INSIDE MEDIA: Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis attacks fans over a ‘lack of imagination’ and how Disney Plus is making you watch ads

In our column that takes you inside the world of media we look at why talkback radio seems to be dying | Disney makes a shocking admission about how it’s forcing customers to pay to watch ads | Ted Lasso star attacks fans over criticisms of season 3.

WATCH: A video version of this column is available in the player above

ALAN JONES CHARGED

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Some huge breaking news out of Sydney on Monday with former broadcasting heavyweight Alan Jones charged over allegations of indecent assault and sexual touching offences.

NSW Police announced they had charged Jones, 83, following an investigation into claims spanning two decades.

Jones was charged with 24 offences against eight victims.

“In March 2024, State Crime Command’s Child Abuse Squad established Strike Force Bonnefin to investigate a number of alleged indecent assaults and sexual touching incidents between 2001 and 2019,” police said in a statement.

Jones was granted conditional bail and will appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.

He is charged with 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault — victim under authority of offender, nine counts of assault with act of indecency, two counts of sexually touch another person without consent and two counts of common assault.

Veteran Sydney broadcaster Alan Jones led away by police after he was arrested pending charges for allegedly assaulting multiple men. Mr Jones was taken into custody from his luxury residence at Circular Quay in Sydney. Credit: 7NEWS/7NEWS

IS TALKBACK RADIO DYING?

There was a different kind of shock across radio land last week when prominent Sydney broadcaster Ray Hadley was knocked off his perch after 160 straight survey wins, going from first to third in Survey 7. The news came one week after the veteran broadcaster announced his retirement, with his last broadcast scheduled for December 13.

Hadley had been number 1 since 2004, so what changed?

Ray Hadley announced his retirement from radio a week before he lost his first ratings after 160 wins. Credit: Nine Radio

There’s no denying there has been a general shift away from the talkback format. ABC radio has seen a significant drop in recent years, including a fall of 40 per cent in Melbourne and 35 per cent in Sydney between 2020 and 2023.

An internal review into the situation recommended “the performance of all presenters and hosts be individually assessed to turn around a significant slump in audiences”. Since then, there has been a string of departures including Virginia Trioli, Patricia Karvelas, Sammy J, Richard Glover and more.

Nine radio had been faring better with its stations in Sydney and Melbourne staying dominant, especially at Breakfast and Mornings. Recently though, the wheels have come off and Sydney is starting to wobble, while Brisbane and Perth have experienced significant troubles.

In the latest survey period 2GB’s share fell to 9.8 per cent — its worst result in more than 20 years, falling behind WSFM, KIIS, and SmoothFM.

In Brisbane, 4BC has struggled with a string of presenter changes in breakfast and drive and now the station is saving costs by airing networked programming from Sydney on weekends, excluding the 6am — 8am breakfast slot with Olympia Kwitowski.

The Courier Mail reports the cost-saving measures will go further over the summer break with the Mornings and Afternoons slots networked from Sydney, replacing local programming.

*Disclosure: I have been an occasional fill-in host on 4BC and make regular weekly appearances on 4BC Afternoons and 2GB Nights with John Stanley.

In Perth, executives made the bold decision to drop two local programs from 6PR’s schedule and extend the remaining shows. Afternoons host, Julie-ann Sprague and The Nightshift’s Tod Johnston, lost their jobs as part of the shake-up.

Despite these hiccups, talkback radio still has a loyal following and there is room for growth. Just like all media, radio is in an evolutionary phase and the decisions being made right now will impact its long-term future.

Let’s hope those in charge get it right!

HOW STREAMERS ARE TRYING TO FORCE YOU TO WATCH ADS

Executives at Disney+ have admitted to jacking up prices in an effort to force customers onto its ad tier.

During an investor call last week, executives were asked about streaming margins and how it breaks down between subscriber growth and price increases. IndieWire reports CEO Bob Iger was very frank on the matter, saying “It’s not just about raising pricing, it’s about moving consumers to the advertiser-supported side of the streaming platform”.

FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2019, file photo, Disney CEO Robert Iger arrives at the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker", in Los Angeles The Walt Disney Co. has named Bob Chapek CEO, replacing Bob Iger, effective immediately, the company announced Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, FIle) Credit: PM/AP

And then came the bombshell admission.

“The pricing that we recently put into place, which is increased pricing, was actually designed to move more people in the AVOD direction because we know that the ARPU — and interest in it from advertisers in streaming — has grown,” he said.

ARPU stands for Average Revenue Per User. Iger is basically saying that Disney+ makes more money when consumers are on plans that are part-subscription fee, part-advertising revenue.

Moments later Iger seemed to acknowledge he had revealed too much in a hot-mic moment when he said “I don’t know if I was supposed to disclose those AVOD numbers,”.

You might have noticed your subscription fees going up across most of your streaming services lately — it’s because they want you to watch ads and they’re trying to outprice their ad-free tiers.

Just remember you are not locked into a contract, meaning you can subscribe to one service for a month or two and then switch to another. Make your money go further by chopping and changing, depending on what shows you want to watch.

TED LASSO SAYS IT’S YOUR FAULT

If, like me, you struggled through season three of Ted Lasso, it turns out it’s our fault. Co-Creator and star Jason Sudeikis has hit out at fans of the Apple TV+ series for failing to appreciate his vision.

“I’ll never understand people who will go on talking about something so brazenly that they, in my opinion, clearly don’t understand,” Sudeikis says in an upcoming book titled The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way Into Our Hearts.

“And God bless ’em for it; it’s not their fault. They don’t have imaginations and they’re not open to the experience of what it’s like to have one.”

Is he serious?

It is the height of arrogance for an artist to bemoan people daring to criticise their work. Viewers have a right to judge. I loved the first two seasons of Ted Lasso but found the third lacked the magic ingredient for those previous seasons. I still enjoyed it – but not as much.

I guess I lack imagination?

Sometimes Jason, you just have to cop criticism on the chin. Stand by your work, sure, but don’t attack the people/viewers who made your show a hit in the first place.

Rob McKnight is the co-owner of TV Blackbox.

INSIDE MEDIA is published every Monday and Thursday afternoon.