Antony Young rounds up media news from beyond Aotearoa in a new regular column for StopPress. We begin with US election coverage, a bad wedding photo and too many texts.
Amazon covers US election
Amazon has announced it will be running a Presidential Election Night special with Brian Williams hosting. This is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. Brian Williams was for many years the most credible news anchor on US broadcast TV, fronting NBC’s nightly news before a falling from grace. But what’s interesting is the streaming service taking on the major networks covering a high-profile news event. It’s a signal of the changing of the guard and what’s more to come. Streaming services, with their global reach, have eaten network and cable TV’s lunch when it comes to drama and comedy series. Is live TV news next? On a local level, this seems to reinforce TVNZ’s fast track move into a digital first, streaming TVNZ+ strategy – and walking away from a linear TV model may not be far away.
Advertisers avoid the news
It’s not just NZ news media feeling the effects of a decline in advertising. EW Scripps Co, a major local TV network which owns 61 stations in the US, has cancelled its 24/7 national news service. This is a canary in the coalmine moment. The challenge for many media outlets is that advertisers have been pulling back from buying ads in news for brand safety reasons. Bad, polarising news in America is bad for business, and is turning up on big brands ‘exclusion’ list on advertising sites and environments.
Heinz UK says sorry
In the “20/20 hindsight bucket”, it’s hard not to sympathise with iconic marketer Heinz in the UK. The brand has issued an apology after an advertisement displayed in London tube stations, featuring a black family. The ad that sparked online criticism promoting family-sized pasta sauces, was accused of reinforcing stereotypes. It depicted a black bride with her white groom, alongside his white parents and her presumed black mother, but with no representation of a black father. Some social media users expressed anger, claiming the ad “erased” black fathers from the family dynamic. The Observer wrote that “many people found Heinz’s apology disingenuous. This would’ve gone through many rounds of approval, both by the ad agency and Heinz itself.”
Google to drop below 50%
Google losing searches as TikTok and AI Startup make inroads. Don’t think it’s only the traditional media facing challenges. For the first time in over a decade, Google’s share of the US search ad market is expected to drop below 50%. Facing rising competition from TikTok, Amazon and Perplexity, along with mounting antitrust legal pressures, many US advertisers are now seeking alternative platforms for their ad budgets.
Enough texts already
Parents: GenZs aren’t just ignoring texts from you! According to a recent survey, 40% of US consumers unsubscribe from digital marketing communications at least once a week, with excessive messaging being the top reason. Feeling overwhelmed, 56% will opt out if they receive more than four messages from a brand in a month. This growing fatigue is leading consumers to become more protective of their data and increasingly selective about brand engagement.
Antony Young is co-founder of The Media Lab, Wellington’s largest independent media agency. He spent 20 years working in media in New York, London and Asia.
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