Board’s judgment

THE ABC board was admirably united and leak-proof in the two weeks of hullabaloo about federal government budget cuts to the public broadcaster.

THE ABC board was admirably united and leak-proof in the two weeks of hullabaloo about federal government budget cuts to the public broadcaster and subsequent response from managing director Mark Scott.

The silence was made easier because the chairman wasn’t in the country. James ­Spigelman was in Hong Kong during the biggest week of upheaval at the public broadcaster since … the last week of upheaval. And not all on the board are happy. Spigelman, a former chief justice of NSW, was appointed as a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal last year and Diary hears fellow board members are concerned his times overseas have been a bit too permanent. To be fair, Spigelman attended all six ABC board meetings in 2013-14, although the board’s wording of support for Mark Scott’s proposed changes this week was odd. Spigelman’s release noted the board spent “no less than eight board meetings” considering the initiatives. We think we know what he means.

Playing mind games

NOT sure if this is ABC waste, but ABC TV aggravated many producers with its “contestibles” process. Occasionally the ABC asks producers to a brief if it has any unallocated money. Producers were told it had more than $3 million of TV internal money this year that it wanted to allocate to one big program. It wanted pitches for a new entertainment show it hoped to be a “game-changer”. A number of production companies went to some effort and Shine Australia won with a format called Mind Games. More meetings ensued — all preceding last week’s budget cuts — before the fateful call from the ABC, also before the budget cuts. Er, thanks but we have to withdraw the funding but we’ll keep your show on file.

Stan heads off Netflix

THE streaming space will be a ­little clearer this week with Seven confirming it will align with Foxtel’s Presto service before Ten confirms it will join as well. Seven and Ten will provide programs but not movies to Presto. Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media’s joint venture, Stan (with a little extra help from SBS) is trying to launch before Christmas before the elephant cruising across the Pacific, Netflix, arrives in March.

Ten deal on deadline

A CONCLUSION to the long-running Network Ten saga will be clearer this week with the deadline for non-indicative bids falling on Tuesday. Diary believes Foxtel and Discovery will offer Ten shareholders a cash-and-share deal, with Foxtel taking a 14.9 per cent stake. Any proposal needs the support of the network’s four main shareholders, Lachlan Murdoch, Gina Rinehart, James Packer and Bruce Gordon. This offer is more likely to win support from Gordon, who wants to remain a major shareholder. But the mooted deal could face resistance from the competition regulator. ACCC boss Rod Sims said it was too early to form a firm view, but intends to revisit a previous ruling. Two years ago, Sims stopped Kerry Stokes’s Seven Group Holdings taking full control of James Packer’s pay-TV ­vehicle Consolidated Media. “That position that we had back then has relevance here — there’s no doubt about that,” Sims said.

Bickmore stays put

NETWORK Ten appears to have dodged a bullet with its biggest star, Carrie Bickmore, set to re-sign after being just moments from walking. The Project co-host is believed to have fielded an offer from a rival network, which was timed perfectly with her dissatisfaction at Ten. It was noticeable she wasn’t her normal effusive self at Ten’s season launch a fortnight ago. The ­Project’s cast are on calendar year contracts and the show — notwithstanding Peter Helliar and Rove McManus’s work — would take a massive hit if the third ­original panellist departed after Dave Hughes and Charlie Pickering moved on. The question now is, did Bickmore’s stand-off represent a bigger problem in Ten management?

Awards night switch

SBS and Sky News channel A-PAC will broadcast the 2014 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards next Monday following a contretemps between the PM’s office and the ABC. The 2014 ceremony will be hosted by Ray Martin and air live on A-PAC and SBS’s arts channel on Foxtel, Studio, at 7.15pm with a highlights package on SBS One at 10.15pm. The ABC and government could not come to terms, one of the contentious ­issues believed to be the suggestion of Jennifer Byrne as host.

Crowe’s feat a cracker

RUSSELL Crowe hosts the world premiere of his first film as a director, The Water Diviner, tomorrow night at Sydney’s State Theatre. Diary can confirm it’s a cracker. Just as noteworthy as what Crowe does on screen is what he’s managed off it: bringing together a Stokes and a Packer. Kerry Stokes and James Packer are among the executive producers of the film, alongside Seven’s CEO Tim Worner and programmer Angus Ross and a big Seven logo ahead of the credits. Thankfully, Seven hasn’t watermarked the film. Ross’s contribution is slightly greater than an EP credit. He brought his mate’s screenplay to the attention of the producers before Crowe took it on.

Sunday Night blues

ON the following page you’ll see Seven is as good as its word, advertising for a new executive producer for Sunday Night after Mark Llewellyn was “boned”, “warehoused”, “what-have-you’d” from the job after attacking a producer. Staff aren’t mourning Llewellyn’s departure; indeed, they discussed legal action if he was to return. But the departure of ace reporter Ross Coulthart has crippled the program. Coulthart was its Yoda, mentoring staff and keeping calm, while delivering the goods on screen. Staff are distressed at his departure, though Seven is discussing how the show can retain him on a part-time basis as he fulfils his new publishing deal. Of equal concern to Sunday Night staff is its budget allocation after much was wasted on some “dubious” interviewees, in favour of travel and research.

Beattie joins Sky

FORMER Queensland premier Peter Beattie will join Sky News with an as-yet untitled program and roving role as a political commentator in a further beefing-up of the station’s political coverage.

ABC’s ‘botched’ purge

FOREIGNCorrespondent journalist Trevor Bormann is the latest ABC staffer to launch an attack against management for the ­deeply unpopular skills matrix assessment. In a Facebook post, Bormann said middle managers were willing accomplices in TheHunger Games-style forced redundancies, and accused the Sydney newsroom of writing stories to please ABC executives. “It’s noteworthy that in the ABC’s quest to cull News journalists, it is staff on ­higher band levels who are obliged to compete against each other for the prize of continued employment,” he said. “I know of ABC managers who are reluctantly prosecuting this purge, they know their own jobs are safe but down the track they’ll seek solace and justify themselves in the Nuremberg defence — ‘they made me do it’.” Bormann also laid into changes under director of News Kate ­Torney, saying the ABC has implemented “a confusing and unworkable restructure of its Sydney (national) newsroom, the botched makeover prescribed by hugely expensive international consultants. The place is dysfunctional, as anyone in Sydney and throughout the interstate network it dominates can attest.’’ Discontent has spread to Four Corners with much-respected executive producer Sue Spencer confirming she will step down in March. 7.30’s Sally ­Neighbour is in the box seat for her prime position and staff are not all that pleased. Perhaps it is best management want to move Neighbour to a satire-free zone.

Shortlist below the belt

SPEAKING of redundancies, with the contraction across media companies, one thing we’ve learnt is to be sensitive with names. The Guardian Australia’s Amanda Meade didn’t get the memo, gleefully listing a swag of ABC journalists who were among the feared skills pools awaiting assessment by management. The implication of the story was that they would get the axe, which shocked all of them, including one who was on mat­ernity leave. Obviously, the list, and a breach of some privacy it must be said, only made a rough week even worse for those listed.