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Former News Corp Australia chief executive Peter Tonagh will join the Nine board.

Former Foxtel chief executive Peter Tonagh to join Nine board

The businessman has recently left the ABC board, where he was deputy chairman. His appointment comes amid a broader overhaul of the media group’s management.

  • 1 hr ago
  • Kylar Loussikian

This Month

More than 100 independent fact-checkers in dozens of countries have reviewed dubious news stories and posts that go viral.

Five times Facebook’s fact-checkers got it wrong

Independent fact-checkers working for Facebook have helped debunk hundreds of fake news stories and false rumours, but there have been several high-profile missteps.

  • Matthew Field
Amanda Laing was Nine’s managing director until 2017. She went on to work for Foxtel, but left last year.

Amanda Laing firms for mega Nine broadcast job amid restructure

The former Foxtel executive left the News Corp-run pay television business last year. She could soon oversee Nine’s television, radio and Stan.

  • Kylar Loussikian
John Wylie (left) with Vidhur Rangaswamy and Lee Micelburough, the portfolio manager and investment manager of Tanarra’s Long Term Value Fund.

John Wylie’s Tanarra Capital takes Nine stake after share price slide

The former investment banker is known for pushing companies his firm holds stakes in, from Lendlease to Tabcorp, to make major changes and spin off assets.

  • Kylar Loussikian
MrBeast, AKA Jimmy Donaldson, is one of YouTube’s most popular creators.

One hundred million fans cannot make you famous

Mass, cross-generational audiences have disappeared, and even MrBeast can’t find them.

  • Elaine Moore
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December 2024

Three of the best US podcasts, as nominated by the New York Times: Critics at large from The New Yorker, Cement City and The Nameless Man from Pushkin.

The best (US) podcasts of 2024

From chat shows to true crime, here’s a pick of the 10 best Americans series released this year.

  • Reggie Ugwu
Newsmax chief executive Chris Ruddy, has turned the cable channel into a pure vehicle for Trumpism, attacking Fox News for including occasional dissenting voices.

Trump-loving cable network Newsmax to launch in Australia

ADH TV, launched by former broadcaster Alan Jones, will bring the right-wing news channel by expanding under the Newsmax Australia brand.

  • Kylar Loussikian
A still from the HBO TV series based on Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend.

The best TV shows of 2024

The New York Times picks English Teacher, My Brilliant Friend, Shogun, Babylon Berlin and Somebody Somewhere among the series that stood out this year.

  • James Poniewozik, Mike Hale and Margaret Lyons
DAZN is backed by British-Ukrainian billionaire Len Blavatnik.

News Corp sells Foxtel to British sports streaming giant in $3.4b deal

The multibillion-dollar deal will dramatically alter the local media landscape and create a rich competitor for sports broadcast deals.

  • Zoe Samios
MasterChef is one of Ten’s most popular franchises.

Ten writes TV licence values to zero as losses balloon to $322m

But the broadcaster, now owned by Paramount Global, said it was optimistic about the future as it repositioned itself for a world where streaming dominates.

  • Kylar Loussikian
Jarrod Villani ran Network Ten until earlier this year.

Gillon McLachlan hires former Ten executive to run Tabcorp’s Sky Racing

Jarrod Villani was a KordaMentha partner who sold the ailing broadcaster to CBS, now Paramount, before running the business for several years.

  • Zoe Samios
Southern Cross chief executive John Kelly took the top job last year.

Paramount’s Network Ten snaps up three regional broadcast licences

The seller, Southern Cross Media, has been trying to offload them for several years. It said it was in talks to sell others in Tasmania, Darwin and Broken Hill.

  • Zoe Samios
WiseTech founder Richard White (right) at his compound in Sydney’s Bexley with Josh Simons, CEO of Vinyl Group.

Rich Lister-backed Vinyl Group in equity raise to fund acquisition

Sole lead manager Peloton Capital was rounding up investors at 10¢ a pop for a fully underwritten accelerated rights issue, sources said.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Index

The surprisingly small details that broke our biggest stories of 2024

Our reporters take you behind the scenes to reveal how they broke some of this year’s most engaging stories.

  • Lucy King and Daniel Reti
New ABC managing director Hugh Marks.

Former Nine boss Hugh Marks to lead ABC

The executive who pulled off the broadcaster’s merger with Fairfax and helped lobby for big tech to pay for Australian content starts his new job in March.

  • Zoe Samios
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Chris O’Keefe took the helm of 2GB drive in early 2023.

Drive show host Chris O’Keefe leaves 2GB

Nine’s Sydney talkback radio station is searching for more talent after its drive show host called it quits.

  • Zoe Samios
The New Daily’s owner, Industry Super, wants to sell it.

Industry super funds sell The New Daily

The New Daily, brainchild of former Industry Super chairman Garry Weaven, has sold for an undisclosed sum.

  • Zoe Samios
Platforms that strike commercial deals to pay media organisations for the use of their news content will get relief from the new tax charge.

Big tech should not be above the law of the land

In general, the last thing Australia needs is a new tax. But Meta’s thumbing its nose at Australia’s pioneering regulation justifies Labor’s attempt to lay down the law to the tech giants.

  • The AFR View
WiseTech founder Richard White (right) at his compound in Sydney’s Bexley with Josh Simons, CEO of Vinyl Group.

Richard White-backed Vinyl Group set to acquire Concrete Playground

Vinyl Group is becoming a serial media acquirer, picking up The Brag Media, Mediaweek and now Concrete Playground.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Shay Segev, the chief executive of DAZN, at the Olympic Games in Paris earlier this year.

DAZN chief executive lands in Sydney as Foxtel buyout talks progress

Shay Segev’s visit comes at the same time as Rupert Murdoch has returned to the country for the first time in six years and as News Corp assesses bids for Foxtel.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
Contorl of Fox News was a key part of the Murdoch family feud.

Murdoch ‘Succession’ tropes can’t hide a dilemma for investors

The Murdoch family feud makes for fabulous drama, but for long-term investors it masks a vital question.

  • James Thomson
Lachlan Murdoch has put Foxtel up for sale. DAZN is one company that is taking a look.

Foxtel’s UK suitor calls in Bank of America for advice

The group, backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, is understood to be working with BofA’s telecommunications and media team.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Rupert Murdoch’s attempt at cementing Lachlan’s control over the media empire was rejected by a Nevada court.

Logan Roy’s death morphed into a real life Murdoch succession drama

Shortly after the fictional patriarch died on television, the family behind the News and Fox empires began to plot life after their patriarch, Rupert.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
It’s oh so tempting to settle for the algorithm’s choice.

Bugger Spotify, I’m going to make my own playlist

Even by the internet’s grim standards, Spotify Wrapped is a wretched gimmick.

  • Tom Gatti
WPP is poised to lose its spot as the world’s largest advertising company.

Omnicom to buy Interpublic in $20.6b deal

The merger of the two agencies will create the world’s largest advertising company, taking that title from London-based WPP.

  • Fareed Sahloul and Mark Bergen

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing