Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we’ve an episode of our series focusing on industry startups, The Unmakers. We talk to the co-founders of fast growing influencer platform Fabulate. And further down, mixed fortunes on the Unmade Index.If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn (May 28) and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade’s Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives; * Your own copy of Media UnmadeBen Gunn and Nathan Powell on Fabulate’s five year push into the technology of influencer marketingA noticeable trend in adland is that nobody is making it big by starting another media company or advertising agency.However, those working inside the legacy players have been perfectly placed to understand the problems of brands and publishers, and work out how to solve them. The technology based solutions have the ability to scale globally in a way that media offerings and agencies do not.Recent examples include media mix modelling platform Mutinex, started by WPP staffers Henry Innis and Matt Farrugia; micro influencer platform Tribe started by then 2Day FM presenter Jules Lund, and retail media platform Zitcha, which span out of media agency Hatched.A further example which deserves a higher profile is Fabulate, whose founders include former Nine staffers Ben Gunn and Nathan Powell, along with Toby Kennett. Today’s podcast focuses on the Fabulate story.Five years on, Fabulate barely counts as a start up any more. It employs more than 50 staff and manages campaigns to the value of millions of dollars. In the conversation, chief revenue officer Gunn and content and strategy boss Powell are cagier about revealing the platform’s own direct revenue, but they drop some hints.In March, Fabulate was named best influencer marketing technology service by AiMCO (the Australian Influencer Marketing Council).With its roots in text-based branded content, Fabulate is now deeply in the short form video influencer space, including TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube. The platform connects influencers to brands and manages workflow for marketing campaigns. It is also planning to gear up around LinkedIn influencers.Along with being integrated into IPG Mediabrands’s Kinesso social offering, Fabulate is working with almost all Australia’s influencer agencies, as well as major PR agencies including Edelman.The wide ranging conversation - which is part of Unmade’s ongoing The Unmakers series - covers Fabulate’s first five years, an overview of the fast changing influencer sector, and insights into where the company goes next.Previous episodes of The Unmakers:Unmade Index flat as TV networks look upThe Unmade Index battled itself into equilibrium on Wednesday, with broad falls across most of the list counterbalanced by improvements from Nine and Seven West Media.With the index moving up by just 0.2 points to 546.1, Nine did much of the heavy lifting, rising by 1.3%, while Seven was up 2.5%.Meanwhile Ooh Media, IVE Group, ARN Media and Southern Cross Austereo all slumped.Today’s podcast was edited by Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, editing and production.Time to leave you to your Thursday.We’ll be taking a one-day publishing break tomorrow.I’m in Sydney today at the Australian Associational of National Advertisers Reset conference (one question I’m considering: is the “growth” theme of the event in keeping with the mood music around sustainability? Your thoughts please.)And tomorrow afternoon I’m jumping on QF1 to London for Advertising Week Europe. It looks as though the upgrade gods have not smiled upon me. Saturday’s Best of the Week will be brought to you from deep in the bowels of the cheap seats.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our audio-led Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today: Nine under pressure from investors as questions are asked about CEO Mike Sneesby’s behaviour to staffer; SXSW lineup unveiledToday:Nine boss Mike Sneesby gets ready to front the Macquarie investor conference, as The Australian reports that he puts pressure on one of his journalists over coverage of Stan. And SXSW revleas its first speakers for October’s Sydney event - it’s AI-a-gogo.Further reading:* Unmade: How news is becoming a collective industry* Capital Brief: Nine facing pressure to cut TV costs amid ad market rout* Unmade: Rock bottom delayed* The Australian: Did Nine chief Mike Sneesby break an unwritten rule?* SXSW: SXSW Sydney reveals first look at 2024 speakers and sessionsToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Toodlepip…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we’ve an episode of our series focusing on industry startups, The Unmakers. We talk to the latest entrant into the increasingly competitive marketing mix modelling sector, Jordan Taylor-Bartels, the co-founder of Prophet.In today’s episode of The Unmakers, we talk to Jordan Taylor-Bartels about Prophet, the analytics platform he’s been quietly building for the last three years, before finally publicly launching it in March.There were several industry investors attached to the launch, including Australian Community Media proprietor Antony Catalano, and ex-Dentsu (now Bastion) executive Cheuk Chiang. To add to the spice, Chiang was an early investor in media mix modelling platform Mutinex, although he parted ways early in the project.Although recently an owner of indie media agency Magic, much of Taylor-Bartels career has been spent outside of media, including at a couple of Elon Musk companies in the US. At the start of his career, Taylor-Bartels studied media and journalism at RMIT and created his own culture magazine, Helmet.In today’s conversation, Taylor-Bartels explains his approach to simplifying the variabilities of marketing, talks through the launch team and plots a path for where Prophet grows from here.Today’s podcast was edited by Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, editing and production.We’ll be back with more tomorrow.Have a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our audio-led Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today: Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson smash onto the Melbourne airwaves, and go full bore from the first talk break; Cosmo magazine is coming back; and the coming war between Australia and the digital giantsHave you considered becoming a paying member of Unmade to get the full picture? Only our paying members receive our members-only Tuesday analysis; get access to our archive where all our content is paywalled after two months; get their own copy of Media Unmade; and receive discounts on all our events. Become a member today!Melbourne makes up its mind about the K+J ShowKyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson exploded onto the Melbourne airwaves this morning with a family-unfriendly half hour opening talk break that kept the bleeper operator busy (we include a small excerpt in today’s podcast). Introducing the team behind the Sydney-based Kyle & Jackie O Show to the Kiis Melbourne audience, Sandilands and Henderson ranged through topics including sex acts, sexual preferences and sexually transmitted diseases.There were also moments of dead air where local feeds failed to fill the ad break, for the digital audio stream at least, as ARN grappled with the technicalities of a live national show with local inserts.And ARN pulled a switcheroo on Fox FM, upgrading the prize in their secret sound contest to $200,000 Also today, we examine Australian’s increasingly fractious relationship with the digital behemoths including Google, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter.And Cosmo is returning.Further reading:* New York Times: Congress Passed a Bill That Could Ban TikTok. Now Comes the Hard Part* Capital Brief: Leadership vacuum at TikTok Australia as US ban looms* Australian Financial Review: Small player Twitter* Australian Financial Review: Facebook shifts more than $1.1b offshore as local profits rise 36pc* Australian Financial Review: Google hides its total revenue from Australia in new accountsToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Toodlepip…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. Today: TikTok piles the pressure on the television industry as US legislators put the squeeze on the short form video platform; the TV revenue slump still hasn’t hit bottom; how consumers are making brand compromises in the cost of living crunch.Today:* The US House of Representatives voted over the weekend to force the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or be banned. That means the law could be on Joe Biden’s desk for signing within days if the Senate votes on it this week. If ByteDance refuses to sell, will Australia ban TikTok too?;* Seven had one of the worst weeks in the company’s history. Analysts describe it as a “one trick pony”, and that TV trick is no longer working;* Hard-up consumers are disguising their Aldi tomato sauce in big brand bottles;* The ABC has upped its marketing spend, but is $6m a quarter enough?Further reading:* The Guardian: US House passes bill that could lead to total TikTok ban* Australian Financial Review: TV networks have lost 83pc of young viewers to TikTok, YouTube* Unmade: If a TV network puts a roof over a rapist’s head, employs a war criminal and pays a creep it might just have a culture problem* The Australian: Bleak outlook for Seven West Media shares, says analyst* The Australian: Seven launch internal investigation over incorrectly naming the wrong Bondi killer on Weekend Sunrise* Unmade: Born to be mild: New Seven boss’s first staff memo* The Australian: Consumer brand loyalty declines in hard times, research finds* The Australian: ABC’s spending on advertising, marketing and promotions has soared, new data showsToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Toodlepip…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we talk to Anthony DeCeglie, the editor-in-chief of Seven West Media’s Perth-based news masthead operations including The West Australian, Perth Now and the group’s newest text-led news brand - The Nightly.‘There’s nothing more impactful than a front page’: Anthony DeCeglie on why The Nightly is edition-ledToday’s conversation features two players from Australia’s news landscape.At the end of February, the country got a new national news brand - The Nightly, published from the same stable as The West Australian. Although a digital-only product which covers breaking news, The Nightly is centred around an evening edition, complete with impactful front page, and the ability for advertisers to buy full page ads inside.The man who has led the project is Anthony DeCeglie, who also heads up The West Australian. In today’s conversation, he explains the rationale behind the launch, rebuts the theory that the main reason was to deliver greater influence, and reveals that the advertising-supported project has been profitable from the start.Also participating the conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes is Vanessa Lyons, CEO of industry body ThinkNewsBrands. According to Lyons, The Nightly taps into a readership trend of a spike in evening reading.She also points to a wider trend in all the major state-based news mastheads of significant readership from other parts of the country. According to the Roy Morgan Readership data, West Australia’s news mastheads have more readership in the east than the west, with 2.2m readers to 1.6m.“There is a significant amount of out-of-state readership”, says Lyons. “They have the highest out of state readership over any state or territory which is pretty significant. If you’ve got a strong eastern seaboard following, it makes sense.”The conversation also checks in on the progress of Streamer, the community sport video streaming platform launched out of The West Australian last year.And DeCeglie pushes back on reporting in rival title The Australian Financial Review suggesting the launch of The Nightly has sparked internal tensions within Seven West Media.Production on today’s podcast was by the ever-helpful Abe’s Audio. The ringing phone in one of the questions was entirely my fault.Time to leave you to your Thursday. We’ll be back tomorrow with a focus on the retail media landscape.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. Today: How Nine’s radio and TV operations shone in the aftermath of Saturday’s Bondi Junction attack, while the ABC failed to launch and Seven named the wrong man.2GB steps up as other broadcasters failSaturday afternoon saw many broadcasters caught flatfooted as news began to break of the murderous attack at Bondi Junction. With weekend production levels and staff on holiday because of the school break, many were slow to react. The ABC’s TV news channel stuck with its rebroadcast of Planet America, while its radio arm continued to air a food documentary. ABC Sydney remained with a sports call.By contrast, 2GB’s Continuous Call Team, led by Mark Levy, switched to rolling coverage from their commentary box in Parramatta after breakfast host Ben Fordham called in to break the news.Meanwhile, the social platform formerly known as Twitter was an utter cesspool.In today’s podcast:* How 2GB dominated on Sydney’s biggest news day of the year;* Why was the ABC so slow to go live on radio or TV?;* How did Seven name the wrong man?;* Countdown to 10.15am as the Bruce Lehrmann verdict arrives;* Fastfood ads the next targetFurther reading (and listening):* 2GB: The Continuous Call Team – Full Show Saturday April 13th 2024* The Australian: Channel 7 presenter Matt Shirvington names innocent man Benjamin Cohen as Bondi Junction killer* The Guardian: False claims started spreading about the Bondi Junction stabbing attack as soon as it happened* Twitter: LittleMykonos - “Where was Westfield securirty?”* Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Books will be written’: Judgment day in Lehrmann defamation case* Australian Financial Review: Media fury as Albanese government flirts with $400m fast food ad banEditing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Toodlepip…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today we discuss how psychologist Daniel Kahneman changed marketing thinking with his work on behavioural economics. And further down in this post, after hitting an all time low on Tuesday the Unmade Index continues to sink.If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn (May 28) and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade’s Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media Unmade Daniel Kahneman and the rethinking (fast and slow) of advertising strategyToday’s conversation features Australia’s most visible consumer psychologist Adam Ferrier, discussing the huge contribution Daniel Kahneman - who died at the end of March - made to the field of behavioural economics.Kahneman’s most famous publication, Thinking, Fast and Slow, found a place on the bookshelf of every agency strategist. It was only published in 2011 but his ideas on the field of behavioural economics - the concept that humans act in predictably irrational ways - had already begin to influence those in the persuasion business.Among Kahneman’s most important contributions was popularising the concept of System 1 and System 2 types of thinking, whether consumers are behaving automatically or consciously.During the conversation, Ferrier describes how the impact of Thinking, Fast and Slow helped turn his agency Naked Communications into one of Australia’s most talked about by leaning into the concepts. Ferrier is now co-founder of communications agency Thinkerbell and co-presents the Black T-Shirts creativity podcast. Later in the year Ferrier will be reviving the MSIX - Marketing Science Ideas Exchange - conference, which he curates alongside Mumbrella.The interview also offers a primer on some of the key concepts of behavioural economics, explaining ideas like anchoring, framing, the endowment effect, loss aversion, sunk cost fallacy and heuristics.Unmade Index sinks lowerAfter hitting an all time low on Tuesday, the Unmade Index lost another 0.48% yesterday, taking it down to 558.9 points.Among the larger media and marketing stocks, IVE Group had the worst of it, losing 3.29% while Ooh Media lost 2.58%. Meanwhile Seven West Media came off its recent low, gaining 2.7%We’ll be back with more tomorrow. If you missed yesterday’s announcement, we’ve just finalised the program for HumAIn, Unmade’s conference on the impact of AI on media and marketing. It takes place on May 28.If you’re into loss aversion, you should know that tickets to HumAIn get more expensive in five days’ time. You need to act now to lock in a 20% saving. And once you listen to the podcast, you’ll know why we’re doing that. Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. Today: Warburton set to depart Seven West Media next Thursday; a failing grade for the pitch process; and how the AI giants are stealing content.Warburton brings forward exit as Lehrmann headlines swirl; problematic pitches; and AI corner cuttingToday:* James Warburton now set to leave Seven next week;* An new study suggests agencies are unhappy with the state of pitching* AI creators cutting corners on gobbling up training dataFurther reading:Unmade: The last days of James WarburtonAustralian Financial Review: Up in the air: Seven’s new boss braces for impactAustralian Financial Review: Seven’s cost cuts claim the US ‘job’ of former Sunrise bossTrinity P3: State of The PitchNew York Times: How Tech Giants Cut Corners to Harvest Data for A.I.Campaign: Will AI power a reboot of full-service agencies?Today’s episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Toodlepip…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Today’s conversation offers a depressing picture of how little progress the communications industry has made compared to other industries in making adland a safe environment for women.The discussion, convened by Unmade’s Cat McGinn, features Jasmin Bedir, Darren Woolley and Liam Walsh. A key question: are the industry’s male executives putting career expediency ahead of doing the right thing when they see a problem?Bedir is CEO of creative agency Innocean and founder of campaign group Fck the Cupcakes.Woolley is founder of marketing consultancy Trinity P3. In 2022, he began to invite the bosses of agencies participating in marketing pitches run by his company to sign a statutory declaration on their “status and processes regarding workplace bullying, harassment and assault”. It also asks agencies to confirm they do not used non-disclosure agreements to stop women from talking about their bad experiences. While most independent agencies choose to sign, “virtually all” holding companies have found reasons to avoid doing so, Woolley says.Walsh has worked in a number of big roles across adland including running Facebook ANZ and Amobee, and national sales director of Fairfax Digital.According to Bedir: “I see a lot of agencies literally pretending that they are so super diverse and or they're so in favor of gender equality and then I look at the gender pay gap.“Agencies are so good at this ornamental window dressing. They're all talking the talk.”She adds: “I see little pockets of progress. But I think for a very long time this industry has been really good at virtue signalling and pretending that our houses are in order. Winning diversity awards and all these things that look on a surface level all good. But I think they're all artificially created and it's not really what's underneath.”One of Woolley’s concerns is that when holding companies refuse to sign statutory declarations - instead sending through documents about their policies - he cannot be certain what he is recommending to his clients when he assists them with a pitch. “It means that every every week, every month that we're running another pitch, We're potentially recommending an agency where employees will be harassed, bullied or even assaulted. And how do I feel about that? I don't have any legal responsibility but I certainly feel a deep moral responsibility and ethical responsibility for doing that.”On the topic of virtue signalling, Walsh warns that the private conversations of some male executives in the industry are far less progressive than what they say in public fora. He says: “I hear conversations where men still talk about women and how they look.”Woolley warns: “I have to tell you it is fear that stops particularly men standing up even when they know something is going to be good for everyone and particularly the women they that they work with and and colleagues. But they don't want to rock the boat.”On the topic of why the trade press does not speak out more, Walsh reveals: “I've heard too many conversations where the person who pays for the ad has said we'll stop running ads with that trade publication for what they said.”Editing of today’s audio content was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]’ll be back with more tomorrow.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today’s conversation features the boss of Paramount’s Network Ten, Beverley McGarvey, in one of the first interviews since her promotion, alongside the global head of the Paramount+ Marco Nobili.Of all the media brands in Australia, the future of Paramount and its free to air network Ten, is the hardest to predict, with both global and local forces at play.Globally, the ownership of Paramount is developing into a tug-of-war between private equity house Apollo and content giant Skydance. Apollo appears to be interested in just the company’s US studio assets, while Skydance is talking to controlling shareholder Shari Redstone about a deal which would likely see it take control of the whole company. A merger with Warner Bros Discovery has also been floated, although that looks a less likely option.The ramifications of all that for Network Ten would inevitably follow later.Key to the future of Paramount, which also owns US TV network CBS, is its loss-making but still growing streaming service Paramount+, which has now reached 67m subscribers globally. No local figures have been released for the service but according to Kantar panel research, Paramount+ had a 10% share of new subscribers locally in the last quarter.Key to the market valuation of Paramount, which is close to a historic low, is persuading investors that the company can take Paramount+ into profitability. One of the global execs charged with that is Marco Nobili, Paramount+’s International general manager.Nobili was in Australia this week for the announcement of an Australian advertising tier for Paramount+, priced at $6.99 and kicking off in June.Meanwhile, Paramount’s local boss Beverley McGarvey - recently promoted to the lengthy title of President Network Ten, Head of Streaming & Regional Lead - has multiple challenges. Ten continues to struggle in the ratings without the rights to any top tier sports. It’s commercial linear audience share in the first quarter was only about 20%. But that’s only part of the picture. Alongside the subscription offering of Paramount+, McGarvey is also in charge of ad-supported streaming via 10 Play and FAST (free ad supported television) channels offering Pluto TV.And all that while keeping staff focused as speculation only gets louder about the global future of Paramount.In today’s conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, Nobili and McGarvey discuss the challenges of leading a team during that sort of noise. According to McGarvey, a veteran of Network 10’s 2017 fall into administration which saw what is now Paramount end up as the owner, it’s business as usual: “If you work in a media company and you're not used to constant speculation, it would be unusual.“There's a long period of consolidation, of change, of addition and things happening, and most people now are really good at understanding that creating a great service, a great product and being a really strong business no matter what happens in the end, is the best outcome. I think people honestly are used to working in that environment these days. If you look at any trade publication on any day of the week, there's speculation about somebody.”During the conversation, topics include the content pipeline after the Hollywood writers’ strike; Top Gear Australia, the next round of sports rights; the unusual structure which sees chief sales officer Rod Prosser reporting into the UK, and the impact on the free to air sector of feuding between networks.Editing of today’s audio contentwas courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. Today: New AI developments in agencies, search and film production; an odd job ad from Accenture; and we reach the pointy end of the smart TV apps debateIf you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn (May 28) and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade’s Compass event (November);* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media UnmadeToday: Hey agencies, AI is drinking your milkshake* Artificial intelligence may eat agencies’ lunch, Google warns them over dinner;* Generative AI targets film production;* Legislators make their minds up about smart TV navigation;* TV network tensions;* Accenture’s bizarre “feminine touch” job adFurther reading:Australian Financial Review: Google’s secret meeting warns of AI threat to ad jobsCapital Brief: Netflix shoots its shot in smart TV clash with free-to-air networksUnmade: TV’s former united front is, indeed, all over the shopUnmade: Dr Spin: Accenture really, really craves the feminine touchToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Toodlepip…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today’s edition features Sam Buchanan, boss of Independent Media Agencies Australia, the fastest growing of the new generation of industry associations.Also today, Seven West Media takes a 5% hit on its already challenged share price.Producing independent analysis of the media and marketing industry that goes beyond press releases takes time and resources. If you like what we do, you can support us by becoming a paying member. Upgrade today‘We haven’t been allowed into the nightclub, let alone the dance floor’: How IMAA is speaking up for indie agenciesAt a time when the global holding companies have been going backwards, the independent media agency sector has been growing its share of advertising spend.One factor in the rising profile of the indie sector is new industry body Independent Media Agencies Australia, helmed by Sam Buchanan.In today’s conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, Buchanan discusses fighting to get a voice for indies in pitches and with governments, building a community, getting better deals for his members and the role of the industry in diversity and sustainability. He also talks about the lessons learned from the association’s original launch which saw it face a backlash after kicking off with an all male leadership. Less than five years old, the IMAA is in robust health thanks to the dual revenue streams of payments by media owners keen to get closer to agencies and membership fees. The IMAA’s published accounts show income of $933,000 for the last financial year and a surplus of $152,000.The discussion also covers where Buchanan plans to take the IMAA next, including an eye to overseas.Seven slumps on Unmade IndexThe Unmade Index rose slightly yesterday despite a dismal day for Seven West Media.Shares in SWM lost another 5%, as the TV-led company saw its market capitalisation fall to the lowest level in three-and-a-half years.After dropping below a market capitalisation of $300m earlier this week, SWM’s valuation sagged to $285m on Wednesday.Having fallen behind IVE Group last month to become the ASX’s sixth largest stock, the resurgence of Southern Cross Austereo and ARN Media means Seven is teetering on becoming merely Australia’s eighth largest listed media company.ARN and SCA both also fell slightly, by 1.81% and 0.51%, yesterday.However, the index - which tracks Australia’s listed media and marketing stocks - was buoyed by improvements for Nine and Ooh Media. The index closed on 571.3 points, up by 0.31%Time to leave you to your Thursday. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.Editing of today’s audio contentwas courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. Today: The ACCC sets put how it plans to examine the search ecosystem; and the vote against the chair of Southern Cross Austereo approaches 40%Today: Search in the spotlight; SCA agitators close on 40% for anti-chair voteIn today’s conversation:* The ACCC begins its inquiry into the search market;* Google starts ‘nuking’ AI-created content from search results;* When the main Meta news deals end;* The push against Southern Cross Austereo’s chair intensifiesFurther reading:ACCC: ACCC to examine internet searchSearch Engine Journal: Google’s March 2024 Core Update Impact: Hundreds Of Websites DeindexedUnmade: ARN closes in on SCAAustralian Financial Review: More Southern Cross shareholders back removing chair Rob MurrayAustralian Financial Review: Media Observed - Meta maelstromUnmade: Tanking the ratings as Melbourne waits for K+JLinkedIn: Byron Cooke - My Kiis 1011 era will come to a closeToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today’s edition features The Saturday Paper’s editor-in-chief Erik Jensen, the only person in Australia at the helm of a national newspaper they founded. Also in today’s post, the Unmade Index rally continues for a strong second day.Have you considered becoming a paying member of Unmade to get the full picture? Only our paying members receive our members-only Tuesday analysis; get access to our archive where all our content is paywalled after two months; get their own copy of Media Unmade; and receive discounts on all our events. Upgrade todayA newsroom unlike any other: How Erik Jensen created a unique news culture at The Saturday PaperBack in 2014, the then communications minister Malcolm Turnbull cracked a joke at the launch of The Saturday Paper. He told proprietor Morry Schwartz: “You are not some demented plutocrat pouring more and more money into a loss making venture that is just going to peddle your opinions.”Although Turnbull later denied it, the unnamed subject of the gag was widely assumed to be News Corp proprietor Rupert Murdoch whose newspaper The Australian was at the time loss-making.Ten years on, The Saturday Paper has indeed run at a profit for every year of its existence, and been a rare print success story, albeit one underpinned by digital publishing.According to founding editor Erik Jensen, now editor-in-chief across the Schwartz Media group of The Saturday Paper, The Monthly and the 7AM Podcast, Schwartz has indeed been a proprietor who has respected his editorial independence.In a podcast conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, Jensen, who worked at the Sydney Morning Herald early in his career, discusses how Schwartz backed his idea for a newspaper that rejected newsroom orthodoxies.Jensen says he has tried to avoid being a stereotypical editor. He describes a newsroom that most journalists would not recognise. “I’ve never yelled in a newsroom. I’ve never done anything that I saw happen in other newsrooms when I was working for bigger newspapers. I’ve never done that with my own staff because I’ve tried to do the opposite.“It’s actually a very quiet and polite staff working on the paper. They work silently and diligently. It’s so unlike other newsroom I’ve been in. Our subs bench is almost entirely staffed by women. There’s a very gentle culture about how we treat the work we’re doing.”Not that Jensen allows himself a stress-free working life. He discusses how his perfectionism got the better of him for his first few editions. “For the first probably 20 editions I still believed there was a perfect newspaper that could be made.“I went quite mad trying to make that newspaper. I was working on the paper obsessively. I was rewriting every story. I was convinced that if I pushed hard enough, I could make something perfect.“There was substantial liberation in realising that actually the news is imperfect, that the idea of a perfect newspaper is illusory, and maybe that's good, maybe that keeps us making newspapers, but I actually think when you can accept that a newspaper is always going to be flawed because the news itself is flawed, then you get a lot closer to doing interesting things with it.”During the conversation, Jensen also tackle how The 7am Podcast and The Monthly fit into the picture and how new CEO Ben Shepherd has arrived with “a transformative plan” for the business.Unmade Index up as attempt to unseat SCA chair landsThe Unmade Index saw a second strong day in a row on Wednesday, rising by another 1.67% to 579.1 points.At the top end of town, Nine was the best performer, rising by 3.35%. Seven West Media also came off its low point, gaining 2.5%.Yesterday morning’s news that Spheria Asset Management has formalised its attempt to unseat Southern Cross Austereo chair Rob Murray didn’t cause a ripple to the share price, which stayed flat.Spheria, which owns 9.9% of the company, wants the SCA board to move faster on accepting the takeover bid being led by ARN Media. Next week, it will be five months since ARN launched the bid; after waiting on information back from ARN, it took until last Thursday for SCA’s board to say that it did not believe the bid was high enough.Time to leave you to your Thursday. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today: OpenAI’s Sam Altman predicts 95% reduction in agency jobs; Melbourne radio gets ready for a huge week; and Nine talks to Antony Catalano about buying back his papers.Producing independent analysis of the media and marketing industry that goes beyond press releases takes time and resources. If you like what we do, you can support us by becoming a paying member. Become a member today!PerthboundUnmade publisher Tim Burrowes will be in Perth next week - from Monday March 18 to Wednesday March 20. He’d love to catch up with anyone in the industry who wants to do so. Please email [email protected]‘Images, videos, campaign ideas? No problem’Today:* Melbourne radio’s big week;* Southern Cross Austereo rejects ARN Media’s first offer;* Antony Catalano buys into SCA… and tries to sell papers to Nine;* Open AI’s Sam Altman says AI will do 95% of marketing jobs;* Elon Musk sues openAIFurther reading:* Unmade: K&J prepare to descend upon Melbourne from the heavens* Australian Financial Review: Antony Catalano wants to sell three of his biggest newspapers* Mumbrella (from 2014): Radio’s revolution: Why today is the day that everything changes* The Marketing Institute: Sam Altman Says AI Will Handle “95%” of Marketing Work Done by Agencies and Creatives* OpenAI blog: OpenAI and Elon MuskToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Toodlepip…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today’s edition features the story of how Claire Kimball and Kate Watson grew The Squiz from a daily newsletter to a multi faceted brand via podcasting, with events now on the horizon.‘We thought there would be an acquirer by now’: How The Squiz made an early pivot towards daily podcastsThis month The Squiz reaches its seven years in the market. Starting life as a daily, agenda-free catchup of the key developments, with a female skew, The Squiz surfed what was a US-led trend.Later The Squiz expanded to a daily podcast - they believe it was Australia’s first - and then extended to Squiz Kids. More recently they launched new podcast Squiz News Club.In an honest conversation, founders Claire Kimball and Kate Watson share their challenges and frustrations, including the difficulties of getting in front of media agencies, how they’d expected the business to go faster, how ‘curation’ is their favourite word, and why they’re planning to soon move into live events.They also discuss their unconventional publishing backgrounds, with neither of them having been a journalist before starting The Squiz. Kimball had been head of communications at Woolworths and was a press secretary to former PM Tony Abbott. Watson had done sales roles for Bauer Media and Sky News Australia.Time to leave you to your Thursday. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.MetacrisisToday:* Facebook pulls of of the news ecosystem, setting up a confrontation for parent company Meta* Looking ahead to this week’s Future of TV Advertising conference as the industry’s measurement divisions widenFurther reading:* Unmade: The wheels fall off for news* Australian Financial Review: Onerous demands and threats: Inside Facebook’s secret media deals* Australian Financial Review: Michael Miller - The time has come for parliament to fire its cannon – at Meta* Brisbane Times: Albanese government furious over Meta’s plan to pull out of Facebook news deal* Capital Brief: Meta shuts the door on Australian news publishers, putting deals worth $70m at risk* The Australian: Meta’s dumping of content deals with publishers will cost jobs, says Country Press Australia* Future of TV Advertising Sydney: AgendaToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today’s edition features an in depth interview with Patrick Delany, the mastermind of Foxtel Group’s pivot away from broadcast TV, towards streaming, and now aggregation.‘If we started a business like Kayo inside Foxtel it would get killed’: Patrick Delany sets out Hubbl’s stallLast week, Foxtel Group reached another inflection point.After winning the subscription TV wars, the company had lost its way when the streamers arrived. It began to bleed subscribers, and its first, timid, entry into streaming via Presto, a joint venture with Seven, failed fast.Patrick Delany returned to the business as CEO six years ago and led the sort of strategic shift rarely seen in incumbents, opting to disrupt the company’s own lucrative, but fading, business model by pushing hard into streaming. Sports platform Kayo and entertainment service Binge quickly followed.Last week the company pivoted again, putting aggregation at the centre of its universe, with the launch of Hubbl. The move puzzled many commentators, trying to figure out why Foxtel Group is putting so much weight behind what appears to be a low margin hardware play. Today’s interview goes some way towards answering that.The answer is that Foxtel sees its future at the heart of aggregation. The puck and built-in Hubbl Glass TV devices offer consumers the promise of making their multiple subscriptions easier to navigate. Consumers who led Foxtel manage their subs will make savings.In some ways, that marks a return to Foxtel’s roots. The company began life as an aggregator of other companies’ channels, but over time came to own more and more of them itself.During the wide ranging conversation, Delany explains the moment Foxtel recognised it had to change after buying expensive cricket rights and broadcasting in 4K format didn’t alter the company’s downwards trajectory in the face of the rise of Netflix. Instead Foxtel Group moved into a clear eyed differentiation strategy - hanging on to existing, lucrative Foxtel subscribers for as long as possible, while creating a whole new product at a cheaper price point and a differentiated brand for younger consumers.“The first thing we did was, can we get some life back into Foxtel? Can we make it grow? Can we do that through 4K and cricket? We went and spent a lot of money on doing that. We did big campaigns and we couldn't get a pulse back.“So we flipped into the main strategy which was maintain Foxtel as long as we can, run it for cash, stop doing above the line promotions that annoy subscribers, try and hang on to the subscribers as long as we can so be content with older richer Australian insider Foxtel.”Alongside the strategic shift, came one of the lessons learned from the Presto debacle. Because Presto sat inside the main Foxtel business, it wasn’t allowed to compete, and was a much weaker product as a result.“We started talking about the new world but it was pretty clear that if we started a business like Kayo inside Foxtel it would get killed and we'd done that previously - we started Presto, did it on a terrible platform but the culture would be to protect Foxtel.”Instead came the Streamotion business, which is where Kayo, Binge and news aggregator Flash are housed in a seperate building down the road from the main Foxtel office. Subscribers to the new streaming service don’t even see the name Foxtel on their bills.In another sign of how central Hubbl is to the new approach, the Streamotion brand is becoming Hubbl. The word Foxtel was not uttered from the stage during the glitzy launch event on Sydney Harbour last week.The conversation with Delany also covers communications legislation, ever escalating sports right costs, Foxtel’s relationship with the free to air TV industry, the shock 2015 NRL rights blindside, the question of future plans for an IPO, and whether Delany might one day follow in the footsteps of one of his predecessors Kim Williams and lead News Corp (spoiler: he says not).Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn (May 28) and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade’s Compass event;* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media UnmadeUpgrade todayFrom Bard to worse during media’s cold snapToday:* Is media’s deep freeze finally hitting bottom?* Countdown to the end of the Meta money* Digital growth plateaus* What to look out for in the Southern Cross Austereo financial update* Google’s image generator Gemini’s rogue woke embarrassmentFurther reading:* Brisbane Times: Former digital darling Vice Media to slash jobs, shutter website* Unmade: ‘Very close to the bottom’: As bad as it gets (or as good as it gets?) for Nine and ARN Media* Australian Financial Review: Australian media’s $70m lifeline ends in months. Meta isn’t picking up* Brisbane Times: $1b for journalism at risk in new warning over Google, Facebook* The Australian: Online advertising market spend was $14.7bn in 2023, slowest annual growth since 2020* Sweathead: How brands are using AI* The Verge: How AI copyright lawsuits could make the whole industry go extinct* Unmade: Why Australia's marketers need to worry about the lack of local artificial intelligence lawsToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today’s edition features highlights from last week’s gathering of the audio industry’s commercial players for the Heard conference in Sydney.Marketing mastery and audio nirvanaLast week saw Australia’s audio trade body, Commercial Radio & Audio invite agency executives to its Heard event.Across the day, panels explored the emotional and rational sides of radio advertising, and put the case that radio deserves a reassessment of its place in the media mix.Today’s podcast features two of the panels, both moderated by Unmade’s Tim Burrowes.The first featured a conversation on understanding radio’s role within the media marketing mix. Paul Sinkinson, managing director of Analytic Partners, whose speciality is the ROI of marketing, shared details of a study the industry is conducting on whether marketers can find a price edge by investing more in brand building rather than performance activity.He was joined by marketer Nathan James, from drinks owner William Grant & Sons, who shared the results of a brand building radio experiment featuring Hendricks gin. Lauren Joyce, chief strategy & connections officer at Australian Radio Network rounded off the panel.The second panel focused on the trading relationship between the audio companies and media agencies, and how it needs to evolve to achieve audio nirvana.It featured Venessa Hunt, Director of Commercial Strategy & Growth, at ARN; Olly Newton, Executive Head, LiSTNR, Commercial, SCA; Nicole Bence, Chief Commercial Officer at Nova and Ash Earnshaw, Director of Sales, Total Audio at Nine. * Tim Burrowes’ travel to Sydney and accommodation was funded by CRAEditing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:* Member-only pricing for our HumAIn (May 28) and REmade (October 1) conferences;* A complimentary invitation to Unmade’s Compass event;* Member-only content and our paywalled archives;* Your own copy of Media UnmadeUpgrade todayCountdown to HubblToday: * Hubbl reveals app partners ahead of this week’s launch;* Earnings season: Looking ahead to Ooh Media, Nine and ARN Media, and back on Seven West Media’s dud numbers;* Paramount axes boss Jarrod VillaniFurther reading:* Unmade: No victory lap for Warburton as Seven delivers its worst first half ever* Brisbane Times: Top local Paramount executive departs as cuts filter through media industryToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade. Today’s edition features a conversation with the key players behind the deal for Vinyl Group to acquire The Brag Media, Josh Simons and Luke Girgis.There was some unconventional elements to the announcement that Vinyl Group was going to buy The Brag Media for a little over $8m. Not least was the fact that The Brag Media, while no colossus, is larger in both revenue and profits than its new owner.During today’s Unmade podcast interview with the two key players in the acquisition - Vinyl Group’s Josh Simons and The Brag Media’s Luke Girgis - the rationale for the deal begins to make more sense.Vinyl Group consists of:* Jaxta - positioned as the IMDB of the music industry, acting as a repository of official music credits ;* Vampr (which was founded by muso Simons) - positioned as the LinkedIn, or possibly Tinder, of the music industry, connecting musicians;* Vinyl, which, as the name might suggests, is an ecommerce offering selling vinyl recordsIt’s only a matter of weeks since the overall group rebranded from Jaxta to Vinyl, and months since Simons took charge after the ousting of former CEO Beth Appleton. He goes on the record about those circumstances for the first time, and shares what he’s already learned the hard way about ASX rules.Simons won the confidence of his board after helping secure Richard Wise (who made his fortune through technology firm WiseTech) as a cornerstone investor.Other major shareholders in Vinyl Group include the US based music licencing platform Songtradr run by Paul Wiltshire. In the interview, Simons points to the interest owned by Songtradr as a key reason to be confident in the prospects for the business, despite it not yet being profitable. “I don’t want to put words in Paul’s mouth, but they can’t allow us to fail. When you know that, you make decisions with a much longer term view.”The duo also tackle the structure of the deal, which was mostly in cash rather than stock, in part because Girgis’s business partner and majority owner of The Brag Media Sam Benjamin, has left the business.Meanwhile, Girgis argues that although the deal would allow him to exit after two years, he’s excited to stay for the long term. He says: “All I know is that I've started this business having more fun and I'm more inspired than I've ever been.“And we have big ambitions and I I just want to build something incredible and that's what I'm really inspired to do with Vinyl Group.”Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today’s topics: Remembering Harold Mitchell; latest on how AI is changing marketing; Seven West Media prepares for digital newspaper launchHarold Mitchell: Media’s biggest beastToday:* Harold Mitchell, Australia’s most successful media agency founder, passes on;* SWM prepares to launch The Nightly* The week in AI, as Google’s bodged Bard branding becomes GeminiFurther reading:* Australian Financial Review: Ad man Harold Mitchell was living large to the end* The Australian: Media tycoon Harold Mitchell dies, aged 81* The Age: Australian advertising and media veteran Harold Mitchell dies* Brisbane Times: Stokes’ Seven takes on News Corp with nightly newspaper, supported by Gina RinehartToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes, Abe Udy and Cat McGinnTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Today:* What will it mean for Ten staff if Paramount changes hands?;* Commercial radio heavyweight Mike Fitzpatrick set for ABC switch;* Amazon Prime now reaches one-third of Aussie households;* Radio body’s unseemly “smear” rowFurther reading:* Unmade: Paramount on the block?;* Australian Financial Review: As billionaires vie for Paramount, a Network 10 sale looks more likely;* Capital Brief: Amazon leads the race for new Australian streaming subscribers ahead of ad tier launch;* The Australian: ABC Radio shake-upAustralian Financial Review: Record labels accuse radio networks of ‘smear campaign’ in fees rowToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Le Roy’s IAB agenda: Setting standards, building investment confidence, creating communities (and directing a panto)Covering the shenanigans of the IAB’s digital metrics tender nearly 15 years ago, it was impossible to predict that the industry body would grow into the big tent it has since become.Much of the credit for that goes to Gai Le Roy, the CEO since 2018. Le Roy rose through media research roles including as research and insights director for Nine, VP of research at Nielsen and GM of audience insights at Fairfax Media.In today’s Unmade podcast, we explore how she has shifted the IAB to consensus building by spreading its wings across the whole digital ecosystem. That includes a series of ongoing working groups focused on specific topics such as gaming, digital out of home, sustainability, retail media, affiliate marketing, careers and search. And the IAB runs a series of member summits across Sydney and Melbourne including this month’s Audio Summit, April’s affiliate marketing and digital out of home events and September’s annual MeasureUp metrics conference.During the conversation, Le Roy offers a little detail on the financial state of the organisation, which she describes as healthy, with a turnover of around $2m.She also reveals why she doesn’t want to bring back the IAB Awards, how she ended up involved in the unlikely success story of last year’s UnLtd industry pantomime and she attempts to answer the question of what happens in her career after the IAB.The conversation also covers off the key issues coming up for 2024, including the loss of signal through cookie deprecation, forthcoming privacy legislation and where video ratings go next.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today:Nine tries to interest private equity in Domain stake;The TV ratings reset;Are ABC staff ready for Kim Williams?Further reading:Australian Financial Review: Nine’s bankers asked private equity if they were interested in Domain Unmade: Kim Williams returns to the ABC, the place he said was ‘mired in internal factions, divisions and industrial rigidities’Unmade: Rewriting historyAustralian Financial Review: TV networks are burying their least flattering figuresAustralian Financial Review: Disney takes $110m more from Australia, hikes streaming price by 28pcToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition features the Melbourne panel from our 2024 industry predictions event, Compass.Further down, the Unmade Index’s gains stretch into a fourth day, but Seven West Media sees a big fall.Compass will return later this year. Unmade’s paying members get a complimentary invitation. They also get discounts to all our events including our AI-led focus on the cutting edge of media and marketing, humAIn on May 28, and our retail media conference REmade on October 1. Upgrade today.Where's the creativity? Why Russel Howcroft would start an old fashioned DM company: Melbourne’s media minds on what 2024 holdsUnmade’s Compass roadshow rolled into Melbourne late last year to hear thoughts and predictions of the year to come for the industry.Today we bring you a recording of the conversation had between our panel, moderated by Unmade’s Tim Burrowes.It featured:* Adman, broadcaster and 3AW co-host, Russel Howcroft;* Ben Shepherd, chief investment officer at Dentsu; since the recording, Ben has been announced as new boss of Schwartz Media;* Melody Townsend, GM of retail marketing at Bank of Queensland Group;* Jason Tonelli, CEO of media agency Zenith;* Hannah Nickels, head thinker of creative media at ThinkerbellThe panel discussed issues with industry measurement metrics, the disappointing output from creative agencies over the year, the factors that led to the ‘no’ vote winning the Voice referendum, the failure of brands to service consumers in the face of crisis, the consequences of dominance of the two big tech platforms, how advertising influences (or doesn’t influence) culture and much more.They also ask the question of why conversations at industry conferences have lost their edge.The Compass series was sponsored by Circuit from Cashrewards. Those interested in supporting the 2024 cycle of Compass should email [email protected] Index growth tails off as Seven West Media slumpsThe Unmade Index carried its growth into a fourth day, but only grew a further 0.28%, to 616.5 points.Seven West Media saw the biggest movement of the day, losing 5.36%. Southern Cross Austereo gained 2.53%Time to leave you to your Thursday. We’ll be back with Best of the Week on Saturday.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition features the panel discussion at Unmade’s Sydney Compass event, featuring Simone Gupta from Supermassive; Leah Jackson from Goodman Fielder; Lauren Joyce from ARN; and Henry Innis from Mutinex.Unmade’s first Compass event took place in Sydney back in November, with the panel reflecting on the year just gone and looking forward to the year ahead.The conversation opened with the panel asked to nominate topics usually discussed privately but not on stage. Supermassive’s Simone Gupta raised the question of why more isn’t being done to protect staff from bullying and harassment; Mutinex’s Henry Innis countered by asking why the trade press is not being braver in publishing what they’ve heard.ARN Media’s Lauren Joyce warned of a mood of fear for jobs across the industry.The fast moving discussion ranged across under appreciated regional markets; what media companies need to do to bring back advertisers - Goodman Fielder’s Leah Jackson would like to see better reporting ; the challenges the panellists had to overcome in they year just gone, and the generational gap in motivations around working from home versus returning to the office.The Compass series was sponsored by Circuit from Cashrewards. Those interested in supporting the 2024 cycle of Compass should email [email protected] was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Next week’s podcast will feature the panel from Compass Melbourne This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition features an intriguing conversation with one of the most connected executives in the television industry - Fetch TV boss Scott Lorson.Scott Lorson has outlasted the bosses of every other major media company in Australia. In an industry riven by disruption, Lorson has been a constant at the helm of Fetch TV for nearly 15 years.The aggregation service - delivered via the company’s Mighty and Mini set top boxes has hung its hat on elegant navigation and convenient aggregation of all the major streaming services, both free and paid.Last year, in one of the most significant moments for Fetch TV, Telstra bought a $50m, controlling stake from Astro Holdings. It will see customers of the Telstra TV service migrate to Fetch, taking the service into more than a million households.In today’s podcast conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, Lorson discusses the relevance of Fetch against the increasing smartness of smart TVs, how the next step might be to integrate the Fetch interface into televisions, the current reform of prominence legislation, and where the TV market goes next.Uniquely, Lorson deals with all the players, not just locally but globally, and in both the free and susbscription markets. It means he arguably has a better understanding of the dynamics of the television industry than anyone else in Australia.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today:Ben Shepherd quits Dentsu after less than a year for Schwartz Media gigNine loses its publishing boss James ChessellGovernment set to ventilate platform news dealsLadBible outsources sales to Val Morgan in Aussie retreatThe year of media carnage, the rise of AI and retail mediaFurther reading:The Guardian: Tech giants could be forced to share secret news deals under Australia’s media bargaining codeSydney Morning Herald: Facebook and Google to face ACCC oversight under tougher rules for using newsBrisbane Times: Morry Schwartz installs ad executive as head of Schwartz MediaThe Australian Financial Review: Nine publishing boss James Chessell to departThe Australian Financial Review: Downsize - carnage across the mediaTech Crunch: A comprehensive list of 2023 tech layoffsUnmade: An update on Unmade's plans for 2024 and how you can be part of it (by giving us money)Today’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition features Jeremy Somers, founder of AI creative agency Not Content.If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, there will never be a better time. Until the end of the year, our annual membership price is reduced from $650 to just $377 - that’s a saving of 42%. That discount will be locked in for as long as you stay a member.Jeremy Somers, the man behind ‘world’s first AI-led creative content agency’In 2022, Jeremy Somers, founder of fashion label We Are Handsome, ventured into uncharted territory, founding NotContent, which he says is the world's first AI-driven creative agency. Somers previously worked in Sydney at digital agencies including Razorfish and the White Agency. Not Content advertises itself to agencies as a ”white-label service for your clients” promising it will allow them to “do little work” and “take their money”.For brands, the agency promises it can “double your content each month keeping your costs steady”. “This is where everything will go, whether it's this year, whether it's in five years or in 10 years. This is massive for everything that I've ever known, and everything that I’ve done, no matter what part of the creative industry,” Somers says of the transformative properties of generative AI.“It's a bit of a scary thing I think for everyone in the creative industries, because it changes everything. All the skills that we've spent so many years or decades learning, a lot of those skills get thrown out the window, but the most important ones do not, and I don't think that a lot of people see that yet.”Somers does, however, believe that the industry and wider society at large is lagging behind on realising and capitalising on the utility of generative AI as a tool, saying: “I don't believe that we have even started moving upwards on this early adopter curve yet. I don't even think we're at the early adopter stage. We're very much before that.”“The amount of creative jobs that are going to change, not necessarily get lost, but change and only change if the skilled people are upskilling themselves into this new world. Just like we went from analogue everything to digital everything, whether you were using a graphite pencil or a film camera, you had to upskill yourself in the digital revolution. This is the same,” Somers says of the adaptability and agility creatives will need to adopt in the wake of the AI revolution.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today:* Retailers to snatch $1bn+ away from media* The streaming ad tiers are coming* Will this be the week we finally get ABC podcast data?* How will Seven look after James Warburton?Further reading:* The Australian Financial Review: Major retailers threaten to siphon away $1.1b in advertising spend* Capital Brief: Dentsu tips streaming giants to make 'profound' ad market inroads in 2024* Unmade: A lucky general: How Warburton cleaned the slate at SevenToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition features a conversation with Matt Cooper, founder and CEO of global advertising archiving website and community, Little Black Book. He admits to be perplexed by the negativity of some of adland’s old guard.Cooper, UK-based founder of Little Black Book, has been in Australia to talk about the advertising archive’s push into APAC.Cooper, who began his advertising career in 1988 in the mailroom of Saatchi & Saatchi before joining legendary post production house The Mill, has been involved in chronicling adland’s output for decades.He was behind the archiving and asset management tool Beam TV before founding Little Black Book in 2010. LBB has grown from a simple source of advertising output, to an editorially-led global news platform and creative industry fame factory.In conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, Cooper discusses the revamped version of the LBB site, the story of how his site briefly came under the Australian ownership of AdStream, and its Immortal Awards, which are currently under way.With a membership model, Cooper aims to create a single source of advertising archive that the industry can refer to to understand what was going on globally and locally.LBB members include agencies and networks DDB, McCann, FCB, Leo Burnett, Grey, TBWA, BBDO and Droga5, as well as some of the world’s top production and post production companies. Members join LBB so that they can grow profiles of key staff, maintain a portfolio of their work, and keep up to date with creative suppliers to work with.“What fascinates me is talking about the archive”, says Cooper. “I love to talk about this stuff. You know, most agencies are really bad at this stuff. Most production companies are really bad at this stuff. They don't understand the value of an archive and they lock it away. Our idea is to give it to the world."“Our archive is not just about a place to store, but it's a place to educate. What we want to make sure is that people see all this great work, young people coming into the business, because it's all free to view. So there's no limit to what you can do there.”After a period where it was repped locally by Campaign Brief, LBB expanded into the APAC region in 2022, where it is led by former PR operative Toby Hemming.“I can almost guarantee you that we give more global views to this market than any other publication,” claims Cooper. “And the really interesting thing for us to get across to people is that we're not an echo chamber. What we've done is we've carefully constructed a business starting from the bottom up. So we went from post production to agency to brand. Our biggest reader is clients, by a country mile.”The conversation also turned to the topic of the often toxic comments on sites including Campaign Brief. Cooper says that there is more snark in the local industry “by a mile”. He adds: “It’s so peculiar. It’s almost like people have thrived on it here.“I believe that many of the people who make those comments aren’t even in the industry any more. It’s a bunch of older creative folk. It’s wild.“It’s wrong. If you think about what we're doing now in our business, we're talking about mental health and saving the world. And you're all battering each other. I don't understand it.“No one wakes up in the morning and thinks ‘I'm going to make a crap ad’. You put your heart and soul into it.“So you see all this stuff and this negativity around… who's that helping?”Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today:* Mattress brands go to war over dodgy review sites, but why isn’t the ACCC being tougher?* Sky News in new streaming push* As the official ratings year ends, Ten looks for clear air for The BachelorsFurther reading:* The Australian Financial Review: Mattress maker accuses rivals of dodgy marketing with fake reviews* TV Blackbox: SKy News Australia unveils new streaming service for 2024* The Australian Financial Review: Foxtel boss braces for ‘bumpy summer’ of sport without India, Poms* Sleeping Duck: Lawrence Mattress TestingToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe UdyTime to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition features a conversation with Nick Smith, managing director of arguably Australia’s most successful content marketing agency Medium Rare.News Corp has been quietly building out its content agency offerings. It owns three of them in Medium Rare, Storyation and Suddenly.The biggest of the three, Medium Rare, had its roots in the traditions of contract publishing. Founders Gerry Reynolds and Sally Wright, both Bauer Media refugees, launched the company in 2014 with the backing of News Corp. It became a publishing powerhouse, producing customer magazines and digital content for the likes of Qantas, David Jones, Officeworks and Bunnings, with teams dedicated to each individual brand.News Corp fully bought out Reynolds and Wright last year and they have since left the business.Meanwhile, News Corp also owns content agency Storyation, founded by Lauren Quaintance and Mimi Cullen. Three years on from the 2019 purchase, Quaintance and Cullen left Storyation last year.The four founder departures saw Smith who joined Medium Rare as group content director in early 2021, quickly move up the ranks to become managing director where he works alongside chief commercial officer Fiorella Di Santo.Although Medium Rare and Storyation have seperate teams and cultures, they work out of the same offices in Sydney’s Pyrmont, with Smith and Di Santo across both of them. The duo have faced the challenge of taking forward the two businesses as the four founders exited almost at the same time.News Corp’s third content agency Suddenly which was launched from within the business, operates from the company’s Surry Hills HQ.And in 2021, News Corp took majority ownership of Chippendale-based video production house Visual Domain to round out its commercial content offering. The division is led by Mike Connaghan, previously the long time boss of the WPP-aligned STW Group.In Smith’s interview with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, loosely timed for the tenth birthdays of both Storyation and Medium Rare, he talks about his journey away from the traditional world of magazines.The Medium Rare role marked a return to Australia for Smith who was previously London-based CEO of digital publishing startup BURO.Global, which didn’t survive the pandemic.Before the overseas stint, Smith worked at News Corp as prestige and lifestyle director, where he was responsible for brands including Vogue Australia and GQ Australia. He was also a board member of Medium Rare for three years.Smith, originally a marketer before crossing into editorial, describes his mission at GQ as catering to ‘men who aspired to be men’. He says: “There was a deep kind of mission to help young, ambitious Australians become successful gentlemen. It was taking that marketing or brand point of view, particularly here in Australia to what GQ meant.”Smith reflects on the establishment of News Corp’s commercial content arm by senior management. “Three years ago, they realised that there were so many employees at News doing commercial content, either it was advertorials or native content, or what we were doing over here. Smartly, News Corp saw the growth of content marketing as an industry, not just overseas, but in Australia. So they really formalised the structure within News for us to really start to grow.”Smith sees content marketing goign through a further evolution. “We've almost come full circle to say, ‘well actually, if a brand does become a publisher they are really about engaging their audience on their own channels through their own content and growing that audience’.“There's the advent of retail media - so that content ecosystem has become even more powerful. Every second media story that I see out there is about retail media. So it's actually been fantastic, a perfect storm for us.”Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today:* Crikey publisher Private Media makes eight roles redundant;* Media stocks feel the chill;* End of an era for Eddie McGuire’s Millionaire Hotseat;* Nine closes in on Melbourne Cup broadcasting rightsFurther reading:* The Australian: Crikey publisher Private Media has given staff until Monday to decide if they want a redundancy* The Australian: Media companies batten down hatches as ad spending tightens* Unmade: We need to talk about Seven* TV Blackbox: Millionaire Hot Seat’s final episode: The end of an era* The Australian: VRC, Tabcorp inch closer to Melbourne Cup broadcast deal with NineToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Time to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition features a conversation with Nick Rynne, one of the architects of Seven West Media’s new streaming venture, Streamer.Further down, a poor day on the Unmade Index.‘The genuine home of community sport in Australia’: How Seven aims to grow Streamer into a national playerSeven West Media put its fledgling new community sports streaming service Streamer on the radar last month when its used its annual Upfronts event to announce a national rollout, led by operations manager Nick Rynne.Gestated in WA out of SWM’s The West Australian news masthead, Streamer was initially conceived as a subscriber benefit, before management saw greater potential.Streamer, allows viewers to watch local club-level sports games live and on demand. It provides a platform for anyone involved in sport to stream their game, with nothing more complicated then a phone on a tripod, although it will also support more sophisticated equipment too.Rynne started out at Seven as WA’s digital sports editor, before editing news service PerthNow. He then took on the opportunity to guide the operational and commercial direction of Streamer which came via the patronage of SWM’s WA CEO Maryna Fewster and editor-in-chief Anthony De Ceglie.Says Rynne during the conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes: “They realised that there was something more to the program. So they had the idea to take it away and come up with our own platform sitting outside the confines of the West Australian, where we could put the power back into the hands of the sports.”Clubs and teams - who retain ownership of their content - have supported the project “We saw that there was more value to be gained for them and for us by allowing the sports to run their own programs and get back what they put in,” says Rynne. “So sports leagues, clubs, schools can approach us to get set up on the platform, schedule their own games, organise their own production and start to find value in their audience.”The initial aim was to give ‘mums and dads’ at local games the opportunity to set up a production very easily“The club secretary or a mum or a dad has a phone and a tripod on the sidelines. We wanted to have an option for them to be able to stream too, which we've seen a lot of over the 18 months.”The platform also allows leagues, clubs and players to create profiles upload games and cut and share highlights. Although the business model for SWM is sponsorship and advertising, there are also built in features that allow clubs to make money from the platform from their supporters.“In the last year, we've grown from 76 clubs on the platform to about 265 now. And then beyond that, we're probably averaging about 50,000 unique users per month. That's primarily in Western Australia now. So we've seen the growth here and we can project forward to once we really get up and running on the Eastern Seaboard as well.“One of the other validating factors for us has been the number of leagues along the journey who started coming to us, so obviously our early work with the wider community sports tier two leagues in Western Australia has started to get noticed over east as well.”Rynne explains that the purpose of Streamer’s entry in the east coast market is to differentiate itself from adjacent players and focus more on user generated content.“The next phase in our evolution and our goals is to be the genuine home of community sport in Australia. It’s our aspiration. Extending beyond just the streams to have user generated written content, podcasts, audio, as well as a social aspect where users are able to really interact and engage with the vision.“We want to be the home of lean in content, and we want to really start to be a leader in that space.”Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today:* Free to air TV lobby goes to war with the pay TV lobby;* How the News Media Bargaining Code negotiations could go down next year;* OpenAI boardroom dramas and McLennan’s Rugby Australia ousting;* Michael Miller rejects rumours he’s leaving News Corp;* Mystery buyer snaps up a chunk of Southern Cross AustereoFurther reading:* The Guardian: Battle for the home screen: does the government really want to control Australian TVs?* Free TV Australia: Free For Everyone* ASTRA: Don’t let the government control your TV* Unmade: How the ACCC is gearing up for AI and Meta battles* Unmade: 'A weaker media ecosystem': Why publishers are pessimistic about the next round of News Media Bargaining Code talks* Unmade: Sam out, man* Unmade: Catalano misses out* Sydney Morning Herald: Hamish McLennan ousted as Rugby Australia chairman after board vote* Australian Financial Review: News Corp Australia boss Michael Miller quashes rumours his time is upToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes, Seja Al Zaidi and Abe Udy.Time to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition features a conversation with Jonathan Pearse, author of book Winning the Room, designed to help agency executives pitch better.‘I became obsessed with what makes an agency win and lose’: Jonathan Pease on how adland can pitch betterCommunications agencies still win (or lose) much of their new business via competitive pitches.Often, the process culminates in a single timeslot of an hour or less, in which the agency needs to persuade its prospective client of the merits of its thinking and work.Jonathan Pease - or JP as he’s commonly known within the industry - has been contemplating those key moments for much of his recent career, including his coaching business Winning The Room.He’s now published a book by the same title.JP spent much of his career within the agency world including a a suit at BBDO in New York and later BMF in Sydney.He went on to become executive ideas director at Naked Communications before becoming a co-founder of strategy agency Tongue, which was eventually folded into WPP’s AKQA.In today’s edition, Pease speaks to Unmade’s Cat McGinn about the book, which covers techniques and methods to help give more effective presentations. In its chapters, Pease digs into the difference that setting a mood and envrionment for the presentation can make.Pease, who saw his public profile raised thanks to his onscreen role in Australia’s Next Top Model, says: “Most people would assume that I would write a book about creativity, or maybe even running an agency. But I've been sitting in pitches now for the last 29 years, and I've been watching and learning and gathering. During that process, I've just grabbed together the most actionable, most road tested skills, and I've thought, hey, you know what? It works in a workshop, which I do a lot of, but it felt like a book was probably required.”Pease mentioned that most people in the industry neglect the importance of being good storytellers do not put enough effort into their presentations and pitches.“I think most people in business rely on being excellent at their job, being a thought leader. And then they leave the presentation or pitch moment up to mainly luck, right They just roll into these very important one hour slots that can really play out the trajectory of a person's career in that one hour.”“I think a lot of people in business, and probably in life, rely on luck and their own personality when it comes to public speaking or pitching, and I just think that's a real miss because these are those one hour slots that end up paving the way for a year, two years, sometimes longer of a piece of business or an opportunity or funding of an idea.“So I have become obsessed with those one hour blocks, that pitch moment. I really want to design them, design every single inch of that moment and give ideas the best chance of happening.”He also shared his perspective on why pitches often die in the meeting room - typically because if they possess a unique, provocative nature, they typically inspire inertia rather than acceptance. “If they're any good, they're different and maybe slightly provocative and potentially not easy to get your head around.“It's those ideas that provoke and create real change. They're the ones that have to get up, but by their very nature, they're a little harder to buy. So the way you present it and the way you pitch it often is the difference between success and failure, which is concerning because it's actually not about the quality of the idea.“I've seen pretty ho-hum ideas get up and I've seen brilliant ideas die based on the way they were pitched.”*As is discussed during the interview, Cat McGinn assisted with research during the writing and editing process of publishing Winning the Room.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Seven grabs ARN stakeToday:* Seven takes a 20% chunk of ARN in weekend raid;* Google’s big plot to block search in Australia;* The week ahead in radio ratings, Filmfronts and the Australian Podcast Ranker;* Communications minister Michelle Rowland’s lavish gambling lunchFurther reading:* Australian Financial Review: Kerry Stokes’ Seven swoops on ARN Media, takes near 20pc stake* Unmade: What will Seven do with its war chest?* Australian Financial Review: Inside Google’s mothballed plans to quit search in Australia* Australian Financial Review: Michelle Rowland’s lavish Society lunch paid for by gambling lobbyToday’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Time to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.After the most gruelling Upfronts season yet, we wrap things up with the people whose verdicts matter - the media agency chief investment officers. Plus, we speak to SBS managing director James Taylor about the series of agenda-setting announcements made by the public broadcaster.The most interesting, most unexpected and most meaningful upfronts - plus, who put on the best show?Upfronts Season finally ends this afternoon, with the ABC announcing its content plans for 2024.It’s been the longest one ever, kicking off during the first week of September with Nine’s Olympics-focused Upfronts taking over both the Hordern Pavilion and Hall of Industries in Sydney’s Moore Park, while Mamamia staked its claim as the primary conduit to reach women at an event at Doltone House in Pyrmont.The next week came Independents Day, organised by the Digital Publishers Alliance with more than 20 members offering rapidfire presentations at The Grounds in Alexandria.The same night it was back to Hordern Pavilion, where Google’s YouTube made the case for switching advertising dollars out of television during Brandcast.The following day, magazine house Are Media hosted buyers for a more modest lunchtime event at the new wing of the Art Gallery of NSW, turning on the star power with an appearance from Matilda’s penalty scorer Cortnee Vine.Then in October it was on to the Beta events space in Castlereagh Street, as Carsales extended its Open House event from their Melbourne base into Sydney.A few days later, Seven puts its weight behind SXSW Sydney, returning to the ICC for its Upfronts, executive produced by chief marketing and audience officer Melissa Hopkins.The next week saw Ooh Media and Foxtel Media both put their events in the hands of the weather gods.Ooh’s Outfronts trip to Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens was rewarded with a scorching summer’s morning. Foxtel’s boat ride to Cockatoo Island on Sydney Harbour was a damper affair, although its blockbuster announcement of a breakaway audience measurement project wiped that from the memory.Meanwhile, Paramount took a different approach to its Upfronts this year, taking the lead from its sister network in the United States, CBS, hosting smaller groups to talk about plans for Ten, Paramount+ and Tenplay, followed by Q&A sessions.Between them, the media companies would have spent well in excess of $10m on letting the industry know their plans. So who told their stories best? We asked the media agencies’ chief investment officers.GroupM CIO Melissa Hey, Spark Foundry CIO Lucie Jansen and Essencemediacom CIO Nick Thomas offered their takeaways in a special edition of the Unmade podcast hosted by Tim Burrowes.Who exceeded expectations?Foxtel’s challenger measurement system for OzTAM drew praise.“I'm pretty excited about what Foxtel’s doing, just disrupting the industry and leading from the front, giving our clients and us as an agency so many opportunities to change the way that we've been approaching video,” Thomas shared.“Paramount surprised me the most because I thought that you actually did get a lot more out of it. You go into it wondering how they're going to wow you in this small setting and I walked away very impressed and engaged with what they had to offer and what they're putting on the table because of that intimate setting, and because we were able to ask questions and interact. They were answering questions that were being asked versus just going up on stage,” Hey says.Thomas agrees: “At the big parties, you're never going to get that honest, direct conversation and feedback loop that you're going to have in the smaller groups.”Sport was pegged as one sector of the market that the CIO’s were particularly excited about after seeing all the upfronts.“I think next year is going to be a really good, good year for sport. 2023, particularly with the Matildas, will only serve to help audiences in that space as well. Obviously, that probably plays more to the strength of Seven and Nine,” Jansen concludes.Most meaningful technology announcementA selection of new adtech products were rolled out at each network’s upfront - Seven’s Phoenix, Nine’s SME-focused Ad Manager, Paramount’s Shoppable TV and SBS Measure.Hey argues that Phoenix “will be really important and a game changer on how we operate with Seven.” She adds: “What is actually interesting and how it's going to roll out and impact for the future is Nine's Ad Manager. Whilst they're saying it's for SMEs, how they're setting that up and using AI feels just the start of the journey.“Thomas was excited about Ooh Media’s 2024 prospects and its new retail media screen network solution, Reooh.“I think the premium Sydney product was a good strategic play to compete with the JCDecaux's and QMS's that are playing in the premium Sydney audience already. Everyone's talking retail. I think next year will probably be the year of retail. If you were a business and you wanted to set up a retail network, it's a plug and play product that you can use, which is great.”‘We might be the first moving in this direction. We don't believe we'll be the last’SBS’ upfronts came just after the podcast with the CIOs was recorded, so Unmade sat down with managing director James Taylor to get a better understanding of the broadcaster’s strategies and content slate for 2024.Key announcements from the SBS Upfront included limitations on betting, booze and fast food ads, progress on sustainability promises, another season of Alone Australia (this time shot in New Zealand) and retaining the men's FIFA World Cup.“We believe the purveyors of all products have a right to access audiences, particularly via a public broadcaster,” says Taylor. “This is, though, about providing value to both audiences and advertisers. If you think about on-demand environments generally, and SBS on-demand specifically, users are able to exhibit complete control over what they watch.“Therefore, we want to extend that capacity to allow audiences to express a view about the advertising component as well. We might be the first moving in this direction. We don't believe we'll be the last.“We think these three categories are a logical place to start. It's great for the audience because they get to provide us with information about their choices as opposed to us determining what we think they want.”Taylor also expanded on long term plans to help bring the entirety of the SBS supply chain to net zero over the next 20 years.“We rely on third parties and their carbon footprint to reach an audience member. So the timeline we've laid out, which is an aggressive timeline actually, and the most ambitious of any media player in the country, is really about us working with our supply chain to assist them in decarbonising their footprint.”SBS Measure, which uses Experian data, was the new adtech product rolled out at the upfront. Taylor explained the product was a way to “reinforce our credentials as a place that is worthy of our customers' investment.”And Taylor also explained why SBS is backing Foxtel’s breakaway TV audience measurement project.“There’s nothing lacking with Oztam from my perspective, we remain committed and enthusiastic participants in Oztam. We back the currency. We think it's a well-needed and welcome development in free-to-air's capacity to create a compelling offer to advertisers. That said, SBS is not a market maker. It's a market taker. We participated in a market. You should expect us to be inquisitive about other marketplaces that other providers are seeking to establish, so that we can form a view about whether or not SBS has a place in their marketplace.”* The entire podcast can be heard via the player at the top of this page or on the podcatcher of your choice. Special thanks to Abe’s Audio for a great job on a complex edit.Message us: [email protected] a great day.ToodlepipTim BurrowesPublisher - Unmade This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today:* The big media beasts kick anti-platform lobbying into gear;* Nine retains overseas Ashes rights;* New Foxtel costs revealed;* How the public is cutting their streaming spendFurther reading:* Australian Financial Review: Media chiefs demand ‘urgent’ curb of big tech* Australian Financial Review: Rod Sims - Take action to stop AI entrenching big tech’s market power* Australian Financial Review: Nine retains English Ashes contests until 2031 in new deal* The Australian: Horse racing fans left furious after TV coverage missed photo finish of main Derby Day race* Australian Financial Review: Fox Tells* The Australian: Majority of Australians carefully managing subscription streaming services: DeloitteToday’s episode feature Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Time to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]’ll be back tomorrow with Tuesdata.Toodlepip…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition features a conversation with Paramount bosses Beverley McGarvey, and Jarrod Villani.Australia’s most misunderstood TV company?At this year’s Upfronts season, Paramount took a different path to its rivals. The owner of Network 10, along with streaming services, Tenplay, Paramount+ and Pluto TV, Paramount dispensed with the usual 1000-guests in a giant hall approach, for more select briefings. It had a different story to tell.By some distance the third placed commercial TV network with Ten, the focus of the company increasingly follows the priorities of its US-based owner Paramount.Most obviously, that will mean the launch of a local advertising tier for the fast growing Paramount+.In conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, chief operating officer Jarrod Villani and chief content officer Beverley McGarvey, discussed Paramount’s programming strategy for the year ahead, beginning with the question of whether they have made the philosophical leap that linear television is no longer their first priority.McGarvey argues that has not happened yet. “I wouldn't say that linear is not a priority. It is a priority. It's incredibly important. There's still massive reach on linear. And there's still massive advertising dollars on linear. However, what I would say is that philosophically we are in a place that we consider - what is the right scheduling for this? Where should it play? Where can we get the best value from it? Where do audiences want to consume it? So I think we are philosophically in a multi platform place, but 10 remains critical in that,” McGarvey says.“When you look at any of our businesses, you see that the vast majority of content that is consumed on free streaming platforms like Tenplay comes from linear. So it is first shown on linear currently. To divorce linear from free IP based viewing on Tenplay is not the way in which we visualise our business,” Villani adds.When asked the hard question of whetehr they are willing to go on tolerating the third place share Paramount is getting amongst the networks in the longterm, Villani argues the role of Ten in the landscape is ‘not fully understood yet’.“We understand what makes up our share. We make tweaks to that every year to improve that. It really does come down to, what is the purpose of our free-to-view offering? How is it contributing to the business? When I say that, I mean contributing to all of the business. It's both an economic discussion and it's a promotional discussion. We've spoken a lot… about the evolving ecosystem of Paramount in Australia. That is not something that I think is fully understood yet and we'll continue to work away at that,” Villani says.Survivor and I’m A Celebrity are set to appear early in the 2024 schedule, as well as the return of Gladiators to Australian television. A number of the Paramount+ commissions like NCIS Sydney and Top Gear Australia are also expected to eventually end up on Ten.“The reason we commissioned Gladiators is we were looking for a big event series for January that felt like something the whole family could watch. And if you think about what we've had success in January with over the last number of years, it has been I'm a Celebrity and the Big Bash. Big family entertainment with sort of an adventurous feel. Gladiators is fantastic. You can get behind your favorite one. It appeals to kids, they're great athletes and the contenders are incredible,” McGarvey says.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today:* The curtain closes on Upfronts season;* What we learned at Foxtel and Ooh Media’s Upfronts, and what’s to come at SBS;* The battle to acquire SCA heats up as Antony Catalano enters the arena;* Seven plots a new east coast-based masthead;Further reading:* Unmade: Media, Unmade* Unmade: Whale tales and couch comfort as Ooh Media and Paramount share their 2024 plans* Capital Brief: SCA takes its time on ARN as Catalano waits in the wings* The Australian Financial Review: Southern Cross trades Grant Samuel for UBS amid takeover* The Australian: Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media set to launch news website with east coast focusToday’s episode feature Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy.Time to leave you to start your week.Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to an audio-led edition of Unmade.Today’s edition of The Unmakers features Abe Udy, the founder and owner of one of Australia’s longest established audio production houses Abe’s Audio, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this weekend.‘I don't think you can beat real humanness’: audio guru Abe Udy on harnessing AIAbe Udy will already be a familiar voice to listeners of the Unmade podcast - he’s been editing our Monday Start the Week podcast since its inception and has been hosting it for more than a year.Using early MP3 technology and dial-up internet, Udy started Abe’s Audio at the age of 18 from his bedroom. Abe's Audio has since grown to over 20 staff and produces audio content for hundreds of creative agencies, media companies, eLearning providers, video producers, animators and podcasters.Tomorrow Abe’s Audio celebrates its silver anniversary.One familiar Abe’s Audio creation is the ‘koala masala’ jingle for The Pitch on ABC’s Gruen.By the end of last year, Abe’s Audio had produced over 500,000 jobs (and 1.2 million scripts). In conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, Udy discusses how he cut his teeth in audio, his beginnings in radio, building and scaling the business, disruption in the audio space, and Dashi, the AI platform he co-founded earlier this year, which functions as a project management platform that enables media companies to produce commercial audio content efficiently at scale.“Twenty five years ago, the world looked very different in terms of audio,” Udy explains. “To make the commercials, you would use only local announcers, so three or four voices, and that was it. So all the ads sounded essentially sounded very similar, sounded the same, and stations really didn't have an option to be able to get other voiceover talent.”“The space that I found myself in 25 years ago, I thought, hang on, wouldn't it be great if we could use voiceover talent from one radio station, for example, and make it available to another station.”While creative agencies still comprise a large chunk of Udy’s client base, he’s seen a rise in requests for internal and external digital content for businesses.“Our main clients are really advertising and creative agencies that need audio for radio commercials, TVCs, but then increasingly over the last few years, digital content's really grown. So explainer videos, audio for digital content, whether it be internal training or comms or external.”Udy demonstrated AI-powered Dashi at Unmade’s HumAIn conference in July - which, “within nine minutes, had a script created, sent to head office in Launceston, back to a real human voice in Redfern in Sydney in a studio, recorded it, was back in Launceston, and produced by a person”.He argues that the human touch in audio still has a significant purpose even as AI sweeps in.“I don't think you can beat real humanness. For me, I've landed when tech and humans kind of work together, combined, that's when we get magic. So I'm not shying away from using AI tools and different technologies. But I think there's something really important about people.”During the conversation, he also offers his thoughts on what people aspiring to be voiceover artists should focus on.“ Often I'll say to up and coming voices, it's that last 5% that's the hardest to get right and separates the good voices from the great voices. It's thinking about the brief and how a script, a voiceover can bring that script to life based on the deadline of the job and other kind of creative requirements in the brief.”Time to leave you to your Thursday. We’ll be back with an end of week update tomorrow, focusing on tonight’s Foxtel Upfronts.Audio production was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected] a great day.Toodlepip…Tim BurrowesPublisher - [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead.Today:* We discuss the first outing of SXSW Sydney;* What we learned at the Seven Upfronts;* Radio wars as Southern Cross Austereo courts investors;Further reading:* The Australian Financial Review: Southern Cross courts wider interest as board reviews ARN deal* Unmade: Value adds and valuing ads* Unmade: Seven’s spotlight* Unmade: What good is doing good? Leo Burnett's Catherine King on what the public expects from brandsToday’s episode feature Tim Burrowes, Seja Al Zaidi and Abe Udy.Time to leave you to start your week.Production was by Seja Al Zaidi with editing courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.Message us: [email protected]’ll be back tomorrow with Tuesdata.Toodlepip…Tim [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe

Welcome to a bonus audio-led edition of Unmade. Below, we discuss Seven West Media’s plans for 2024 with the team from TV Blackbox.'We weren't expecting any surprises and Seven delivered'In a bonus audio-led edition, Unmade’s Tim Burrowes and Seja Al Zaidi joined TV Blackbox’s Rob McKnight and Steve Molk at the noisy afterparty of the Seven Upfronts, held in Sydney.The quad squad discussed:* The lack of surprises in Seven’s annual showcase* The importance of Seven’s digital AFL and cricket rights* The return of Big Brother* The new format Made in Bondi* The arrival of Chris Brown* Stranded on Honeymoon Island - the latest attempt to challenge Nine’s Married at First Sight* Marketer Mel Hopkins’ change of heart on the impact of TV* Upgrades to 7plus* Seven’s new TV trading system Phoenix* Seven West Media’s community sport offering StreamerEmail us: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unmade.media/subscribe