The “stack and save” feature was billed as Hubbl’s key differentiator.
Foxtel declined to pitch in, instead partnering with Comcast and pushing ahead with Hubbl. The hubris at play isn’t surprising when you look at what followed.
Finally being launched in 2024, there was the iconic ad campaign. Radio duo Hamish Blake and Andy Lee were paid millions to become the face of the product and the “Every day I’m Hubblin” ad was endlessly mocked online and by ad specialists on Gruen.
In marketing, they say nothing kills a bad product quicker than good marketing, but in this case, it wasn’t the quality but the sheer volume of it. Tens of millions was spent flooding the zone with the ad campaigns, with News Corp’s papers forfeiting millions more in ad space to promote the Foxtel product.
The “stack and save” feature was billed as Hubbl’s key differentiator to fix blowing out subscription costs, but this was misleading as Hubbl offered only Netflix and Foxtel’s four streaming products as those you could save on.
To save, Hubbl-ers had to buy more Foxtel products. They even spun lifestyle shows such as Grand Designs out of Binge onto a new platform named … Lifestyle, alongside Kayo and Flash, a news streamer that was also in sunset mode by that point.
Even with the ad blitz in August last year, Delany admitted most Australians were “are still not quite understanding what it does”.
Then there are the retailers. The product was initially relying on retail sales through Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi, but within months Hubbl pucks were already on discount at half the price.
To top it off, the software itself got labelled a lemon if reviews are anything to go by.
Tech review website Trustpilot website gives it 1.2 stars out of five off 273 reviews. With rumoured total sales of around 80,000 units, Hubbl has been a humbling experience for Foxtel. No wonder its new owners DAZN moved swiftly to bring the whole chapter to a close.
Return of ‘Murpharoo’?
Speculation is running hot in the press gallery that journo-turned-spinner Katharine “Murpharoo” Murphy could be on for a grandstand return to The Guardian as a part-time columnist.
Katharine Murphy on the set of the ABC’s Insiders in 2017, when she was Guardian Australia’s political editor.Credit: Meredith O’Shea
Guardian Australia this week stunned the federal press by promoting Tom McIlroy, five months after he was hired as chief political correspondent, the result of an HR brouhaha. He’s done a sturdy job and is a credible candidate for the top job, but still leaves them without a Canberra luminary in its ranks.
A weekly column from Murphy might just do that. She left the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in June and while On Background put the rumours to her this week, we didn’t get a response.
The Lyons Den
John Lyons, the ABC’s Americas editor and most senior reporter, is no stranger to putting himself in the line of fire. He has reported from war zones across the world and stared down ABC management over its independence, and this week made global headlines for questioning President Donald Trump on the White House lawn over his personal business interests.
Thankfully, politicians from across the board came out in support for Lyons and our own free press back home, from Anthony Albanese to David Pocock to Sarah Hanson-Young and Bridget McKenzie.
Donald Trump speaks to journalists during his testy confrontation with the ABC’s John Lyons on Wednesday.Credit: AP
But there were a few who clearly want reporters to toe the line when it comes to Trump. Nationals senator Matt Canavan wheeled out the “not on my taxpayer dollars” line after being given plenty of airtime by the broadcaster himself this week, while Coalition colleague Sarah Henderson reckons Lyons’ questions were a threat to our trade, defence and national security prospects.
“Australians should expect the highest standards of our publicly funded national broadcaster,” Henderson said on X. We agree! And employing journalists who won’t toady up to Trump seems like a pretty good bang for our buck.
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The ABC of hurt feelings
Back home at Ultimo, the ABC’s enterprise agreement with staff is set to expire in less than two weeks. With bargaining negotiations not really getting anywhere. The union continues to anonymously canvas its members around its offices for their main gripes, with job insecurity, racism, pay inequality and lack of progression all raised as issues.
But after management last month halted negotiations over some meme-laden posters, head of employee relations and safety Josh Keech wrote to the union this week to warn of the “psychosocial risk of harm” that could be caused by what he called its campaign to encourage staff to write anonymous messages to management.
A union gathering working condition gripes hardly feels like something management should be taking personally.
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