StW: TikTok crackdown; Consumers' sauce sacrifices; Free-to-air ads slump 17%; ABC ups its marketing spend

Welcome to Start the Week, our Monday scene-setter for the week ahead. Today: TikTok piles the pressure on the television industry as US legislators put the squeeze on the short form video platform; the TV revenue slump still hasn’t hit bottom; how consumers are making brand compromises in the cost of living crunch.

If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:

• Member-only pricing for our HumAIn (May 28) and REmade (October 1) conferences;

• A complimentary invitation to Unmade’s Compass event (November);

• Member-only content and our paywalled archives;

• Your own copy of Media Unmade

---

---

Back on tour

Tim Burrowes writes:

I’m heading for Queensland next week, and I’d love to catch up with anyone in the industry who’s around.

I’ll be in Brisbane all day on Tuesday April 30. And I’ll be up in Port Douglas to speak at the Local & Independent News Association Summit on Wednesday and Thursday May 1 and 2.

If you’d like to grab a coffee, please email me at tim@unmade.media

---

---

As Congress cracks down on TikTok in the US, what will it mean in Australia?

Consumers are disguising their Aldi buys | Image: Dall-E

Today:

• The US House of Representatives voted over the weekend to force the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or be banned. That means the law could be on Joe Biden’s desk for signing within days if the Senate votes on it this week. If ByteDance refuses to sell, will Australia ban TikTok too?;

• Seven had one of the worst weeks in the company’s history. Analysts describe it as a “one trick pony”, and that TV trick is no longer working;

• Hard-up consumers are disguising their Aldi tomato sauce in big brand bottles;

• The ABC has upped its marketing spend, but is $6m a quarter enough?

Further reading:

• The Guardian: US House passes bill that could lead to total TikTok ban

• Australian Financial Review: TV networks have lost 83pc of young viewers to TikTok, YouTube

• Unmade: If a TV network puts a roof over a rapist’s head, employs a war criminal and pays a creep it might just have a culture problem

• The Australian: Bleak outlook for Seven West Media shares, says analyst

• The Australian: Seven launch internal investigation over incorrectly naming the wrong Bondi killer on Weekend Sunrise

• Unmade: Born to be mild: New Seven boss’s first staff memo

• The Australian: Consumer brand loyalty declines in hard times, research finds

• The Australian: ABC’s spending on advertising, marketing and promotions has soared, new data shows

---

---

Today’s episode features Tim Burrowes and Abe Udy

Time to leave you to start your week.

Editing was courtesy of Abe’s Audio, the people to talk to about voiceovers, sound design and podcast production.

Toodlepip…

Tim Burrowes

tim@unmade.media

---