Agency boss probed by Court | RIP mag audits | Worner holds on | 2CH finally sells | Rogue One makes history | 57 jobs

[View this email in your browser] [Mumbrella Newsletter] [cc_600x120_v2] Only a few weeks left to grab your Retail Marketing Summit earlybird ticket [retail_edm_header-2] After the sold-out success of the first [Mumbrella Retail Marketing Summit], the country’s leading retail and FMCG brand owners and experts will converge to discuss the key issues impacting the industry in February. Book your earlybird ticket and hear from marketing and customer experience chiefs from Sainsbury’s, McDonald’s, Myer, Coles, Unilever, Jeanswest and Sportsgirl. [Book your ticket] by January 10 to save $100. News [Former boss of collapsed agency appears before Supreme Court as fraud probe continues] A former director of collapsed outdoor ad agency Ambient Advertising has been questioned in Sydney’s Supreme Court as part of an investigation into alleged fraud at the company. Mark Fishwick was quizzed for more than three hours by lawyers acting for special purposes liquidator Nicholas Crouch, who was appointed by the Supreme Court in August 2015 to investigate Ambient. [READ MORE »] Opinion [Australia will be the first developed print market in the world to kill audits - and advertisers didn't say a word] Magazine audits are all but dead after the withdrawal of two of Australia’s big three publishers in the past few days. Mumbrella’s Tim Burrowes argues that the industry will miss the transparency of the audit bureau when it’s gone. When the announcement dropped from News Corp yesterday morning, I wasn’t sure whether to feel angry or depressed. But I certainly wasn’t surprised. Effectively, magazine audit transparency is dead. [READ MORE »] [m360_600x90_seb-1] News [Seven West Media says Tim Worner will stay as boss as shares fall $100m over scandal] Seven West Media has issued its first public statement on the scandal engulfing CEO Tim Worner after a day in which the company’s shares dropped by 8% as shareholders reacted to revelations that he had an affair with a colleague who later received a six-figure financial settlement. After an emergency board meeting to discuss the issue, the company has insisted that Worner will remain in his role. [READ MORE »] News [Glenn Wheatley's EON Broadcasting adds 2CH to network after forced Macquarie Media sale] The Glenn Wheatley linked radio group EON Broadcasting is to gain a foothold in Australia’s biggest media market after agreeing to buy Sydney radio station 2CH. Macquarie Media was forced to sell the easy listening station under media ownership rules limiting ownership to two stations per market after the company brought together talk stations 2GB and 2UE in a merger with Fairfax Radio Network. [READ MORE »] [retail_speakers_600x90-1] Opinion [How The Betoota Advocate became more popular than The Onion] In just six months satirical news site The Betoota Advocate has surpassed the Australian traffic of The Onion and The Shovel. Hitwise insights analyst Andrew Barton reveals the demos behind the figures in this guest post… Hidden away deep in the heart of outback Queensland lies the fabled town of Betoota, home to one of Australia’s most distinguished and respected journalistic endeavours – The Betoota Advocate. [READ MORE »] News [WPP agencies added to US antitrust investigations over production costs] WPP is the latest holding company to confirm it has been subpoenaed in the United States as a Department of Justice investigation into bid-rigging by production companies widens. WPP confirmed overnight it had been subpoenaed just a day after Interpublic, Omnicom and Publicis all revealed they were “working” with the DoJ on its investigation into production and post-production companies owned by them and anti-competitive bidding practices. [READ MORE »] [600x90-2] News [Pitch Watch: Afterpay names creative and media; Petbarn appoints media agency; Red Agency scoops four new clients] Mumbrella casts an eye over the major media, creative and public relations pitches at play in market. In this wrap-up: Afterpay (creative & media agency); Petbarn (media agency); Red Agency (four new wins); San Churro (creative). [READ MORE »] News [Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ninth biggest box office opening weekend in history] The latest Star Wars film has made weekend box office history, bumping Universal’s 2015 film Fast and Furious 7 into 10th place in the list of largest weekend openings to date. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, created by Lucasfilm pulled in $14.757m on its first weekend in theatres. [READ MORE »] News ['Dan and Maz' leave Hit Network after four years] Radio duo Dan Debuf and Maz Compton – ‘Dan and Maz’ – have finished up on Southern Cross Austereo’s Hit Network, but are yet to announce any future radio plans. The move comes just over a year after the duo were shafted from the embattled Sydney breakfast slot in favour of Rove McManus and Sam Frost and instead saw them hosting the syndicated weekend breakfast show – 7:00am to 9:00am on Saturdays and Sundays – across the network. [READ MORE »] News [Matt Preston turns swimming safety ambassador as brands push for a safe summer] Masterchef judge Matt Preston has assumed the unlikely role of swimming safety ambassador as Royal Life Saving Australia and Bonds both launch safe swimming campaigns focused on the pool and the beach. Royal Life Saving Australia is urging families to pay attention when their children are swimming in an ad by 303 MullenLowe featuring the celebrity food critic. [READ MORE »] [cc_600x90_v2] Opinion [Is a name change the best way out of a crisis?] From Dreamworld to Samsung, in this guest post, Principals director, Sandy Belford, discusses the case for and against companies changing their names following a public crisis. When a brand finds itself in the midst of a crisis, there are numerous ways to get past it. One of the more drastic is a name change. Changing identity is one thing, but when you change a brand name you’re basically saying the business is becoming something different. It is the most extreme thing you can do to signal a major shift in who you are and what you do. [READ MORE »] News [P&O turns its liners into islands in first campaign from Bashful] Cruise line P&O has launched a new brand campaign replacing its ships with an island packed with passengers to highlight the way the cruise experience has changed. The campaign by Bashful opens with a girl boarding a ship excitedly, only for a helicopter shot to reveal a massive island docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney Cove. [READ MORE »] [600x90-1] News [Home and Away and Love Actually give Seven the win] Seven’s Home and Away and the annual screening of Christmas-themed film Love Actually handed Seven an easy win last night, with an audience share of 23.5%. According to OzTAM’s overnight preliminary ratings, Home and Away captured 694,000 viewers at 7:00pm while Seven’s Christmas film offering drew 590,000 viewers to the channel at 8:30pm. [READ MORE »] [600x90] News [Morning Update: 50 most creative people of 2016; McConaughey returns for Lincoln; McDonald's and the boy who loved to study] Ad Age: The Most Creative People of the Year Who says 2016 wasn’t amazing? Despite all the chaos, confusion and upset of the past 12 months, we saw many bright lights in the creative world. We present the best of them here, in our Creativity 50, our list of the year’s most influential innovators. Each of their stories is a testament to the power of creativity and risk-taking to change the game for the better — no matter your field. Hopefully, they’ll serve as inspiration for you, too, to create fearlessly in the year to come. [READ MORE »] Sponsored Post Get your ticket now to Australia's Best Conference for almost half the regular price. [m360_enewsletter_header_4] Get your ticket to Australia’s biggest media and marketing conference for only $1299.  [Mumbrella360] super earlybird tickets are on sale until January 20, but they will sell out before then. A standard ticket is $2499, however if you book now, you can get your ticket for only $1299. A ticket to Australia’s biggest media and marketing conference will get you access to an afternoon of formal networking, two conference days of multiple streams, masterclasses and roundtables, exhibition hall, plus many social events. This year nearly 2000 of your industry peers spent three days getting inspired, educated and better connected. Make sure you don’t miss out, grab the best [Mumbrella360] deal now. FYI: • [TubeMogul named official Instagram partner program member] • [DDI announces senior appointments] • [GPY&R Brisbane appoints head of digital planning] Jobs [57 New Jobs] MOST DISCUSSED [Exiting R/GA boss Holloway claims agency was 'floundering' and 'all over the place'] [Australia's agency bosses are male, white and mainly employ under-40s, survey confirms] [Five of Australia's six media agency groups condemn plan to charge fees to facilitate client relationships] [Bauer Media pulls out of audit body AMAA, leaving market without circulation data] mumbrella.com.au Sent By Focal Attractions Pty Ltd 46-48 Balfour Street, Chippendale, NSW, 2008, Australia If you would rather not receive this newsletter, you can [unsubscribe or manage subscriptions here.] [unsubscribe]