Radio Industry News

Nine’s live audio streaming has witnessed a phenomenal surge in audience numbers during the first week of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as fans across the nation tune in to experience the most exhilarating live commentary of Team Australia’s spectacular gold rush.

Since the very first day of competition, session starts across Nine Radio’s digital devices have jumped 48%, with the key hours of 4am-7am showing the most significant uplift. During these early morning hours, Aussie athletes have shone brightly, claiming gold in finals across a range of disciplines.

From the heart-pounding moments in the swimming pool to the adrenaline-fueled triumphs across kayak, canoe, BMX, skateboarding and more, Nine Radio’s expert commentators – led by Ray Hadley, Libby Trickett, Jane Flemming and Mark Levy – have captured every breathtaking second, bringing listeners closer to the action than ever before. With a commitment to delivering the best in live sports coverage, Nine has become the go-to destination for Australians eager to celebrate every medal and every victory.

Total listening hours have increased by 12% since the start of the Olympic Games coverage, as fans tune in to the Breakfast shift (5am-7am) for exclusive insights and analysis of the overnight highlights from our on-the-ground teams. Listeners are then returning from 7pm-11pm to hear Nine’s expert Wide World of Sports team kick off the next day of competition. Both time slots have shown remarkable growth across the network.

Catch-up listenership has also surged, with Nine’s exclusive Olympic podcast, The Olympics Today, seeing a 17% increase in podcast listeners since the start of the competition*.

Nine Radio Head of Content, Greg Byrnes, said: “This remarkable growth in our audience is a testament to the exceptional coverage our team is providing. We are thrilled to be the go-to audio source for Australians seeking in-depth analysis and vivid commentary as our athletes make history in Paris.”

As Team Australia continues to dazzle the world, Nine Radio remains committed to delivering unmatched Olympic coverage, bringing fans closer to the heart of the action.

Tune in each night from 7pm AEST to be part of the excitement with Nine’s live audio coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games across 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR. 

Source: Triton Streaming Metrics, 2 August 2024 vs 27 July 2024, Session Starts, TLH, Nine Radio, Australian only web-traffic, Unless otherwise specified

*Source: Triton Podcast Metrics, 1 March – 26 July, 27 July – 2 August 2024, Nine; The Olympics Today, Listeners.

– How Australia funded a dictator, told by the men on the inside –

LiSTNR has today released the third series of Secrets We Keep, an exploration of Australia’s biggest corruption scandal when a trusted Australian company funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars to dictator Saddam Hussein in the lead-up to the Iraq War.

Secrets We Keep: Baghdad Nights follows multi-award-winning journalist Richard Baker and his investigation into Australia’s biggest-ever international trade scandal, told by the men on the inside. Listeners will hear a thrilling and personal account of how Australia conducts its dirty business in far-flung places and who pays the price when scandal erupts. The audience is taken into war zones, secret meetings, and the offices of the country’s most powerful people, whilst hearing what it is like to have the nation’s media bearing down.

The scandal, which unfolded in the early 2000s, revealed a complex web of corruption and deceit involving the United Nations’ oil-for-food program in Iraq. At the heart of the scandal was the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), a corporation responsible for selling Australia’s wheat crop to the world. AWB, once a pillar of the Australian agricultural industry, was implicated in a scheme to funnel $300 million to the regime of Saddam Hussein, which Australia and its allies ultimately declared war on.

The key players from AWB implicated in the scandal, are integral voices in the series. The trio, including former AWB Chairman Trevor Flugge, have never spoken about their work in Iraq nor what it was like to go from being trusted government insiders to the poster boys of a national scandal.

Richard Baker said: “Secrets We Keep: Baghdad Nights takes you behind the scenes of how Australia conducts itself on the world stage – in making money and making war. It’s about how our country deals with scandal, who is held to account and who gets away with it.

“In telling this story I’m hoping it will cause people to think about how quickly we leap to judgement to declare someone as good or evil. This especially applies to people like me in the media. The truth is there’s always more to the story.

“Stories like this matter. They matter because what Australian governments and companies get up to overseas, whatever’s done, it’s in all our names”.

LiSTNR Head of Factual, Clair Weaver, said: “Once again, the LiSTNR Factual team has resurfaced an important Australian story that impacted the fabric of Australia. The far-reaching consequences of the AWB scandal extended beyond financial loss and reputational damage. It eroded public trust in corporate governance and highlighted the urgent need for robust anti-corruption measures.

“Richard’s investigations and discoveries are a stark reminder of the importance of ethical conduct and transparency in business. It underscores the need for vigilant oversight and accountability to prevent such breaches of trust from recurring.”

About LiSTNR:

LiSTNR is a curated and personalised, free app offering radio, podcasts, music, and news, creating a new audio destination for all Australians. Featuring a fun and intuitive onboarding process, LiSTNR delivers an audio destination that is built for individual listeners’ routines and preferences. Highly personalised, it provides listeners a new world of audio entertainment, with their own daily feed of audio and easy discovery of new content through curated recommendations. Available across a large array of devices including both iOS and Android, CarPlay and Android Auto, Google Assistant and Alexa and Android TV, LiSTNR enables a fantastic listening experience, anytime and anywhere. Open your Ears to a new world of audio – download the free app today. LiSTNR.com

About Richard Baker:

Multi-award-winning journalist Richard Baker has partnered with LiSTNR’s in-house Factual team to develop new original investigative documentary series, continuing his reputation for compelling, narrative content.

A long-time The Age and Sydney Morning Herald journalist, in recent years Baker has become renowned for his critically acclaimed podcast series, including Phoebe’s Fall, Wrong Skin, The Last Voyage of the Pong Su and The Confession, which sat at number one on the Australian and NZ podcast charts for several weeks in late 2022.

Baker’s podcasts have garnered worldwide audiences, along with accolades at the New York Festivals, the Kennedy journalism awards and the Melbourne Press Club. Baker has won five Walkley Awards, Australia’s most prestigious journalism honour.

The fourth annual call-out for distinctive podcasts in any language is open now! Pitch your podcast to join the growing collection of award-winning SBS podcasts for all Australians, including English language learners and soccer fans.

Calling all veteran and aspiring podcasters – SBS is looking for more exciting podcasts to share with its national multicultural, multilingual and First Nations audiences.

SBS Audio wants to hear your ideas across news, entertainment, society and culture, language, food and more to develop with our experienced team and share with Australia’s growing podcast audience.

With a keen eye for new and underrepresented talent, SBS is also seeking podcast ideas for new migrants settling in Australia, adult English language learners, and soccer fans with the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026™ which will be broadcast exclusively on SBS.

This is the fourth year SBS is inviting podcast pitches from the public which have led to the creation of award-winning series like Should You Really Eat That?, The Idiom, Bad Taste and My Bilingual Family.

Acting Director of Audio and Language Content, Pamela Cook, said: “SBS Audio lives and breathes the stories of multicultural, multilingual and First Nations Australia, and we’re the perfect home for podcasts that celebrate diversity and bring new voices and talent to the fore.

“We’re thrilled that SBS was named Best Publisher at the Australian Podcast Awards 2023 for a second consecutive year and part of that success comes from our open call-out for pitches.”

SBS Digital Audio and Podcast Manager, Caroline Gates, said, “We’re looking for stories that only SBS is able to tell, which means more distinctive voices and perspectives that connect with our audiences.

“It’s been wonderful to see podcast ideas incubated through SBS’s annual call-out become award-winning series and even grow into second seasons.”

A new season of My First Year in Australia with comedian Suraj Kolarkar is available now as well as a second season of Like Us featuring three women from different backgrounds discussing their relationship with Australia available from Wednesday 7 August.

Pitches are shortlisted and workshopped with the SBS Audio podcast team before the next stage, which involves creating a pilot episode.

SBS Audio broadcasts in more than 60 languages with a distinctive podcast offering that sees more than 4 million downloads each month.

Pitches can be made through the online form on the SBS Audio website and close Friday 30 August 2024. Listen to all of SBS Audio’s podcasts on the SBS Audio App, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LiSTNR and wherever you stream podcasts.

The ACMA need to remake the following 2 apparatus licence tax determinations, which are due to sunset on 1 April 2025:

Radiocommunications (Transmitter Licence Tax) Determination 2015
Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Determination 2015.

Their view is that the determinations are operating effectively and efficiently. They propose to remake them with minor changes. They will also consider other tax updates, including annual tax increases, as part of this process.

Full details, including the consultation paper and draft instruments, are available on the ACMA website.

They welcome your views by COB, Monday 2 September 2025.

https://www.acma.gov.au/consultations/2024-08/remaking-sunsetting-apparatus-licence-tax-determinations-and-other-proposed-tax-changes

The SBS-ZEN Energy wind power partnership provides price certainty for SBS and establishes a model for de-carbonising the media industry.

SBS, Australia’s most diverse broadcaster, is now also Australia’s first 100 per cent renewable media organisation.

ZEN Energy will supply SBS’s New South Wales and Victoria-based operations with 100 per cent renewable energy over the next 10 years with Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) uniquely paired with the 226.8MW Collector Wind Farm in NSW.

SBS is the first Australian media organisation to switch to 100 per cent renewable energy in FY23. This commitment will now be achieved over the long term through the 10-year agreement with ZEN.

SBS Head of Sustainability, Abigail Thomas said, “This 10-year agreement with ZEN Energy through wind power ensures that SBS’s commitment to carbon reduction is not just a short-term initiative but a long-term strategy. By securing a decade of 100% renewable energy, we are taking significant steps towards our Net Zero targets and demonstrating our dedication to sustainability efforts and innovation in Australia’s media sector.”

SBS has set the most ambitious target of any Australian media outlet, to reach Net Zero across scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2045. SBS has also partnered with Scope3 to measure emissions from advertising technology, affording advertising clients greater transparency of carbon emissions from their advertising campaigns.

SBS Chief Financial Officer, Nitsa Niarchos said, “SBS is proud to lead the way in the media industry by committing to 100% renewable energy. Our partnership with ZEN Energy underscores our commitment to sustainability and sets a new standard for reducing carbon emissions in media. Our goal is to inspire others in the industry to take meaningful steps towards a greener future.”

ZEN was Australia’s first energy company to commit to the global Science-based Targets initiative for corporate action on climate change. SBS has also applied to have its Net Zero targets validated by the initiative.

The Collector Wind Farm commenced operations in 2022 and consists of 54 turbines collectively producing 528GWh each year, capable of powering 80,000 NSW homes and saving close to 320,000 tonnes of CO2 emission each year. The wind farm project has also involved an industry-leading community benefit sharing scheme.

ZEN Energy CEO, Anthony Garnau said, “SBS is already an industry leader in community engagement and a champion of diversity. ZEN is honoured to be able to now assist SBS deepen its connections to Australians by becoming an industry leader in climate action.”

“As part of our responsibilities under the Science-Based Targets Initiative, ZEN has voluntarily committed to reduce its scope 3 (sold electricity) emissions. This means we are partnering with our customers to transition their contracts to 100 per cent renewable electricity, and we’ve committed to only sign new contracts where 100 per cent renewable is achieved within the contract period.

As the proud official media partner of the Garma Festival, the country’s biggest gathering of First Nations politics and culture, the ABC will this weekend bring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, stories and culture to all Australians across our platforms.

On Friday 2 August ABC audiences can watch the Garma Festival official opening ceremony on the ABC News channel.

ABC NEWS coverage will be led by Head, International and Indigenous News Suzanne Dredge and Indigenous Affairs Editor Julie Nimmo, supported by a team of First Nations journalists including Indigenous Affairs correspondent Carly Williams and News Channel presenter Dan Bourchier.

Among the other content highlights, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will speak with ABC National Political Lead David Speers on a special episode of Insiders live from the festival.

A year on from the referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, this year’s theme looks ahead. ‘Gurtha-Wuma Worrk-gu’ is a Yolŋu phrase signifying fire, strength and renewal.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson said: “The ABC is proud to continue this important partnership with Garma in 2024.

“The ABC remains committed to building a greater understanding and respect of First Nations cultures and perspectives and enabling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to share their stories with all Australians.”

The Garma Festival is held at Gulkula, about 40 kilometres from the town of Nhulunbuy in North-East Arnhem Land, a prominent ceremonial place for the Gumatj clan of the Yolŋu people.

Now in its 24th year, the annual festival is run by the Yothu Yindi Foundation, a four-day celebration of Yolngu life and culture.

The event serves as a national hub for discussions, policy and action formulation. It brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians through youth forums, miny’tji (art), manikay (song), bunggul (dance) and story-telling.

Yothu Yindi Foundation CEO Denise Bowden said the ABC’s comprehensive coverage across all platforms was important in sharing the Garma message with the nation.

“We’re grateful for the ABC’s long-standing commitment to the event, and its coverage of First Nations issues more broadly,” she said.

RN Breakfast presenter and Q+A host Patricia Karvelas will be back at the festival reporting for ABC NEWS and RN.

On a special episode of Insiders live from Gulkula on Sunday 4 August host David Speers will be joined by panellists Patricia Karvelas, Carly Williams and John Paul Janke.

Younger audiences will be provided with Garma highlights by triple j hack and BTN will film segments from the festival over the weekend.

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.