Journalists and the nation’s bloated assortment of other media types are no strangers to having to jump through endless hoops to get access to public figures, events, anything really. The public relations apparatus outnumbers us at a ratio of what feels like 100:1.
So when a public figure of global notoriety like Michelle Obama travels to Australia only to be shielded from the media altogether, we can’t help but scratch our heads. What could she possibly say that she hasn’t said before, that hasn’t already been workshopped within an inch of its life?
When we asked the people over at Growth Faculty, the events company running the former first lady of the United States’ speaking tour of Australia, why journalists were being told Obama’s shows in Sydney and Melbourne would go ahead “off-the-record” in May, they didn’t seem to know either.
“Growth Faculty does not have access to Mrs Obama beyond her attendance at its events,” a spokeswoman for the company told CBD. “All guests are kindly asked to observe the venue’s standard conditions of entry, which include restrictions on taking and/or publishing video footage. We appreciate everyone’s co-operation in helping us create a respectful and enjoyable experience for all attendees.”
At least ticket sales seem to be going well. In Sydney, there has been so much demand that Growth Faculty has announced a second show at TikTok Entertainment Centre on May 21, we’re told. If you go along, please do send us a recording.
Karl Stefanovic holds talks with ARN over possible FM radio move
The spectacular implosion of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson this week has ignited a frenzy of industry speculation about what the radio company will do next as it wrestles with the prospect of life without Sandilands in the event he is unable to make up with his professional partner of nearly three decades.
Enter Today show co-host Karl Stefanovic, whose contract with Nine Entertainment, publisher of this masthead, is reportedly due to expire at the end of this year. ARN Media, which owns the KIIS network, has recently held informal talks with Stefanovic’s camp over a possible move to poach him from next year, according to two sources familiar with the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information.
As things stand, we hear the discussions have not resulted in any agreement or deal, and are not guaranteed to result in a move. It should be noted that media companies hold discussions of this nature with prospective talent all the time. Still, the contact itself, which we hear was initiated before the Kyle and Jackie O on-air bust-up, certainly piqued our interest.
ARN Media and Nine declined to comment. Stefanovic didn’t respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Word of the talks came across our desk amid mounting industry intrigue over Stefanovic’s future at Nine, which was given renewed prominence after Henderson walked from ARN’s marquee show, just one year into an eye-watering 10-year, $200 million contract for the duo. Henderson told her employer on Tuesday that she would no longer work with Sandilands after he berated her on air during the pair’s show, the Kyle and Jackie O Show on KIIS FM.
The decision is set to cost Henderson dearly. In an announcement to the market on Tuesday, ARN accused Sandilands of breaching his contract as a result of his behaviour during the pair’s February 20 segment. The company said it’d given Sandilands 14 days to remedy the breach, which this masthead has previously reported would mean convincing Henderson to return to air.
Stefanovic’s future, meanwhile, has been the subject of ongoing industry gossip for months. But the chatter was sent into overdrive when he was given the go-ahead by Nine to strike out and launch his own podcast, The Karl Stefanovic Show, independent of the company.
The podcast, known affectionately as “the Joe Bogan Experience” in some media circles, had none other than Sandilands as a guest just two weeks ago, and has had all manner of CBD favourites on to chew the fat. The show’s recent guests have included newly minted One Nation member Barnaby Joyce, his boss, Senator Pauline Hanson, and former senator Gerard Rennick.
We hear that Stefanovic is liking his newfound podcast freedom, which leads us to speculate that, if things were to get serious with ARN, any deal would not include his independent “poddie”, as he’s been known to describe it. Our guess? Maybe the company is fantasising about a future where he hosts Sydney breakfast.
GP boss Martin Pakula and his impossible F1 task
It’s a busy week for Martin Pakula, chair of the Australian Grand Prix corporation, making sure all the Formula 1 teams arrived at the Melbourne track despite the war in the Middle East.
The last thing you need is asbestos turning up in F1 pit facilities and blowing out the cost of the rebuild to $395 million.
“Well, you’d prefer not to find asbestos, so when that became known that did not please me,” Pakula said in quite the understatement at the Victorian Chamber of Commerce’s Grand Prix breakfast on Thursday.
“Look in the olden days, you could probably avoid the exceptional additional cost of removing asbestos by just burying it and leaving it there, which is apparently what happened in 1994 when the original pit building was built.
“I can tell you, the asbestos didn’t appear between then and now. It’s probably been in the ground there for decades.”
The breakfast, hosted by Victorian Chamber chief executive Sally Curtain, featured croissant queen Kate Reid interviewing Oscar Piastri’s mum Nicole Piastri.
The event was attended by former Victorian governor Linda Dessau, City of Melbourne councillors Gladys Liu and Rafael Camillo along with James Teodorini the newly appointed head of event sponsor AirWallex’s Australian and New Zealand operations.
To add to Pakula’s workload for the week, he was asked as the chair of Crown to find a last-minute room for a “late breaking visitor” – only to find Crown’s hotel rooms were 98 per cent full.
“Was it Kim Kardashian?,” Curtain asked cheekily, referring to Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s rumoured new squeeze.
“If Kim’s here, I don’t know about it, but the rumours abound,” Pakula said.
Early morning breakfasters were pleased to hear that Pakula has no intention of the Grand Prix turning into a night event.
“I’m a day race guy,” he said.
“I think the way that Albert Park shows Melbourne off with the drone footage, with the helicopter footage during the day, is absolutely magnificent. I think we get our greatest benefit from displaying our city in all its glory as a day race.”
Pakula said the conversation had also changed around TV broadcast times.
“Once upon a time when it was all about what time you broadcast into Europe, there was more appetite for it,” he said.
“But now everyone’s growing into Asia, growing into the USA the time of day that we have the race actually works pretty well in some of those TV markets.”
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