Mumbrellacast

This week's Mumbrellacast features a chat with ex-ABC boss Michelle Guthrie, in which she discusses her take on the latest round of cuts at Australia's public broadcaster, why she believes the loss of ABC Life is a shame and how a business can balance audience demands with tight budgets.Sticking with the ABC, a COVID-19 scare on the set of News Breakfast this week sent hosts Lisa Millar and Michael Rowland into lockdown. It has been a tumultuous week for TV, but with the previous week's ratings finally recovered from the hold of ransomware hackers, Seven found out if Big Brother went out with a bang and how Farmer Wants a Wife fronted up against Nine's Australian Ninja Warrior.The tech giants are back under fire as congressional hearings kick off in the US with Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook joining in on the heaviest Zoom call you could possibly cop an invite to. In Australia, the ACCC is suing Google for misleading millions of people by expanding its use their data. Will the tech giants ever be broken up by governments? How will the power be handed back to the people?Plus, Mikey Robins dropped by for a chat about his new book, his media career, and whether satire will ever get old.

This week, TV ratings came under attack... from ransomware. It's particularly bad timing for Seven as it has not yet learned how the finale of Big Brother performed. Slipping through before Nielsen's OzTAM was struck were the finales of Nine's The Voice and Ten's Masterchef. Rolling into the next reality TV race, what are the Mumbrellacast team watching and looking forward to?And will the bad news for magazines ever end? The eight Bauer titles that were paused at the start of the pandemic will close. The team analyses how Bauer accelerated the decline of the print magazine industry, and unceremoniously farewells the Bauer family from the Australian market.Big moves took place in adland this week too. Australia's Marty O'Halloran will step onto the international stage following his promotion to global CEO of DDB Worldwide. And, ECD Andy Dilallo is set to depart TBWA Sydney with Clemenger BBDO's Evan Roberts to take his place. The change is surrounded by conspiracy theories about COVID cost cutting, but are they true?And, we chat about Australia's newest trade publication, Cannabiz, founded by Mumbrella's co-founder and former CEO Martin Lane. Tune in to hear about how the cannabis business is turning heads in the medical industry and what happens if it doesn't get legalised.

This week, Foxtel's new entertainment streaming service Binge opened a competition for TV fans to write reviews of its content with the opportunity for it to be published across News Corp Australia's titles. In light of the thousands of redundancies made in publishing over the last four months, the competition hasn't been received well. The Mumbrellacast team debates whether this is exploitative of people's time and thoughts, or if journalists are just too sensitive?Triple M's Mike Fitzpatrick joined to chat about the network's mental health initiative, No Talk Day, and how he plans to expand it internationally. Plus, is controversial talent a risk or a ratings winner? Fitzpatrick discusses the network's high retention of on-air talent, and working with Eddie McGuire.Also this week: Ten revealed 10 Shake, it's new multichannel harbouring the ViacomCBS treasure trove of MTV and Nickelodeon content; Prince Harry's feud with the royals resurfaced in an ad for Dominos; and the team analyses TikTok's very public response to calls for it to be banned.

Adland made a lot of noise this week: Ben Shepherd resigned from CHE Proximity, Kieran Moore left WPP AUNZ, and Ad Standards released its list of the most complained about ads of the year so far.Interpublic sold off another Australian agency to its boss with Richard Curtis taking ownership of Futurebrand five months after Ben Lilley bought McCann. Is this the indicator for something bigger to come? Plus, Publicis Groupe admitted 34 jobs were at risk due to the impacts of COVID-19. The team agrees it is more sad news for the industry but admirable that the business has made it until now to take drastic action.Seven's chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette joined the team to chat about how the network was navigating COVID-19 and what's coming up in the second half of the year. He alluded to what success will look like for the stable of upcoming reality shows, and how Seven is keeping brands involved with Big Brother.And finally, Pauline Hanson was dropped from The Today Show following comments she made about Melbourne residents forced into isolation in public housing towers. But should Nine have been shocked that its controversial contributor made controversial comments?

This week, Junkee Media's co-founder Tim Duggan joined the Mumbrellacast to chat about the week's news and his new book Cult Status.First up, do you see a golden wattle or a golden COVID? That was the question posed to the marketing industry this week when Australia's new brand was revealed. What is it about logos that attracts so much criticism? Why, as Duggan says, are Australians are our own worst clients?Ad spend for May was down 40.4%. Is the world 'Fukt' like the AFR once (accidentally) declared? Who is brave enough to go on record with a prediction about when the market will recover? Certainly not the Mumbrella team - although they do think the worst may have passed.The verdict was handed down this week regarding Geoffrey Rush's defamation case and its subsequent appeal. Mumbrella's Brittney Rigby and Duggan discuss what this means for the media industry.And, Duggan recounts the day he and Neil Ackland sold Junkee to Ooh Media, gives the secret for producing content for young people and provides insight on his writing process.

It was a sad week for the ABC. Up to 250 job cuts, the loss of ABC Life and the 7:45 news broadcast. Shadow minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, joined the Mumbrellacast and weighed in on the implications these cuts will have on Australia's media landscape and its access to diverse and regional content.Some big moves took place in media agency-land, including Hearts & Science acquiring an agency and a restructure in Carat's strategy team. For Carat, it is one of the biggest moves from CEO Sue Squillace since she stepped into the role last September. Will this be what gets the agency back in the game after a tough couple of years?The team debates Tik Tok marketing. Is it worth it? How do marketers do it? Is the platform just a fad?

This week on the Mumbrellacast: the job ad creating waves throughout the industry. What started as Dr Mumbo diagnosing problematic language in an ad for a “senior executive assistant / office manager / professional governess” at Ultimate Edge Communications, became an industry discussion about discrimination and burnout. Mumbrella's Vivienne Kelly goes behind the scenes on her interview with Aleisha McCall.Over in publishing, the Bauer Media saga is almost coming to a close after it was sold to Mercury Capital earlier this week. Following a merger with Pacific Magazines, hundreds of job cuts and with a number of its print titles on hold, the team wonders what the future will hold for the business.Mamamia's group director of marketing and commercial partner solutions Rob Farmer and editor Clare Stephens join the Mumbrellacast to explore how the publisher has navigated content and commercial opportunities throughout COVID-19.

In this week's Mumbrellacast, the team asks has Australia's media industry missed its Me Too moment? The topic comes about after it was announced NOW Australia, the organisation created by Tracey Spicer to assist victims of workplace sexual harassment and indecent assault, is shutting down. The team looks back on 2018, the promises made and allegations revealed, and analyses what went wrong.The AFL is returning in one of the biggest weeks for Seven this year. The network is promising record-breaking ratings to its advertisers, but will it live up to the hype? The hopes of Foxtel and its sports streaming service Kayo are also on the line, with football a huge draw card for attracting subscribers to both.Luckily, Kayo's chief commercial officer Ant Hearne joined the Mumbrellacast and weighed in on how much the sports streamer has learned about subscribers during lockdown. Alongside Louise Crompton, chief marketing officer of new entertainment streaming service Binge, the pair also discussed the launch of the latest venture and how they plan on cutting through the cluttered streaming market with the first campaign and 'cheeky' branding.

This week, Marc Fennell dropped by the Mumbrellacast to talk about his latest podcasting venture with Audible, Nut Jobs. He describes his adventures in the USA to explore the illegal nut trade, explains Audible's interest in storytelling, and ponders if there really is a podcast for everything?Over in adland, a couple of big leadership changes took place. Wunderman Thompson CEO John Gutteridge announced he was stepping down with Lee Leggett taking over. Gutteridge was the last WPP AUNZ CEO to oversee one of its famous creative agency mergers, closing another chapter in the holding group's saga. The team also analyses the slow introduction of a new leadership team over at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne.The week in media saw News Corp announce the closure of women's content network Whimn. Was it purely a branding decision? Or is this the latest cost-cutting measure? This was soon followed by a slump in readership of news.com.au and the ABC firmly holding first place. And, how did the first weekend of the NRL fare in the TV ratings?Also, ahead of its return to Australian screens on Monday, Sonia Kruger spoke with Mumbrella's Vivienne Kelly about the new-look Big Brother. What kind of housemate would Kruger be? And what's it like facing a COVID-19 scare on set?

It's been called the darkest day in Australian media - News Corp has closed 100 print titles, with 14 to close permanently and what is speculated to be near 1,000 job losses. The Mumbrellacast team breaks down the social, political and financial implications these closures will have on regional areas and wonders what the future is for the industry.The Hallway CEO, Jules Hall, revealed on Mumbrella earlier this week that his agency will continue working from home indefinitely, sparking a conversation about the value of maintaining an office. With benefits including saving on costly real estate and creating more flexibility for staff, plus overcoming the impracticalities of socially distant commuting, the only question is - how do you create and continue company culture?M&C Saatchi's new CEO, Justin Graham, weighed in maintaining the agency's culture while it continues to work from home when he joined the Mumbrellacast to discuss the ins and outs of taking over an agency in the midst of the pandemic. With clients like Commonwealth Bank, Woolworths and Tourism Australia, Graham describes what it's like responding to very different business needs throughout the COVID-19 crisis.