The SBS MD short list has a surprising name. And could Æon Flux be made for TV in 2025?
On a lackadaisical Monday morning, we’re back again with another Always Be Watching newsletter.
The story that caught my attention today is an item from The Australian’s Media Diary about speculation Paramount ANZ chief Beverley McGarvey is on the short list to take on the MD role at multicultural broadcaster SBS. She would replace James Taylor, who exited the role a few months ago.
Certainly, McGarvey has experience that would get her onto a short list like that with a TV programming background, and her experience running a multi-channel broadcaster that includes a streaming service is obviously a major plus.
If I were on the SBS board and considering the new MD, one of the qualities I would be looking at is the capability to move SBS On Demand forward (with an eye/ear to how on-demand audio from SBS Radio can similarly benefit).
The broadcast services offered by SBS are nearing end-of-life (though, expect SBS and the ABC will maintain broadcast services longer than is reasonable as they have obligations to support older and less-connected citizens), but that’s not the end of the shifts we’ll see over the next few years. Things I’d suggest are on their way:
Already we’re seeing a consumption evolution towards news/culture consumption (key SBS pillars) in short-form video. The momentum behind that will build.
AI created video, likely driven by OpenAI’s Sora platform, will become a more integrated element of our media consumption.
Audio and video will evolve and become even more portable with the rise of smart glasses
Whoever is in place as the next MD will need to make sure SBS On Demand is capable of continuing to meet audience expectation. If McGarvey did get the role, I wouldn’t be shocked (she ticks a lot of boxes). But, I’d also ask whether you want the person who has overseen TenPlay (now branded just as ‘10’), definitively the worst of the Australian BVOD platforms, as the person leading SBS at a time where technology will be the leading concern that defines the broadcaster?
The show wouldn’t get made today.
Early in the month there was a THR interview with Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino talking about how the show wouldn’t get made today:
Overall, she attributes the show’s triumph to “alchemy, alchemy, alchemy, because we were really left alone to build our worlds and our characters. [Warner Bros.] gave up on even trying to give us notes on the scripts. They didn’t understand the scripts. It wasn’t soapy enough for them. There were too many pop culture references they didn’t understand. At every turn, we were not necessarily what they wanted or what they thought they needed, but it was a different time. Today, a Gilmore Girls would not get on the air. No way, no how.”
Now, while I think she’s right that the show wouldn’t get made today, there’s nothing really in the above quote that explains why it wouldn’t get made today. The reason the show wouldn’t be made today is that we don’t have the volume of youth-orientated broadcast TV dramas where there was such a market demand for them that shows like Gilmore Girls could skate by a bit off-radar.
But, you know what show absolutely wouldn’t get made today? Æon Flux.
I was thinking about that cartoon this morning when I saw news that the not good live action Æon Flux adaptation is getting a 4k Blu-ray release.
After seeing that film in the cinema, I was never left with a desire to ever think much more about it. But, there are episodes of the 90s cartoon show that haunt my memories on a regular basis 25+ years later.
The show is unapologetically weird. It was super weird back then, but feels even weirder now with its odd sci-fi world construction and heavy S&M thematic and visual embrace. The 90s were a very specific time of cultural progression and Æon Flux always felt like it was pushing things about as far as you could expect from mainstream broadcasters (it was made for MTV).
It was barely made then and absolutely would never be made now.
News Desk
June Lockhart, famous for roles on Lost in Space and Lassie, has died at the age of 100. Read: Variety
Ahead of Lockhart’s birthday, Remind Magazine spoke to Lost in Space co-star Bill Mumy about his relationship with Lockhart.
A mini-season of game Fornite will turn the entire Fornite map into Springfield from The Simpsons. Read: Polygon
NRL chief Peter V’landys is talking up plans for half the Round 1 games of the 2027 season (the last under the current broadcast deal) to be played internationally, creating a 24 hour event of games aired from around the world. It’s a great stunt, and a great way to talk about the Australian rugby league as a global proposition ahead of signing a new broadcast deal. He’s very keen to drive prices up by getting international streamers like Disney/ESPN interested. Read: Nine
Tubi is talking up the success it has had licensing the Looney Tunes cartoons for its US service (I wish they’d do a global deal) with an interview at Vulture which has been regurgitated for those outside the paywall at The AV Club. Over the weekend my 4 year-old daughter sat down to watch a couple of shorts (including Robin Hood Daffy from 1958) and I watched her laugh so hard at Daffy Duck that I heard her snort. These cartoons can still deliver.
Vimeo has added support for 180° video and will support Apple Immersive Video by the year’s end. Read: UploadVR
Fantastic Four: First Steps will debut on Disney+ Nov 5. To promote the launch, Disney has created a 10-hour ambient noice video. Read: Dark Horizons
Trailer Park
As You Stood By debuts Nov 7 on Netflix.
When two women plot to end an abusive marriage through murder, an unexpected visitor arrives - threatening to shatter everything they’ve carefully planned.
That’s the newsletter for today.
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