Ten’s Pilot Week sounds like the best TV of the early 2000s, the first book about the Thai cave rescue already has a release date, the law firm fighting for those accused in the #MeToo movement, and other media tidbits of the day.
Ten’s Pilot Week sausage fest. Ten has confirmed its poorly-kept secret of “Pilot Week” — a week of new programming to test new formats and shows. There are eight shows due to be tested, which Ten will commission based on audience ratings and online reaction, and include returns to TV for Rove McManus and Kyle Sandilands. The whole line-up is a sausage fest, without any women among “some of the best homegrown talent” scheduled. Sandilands will host a Judge Judy-style program called Trial by Kyle that will also star criminal lawyer and The Bachelor contestant Anna Heinrich. McManus will have another go at a late-night talk show, comedian Dave O’Neill will star in a sitcom called Dave, and disgraced Senator Sam Dastyari will host Disgrace!, about the week’s scandals.
The line-up will also include Aussie versions of successful formats from overseas — Drunk History and Taboo. It starts on August 19.
Exclusive watch. Is there a reset button for exclusives? Evidently they must believe that at The Australian, which today labelled a story by Anthony Klan on related-party transactions in retail super funds an “Exclusive”. Klan’s story was about a 2010 APRA paper by Bruce Arnold and Kevin Lin on the disturbing extent of related-party deals within the retail super sector — whereby retail funds contract with their big bank owners to provide services at higher-than-market rates, increasing fees for retail fund members and providing some juicy revenue for the banks.
Only problem is, Crikey reported on that very paper back in … 2012. Maybe The Oz thinks the clock resets on “Exclusives” after six years. Except, the story’s been around so long we’ve recycled it ourselves — we covered it again last year in the context of Business Council exec Andrew Bragg’s campaign against industry super. The fault isn’t Klan’s — he’s been doing some great work on superannuation in recent weeks and it’s fantastic that the dodgy deal of related-party transactions is getting some coverage outside Crikey. But maybe The Oz’s editors might want to be a little less trigger-happy slapping “Exclusive” on everything that moves in Holt St. — Bernard Keane
The Great Cave Book Deal. Fairfax’s new south-east Asia correspondent James Massola has been quick off the mark, announcing on Friday a deal with publisher Allen and Unwin to write a book about the Thai cave rescue. Massola covered the good news story for Fairfax, and the book will be out on October 1. Massola moved to Jakarta earlier this year for the job.
How media bosses fought #MeToo allegations. The Daily Beast has looked at the law firm that media men accused of harassment in the #MeToo movement use to try to neuter stories about them. Firm Clare Locke, used by CBS when host Charlie Rose was being investigated by the Washington Post, was also used by Matt Lauer and by the New York Times’ Glenn Thrush:
Clare Locke was “able to slow it down and in effect change the dynamic,” a person with knowledge of the situation told The Daily Beast. The law firm sent The Washington Post several letters threatening litigation, the sources said. As a result, other reporting about (CBS executive Jeff) Fager was left out of the published story, three sources said …’There’s is a new spin on defamation practice. They are bragging about killing stories. They are not focusing on litigation but the pre-publication element to squash a story,’ said Theodore J. Boutrous Jr, partner at the Gibson Dunn law firm and a vocal First Amendment advocate.
Glenn Dyer’s TV Ratings. Seven won last night in total people and the major demos as Nine’s Australian Ninja Warrior again failed to live up to its first season. Nine has two weeks of the show — the end can’t come quickly enough. Seven won thanks to the performance of the 6pm News (1.80 million nationally), House Rules (1.50 million) which easily accounted for Ninja Warrior on Nine (1.32 million). MasterChef averaged 1.11 million for Ten. In the mornings ABC’s Insiders again had a solid morning with 505,000 national viewers. Next Sunday, the morning after the five by-elections should be a big morning for the program. Read the rest on the Crikey website.
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