Australia ‘leading the world' in social media age restrictions
'Australia is leading the world in this. It's still very controversial and the social media companies, Google and Meta, are fighting back,' Mr McGauran told Sky News Australia.
'The more that Prime Minister Albanese and Australia can enlist other countries by educating them and informing them as to what we are doing, the better.'
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The Australian
39 minutes ago
- The Australian
YouTube moves from laptops and phones to dominate TV
The headquarters of the world's No.1 source of video entertainment has none of the trappings of a Hollywood studio. There are no posters of popular shows, no writers pitching ideas, no soundstages and no tourists. But after pioneering video that we watch on our laptops and phones, YouTube is now the king of Hollywood's home turf: the TV. YouTube this year became the most-watched video provider on televisions in the US, and its lead has only grown, according to Nielsen data. People now watch YouTube on TV sets more than on their phones or any other device – an average of more than one billion hours each day. That is more viewing than Disney gets from its broadcast network, dozen-plus cable channels and three streaming services combined. In response, YouTube's influencers, producers and performers – collectively known as creators – are making longer, higher-quality videos that appeal to families and groups of friends watching in their living rooms. YouTube is also rapidly improving its TV app, adding new features to try to keep people watching its free videos longer. (Separately, it also sells YouTube TV, an $US83 ($128)-a-month bundle of channels akin to cable.) In true Silicon Valley style, the Google-owned company isn't just looking to extend its lead on TVs, but to dominate the future of entertainment. 'Our goal is for the YouTube app to be people's way into as much of the universe of video content that exists on the internet as can be,' says Christian Oestlian, YouTube's product manager for connected TV. One way the company is considering keeping people glued to YouTube on their TVs longer, he said, is through personally customised content feeds, like highlights from players on a fantasy football team. For most of the past 20 years since it was founded, YouTube was an alternative to television, a home for cheap, low-quality ephemera like how-to videos and skateboard tricks that Hollywood worried was distracting people from real entertainment. YouTube started as a website to watch videos on PCs. It made its way on to televisions in 2010, but the interface was clunky. By the 2020s, a generation that grew up watching internet videos alone on their phones and tablets began watching YouTube together in their living rooms and with their own children. It didn't hurt that as prices rose for Netflix and Disney+, YouTube has remained free. In the process, it became a media juggernaut. MoffettNathanson analysts estimate YouTube's revenue last year was $US54.2bn, which would make it No.2 among entertainment companies, behind only Disney. Now, even the smallest decisions YouTube executives make about how their apps are designed or how their algorithm recommends content can have seismic impacts on global pop culture. When Kurt Wilms became senior director of product for YouTube on televisions in 2018, the company's TV app was useful if you knew what you wanted to search for and watch. Since then, it has worked to make its TV app similar to the ones on phones, with an algorithm that recommends what to watch next, and the ability to subscribe and comment. The key differences: ad formats designed for the TV, a search engine that suggests content that looks best on a big screen, and the ability to navigate it all with a remote. A coming YouTube feature, called 'shows', can automatically queue the next episode on a channel, rather than serving whatever the recommendation algorithm thinks you'll like best from billions of options. That will let YouTube viewers for the first time watch full 'seasons' and pick up where they left off, as they are used to doing on Netflix. 'It's going to be great for the 'lean back' use case of YouTube,' Wilms says. Many young people viewing YouTube on their TVs are perfectly happy to watch amateurs play videogames, spout opinions and share every detail of their personal lives. But increasingly, they are also watching the type of shows that used to be found exclusively on broadcast or cable channels: sketch comedy, documentaries, animation and talk shows. The latter are disappearing from traditional networks, as evidenced by CBS's decision to cancel its Stephen Colbert late-night show. Good Mythical Morning, on YouTube, is a lot like an old-fashioned network talk show. Every weekday, hosts Rhett McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln Neal – known to their fans as Rhett and Link – joke around with each other and their crew, perform blind taste tests and take part in bizarre contests. What started nearly 20 years ago with the two friends working alone in North Carolina has grown into a channel with 19.3 million subscribers. While Los Angeles is bleeding jobs in traditional film and TV production, Rhett and Link employ some 100 people in a complex just outside the city that houses stages, a writers' room, a prop-making office and interns. During a recent taping, the youthful-looking 47-year-olds were preparing to taste food a crew member's grandmother had canned decades ago. 'There's only one item we know is definitely unsafe,' the director warned them. 'Otherwise, you guys can do your normal smell-lick situation.' Televisions became the most popular screen for people to watch Good Mythical Morning late last year and now account for 53 per cent of all viewing. The hosts say longtime fans have grown up watching the show alone in their childhood bedrooms and now watch with a partner or friends in their own living rooms. 'There's this phenomenon of, 'Oh, wait, there's the YouTube icon on this television I just mounted in my first apartment. I can do this here now',' Neal says. Similarly, viewership on TVs surpassed mobile late last year for popular YouTube interview show Hot Ones, on which celebrities such as Billie Eilish and Kevin Hart answer questions as they eat increasingly spicy chicken wings. Dhar Mann Studios says TVs became the most popular device for viewers of its inspirational videos for kids in early 2024, and about 54 per cent now watch that way. Research from Tubular Labs shows viewers on YouTube are spending substantially more time with long content – meaning more than 15 minutes – than two years ago, and they are doing it the most on televisions. YouTube producers are noticing and making longer videos, which keep audiences glued to their channel for longer stretches. It also helps producers earn more. Google typically shares 55 per cent of commercial revenue with creators, and the most valuable ads are often 'mid-rolls' that run part way through a video when a viewer has already committed time to watching and wants to finish. Longer videos have more mid-roll ads and make more money. 'There has been a deluge of interest in long-form YouTube content with creators,' says Andrew Graham, an agent at Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency who represents digital talent. 'Short-form content doesn't monetise nearly as well.' Comedian Quenlin Blackwell's videos were typically 10-30 minutes long just last year, and she made them with her best friends. Now her sketches, travelogues and cooking collaborations with online celebrities last an hour or longer and are made with 10-15 writers, camera operators and other professional collaborators. 'People's attention spans haven't been that bad,' Blackwell says. 'It's what we've been feeding them.' On YouTube, visibility relies entirely on Google's inscrutable algorithm. Executives say they have no interest in deciding what gets made for their service or how it gets promoted. In 2015, YouTube hired a former MTV executive to develop original series for paying subscribers, but the effort flopped. The most notable result was Cobra Kai, a Karate Kid follow-up that became a hit only after it moved to Netflix. Now, Hollywood-style content comes from partners that sell subscriptions to their streaming services inside the YouTube app. Those deals give companies such as Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount access to a large, young audience, but means their shows stream beside virtually anything. People who pay for HBO Max inside YouTube and search for The White Lotus might see the latest episode of the series, a fan breakdown of the season and a video from Thailand about flowers. YouTube leaves content decisions largely up to its independent creators. One of the few exceptions is sport, where the company is paying for the rights to stream games. Viewership in that category is up 45 per cent so far this year on YouTube. Executives say they want to be the home for fans leading up to a game, during it, and for clips afterward. YouTube has been the exclusive home of the NFL Sunday Ticket since 2023. It pays the sports league $US2bn annually and charges viewers between $US378 and $US480 a season. Now it is bringing games to its free, ad-supported service. YouTube bought the exclusive rights to soccer tournaments in Brazil, and in September it will stream an NFL game on its free platform for the first time – a sign Google believes it may be able to cover the hefty cost of sports rights through advertising alone. It has brought concepts created for Sunday Ticket such as 'multi-view' – in which people can watch several games at once – to the main app. And it's experimenting with features that take advantage of its army of sports influencers, including letting some announce games. '50 per cent of consumers have told us that they'd rather learn about a live event from a creator than actually watch the live event themselves,' Oestlian says. As the rest of Hollywood eyes YouTube enviously, elite creators have become a hot commodity. Analysts at Wells Fargo recently said that to compete for young audiences, Netflix should consider spending $US500m to persuade 20-30 creators from the top YouTube channels to switch. Popular YouTube creators have been open to making new shows for Hollywood streaming services, such as MrBeast's BeastGames on Amazon Prime Video, or to selling old episodes, such as Ms Rachel's kids' videos on Netflix. But they say there is no cheque big enough to persuade them to abandon YouTube channels they spent years creating. 'The opportunity isn't to try and defeat YouTube,' says Sean Atkins, chief executive of the Dhar Mann Studios YouTube channel. 'That game has already been won.' WSJ The Wall Street Journal The AI co-founder got the newly built Hollywood Hills home for a significant discount compared to the price the Australian developer originally wanted. The Wall Street Journal His trial has been marked by legal and judicial irregularities and raise serious questions about the right of due process.
Sky News AU
8 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Sydney prepares for bridge march
Ooops, an error has occurred! Please call us on 1800 070 535 and we'll help resolve the issue or try again later. The Streaming Subscription provides Australians access to top rating opinion shows, award-winning political coverage, live breaking news, sport and weather, expert business insights and groundbreaking documentaries across four dedicated news channels for $5 a month. This includes: Sky News – Australia's news channel featuring award-winning journalists, insights from the biggest names in opinion, ground-breaking special investigations, and live breaking news, sport and weather. Available live and on-demand. Sky News Extra – A dedicated 24/7 channel featuring live press conferences and Parliament broadcasts, with unfiltered access to Australian democracy in action. Available live. Sky News Weather – Australia's only 24/7 weather channel bringing you the latest weather forecasts from the country's largest team of meteorologists. Available live. FOX SPORTS News – Australia's only 24/7 sports news channel, first and live in breaking sports news. Available live. Stream Sky News channel shows in full live and on-demand on or the Sky News Australia app and cast to your compatible TV. For the best streaming experience, stream your favourite Sky News shows on your compatible Smart TV. For a step-by-step guide on how to sign in on your Smart TV or to find out if your Smart TV is compatible, visit our help page. There is no lock-in contract when you subscribe to a Streaming Subscription. Renewals occur automatically unless cancelled as per full Terms and Conditions . The Streaming Subscription is not available outside of Australia. If overseas (excluding New Zealand), you can access your favourite Sky News Australia programs by signing up to Australia Channel. Sky News Australia's international 24/7 news streaming service. Find out more here. You can continue to access digital-only content, video highlights, and listen to the latest podcasts without a subscription on our website and app. The Streaming Subscription gives subscribers live stream access to unrivalled news and opinion content across four dedicated news channels 24/7.
Perth Now
11 hours ago
- Perth Now
PM weighs up Palestinian statehood call
Anthony Albanese is seeking a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the government weighs up whether it will join international allies to recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly. The Prime Minister is yet to confirm the move, despite the UK, France, and Canada all indicating they will make such a call. Mr Albanese has sought a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – something praised by Senior Coalition frontbencher Dan Tehan, who says current Australian-Israel relations have 'clearly been lacking' since the October 7 attacks in relation to communications at a 'prime ministerial level and a senior ministerial level'. 'Any dialogue which will enable both governments to put their case, and my hope is that the Prime Minister will be open to listening to Benjamin Netanyahu, so that he can get an Israeli view of what is happening on the ground and what they're trying to do to bring peace to Gaza,' he told Sky. Anthony Albanese has requested a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. X Credit: Supplied Earlier, Sussan Ley told the ABC that the Coalition would only support the formal recognition of Palestinian statehood once 'peace' had been achieved, meaning Hamas would need to surrender and release the hostages. 'Everyone wants to see this war end … Everyone wants to say the bloodshed stop. Everyone wants to see critical food aid get to Gazans who desperately need it, and I'm pleased to see that that's happening,' she said. 'But this is critical – the war could end tomorrow if Hamas surrenders and releases the hostages.' The Prime Minister's potential call with Mr Netanyahu comes as Mr Albanese faces growing international pressure to recognising Palestinian statehood, with the UK and Canada joining France this week. This follows global condemnation of Israel for the starvation and the withholding of aid from Gazan civilians, something Mr Netanyahu has rejected and labelled a 'bold-faced lie'. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who Mr Albanese has been in contact with since the announcement, said the UK would support the motion unless Israel 'takes substantive steps to ed the appalling situation in Gaza and agrees to a ceasefire'. Canadian Prime Minister while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his position was incumbent on While Australia supports a two-state solution, acknowledging Palestine's statehood could not be 'just a gesture,' but done to forward the peaceful existence of Israel and Palestine. Mr Albanese has said the formal recognition of statehood cannot be 'just a gesture'. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Speaking to the ABC on Thursday, he said Australia would only be able to make that statement 'once,' adding that 'once you make that declaration, you lose your capacity to negotiate and to influence outcomes to some extent'. 'We won't be driven by a time frame. What we'll be driven by is when the recognition of Palestine can make a contribution to the creation of two states,' he said. 'We think that arising out of what is a crisis, the world needs to look at the opportunity that there is not just to solve the current crisis, but how do we create security for both the state of Israel and the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians for their own state to be realised.'
