalism has become even tougher in this town with the insidious dampening effect of the ICAC Act and the ongoing PR control of information flow from government and institutions.
The last thing we need is Liberal politicians using FOI laws to sift through email exchanges between journalists and information sources in government departments and ministerial offices.
Back off boys.
Top of the class
ABC radio has done a stout job chasing down the Gillman story this week. First Matt Abraham and David Bevan scored the first interview with Premier Jay Weatherill following last week’s scathing judgement on Gillman (and it was a doozy). Then Ian Henschke pulled out a ripping interview with NSW silk Geoffrey Watson about the judgement and Weatherill’s reaction to it. Top work gentlemen.
Media Week is published on Fridays.
