Mumbrellacast

Sinead Boucher is the owner of Stuff, one of New Zealand's biggest media companies, and in this interview with Mumbrella editorial director Hal Crawford she recounts her journey from the newsdesk to the boardroom.

Revelations in the discussion include details of the 2020 phone call from then-Nine CEO Hugh Marks that informed Boucher he was going to shut down her company. At that time, Nine owned Stuff as a kind of hangover from its merger with Fairfax in Australia, and Boucher was the CEO.

"I just couldn't believe this decision to wind us up, which I think was really in preparation for something worse that was coming and trying to regroup resources back to Australia," she said.

"I was shocked and stunned. I can't actually remember much of what I said in that phone call, but I know that I got off the phone and I just felt this sense of just huge rage, frustration, anger at this whole thing."

The interview was recorded live at Mumbrella's Publish conference, at the NSW State Library in Sydney.

For more about how News Australia is thinking about the future of mobile news in Australia, click here.

This morning, Ive Group has made an offer to buy publicly-listed out-of-home company Motio. The deal values Motio at around $20 million — 15% over their closing market cap — and finds Ive Group expanding from the world of printing and marketing into the ever-growing out-of-home market.In a release to the ASX, Ive Group said the acquisition would allow it to build out its retail marketing and media offering.Irene and Tim discuss what the deal means for Australian media and marketing.

Welcome to this week's Mumbrellacast, recorded one syllable at a time and then painstakingly stitched together.

Australian publishers and creators may have to actively block AI companies from scraping, stealing, and modifying their content, under two rather ill-conceived government proposals regarding AI and copyright.

Do we really value data centres over copyright protection? With these ideas currently up for debate, we will find out public and political sentiment around this soon enough.

The Albanese government is also mulling up selling off some of the broadcast spectrum currently used in free-to-air TV, with an eye on raising billions from the telcos, who'd quite like some of those airwaves for their future 6G mobile networks.

Karl Stefanovic is planning to buy out his podcast business partner Keshnee Kemp, after close to six weeks of radio silence. A third-party has been appointed by the court to evaluate how much Kemp's 45% is worth. The problem is, how does one put a dollar figure on a company that is more about potential than actual results? We speculate wildly.

And finally, we went to four upfronts in three days, and discuss the various pros and cons of Nine, Youtube, Amazon, and Snap's presentations to the market. Enjoy!

Get the latest episodes here.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

And for more about how News Australia is thinking about the future of mobile news in Australia, click here.

Today's Mumbrellacast has a slightly different format to usual.

It features a conversation between Tim Burrowes and Josh Simons, the CEO of Vinyl Group.

It's fair to say the two have had differences of opinion and have both written about them publicly.

Simons suggested the pair try to find some common ground and this discussion unfolded in Mumbrella's office on Wednesday.

This conversation was uploaded simultaneously to the podcast feeds for both Vinyl Group's Media Week and the Mumbrellacast.

As you'll hear, a lot of ground is covered.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

For more about how News Australia is thinking about the future of mobile news in Australia, click here.

This week on the Mumbrellacast, the MFW point their brooms at Dave Hughes, and we struggle to find a legitimate reason for the protesting - at least, not one that has anything to do with Hughesy.

M&C Saatchi's local management takeover, announced just six weeks ago, has collapsed, and it seems that the entire Australian business may be done. This is a rapidly evolving story - read the latest on Mumbrella here.

Elsewhere, News Corp held five upfronts in the last two weeks, and one of the main messages was that sports fandom doesn’t end with the siren, with post-game analysis, podcasts, online discussions, panel shows, and more being part of the overall sports media landscape.

And will Albanese's proposed Digital Duty of Care laws end up with the local platform bosses all sharing a prison-cell?

We'll admit it's unlikely, but thanks to the fine wording in the draft legislation, it's now at least possible. Eek!

Get the latest episodes here.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

For more about how News Australia is thinking about the future of mobile news in Australia, click here.

Irene Hulme and Tim Burrowes cover the news and the first questions that come to mind. Specifically, was this the plan all along, and now that Seven is firmly in control, what are the implications for the radio side of the business?

The sunshine returned to Sydney just in time for the start of upfronts season, with SBS, Foxtel, and News Corp all proudly displaying their various wares to media buyers during the week.

The biggest news from SBS was confirmation that it had secured the FIFA World Cup for 2030, and locked down the Tour de France until that year as well. We also discuss its partnership with Ooh Media, and speculate wildly about former SBS boss/current Ooh Media boss James Taylor's involvement in the deal.

Foxtel, meanwhile announced a few major name changes, a host of new in-stadium advertising opportunities, and declared its interest in sports above all else.

We also discuss the latest run of dramas at M&C Saatchi, including the sport and entertainment head Jack Playfair resigning six months into the role, and the agency having to re-pitch for one of its big accounts.

And because you demanded it politely, the Heated Quiz returns, to cap off the episode in chaotic style.

See you at the upfronts! We'll be the ones staking out the canapé trays.

Podcast edit by Abe’s Audio.

For more about how News Australia is thinking about the future of mobile news in Australia, click here.

Tim Burrowes and Irene Hulme take a deep dive into the legal morass of the ARN/Jackie Henderson lawsuit with lawyer Michael Byrnes.

Byrnes, a partner at Swaab, explains ARN's newly revealed requirement to disclose any records of meetings between themselves and the activist group Mad Fucking Witches.

Matters in the case are progressing rapidly - Kyle Sandilands was served a subpoena on air on Wednesday morning - and the hosts cover off key angles in this breaking news podcast.

In this interview edition of the Mumbrellacast, timed for release with News Corp's upfronts events, executive chair Michael Miller sits down with Mumbrella editorial director Hal Crawford to discuss the News Bargaining Incentive, doing deals with AI labs, and whether News' Australian mastheads have hit a subscription plateau.

 "I'm not going to preempt negotiations that haven't even started," Miller told Crawford of the NBI and the deals that News could possibly do with Meta, Google, Tiktok and Microsoft.

"No one has said they are not going to play ball."

"I think there's some assessment that is still being undertaken by those four companies, and that they are yet to determine how they want to proceed, and I understand that. But equally, the government or the legislation is that, deals need to be done by 31 of December or a charge will be made."

The first breaking news episode for Mumbrella. Tim Burrowes, Nathan Jolly and Irene Hulme unpack Survey 5 including a history making result, and a genuine debate over whether ARN Sydney had a good day or a bad one.

More breaking news episodes are coming. Subscribe to Mumbrellacast and get each one in your feed the moment it drops.