Why Nine is trying to kill NRL Island
So we were particularly flabbergasted by NRL broadcaster Nine’s attack on the NRL and its CEO Todd Greenberg for attempting to bring back the game by May. Nine launched the missive on Thursday through the network’s rugby league reporter Danny Weidler and the SMH sports pages, claiming: “At Nine we had hoped to work with the NRL on a solution to the issues facing rugby league in 2020, brought on so starkly by COVID-19 … But this health crisis in our community has highlighted the mismanagement of the code over many years.”
It went on, but suffice it to say it was not glowing about Greenberg or the NRL’s management. It claimed Nine bailed the NRL out with a “$50m loan” (it wasn’t a loan; it was an advanced payment on broadcast rights to give to clubs). Reports on Nine also claimed Nine funds the NRL (it doesn’t; it’s about a fifth of its revenue). The wisdom of asking for a public bailout aside, the NRL has been building its financial health over the past few years, running several healthy profits prior to COVID-19.
In a twist, the “statement” was from “a Nine spokesperson”. Apparently Nine want to shitcan the CEO of its major sport through its own media network, but neither its CEO Hugh Marks or any of its other senior executives want to put their name to it? #brave.
Greenberg has his detractors, perhaps justifiably, but it’s mind-boggling to be publicly attacking the NRL boss in the midst of the greatest health crisis in 100 years while he’s trying to get the game back on the park for fans and thousands of those employed by it. The missive came out in the middle of the league’s commission meeting on Thursday while the commissioners were still deciding on the best course of action, leaving Greenberg stunned.
It’s particularly galling given the sanctimonious reports coming out of Nine papers about News Corp’s supposedly conflicted attacks on Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle, given News’s controlling share of RA’s (now) former broadcaster Fox Sports. RA has neither a competition nor a broadcast partner and could go bankrupt. The NRL seemingly has two broadcasters and is trying to get a competition on the field and Nine used its own outlets to publicly attack the CEO and the viability of a competition?
Of course, it’s not about the viability of an NRL competition or Greenberg; it’s about the fact Nine doesn’t want the competition to go ahead, or in the least not pay full price. Nine told the ASX on March 30 it was saving $130m in the calendar year that “assumes season 2020 cancelled”. In a climate where Nine is desperate to save money, why would it want the NRL to return to the paddock if it has booked the saving? It’s almost a worst-case scenario: to be saddled with a competition that you may not be able to sell ads to with shops closed and nothing to buy.
Nine is now talking up the prospect of walking away — not likely given it’s an obvious breach of their own broadcasting contract. ARL chairman Peter V’landys is set to meet Marks on Tuesday to try to settle things down, and will meet with Fox Sports bosses next week. Wonder if Greenberg will show up?
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Stokes heads home
Since last week billionaire and Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes has been trying to get back from his property in Colorado. Sources close to Stokes assured Diary he was not stuck in the US, but was planning how best to return home via his private jet given the isolation requirements for oversees arrivals in Australia.
Diary was told Stokes had now returned home to Western Australia, in line with his wishes to get back to Perth. What is not clear is whether Stokes has been forced to go into isolation in a hotel or has been allowed to stay home. Surely there wouldn’t be one rule for those arriving on private jet and another for everyone else? A spokesman for Stokes declined to comment to Diary.
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Holy war on hold
It was a battle of media titans that set the airwaves alight this week — News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt, the nation’s most prominent breakfast broadcaster Alan Jones and fellow 2GB star and stablemate Ray Hadley.
For those who need to catch up, in the wake of the High Court’s 7-0 decision upholding Cardinal George Pell’s appeal, Bolt appeared on Jones’ breakfast show on Wednesday morning as a long-term supporter of Pell. Bolt quickly took aim at many of his media detractors, including Hadley, demanding an apology after he accused him of “creepy behaviour”, which Bolt believes was motivated by his defence of Pell.
Jones agreed that Hadley probably regretted the remarks. For his part, Hadley denied the comment was made in relation to Pell, refused to apologise and accused Bolt and Jones of “poorly researched rubbish”. He also refused to let Bolt on the program, claiming he’d had enough of a platform that day, and made reference to the “attack” on his own network.
Bolt then penned a blog post accusing Hadley of being a “coward”. Whoa. Call it an Easter armistice but Diary understands there will be no resumption of hostilities this week, with both presenters and Nine Radio keen to put an end to the warfare. Diary is assured by those close to Jones that the broadcaster had no intention of leading Bolt down a path to attack Hadley, and tried hard to move the conversation away from his stablemate. Still the tensions between the two are obvious even in 2GB’s promos.
At the end of each show every presenter is joined by the next for a preview of what’s coming up next. “All presenters seem to do this pretty happily except it for Alan and Ray,” a neutral insider observed. It’s a tough for Nine Radio’s Tom Malone to balance the egos John Singleton dealt with for years. Nine is understood to be keen for Alan to “endorse” Ray for the breakfast spot when Jones eventually retires. But the US Democratic Primaries this is not, and Jones last year told The Australian he viewed 2GB’s Michael McLaren as “an outstanding talent” when we spoke of possible successors. Diary is glad it doesn’t have a dog in this fight!
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Bolt’s Pell exclusive
Diary understands Pell is making good on a promise to Bolt dating back over a year to agree to an interview if he was acquitted. Many would believe Bolt would be an obvious choice given his long-term support of Pell, but insiders say it was not a “soft interview”, traversing a range of tough topics including his accuser, sexual abuse victims and the church’s culpability in covering up crimes.
It may not surprise the ABC missed out on the interview, with a request made on behalf of Leigh Sales through 7.30’s producer, and then through an ABC lawyer. Nine’s 60 minutes also made a failed bid.
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Harsh reality TV
One of the biggest casualties of the coronavirus crisis could yet prove to be the nation’s “flagship” news and current affairs programs, with their high-flying reporters and crews finding themselves largely grounded by the public health travel restrictions.
Diary hears staff at the ABC have been warned the restrictions could result in the “consolidation” of some of the broadcaster’s key shows, with rumours circulating that Four Corners and Australian Story will be increasingly difficult to produce as stand-alone programs in light of the lockdown.
While the virus has meant big news — and equally big ratings — at Nine, there is talk that management will also use it as an excuse to again take the knife to the 60 Minutes and A Current Affairs budgets.
Both shows have been pulling big numbers on the back of the health crisis but there are already concerns about how they will fare when they return to regular programming.
It is understood 60 Minutes has three weeks worth of non-coronavirus programs on the shelf, though it remains to be seen how dated those stories will be when they make it to air.
The show has run almost a month of self-proclaimed “live specials” on the virus and, even though some industry insiders have argued that tacking on a quick live interview with a politician at the end of the show isn’t special enough to back up the promotion, the program has been pulling decent numbers.
It veered from the formula for the first time overnight by running a story on fallen NSW police detective Gary Jubelin, who has just been convicted and fined $10,000 for making illegal recordings in the William Tyrrell investigation.
It will be a big test of their audience’s appetite for non-coronavirus coverage, while taking little risk given the Easter non-ratings period means it will not count towards the show’s tally at the end of the year.
If it succeeds, there are suggestions the show will now have to focus almost entirely on stories within Australia, as its international travel budget is further slashed — and impossible.
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Investigate this Aunty
As newsrooms across the country struggle to contend with the sheer volume of continuous news generated by the novel coronavirus, there are increasingly loud rumblings emanating from inside the ABC about the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s allocation of resources.
While the nightly news team, 7.30 and Four Corners have been labouring under the demands of their regular, hungry deadlines, there is growing criticism that the network’s investigative reporting team has been largely unseen since they started working remotely more than three weeks ago. Diary understands the unit will make its first contribution to the ABC’s television coverage tonight with a piece by Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop but, for many inside Aunty, it is a meagre and long overdue offering.
The complaints are hardly surprising given the unit is staffed by a team of 31. That extensive complement of staff includes an executive producer, deputy executive producer and social media producer — even though they do not have their own program to produce or promote — as well as dedicated cameramen and even a full-time editor to cut television.
It is an embarrassment of riches for a network continuing to cry poor to the federal government as it presses for more funding. Indeed, management has had a hard time selling the value of those resources to many at the broadcaster, particularly the hardworking teams on daily deadlines.
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Holmes back in News
Still on the ABC, it is doing its own bit of COVID-19 job stimulus by bringing former Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes out of retirement to put together a Four Corners special, “or maybe even two” in Holmes’ words, on “the past and future of News Corp’’.
Diary can see it all now: opens with the vision of (Foxtel’s) Succession series and Holmes’ breathless narration “but the real succession story is playing out in corridors of News Corp’s global headquarters in New York”. Sigh. Anyway, Holmes is going around propositioning past and present News Corp editors, journos and employees to go on or off the record. No doubt he’ll get the bunch of disgruntled former reporters, editors and prime ministers who blame the company for all their life’s problems. Now we at The Australian run a fair of bit of ABC-related content, and we don’t avoid scrutiny, no matter how deranged, especially from ABC’s Media Watch on a weekly basis. But it does strike Diary as a little strange that despite the biggest global public health crisis in a century, the ABC’s flagship current affairs show will take time to pursue News Corp in a two-part special. Priorities anyone? And not only that: while complaining about its indexation freeze it will bring in a former employee as a freelancer to do a story on a rival media organisation. Is there nobody else at Four Corners or the ABC’s roster willing or able to do this story? It’s almost as if it’s been done by ABC management to delegitimise criticism by News Corp journalists.
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Virus can’t stop Logies
And finally, rest assured, the Australian television industry will still be lauded and their “accomplishments” celebrated, with the Logie Awards to go ahead later this year. Phew. Diary doesn’t think it could take the cancellation the Logies on top of everything else.
Sadly there won’t be a red-carpet awards ceremony or fancy party on the Gold Coast because of the ban on large gatherings.
Media Diary has been told on good authority that planning is well under way for nominations to be announced at the end of May as planned, with Nine Network working to come up with a new broadcasting plan.
“There will still be a Logies this year, it will just look a little bit different. Someone will still win the Gold Logie this year and it will be telecast,” a source told Media Diary. A Nine spokesman was tight-lipped on its telecast plans.
The annual live TV event on the Gold Coast on June 28 was canned last month, due to the crackdown on gatherings.
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Your (guest) Media diarist is a big fan of NRL Island. For those unfamiliar with the concept, rugby league players are shipped off to a remote location to play the only professional sport left on the planet.