Flash in the pan or spinning money? Murdoch places his hopes on news streaming service | Amanda meade

Rupert Murdoch may have turned 90 this year, but his media empire continues to grow. A week after the announcement of a new UK television channel, TalkTV, and a Sky News program featuring Piers Morgan, his Australian Empire will unveil a dedicated news streaming service called Flash next month.

Flash – which went by the working name of NewsFlash – will be offered alongside Binge and Kayo as a one-stop-shop for news junkies looking to access 20 news channels for an expected price of $ 10 or less.

With its Foxtel linear service already holding the rights to global and local news channels CNN, Sky News, Fox News, BBC World News, CNBC and Bloomberg, Flash has a number of brands on board but needs to sign up for more. of information services to be an attractive offer. The ABC has yet to be convinced it’s worth it.

It remains to be seen whether there is a local market for a paid news service when the ABC news channel already offers a free one and catch-up information is available 24/7 on the Nine channels, Seven and 10. Some industry watchers strongly doubt that this will fly the same way as entertainment and sports services.

Sources claim that viewers will be able to choose between watching a live broadcast or a set of highlights, and like other streaming services, an algorithm will learn your news preferences.

Foxtel boss Patrick Delany said Flash will offer “a new way to stay informed on local and international politics, business and events.”

The streaming business is certainly booming, but is there room for a third product? While Foxtel struggled to stay profitable with its high-cost cable service, Binge and Kayo drove subscriber growth and paid streaming subscribers grew 155% to over 2 million. last year.

Never hurts for long

Meanwhile, the West Australian got an international scoop on Murdoch this week when he posted a juicy headline: “Morrison Meets Rupert Murdoch in New York”.

The title of West’s article read: “Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison meets with media mogul Rupert Murdoch at private dinner in New York.”

The only problem was that it wasn’t true. Morrison met with News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson because Murdoch was not available.

The story was quickly corrected, but the title stuck on social media posts and cached on Google.

Readers who clicked to read the whole story from social media posts it was said that it was Thomson who hosted Morrison, but those who only saw the title on social media got a completely different impression.

cold shoulder Facebook

Facebook confirmed that it would not enter into a business deal with SBS or The Conversation under the news media trading code, months after News Corp, Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media, along with smaller publishers , including Guardian Australia and Australian Community Media, have signed agreements. .

While they don’t say so, the social media platform says neither of the two outlets has the right kind of content, reach or engagement to make it viable.

Three lifestyle-focused websites – Broadsheet Media, the Urban List and Concrete Playground – have already been denied a deal on the grounds that they don’t have enough media coverage.

Facebook’s head of news partnerships for Australia and New Zealand, Andrew Hunter, said there are types of news content that can best deliver value to publishers and Facebook.

“Our trade agreements are based on a series of factors, including the type of content developed, reach and engagement,†said Hunter. “We continue to engage with publishers to help them take advantage of free referral traffic, monetization products, and other initiatives and investments. “

Peter Lewis, director of the Center for Responsible Technology, called on the government to intervene on behalf of small publishers.

“Facebook’s move goes against the basic proposition of the News Media Trading Code, that Facebook was an advertising monopoly that should be required to compensate public interest journalism for content,” he said. Lewis said.

“The refusal to recognize the value of academic journalism and multicultural broadcasting speaks volumes about Facebook’s commitment to evidence-based public service journalism. “

Labor spokesperson Michelle Rowland also questioned why Facebook will not strike a deal with “one of Australia’s most trusted news platforms, especially for ethnically diverse communities.”

Alcohol flash

We can all agree that a high court ruling, a leadership spill or an earthquake is real breaking news and as such probably deserves a last minute alert from here on out. news app on your mobile phone.

Nothing like an alert to get attention.

But the Australian recently gave the alert a business overhaul and Oz readers have drawn attention to be informed of the Australian’s Wine Club’s latest deal.

The Australian told his readers in a recent news alert that they were “blessed to be able to offer a divine offer on divine wines from Clare Valley”.

It is no coincidence that a former editor-in-chief of the Australian John Lehmann is today business director and editor-in-chief of the newspaper, as well as a wine columnist. Lehmann left journalism a few years ago to become a winemaker before returning to Holt Street as a reporter, but he has retained his passion for wine.

Behind the Wine Club push is, of course, the drop in revenue for News Corp’s news media division, which includes Australian newspapers, in last month’s global financial results for the year to the end of June.

Last month, revenues fell 21%, from about $ 2.8 billion to about $ 2.2 billion, according to figures released by Thomson.

Australian newspapers’ advertising revenues fell by $ 90 million because News shut down a series of regional and suburban newspapers, and because of “the continued weakness in the print advertising market, exacerbated by Covid-19,” said the society.

Force error

Strewth Australian editor-in-chief Alice Workman has apologized for a story in Wednesday’s newspaper about Kristina Keneally’s plans to move to a new home in Fowler’s safe headquarters in southwest Sydney.

“Keneally and her husband Ben are considering their migration options, now that the couple’s three children have left their northern beach home,†Workman wrote.

But Kristina and Ben Keneally’s second child, Caroline, was stillborn in 1999, and the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party in the Senate has spoken publicly about her personal loss and the stillbirth issue in general.

She even created a Special Senate Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education, and wrote about her loss as recently last November.

Ben and I were blown away by this Strewth column this week.

It hurt.

He stabbed us like a knife.

We ask the @Australian provide support (donation or in-kind advertising) to @StillbirthAUS

Maybe something good could come out of this miserable situation. https://t.co/qfCxkt9SnQ

– Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) September 23, 2021

Under Correction Corner, Workman wrote: “In an article about Kristina Keneally’s move to southwest Sydney on Wednesday, Strewth incorrectly said three of the Labor senator’s children had left home. While this is the case for her two sons, her daughter Caroline is stillborn. We sincerely apologize for any harm this may have caused. “

But the article contained more than the hurtful reference to the Keneally children. It contained information about the location of his home which the senator asked the Australian to remove as it could pose a threat to his safety. Asio chief executive Mike Burgess has said publicly in hearings that Keneally is a target for some far-right groups. The entire room has now been removed.

SMH apologies

The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday apologized to Professor Raina MacIntyre, head of the biosafety program at the Kirby Institute at the University of NSW, for an article published on July 24.

We won’t go into the details of his complaint, but suffice it to say that the Herald has said it sincerely regrets any suggestion that MacIntyre had “acted dishonestly in voicing his comment on the AstraZeneca vaccine.” “He apologizes for any prejudice and damage to his esteemed academic and professional reputation this has caused,†the apology said.

Same old tune

Just weeks after News Corp Australia’s end news was announced “Its long-standing editorial hostility towards policies to reduce carbon emissions, “the Australian accepted a half-page paid advertisement from climate deniers entitled” The Great Climate Furphy “.

On page 9, the Climate Study Group, a group of seven Australian conservative men which was formed in 2009, called on the government to stop subsidizing renewables and not hamper new efficient coal-fired power plants.

In addition to placing ads in Oz, the group has published reports and submissions to the Australian government rejecting the science of man-made climate change.