Mumbrellacast

4 September 2025

The bosses of the Australian TV industry flooded Canberra this week to lobby the government for tax relief and to put an end to gambling ad restrictions. Tim was there too, and he's here to share all the details of the event - and the conversations he had with the industry's most powerful people.

Upfronts season has finally arrived and SBS is the first out of the gate. We discuss what the country's multicultural public broadcaster has up its sleeves, and if it'll be enough to wow media buyers.

Meanwhile, fresh off delivering its full-year financial results, Vinyl Media has made just under 10% of its workforce redundant, including its head of editorial and head of publishing.

The media giant described the move as "a small adjustment", but with a looming deadline to break even only four months away, we have to ask: will Vinyl Group make breakeven by its deadline of December?

Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes and Nathan Jolly for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

28 August 2025

Nine's finances for FY2025 were released this morning, and the combined weight of the Olympics, Stan and Domain helped the media organisation stay upright. But should Nine be celebrating?

Meanwhile, rivals ARN and SCA have released their own financial results, while rumours of Nine being interested in buying SCA continue. Nathan is here to break down the numbers and share what SCA CEO John Kelly said of the rumours during their recent chat.

The Australian Association of National Advertisers released a report that stated most people say junk food advertising doesn't affect them. The University of Wollongong's professor of public health nutrition Bridget Kelly criticised the findings. Hal sat down with her to learn why she rejected the findings out of hand.

Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes, Nathan Jolly and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

Media and publishing group Hardie Grant has made a major investment in the communications space, acquiring PR agency Keep Left. We discuss if Hardie Grant made the right move, and what prompted Keep Left to sell after 23 years.

The country's sole independent newswire, Australian Associated Press, has struck a deal with Google to feed its news into the Gemini app. Does the deal make sense?

Meanwhile, Ooh Media released its half-yearly results this week — and the numbers were strong. Tim spoke with the company's outgoing CEO, Cathy O'Connor, earlier. Plus, Nathan shares how the out-of-home sector is performing according to the Outdoor Media Association's latest research.

Earlier this month, Skydance's US$8 billion purchase of Paramount made it one of the largest media deals of the century. Now, Paramount's ex-owner Shari Redstone has revealed what she really thought of the process, and the controversial payment to Donald Trump.

With Tim Burrowes, Hal Crawford, Nathan Jolly and Abe Udy.

Global performance consultancy Ebiquity oversees US$160 billion of advertising spend for the majority of the world's top brands.

CEO Ruben Schreurs sat down with Mumbrella's Hal Crawford for a wide-ranging interview that ran the gamut from agency disruption, to advertiser news avoidance, Elon Musk, outdoor, the rise of Publicis and a personal attack on Schreurs that almost cost him his life.

SBS has announced that its managing director, James Taylor, is gearing up to leave the broadcaster after 13 years to become the boss at Ooh Media. But is it the right move for both the outdoor company and the long-time media leader? And who should replace him?

At the same time, Seven released its full-year financial results, and the numbers are sobering. We dissect them to see where the business lost ground and where it may actually be rebuilding.

We include a snippet from Hal's full-length interview with Ruben Schreurs, CEO of marketing effectiveness and media efficiency platform Ebiquity. Schreurs spoke on the impact AI summaries will have on web publishers, but also a great deal more -- stand by for the full interview later this week.

To wrap things up, we also say goodbye to a certain Mumbrella associate editor and frequent Mumbrellacast contributor as they enter the next stage of their career.

Get the latest episode every Wednesday.

Podcast edit by Abe's Audio.

6 August 2025

Dentsu ANZ dropped a bomb this morning, revealing that its CEO Patricio De Matteis is leaving the business with the company's New Zealand boss, Rob Harvey, stepping in as his replacement. We discuss what this means for the holdco.

News Corp released its full-year financials, and despite declining revenue for its Australian operations, the media giant's results are strong. Hal dissects the major numbers and the reasons for them.

Meanwhile, the radio industry has been buzzing with ARN's plans for the Christian O'Connell Show. Nath and Tim discuss the "national live" launch that doesn't seem to live up to its name.

Last week, Atlassian's Scott Farquhar called for the country's copyright laws to be changed — a move that the Productivity Commission supports with a recommendation that a fair use provision be introduced to allow companies to use copyrighted material to train large language models. Is this the right move?

Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes, Lauren McNamara, Nathan Jolly and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

30th July 2025

Over the weekend, Google ramped up the under-16s social media ban fight by sending at letter to the Australian government with legal claims for exemption (which it has just officially lost). We analyse Google's arguments to see if the tech juggernaut has a case or if it's shouting at a wall.

Hal interviews executive director of media and data at Spinach Advertising Ben Willee about the commercial impact of the under-16s ban on Google.

Meanwhile, Solstice Media announced it is acquiring a majority shareholding in Australian Traveller Media — and it's not the only business decision the indie media company has made in recent weeks. Tim dissects Solstice's latest moves and answers Hal's burning questions.

Also, a storm of media activity will lash the industry in the coming weeks. Tim gives four clear predictions about what's going to happen.

Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

23 July 2025

The restructure of Omnicom's Oceania operations has dominated the trade press this week, particularly with the confirmation that Nick Garrett will be returning to lead the new organisation. Is Omnicom just aligning with the rest of the industry or is there something different afoot here?

Meanwhile, Nathan spoke with ARN's chief audience and content officer, Lauren Joyce, about FM station Gold trumping Nine Radio's AM talkback in the Melbourne radio ratings. We break down the latest radio survey data to see who's gaining traction and who's slowing down.

Also this week, Tim chats with Private Media CEO Will Hayward about his purchase of rival publisher, Pinstripe Media. Was it money well spent?

Nine's $1.4 billion sale of real estate business Domain is fast approaching, and with the broadcaster intending to pay half of that money to its shareholders, we discuss what the company should do with the remaining funds.

Join Hal Crawford, Tim Burrowes, Lauren McNamara, Nathan Jolly and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

16 July 2025

Southern Cross Austereo's chief content officer, Dave Cameron, is leaving the business after three decades, and with the network recently selling its regional TV licence and doubling down on an 'all about audio' ethos, it's made us wonder: Did he jump or was he shown the door?

This week has also seen the publication of independent studies from TRA and Cubery that capture what ads Australians find memorable. Telstra took the crown as the "most unforgettable" brand advertiser, and also the most hated. But is hate such a bad thing?

Performance PR platform Linkby's CEO Chris Wirasinha – best known for co-founding Pedestrian – says AI is revolutionising the publishing industry. Most notably through the "new world" of generative engine optimisation. Is the media leader correct? And if so, what can brands learn from this?

Join Tim Burrowes, Lauren McNamara, Nathan Jolly and Abe Udy for a look at everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

14 July 2025

During the Covid pandemic, a serious accident left Naked Communications Australia co-founder Mat Baxter with serious injuries, forcing the agencyland leader into 12 weeks of recuperation — while trying to fill his role of chief executive officer at global consultancy Huge in New York.

But the tragedy became a cornerstone moment for Baxter, who now holds an equity stake in Tmrw, a disruptive healthcare start up that aims to revolutionise wellness via data and AI.

In this special interview edition of the Mumbrellacast, Mat Baxter reveals why and how he bought into Tmrw and cemented himself as its “disruptor in chief”.

Join Hal Crawford and Mat Baxter in this special episode of the Mumbrellacast.