This Middle Eastern destination offers high-speed F1 thrills and desert calm
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The Age
12 hours ago
- The Age
Foxtel may have lost its wow factor, but it's holding on to F1
Australia has a large, committed population of petrol heads, and with the racing calendar active from February to December, it guarantees potentially 200,000-plus subscribers year-round. While the sport has exploded in popularity since the launch of Netflix's Drive to Survive, legacy broadcasters are tightening their belts, and international sports broadcasters like ESPN are narrowing their focus. In America, incumbent ESPN let its exclusivity period with the F1 lapse this year, and AppleTV+ is set to step in off the back of F1:The Movie 's success. Apple did not appear to take a swing on the rights in Australia, nor did Netflix. Fight for your rights ESPN's current content strategy could have knock-on effects in Australia. Last week, the UFC announced it was leaving it for Network 10 owners Paramount in 2026, in a deal worth $US7.7 billion ($12 billion) over seven years in the US alone. UFC is also moving away from pay-per-view for its big events, with all bouts included in a Paramount+ subscription, and some of the spectacle will also find a home at Paramount's free-to-air network CBS. How that impacts Foxtel is still up in the air. It extended its current arrangement with ESPN last week, with a separate 'multi-year' (this usually means two or three) pay-per-view deal kicking off in 2024. We hear Paramount might have landed exclusive first-refusal of any new rights deals in international markets as part of its deal. But with the Conor McGregor glory-days of the UFC over, the big game for Foxtel is its negotiations with NRL, and how willing DAZN's owner Len Blavatnik will be to loosen the purse-strings to retain the rights to the tier one sport. NRL powerbroker Peter V'Landys, Foxtel's Delany and Kayo and Binge chief Hilary Perchard were guests of DAZN at the FIFA Club World Cup final in New York last month. All three posed for a picture alongside Blavatnik and CEO Shay Segev, with V'Landys, third-from-left, sporting a DAZN hat. Surely, a vote of confidence? Minister's homecoming He was spotted visiting Nine's 1 Denison St headquarters in recent weeks, and we can confirm former Coalition communications spokesperson David Coleman has been hired by the company to help identify business opportunities after its sale of home listings portal Domain. Coleman, the Member for Banks from 2013 to May this year, is a former director of strategy and digital at Nine, and was involved in the launch of Stan. He'll be in North Sydney two days a week, but won't be using his Rolodex to help the company's lobbying efforts in the national capital. Nine will net $1.4 billion for its stake in Domain, and after all is said and done with shareholders, should be left with a war chest of about $150 million in cash, analysts say, which is plenty to play with. More Australian content on Apple TV+? The world's third-largest company is hiring for a new marketing lead in Australia and New Zealand, just months after advertising for its first head of Apple TV down under. While Netflix has found success making a handful of Australian shows every year, Apple might be dipping its toes in the water while streaming content quotas remain up in the air. A leading contender for the Apple gig, and for Netflix' vacant content lead role, is Alison Hurbert-Burns, who left Foxtel earlier this year. Que Minh Luu, who recently left Netflix is also rumoured to be in the running at Apple. Busy Bibi Sharri Markson has been cultivating a senior source inside the Israeli Knesset for some time, travelling to Jerusalem in 2024 for 45-minute 'secret briefing' with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The hard work has clearly paid off. Sky News' Markson managed to bag an exclusive chat with Bibi, who was fresh off his war of words with our own prime minister. It aired last night. The Israeli leader is clearly a man with a lot on his plate. You have to wonder where he finds time to do it all. But if Bibi was trying to make a splash, Sky After Dark' s audience is hardly the ABC in prime time. Last time we checked, Sharri's average nightly broadcast audience was about 31,000, but we concede there's a much bigger audience on YouTube.
Sydney Morning Herald
12 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Foxtel may have lost its wow factor, but it's holding on to F1
Australia has a large, committed population of petrol heads, and with the racing calendar active from February to December, it guarantees potentially 200,000-plus subscribers year-round. While the sport has exploded in popularity since the launch of Netflix's Drive to Survive, legacy broadcasters are tightening their belts, and international sports broadcasters like ESPN are narrowing their focus. In America, incumbent ESPN let its exclusivity period with the F1 lapse this year, and AppleTV+ is set to step in off the back of F1:The Movie 's success. Apple did not appear to take a swing on the rights in Australia, nor did Netflix. Fight for your rights ESPN's current content strategy could have knock-on effects in Australia. Last week, the UFC announced it was leaving it for Network 10 owners Paramount in 2026, in a deal worth $US7.7 billion ($12 billion) over seven years in the US alone. UFC is also moving away from pay-per-view for its big events, with all bouts included in a Paramount+ subscription, and some of the spectacle will also find a home at Paramount's free-to-air network CBS. How that impacts Foxtel is still up in the air. It extended its current arrangement with ESPN last week, with a separate 'multi-year' (this usually means two or three) pay-per-view deal kicking off in 2024. We hear Paramount might have landed exclusive first-refusal of any new rights deals in international markets as part of its deal. But with the Conor McGregor glory-days of the UFC over, the big game for Foxtel is its negotiations with NRL, and how willing DAZN's owner Len Blavatnik will be to loosen the purse-strings to retain the rights to the tier one sport. NRL powerbroker Peter V'Landys, Foxtel's Delany and Kayo and Binge chief Hilary Perchard were guests of DAZN at the FIFA Club World Cup final in New York last month. All three posed for a picture alongside Blavatnik and CEO Shay Segev, with V'Landys, third-from-left, sporting a DAZN hat. Surely, a vote of confidence? Minister's homecoming He was spotted visiting Nine's 1 Denison St headquarters in recent weeks, and we can confirm former Coalition communications spokesperson David Coleman has been hired by the company to help identify business opportunities after its sale of home listings portal Domain. Coleman, the Member for Banks from 2013 to May this year, is a former director of strategy and digital at Nine, and was involved in the launch of Stan. He'll be in North Sydney two days a week, but won't be using his Rolodex to help the company's lobbying efforts in the national capital. Nine will net $1.4 billion for its stake in Domain, and after all is said and done with shareholders, should be left with a war chest of about $150 million in cash, analysts say, which is plenty to play with. More Australian content on Apple TV+? The world's third-largest company is hiring for a new marketing lead in Australia and New Zealand, just months after advertising for its first head of Apple TV down under. While Netflix has found success making a handful of Australian shows every year, Apple might be dipping its toes in the water while streaming content quotas remain up in the air. A leading contender for the Apple gig, and for Netflix' vacant content lead role, is Alison Hurbert-Burns, who left Foxtel earlier this year. Que Minh Luu, who recently left Netflix is also rumoured to be in the running at Apple. Busy Bibi Sharri Markson has been cultivating a senior source inside the Israeli Knesset for some time, travelling to Jerusalem in 2024 for 45-minute 'secret briefing' with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The hard work has clearly paid off. Sky News' Markson managed to bag an exclusive chat with Bibi, who was fresh off his war of words with our own prime minister. It aired last night. The Israeli leader is clearly a man with a lot on his plate. You have to wonder where he finds time to do it all. But if Bibi was trying to make a splash, Sky After Dark' s audience is hardly the ABC in prime time. Last time we checked, Sharri's average nightly broadcast audience was about 31,000, but we concede there's a much bigger audience on YouTube.
Man of Many
2 days ago
- Man of Many
Daniel Ricciardo Hospitalised After Daintree Motorcycle Crash, Reflects on Life Post-F1
By Ben McKimm - News Published: 20 Aug 2025 Share Copy Link 0 Readtime: 3 min Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here. When he's not operating heavy machinery on the farm, Daniel Ricciardo spends his time away from F1 on two wheels. The eight-time Formula One Grand Prix winner had a disappointing end to his time on the grid after 14 seasons when Scuderia AlphaTauri dismissed him from duties, but he says that chapter of his career is now officially closed. Like many of his contemporaries, including Mark Webber, Ricciardo prefers to spend his time on a motorcycle. Life on two wheels tends to come back to bite, and Ricciardo recently found himself in hospital after he crashed his motorcycle in the Daintree Rainforest in North Queensland. He is reported to have broken his collarbone, landing him in nearby Mossman Hospital, according to PlanetF1. While we don't know further details at this stage, we do know that the Daintree Rainforest is a popular destination for Adventure Bike riders. These dual-sport motorcycles are off-road capable and can be ridden for hundreds of kilometres along dirt roads and tackle more challenging trails with rocky outcrops and obstacles. They're the Toyota Land Cruiser of motorbikes, and BMW has its grip on the category with the R 1300 GS. Dan's departing gift was a custom KTM from RedBull | Image: Supplied / MotoGP Daniel has previously revealed that he's a big motorcycle rider, telling that his three-bike garage would include a Ducati, Harley-Davidson, and KTM. 'Pretty much, I would go with the Ducati Desmosedici. I'd really like the Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight, but it would have to be customised. You know, get it worked a bit. And then a dirt-bike, probably just a 250cc, 4-stroke. Back in Australia, I have a KTM 250F. I'm not that good on dirt, so a 450 is a bit too much for me. So, I'd have the best of both worlds: sport road, cruising road and a dirt bike.' Besides his adventure bike escapades, Ricciardo recently headlined Ray White's Connect conference in mid-August. Sports presenter Mel Mclaughlin asked him about his life after F1, and his answer was blunt as ever. 'I've been trying to figure out who I am other than this race car driver,' he said in the interview. 'I've come to appreciate the little things more and the meaning of the importance of family and friends.' 'I've lived this crazy, high-speed life for so long, and I just sat into a little bit of stillness. I suddenly wasn't always surrounded by a tonne of people giving their opinions and thoughts,' Ricciardo continued. Daniel Ricciardo talks at Ray White Connect 2025 | Image: Supplied 'I've always been driven, and that sometimes leads you to being selfish, so I'm trying to learn to be a bit more selfless and become a better listener.' 'I haven't been shaving my face,' he continued. 'The beard is my comfort right now.' 'I had a fallout with my barber, and then I lost my razor. It's been a tough six months.' It's a retrospective look that Ricciardo has rarely shared with the world. Usually, he's the smily face that never seems to take anything too seriously, but he's come to terms with his future away from the grid, and he looks happier because of it. The F1 world waits to see if fellow Australian Oscar Piastri can deliver the first Australian Formula One World Champion since Alan Jones in 1980.
