The second Women’s State of Origin match outrated the AFL’s Thursday night offering, helping again to put women’s sport on the broadcasting map.

Ben Willee, Executive Director of Media and Data at Spinach Advertising, talks to Deborah Knight on 2GB Radio’s Money News about the Nine Group and the changes to their Radio structure, winning the broadcast rights to the Rugby World Cup and the Women’s State of Origin out-rating the AFL.

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Ben Willee, Executive Director of Media & Data for Spinach Advertising

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Deborah Knight (Host)

Well, there’s always plenty of news about in the world of media and marketing. And back for our regular fortnightly catch up is Ben Willee, Executive Director of Media and Data for Spinach Advertising. Ben, great to have you with us as always.

Ben Willee

G’day Deb, great to be back.

Deborah Knight (Host)

So should I be ready to see a For Sale sign at the front of this radio station, with more fuel being added to the fire that Nine the owners are gearing to offload like they have with the real estate business Domain, is spinning off the radio sales team gearing radio up for a sale.

Ben Willee

Well, it’s partly that. I mean, there’s a couple of reasons they’re doing it. And one reason is, is that it’s a neater transaction. But there are also actually some benefits of taking those sales people out of the TV groups and putting them back in with radio. And, and a lot of that’s got to do with its very different advertisers that tend to target. So it requires a different skill set, different systems and a different approach. So you still be able to do great, group deals with the whole Nine Group of companies. But they’re putting up a very respected executive, Brian Gallagher, back into run sales for the Nine Group, Nine Radio. And Deb, I expect he’ll come knocking on your door to, you know, to get you to do more like raids, to talk to more advertisers and to help sell your wares.

Deborah Knight (Host)

So it’s kind of unscrambling the egg that or the omelette that was made when Nine purchased the radio division, the stations GB, 4BC, 6PR, all of the stations 3AW and they used to be separate. But then when it came under the umbrella of TV that’s when it changed. So is it basically going back to the future?

Ben Willee

It is, but it’s a half unscrambling. So what they’ll do is they’ll unscramble the bits that they really need, and then they’ll still keep their connection with the Nine Group of companies for the bigger, more important stuff with the bigger national advertisers that they have the relationships with. And they leave the Nine Radio salespeople to go hunting on their own.

Deborah Knight (Host)

Do you think a sale is on the cards?

Ben Willee

I think it’s always highly likely, but I’m just not sure who the buyer is and would be at this point. And that’s, that’s the really speculative part of this is who’s got, not just the money, but he’s also got the resources and the know how to really take this group of fantastic radio stations and make them as valuable as they should be.

Deborah Knight (Host)

Now, in other news for Nine, it’s added another sporting giant to the growing sports staple locking in the World Cup Rugby across the platforms. Does rugby still bring in the viewers?

Ben Willee

Sure does. And no one’s done it. You know, they’ve coughed up a lot of coin, probably more than 150 million, to secure the rights to the Rugby World Cup, which is only a month or so after signing a new five year agreement with Rugby Australia for Super Rugby matches, Wallabies. Wallaroos tests. So, I think this is a great move from Australia’s biggest media company, which obviously owns the Nine Network of TV stations that owns radio stations we’ve talked about. But really, this move is all about Stan and Stan Sport, which is Nine’s streaming hope. Also, and really, what they want to do is get as much sport on Stan Sport, and get more and more subscribers in because once you got more subscribers in, you got more money to buy more sports becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Deborah Knight (Host)

Sport, we know, is a big part of growing the TV and the entire broadcast business.

Ben Willee

Without a doubt, because advertisers love sport and viewers love sport. So it’s a perfect storm. People will pay to watch it, and advertisers will give you money to put ads in it. So that’s great for a media company. And they’ll go after F1. And the NRL is currently up for negotiations to for 2027 onwards. So, a lot going on in this space and it’s all about Stan Sport.

Deborah Knight (Host)

And how about the Women’s State of Origin? It’s attracting the eyeballs. Game two last week secured the series win for New South Wales over Queensland, but it pulled nearly twice the viewers of the AFL clash that night between Hawthorn and Gold Coast. Was that a surprise?

Ben Willee

Well, it was a big surprise and I think it’s unreal. You know, the Game 2 the State of Origin pulled in about a million viewers nationally, 1,067,000, which is almost double the AFL match between. now, let’s just remind ourselves it was only Hawthorn and Gold Coast, so it’s not the biggest game of the season, but that pulled in only 545,000 viewers. And this is fantastic news for a female sports players, because the more ratings they get, the more advertisers they get, the more money they can command. And the trickle down effect is huge and, I reckon about two minutes after those rating numbers came out, the AFL went, why aren’t we doing Women’s State of Origin in AFL? And that’ll be the next thing you see on your screens.

Deborah Knight (Host)

What’s this space that’ll be next? And look, an interesting change of the guard at the Seven Network with the News spots Anthony De Ceglie quitting after just over a year in the job. He’s heading up the new Perth Bears NRL team in his home state of Perth. And the respected newsman also from the West, Ray Cooper, has started in the role. Is that good news or bad for seven, considering that De Ceglie did make some controversial changes both on air and behind the scenes?

Ben Willee

Well, it’s another plot twist from channel seven. And you know, he’s leaving, which is barely out of his honeymoon period. You’re right. I think it was only 12, 13, months. Yeah, yeah. So, it’s a coup for Australian Rugby League chairman Peter V’landys, who announced that De Ceglie’s going to be the inaugural chief of the new NRL controlled Perth franchise called the Bears. I wonder if they’ll be better than the Brisbane Bears the old AFL team but interestingly, The Australian Newspaper is reporting that Seven’s billionaire owner, is livid about the defection. And look, I think really what this is, is just a guy who wants to move his young family back to his hometown, and I get that, but now we’re back to the ratings war between 9 and 7. And that’ll be fought as vigorously as it ever has.

Deborah Knight (Host)

And we’ll see if some of those eggs are unscrambled too, with changes to double header newsreaders on the 6 p.m. bulletins in some markets, and some very youthful appointments of executive on-air positions. Whether that those changes will come, we will wait and see.

Ben Willee

I don’t think we’ll get any more, horoscopes back on-air though Deb, I think they’re well and truely gone.

Deborah Knight (Host)

Yes, I hope so. And look, finally, cigarette ads. We know they’re long gone from free to air TV, but alcohol ads are allowed with limits. Not during children’s programming times. They are allowed during live sports broadcast, no matter what time of day. But the commercial TV networks are wanting that to change, what are they after?

Ben Willee

Well, the commercial television networks are pushing for changes to the code of practice, which is run by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. And what they want to do is they want to extend day time programming spots during which alcohol ads are permitted from three hours to five, running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.. And you can imagine, this has created a furore with the Anti-alcohol lobby who have said it defies logic and why would you allow more alcohol advertising, etc.? And then the flipside of that is, you’ve got TV networks saying, we want the ability to do this. But I think both sides here are really missing the point. Is, children don’t watch a lot of linear TV anyway. So even if they have this capacity, I don’t think the advertisers will be going for it. I don’t think the sky will fall in and it won’t really be a big deal. So even whichever outcome happens, if they do or don’t allow it, it’s not going to have a huge difference on the fortunes of TV stations and of alcohol advertisers and their ability to reach the audiences they want. Because, as you’ve said earlier, they put all money into live sport, which they’re exempt from. And it doesn’t matter how many kids are watching, you can still advertise booze there.

Deborah Knight (Host)

Yeah. Good point to make, Ben. Great to talk.

Ben Willee

Thanks for having me, Deb.

Deborah Knight (Host)

Ben Willee there from Spinach Advertising on the latest in the world of media and marketing.