Seven Chief Continues To Rev His Own Engin

The Age

Tuesday July 31, 2007

Mark Hawthorne

KERRY Stokes' Seven network has already been caught spruiking the boss' telco empire.

Back in January, Full Disclosure reported that Today Tonight had screened a segment plugging listed internet phone provider Engin.

Indeed, Today Tonight went to great lengths to highlight the virtues of Engin. "A new revolution is combining mobile phone technology ... it is called Engin, and it uses voice over internet protocol, or VoIP," declared the show.

That Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven last year paid $26 million for a 34 per cent stake in Engin somehow slipped their minds.

That Ryan Stokes, Kerry's son, has a seat on the Engin board also failed to rate a mention.

Six months later, and Today Tonight is back at its old tricks. This time, Melbourne-based mobile phone provider M2 Telecommunications is getting a free kick.

The show plugged the M2-owned website simplymobiles.com.au, and the segment ran like an informercial. First the catch: "They say talk is cheap and, thanks to a new revolution in the way mobile phones are sold, they are absolutely right."

Then came an interview with M2 managing director Vaughan Bowen, who tells viewers they can save "hundreds of dollars on a brand new mobile phone".

The three-minute segment finished with testimonials from satisfied customers.

So, what's the problem?

Today Tonight failed to mention that, on May 23, M2 entered into a VoIP alliance with Engin. In addition to selling cheap mobiles, M2 also flogs Engin's VoIP services.

On the day of landing the deal with Engin, Bowen declared: "We feel we are entering the VoIP market at the right time with the right partner in Engin. We conducted a lengthy evaluation of alternative network providers." One can only assume that none of those other network providers were owned by a TV station.

You can see the offending Today Tonight segment at tinyurl.com/2ry5fk.

But wait, there's more.

As if getting a free plug on Today Tonight wasn't enough, Seven is offering viewers an extra $20 off a new mobile phone by using a special code "only available at the Today Tonight website".

We'll hang out for the free steak knives.

Please recycle

IT'S not easy being green, especially if you are in the airline business and have just rolled out a mobile broadband network. But Virgin could have shown some restraint with the invitation (left) to its party celebrating Virgin Mobile's broadband network. The red part is a standard postcard-sized invitation, to provide some scale. "It's printed on recycled paper," said a staffer from PR company One Green Bean in defence of the invitation. "And we're asking everyone to recycle them again."

Old-growth vines?

THE heat has been turned up on Gunns boss John Gay over his company's planned $2 billion pulp mill in the Tamar Valley.

Last night an ABC Four Corners report on the pulp mill fiasco claimed that Gay contacted former Supreme Court judge Christopher Wright when he took over as chairman of the state's independent Resource Planning and Development Commission.

"I got a letter from Mr Gay, writing on behalf of Gunns, requesting a private meeting with me to discuss aspects of the assessment process before I'd even really started the job," Wright told Four Corners. "Obviously it occurred to me that that was quite inappropriate and I declined to have that meeting with him."

But a few claims from Aunty are nothing compared with the full might of the Victorian chapter of the Australian Sommeliers Association.

The ASA of Victoria has called on its members - all 350 - to boycott wines made by Gunns, which bought the Tamar Ridge winery in 2003. "They must be old-growth vines," quipped one wag.

New-age English

FORMER Hoyts Cinemas boss Peter Ivany has put together an impressive team at his boutique investment bank, Ivany Investment Group.

The team consists of Cliff Rosenberg, ex-CEO of Yahoo!, Michelle Goldstone, former executive manager of capital management at Commonwealth Bank, Darryl Kaplan, formerly of Mallesons Stephen Jacques, Brian Bailison, ex RMB Australia, and Colin Resnick, also ex Hoyts.

Ivany says his "empowerment organisation" has thrown the traditional office structure out the window.

"With no clocks, no KPIs (key performance indicators), an unstructured but supported environment, amazing work-life balance and freedom, unlimited access to deal flow and access to a great global network, this entity of like-minded people are creating corporate history," he says.

And there's no need for English, if the rest of the press release is anything to go by.

"Breaking traditional paradigms in order to create a high performance executive team, Peter has brought together top level entrepreneurial executives and created a dynamic entity where innovation and autonomy is celebrated and the ability to work under an extremely flexible structure is imperative."

Enough said.

© 2007 The Age

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