Netflix has sued the creators of an allegedly unauthorized musical stage production of its popular period drama Bridgerton, accusing them of copyright infringement after building demand for their knock-off on TikTok.
Key points:
The complaint was filed against Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear after a sold-out performance of The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical
Netflix says the musical “stretches ‘fan fiction’ well past its breaking point”
The company said it warned the defendants repeatedly to stop
The complaint was filed against Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear in the federal court in Washington, DC, three days after a sold-out performance of The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical in that city’s Kennedy Center.
A lawyer for the defendants had no immediate comment, having yet to review the complaint.
Bridgerton, based on Julia Quinn’s bestselling romance novels, attracted 82 million viewers in the first four weeks of the series’s debut on Netflix, a record at the time.
It was renewed for a second season, and inspired a spin-off series and live event, The Queen’s Ball, hosted in six cities.
Netflix said after Bridgerton was first released in December 2020, the defendants started posting about the series to TikTok, where they have 2.4 million followers, including creating songs based on characters, scenes, dialogue and plot points.
Netflix sought to stop the alleged infringements, plus unspecified damages.(Netflix:Bridgerton)
The company said it warned the defendants repeatedly to stop, but they ploughed ahead with an album titled The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, which won a Grammy award, and their stage show.
“Barlow & Bear’s conduct began on social media, but stretches ‘fan fiction’ well past its breaking point,” Netflix said.
“It is blatant infringement of intellectual property rights.”
Barlow and Bear’s musical was performed in front of a sold-out crowd at the Kennedy Center in Washington, where Netflix was hosting its own live Bridgerton experience.
The Kennedy Center show “attracted Bridgerton fans who would have otherwise attended the Bridgerton Experience and created confusion as to whether Netflix had approved of Barlow & Bear’s unauthorized derivative works,” Netflix said in the lawsuit.
A September performance is planned for Royal Albert Hall in London, the suit claims.
Series creator Shonda Rhimes said in a statement while there is “so much joy” in seeing audiences fall in love with Bridgerton and find creative ways to express their appreciation, “what started as a fun celebration by Barlow & Bear on social media has turned into the blatant taking of intellectual property solely for Barlow & Bear’s financial benefit.”
Author Quinn added she was “flattered and delighted” when Barlow and Bear composing Bridgerton songs and sharing with their other fans on TikTok.
“There is a difference, however, between composing on TikTok and recording and performing for commercial gain,” she said.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the alleged infringements, plus unspecified damages.
A police spokesperson confirmed authorities had obtained the details of those allegedly involved.
“Police and Adelaide Oval security attended the area and obtained details of people alleged to be involved in this incident,” they said.
A Crows supporter allegedly racially vilified Carlton’s Adam Saad on Saturday night.Credit:AFL Pictures
“The matter has been referred to the AFL and Adelaide Oval SMA for investigation.”
The incident remains under active investigation, according to the Adelaide Football Club, the stadium and the league’s integrity unit.
“The AFL is currently allegedly investigating comments made by a spectator at AO last night,” the league said in a statement.
“Football is a place of inclusion and belonging and there is no place for racist behavior in our game.
“Nobody in our game or in the community deserves to be discriminated against and vilified against due to their faith or race and there is simply no excuse for it.”
The Crows said they were attempting to confirm details of the allegations, including whether the spectator was a club member.
“The Adelaide Football Club is investigating reports of an alleged racially motivated comment made by a spectator during Saturday night’s game against Carlton,” they said on Sunday morning.
loading
“We do not tolerate and strongly condemn any form of discriminatory behaviour, and it has no place in football or society. Adelaide Oval should be an inclusive and family-friendly environment.”
A Carlton spokesperson said the club’s integrity officer contacted the league’s integrity unit after the game. They said they would await the league’s verdict before responding to the allegations.
“The club is fully aware of the seriousness of the alleged comments, and has been providing the appropriate level of support to its people as the matter is investigated,” the Blues said in a statement released on Sunday afternoon.
“The club makes clear that vilification of any kind is disgraceful, unacceptable and has no place in society, let alone our game. Further comment will be provided once the investigation is completed in full.”
Adelaide Oval has launched an investigation into the behavior of the patron, alongside the AFL.
loading
“We will be reviewing the matter with the AFL and Adelaide Football Club to consider any appropriate sanctions and/or stadium ban,” a spokesperson said.
“We condemn all anti-social behavior and have strict guidelines for all patrons.”
According to the stadium’s code of conduct, all patrons must “use appropriate language, without threatening, foul or abusive content based on race, religion, sexuality or gender”. Any spectators that fail to satisfy this requirement may be removed from the venue.
“Depending on the severity of the behaviour, anyone evicted may incur a ban, suspension of membership and/or police charges,” the code states.
Saad, a former Essendon and Suns player, joined the Blues in 2020. He is currently the only practicing Muslim in the league and is having a sterling season so far, averaging of 21.8 disposals, 4.2 rebound-50s and 5.3 marks per game.
The 28-year-old has stood against racial discrimination, including in 2018 when he and fellow Muslim player Bachar Houli tossed the coin alongside the team captains in a sign of solidarity after the inflammatory anti-immigration remarks of then Senator Fraser Anning.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon said Sunday that she disagrees with former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose family has backed Dixon’s campaign, about the role former President Trump played in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
“The secretary knows that she and I differ on that subject. I want to make sure that political speech is always protected because that could open a can of worms for anybody on both sides of the party. But the secretary knows that I disagree with her on that point,” Dixon told “Fox News Sunday” host Bret Baier.
DeVos resigned from the Trump administration the day after the Jan. 6 riot, citing Trump’s involvement.
“There’s no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,” DeVos wrote in her resignation letter, read aloud to the Jan. 6 committee late last month.
Dixon was also asked whether she believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, who has continued to make false claims about his loss to President Biden.
Dixon dodged the question, but said the election was “certainly a concern” due to changes made to accommodate voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to make sure our elections are secure and what happened in 2020 doesn’t happen again,” she said.
Trump threw his endorsement behind conservative commentator Dixon on Friday. The DeVos family backed Dixon in May.
Dixon is in the primary ring with a handful of other candidates vying for the Republican Party’s nomination in the Aug. 2 election, with recent polling showing Dixon pulling ahead of the pack.
The Republican nominee will face incumbent Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) in the general election.
Daniel Goleman has a blunt warning for jobseekers in 2022 and beyond: It’s no longer enough just to be smart.
Dr Goleman, an American author and psychologist, has spent decades touting the importance of ’emotional intelligence’ in the workplace and other areas of life.
And it appears companies and organizations have caught up with him.
“[In the mid-1990s] someone said to me, ‘you know, you can’t use the word emotion in a business context’. Today, it’s very, very different,” he tells ABC RN’s Future Tense.
But what exactly is emotional intelligence or EI? And is it just more work-speak or ‘a must-have skill’ of the future?
What is emotional intelligence?
There are several definitions of emotional intelligence, but it boils down to understanding your emotions, understanding the emotions of those around you, and acting accordingly.
Dr Goleman, who put the term on the map with his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, says it has four main components.
Dr Daniel Goleman says we can all work on our emotional intelligence. (Getty Images: Daniel Zuchnik)
first-up, self awareness. Or as Dr Goleman puts it: “Knowing what you’re feeling, why you feel it, how it makes you think and want to act, how it shapes your perceptions.” So, for example, being able to label an emotion like anger and know the causes behind it.
The second part is “using that information to manage your emotions, in a positive way. To stay motivated, to stay focused, to be adaptable and agile, instead of rigid and locked in.”
The third part involves connecting with other people’s emotions — practicing empathy. It’s “understanding how someone else feels without them telling you in words, because people don’t tell us in words, they tell us in tone of voice and facial expressions, and so on”.
And finally— relationship management or “putting that all together to have effective relationships.”
Dr Goleman also makes a key point: It’s not simply about being nice.
“There’s a difference between being nice and being kind. And it’s really important to understand. You might be nice just not to create waves and get along — but that doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily helping.”
Why does it matter?
Amol Khadikar is a program manager at the Capgemini Research Institute and is based in India.
“[Emotional intelligence] is increasingly seen as a very valuable thing, and its importance has only increased in the last couple of years,” Mr Khadikar says.
Mr Khadikar and his organization tried to measure this with a survey asking 750 executives and 1,500 non-supervisory employees around the world about emotional intelligence.
It found 74 per cent of executives and 58 per cent of non-supervisory employees believe that EI will become a “must-have” skill.
Mr Khadikar says EI will become more important in the years ahead because of one continuing development — as automation and AI see more manual or routine jobs replaced by machines, jobs involving interpersonal skills will be the dominant jobs of the future.
“We [already] see more and more of a demand for people to have skills which require relationship building, more client-facing work,” he says.
“and [the survey] found that the demand for emotional intelligence skills will multiply on average by about six times within the next three to five years.”
AI and automation continue to change the kinds of jobs that us humans do.(Unsplash: Israel Andrade)
Mr Khadikar and his team also built a financial model to assess a potential upside from investing in emotional intelligence training — looking at outcomes like revenue, costs, productivity and workplace attrition.
“We clearly found that there is, essentially, an upside, we found that an investment of around $3 million in an average organization can potentially result in an incremental gain of about $6.8 million over the next three years… And this was a conservative scenario. “
He also cited a study conducted by French personal care company L’Oreal which found that employees with high EI skills outsold other salespeople on an annual basis by around $91,000, resulting in a net revenue increase of more than $2.5 million.
Backed up with training?
Dr Goleman says when he wrote his book in 1995, there was little, if any data, around the benefits of high emotional intelligence.
“Now we know it’s clear,” Dr Goleman says.
“In the workplace, it turns out that emotionally intelligent workers perform better, they’re more engaged in what they do. Leaders who have emotional intelligence get better productivity out of people, and people like working for them,” he says.
But when it comes to exactly how the concept is embraced, it’s much more of a patchwork.
“Most organizations will espouse some interest in [emotional intelligence] — some do it well, some don’t,” Dr Goleman says.
He says while “I think at [an executive level]many people have the luxury of being coached [on emotional intelligence],” training is not widespread outside executive roles.
It’s a point backed up by Mr Khadikar.
“[In our study] we actually found that only about 17 per cent of organizations conduct emotional intelligence training for their non-supervisory employees and only about 32 per cent do so for the middle management employees,” he says.
And Dr Goleman says at worst, some organizations only pay lip service to the idea: Promoting EI but not practicing it.
“It’s the same as with ‘greenwashing,’ where a company or a spokesperson for a company will say, ‘yes, we do this, we advocate emotional intelligence’ … But if you look at their current track record, you realize it’s BS, it’s not true.”
EI in a post-COVID workplace
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional workplaces and as cases spike around Australia, some employers are advising their staff to work from home once again.
So what does emotional intelligence look like in a workplace connected through Teams or Zoom? Or more broadly, in increasingly digitized and fragmented professional environments?
Dr Goleman says workplaces need to make sure one-on-one time still exists, as our emotional wellbeing can take a battering if we’re all totally isolated from one another.
“But one-on-one can be digital too. The idea is that it’s personal, you’re talking to the person about themselves, not just about the task at hand, which tends to happen in group calls,” he says.
“So I think that it’s important to balance the isolation, the specialization that can go on in digital media, with having person-to-person [time] that’s in person or online.”
How do you improve your emotional intelligence?
Dr Goleman says we can all improve our emotional intelligence.
“It’s really about habit change,” he says.
He says the most prevalent manifestation of low emotional intelligence in the workplace is poor listening, so, for example, interrupting people or taking over a conversation too soon.
“If you want to change that, that’s a habit. You’ve practiced it thousands of times.”
Dr Goleman says: “First of all, be mindful that this is a moment I can change. Second, you have to have a different repertoire — a new habit to replace it with. [Then] practice that at every naturally occurring opportunity.”
“When you do that kind of learning, it changes the brain, the circuitry for that behavioral sequence, it takes on the new habit, and you do it automatically after a while,” he says.
“It does take a little work, it takes a little persistence, but our data shows it’s very possible.”
RN in your inbox
Get more stories that go beyond the news cycle with our weekly newsletter.
The days of the classic plastic SIM card are numbered, as more and more providers and hardware manufacturers are delivering their services via the eSIM. But what is this “embedded Subscriber Identity Module,” or eSIM for short? NextPit explains how it works and what are its advantages. Read everything you need to know about the type of smartphones, tablets, and wearables that are eSIM-enabled and how to order and activate an eSIM as well as manage the eSIM profiles that accompany it.
Jump to:
What does eSIM stand for and what is it good for?
The “embedded” SIM aka eSIM is smaller than a nano-SIM and is permanently installed in the device. Unlike a conventional SIM card, it cannot be removed, but can be overwritten via software. The eSIM is therefore excellent for devices that are particularly small, such as smartwatches.
You can also be more flexible and independent with an eSIM. No longer do you need to waste any more time by waiting for your new SIM card to arrive in the mail. You can switch between different plans in an instant: the moment you have the new activation code, you can activate it and take advantage of the new rate. This can sometimes be done within minutes.
Roaming charges are also no longer a nuisance, since you can easily switch to another provider when you are abroad. Of course, the eSIM is also more sustainable: nothing has to be made for you out of plastic and sent by mail. This also goes for the SIM card tool that always miraculously disappears into thin air, at least in the author’s household, as it is now obsolete with the eSIM.
Which smartphones and devices use eSIM?
Even three years after the eSIM specification was launched to great success, we still encounter only a handful of eSIM-enabled smartphones. That is hardly surprising, though. The eSIM tends to showcase its advantages each time small form factors are in demand. Therefore, it is unsurprising that wearables like smartwatches were some of the first few devices in the consumer electronics market to use the eSIM.
Smartphones with eSIM
SIM-enabled smartphones offer an eSIM in addition to the slot for the plastic SIM card. With some devices, you can use the smartphone as a de facto dual-SIM device, where both SIM “cards” remain active while running in parallel. This hybrid solution is considered a good compromise that will help customers make the gentle transition to the new SIM system.
Normally, only one active eSIM is possible on the smartphone. Apple has already made headway here and allows you to activate two eSIMs simultaneously with the iPhone 13 Pro.
Manzana
Google
Samsung
Samsung has so far resisted from making budget-friendly models that are eSIM-capable. So far, this feature has only appeared in its flagship series.
Apple has also decided to introduce the eSIM into its tablet family. The manufacturer once used the “Apple SIM” once; a proprietary variant that did not conform to the eSIM specification.
Manzana
Wearables with eSIM
One of the forerunners in the mobile device market that featured an eSIM was the Samsung Gear S2 Classic 3G that plays nice with the GSMA standard. Since 2016, things have changed and the selection has grown rather impressively. Quite a few other wearables have an eSIM today. However, this is often sold as a fixed connection to a provider and thus does not comply with the eSIM standard. There does not seem to be any aggressive marketing done by carriers in the US to promote the use of eSIM despite supporting it.
In the meantime, there does seem to be indicators that eSIM will become more and more popular in the years to come, mainly thanks to the proliferation of IoT devices in the home in which eSIM makes a whole lot of sense. There aren’t too many players in the US that offer eSIM, where they are mainly confined to the following:
Are you looking for a new mobile plan in general? We can help you! You can find out which rates are worthwhile in the following NextPit rate overviews. You can also find out what to look out for when signing up for a monthly plan in our best mobile plan guide.
Order, activate, set up eSIM
You were privy to the different eSIM providers above with hyperlinks to their respective sites, offering updated information on what you will be getting with the service. Normally, you can simply sign up for a plan via an app or by scanning a QR code and your number will then be activated after a few minutes. Alternatively, you can also call the telephone hotline of virtually all service providers.
Finally, there are differences in the costs of the eSIM: Certain customers might not be required to pay any more additional costs for the eSIM, while other service providers do hit you with a monthly charge. As for the minimum contract period, that also depends on the individual plan that you have selected, while one-time fees are not unheard of, either.
In order to activate an eSIM, please also check the pages of your provider, since the procedure differs depending on the provider. Some might require you to do something as simple as scanning a QR code, picking a profile, and keying in the security PIN and you are good to go!
Sometimes you will also be asked for the eID of your device. You can find the eID under Settings in the device information of the eSIM device or directly on the packaging.
Manage, transfer, delete eSIM profiles
Once it has been set up, an eSIM profile is permanently stored in your device. If you want to use a different one when traveling, you can simply deactivate your home profile temporarily. Currently, manufacturers and mobile operators have not yet exploited all possibilities of the eSIM. In theory, you could download profiles, which are similar to apps from the Play Store, and change these profiles as and when required.
Unfortunately, you cannot transfer eSIM profiles to another device once they have been activated. If you change the smartwatch or smartphone, you have to order a new profile from the provider. This is usually performed free of charge. However, some providers do charge subscribers with a fee for this process.
The eSIM also cannot be physically removed from the device without destroying it. This carries both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that stolen smartphones can be tracked longer by you and the police using the eSIM. The disadvantage is that you have to delete the eSIM profile before selling your smartphone, and of course, you will need a new profile or a classic SIM card for the new smartphone.
Watching a man clean the remnants of a devastating flood from his home was a sobering moment for actor and producer Rachel Griffiths.
Key points:
Griffiths is presenting a new art ABC art series called Great Southern Landscapes
The first episode takes her to the Hawkesbury River where residents are doing their third flood clean-up in 12 months
The series will premiere on the ABC at 8pm on August 9
She was traveling across Australia filming earlier this year when a painting by Arthur Streeton drew her to the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales.
Griffiths was met by a community recovering from their third flood in 12 months.
“Standing with a guy who’s pressure washing his house for the third time and feeling deeply connected to a place he isn’t sure he has the ability to deal with or accept nature’s fury — that was one of our deeply moving times,” Griffiths said .
She never imagined that local Rohan Smith who she interviewed would be doing a fourth clean-up just weeks later.
Griffiths has come away with a heightened appreciation of the harsh realities of Australian landscapes.
Life after lockdowns
Presenting the new ABC art series Great Southern Landscapes, she has taken a deep dive into some of Australia’s most iconic landscape paintings and hopes the prime-time series will inspire wanderlust for our own backyard.
Darug woman Erin Wilkins takes Griffiths down the Hawkesbury River to share about its history.(ABC: Great Southern Landscapes)
The Melbourne-based actor and producer came out of pandemic lockdowns hungry to explore the natural beauty and she’s done so through the eyes of some of our greatest artists.
An art-lover herself, Griffiths wasn’t disappointed.
“It was wonderful to fly across the great breadth of the country after the borders opened and I think what I really loved hearing was how people outside of Melbourne experienced the past few years,” Griffiths said.
The six episodes capture the devastation of recent flooding, the cultural significance of the landscapes and the painful history that has played out.
Lake Eyre in South Australia, Western Australia’s Exmouth and Cottesloe Beach, and Warrnambool in Victoria are some of the backdrops to feature in the 30-minute episodes filmed from February to July.
Griffiths cherishes the time she spent exploring the landscapes that surrounded Albert Namatjira, a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art.
Melbourne-based Griffiths was keen to explore Australia when the borders opened. (ABC: Great Southern Landscapes)
In one episode, she will take viewers to Namatjira’s house at Hermannsburg in the Northern Territory to hear about how pivotal he was in sharing knowledge of country and inspiring other artists to do the same.
It’s in her blood
Griffiths herself grew up inspired by artists from all walks of life.
She had a passion for art through school and trailed her mother Anna Griffiths around galleries.
“For me it’s part of my day-to-day language because I’m the daughter of an artist and I’m married to an artist and I’m a performing artist,” Griffiths said.
Her love of landscapes is reflected in the films that have captivated the actor.
Griffiths described mystery film Picnic at Hanging Rock as formative for her, fascinated by the idea that the landscape could be a place that could eat girls.
“I think what put Australian filmmaking on the map was our cinematographers and our directors before our writers,” she said.
“Whether it’s Baz Luhrmann’s Sydney in Strictly Ballroom to Tracks, I think our filmmakers have always sought to do justice to the incredible views that we have.”
Griffiths has loved art her whole life. (ABC: Great Southern Landscapes)
She hopes Great Southern Landscapes will also do justice to our country’s precious natural environment, just as the featured artists have done.
Griffiths said it would be great to give ABC viewers some inspiration to see what their own backyard has to offer.
“I hope to inspire people when they do go to that viewing spot — rather than get out of the car, run over, take a selfie and fall off a cliff — you actually Google who was here, whose land you are on and what stories were here,” she said.
“And you understand the place in a slightly deeper way than just the five-minute Instagram.
“The purpose of a view should not just be for an Instagram post but to really have an understanding of our European history and the 60,000 years before we arrived of what these places were.”
What’s next?
Aside from the series set to premiere at 8pm on August 9, Griffiths has her fingers in several feet which are yet to be revealed.
She has a string of awards behind her including for her roles in Muriel’s Wedding and Six Feet Under.
The Melbourne actor said she was “on hold” for a role in a big US show and was waiting to find out more.
She is also the co-creator and executive producer in a few shows which she is pitching internationally to various streamers.
The Boston Celtics have been down this road before with Jaylen Brown, most tellingly after the 2018 playoffs — when Brown could have been the centerpiece in a trade with the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard.
The Celtics were coming off a run to Game 7 of the conference finals. Four of their top six in postseason minutes were 23 or younger: Brown, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Terry Rozier. Two prime-aged stars — Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward — were set to return from injury the next season.
The Celtics decided they were good enough that they didn’t need to compromise their future to boost their present with Leonard.
But the exuberance about Boston’s young core coming within one win of the Finals blurred analysis of its broader postseason run. A lot of us zoomed past Boston coming within one lose of bowing out in the first round to an untested Milwaukee Bucks team. In between, the Celtics upended the young Philadelphia 76ers in a five-game win more ragged than convincing.
We know what happened next: The 2019 Celtics imploded, Irving and Hayward left, and the Lakers beat out Boston for Anthony Davis. Suddenly, the notion that Boston had been set up to contend for a decade seemed quaint. to decade? Ha. Next season is promised to no one.
Three years later, the Celtics have reached out about Kevin Durant, according to initial reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Brown would be the obvious centerpiece in any such trade.
These Celtics came within two games of the championship — three wins and one round further than in 2018. They appeared to solve whatever chemistry problems they had early last season. They loaded up on depth, playmaking, and shooting with Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari. They might be the championship favorite now. Why should a team so good trade a 25-year-old All-Star for a 33-year-old megastar who has played 90 games in three seasons and seems to grow unhappy, fast, wherever he goes?
“Give me back my slogan,” veteran broadcaster Phillip Adams says, after a somewhat sweary rant about Qantas.
The man who is now known as the voice of ABC radio’s Late Night Live was once an advertising guy, with a client who was one of the world’s oldest airlines.
“I got the account,” he says, “by proffering the ‘Spirit of Australia’ as a blood sacrifice.
“I suggested that it would be the perfect slogan, and at the time it was apposite. I had fond memories, going back to the evacuation of Darwin.”
The Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services – the world’s third oldest airline – has long held a special place in the hearts of Australians, thanks to its reputation for safety and efficiency, and the emotional appeal of its advertising over many years.
But within a few short months travelers have savagely turned on the airline as Qantas struggles with the legacy of the pandemic and the results of its corporate decision-making.
When Australia closed its borders to most travelers during Covid – including its own citizens in some cases – Qantas got rid of thousands of staff, including baggage handlers, and outsourced the work.
Now the news and social media are filled with horror stories from irate passengers whose bags have gone missing, who are stuck in eternal security queues, or who have been stranded when flights have been cancelled.
hey @Qantas you left like 50% of flight QF157 from Melbourne to Auckland’s luggage somewhere and I would love to know where my bag is or the status of it’s return? I’ve called the Menzies Aviation like you said to but it seems like the message bank is full…
@G_Parker our flight out of Broome was canceled Friday 15th July. Sat on the plane from 7pm to 11pm then we’re told to disembark, no accommodation offerings, qantas staff left and terminal was closed. 200+ people left to fend for themselves after 11pm at night.
In June, Qantas had the highest flight cancellation rate of any Australian airline and – along with its budget sibling Jetstar – the lowest rate of on-time arrivals and departures.
In Adelaide this week, security scanners were on the blink, and bags were wantonly swapped between lines. In Canberra, people were hustled to gates, then turned around and sat away.
For some it has been inconvenient and frustrating, but for others the problems at Qantas have had serious financial and career consequences.
The Melbourne metal band Thornhill set off on a 30-stop tour of the US earlier this month.
The band landed after a long flight from Perth via Sydney.
Their luggage didn’t.
Guitarist Matt van Duppen says at first it was just confusing, but confusion gave way to anger when Qantas didn’t help, until they went public on Twitter and television. They had to cancel shows, cop the financial hit, and leave their fans in the lurch as they tried to track down their kit.
“They lost all the gear,” Van Duppen says. “Our amps, our guitars, drum stuff, all our electronics, the stuff to power our ear monitors.
“No one on the phone could tell us where the bags were. We couldn’t play the first two shows, and we were very close to not playing the third.”
Van Duppen is in San Francisco when Guardian Australia talks to him. He’s sunny, but not sanguine.
The band lost income in show fees and merchandise sales, after already paying double the price for the latest trip compared to the last.
“Qantas dropped the ball,” he says. “It’s a kick in the guts.”
Qantas is far from the only player in the airline industry struggling in the current conditions, which include factors well beyond its control, such as the sky-high cost of jet fuel caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But senior management, and above all the high-profile chief executive, Alan Joyce, have come in for savage criticism.
7.50am @qantas Melbourne Canberra flight leaves at 9.10am. What a surprise. New Aussie slang for late flights & lost bags. “Joyed” “I’ll be late to the meeting my flight was Joyced”. “I’ll need to buy some clothes- my bags got Joyced”.#auspol
The head of the construction union, Dave Noonan, coined the term “Joyced”, for when things go wrong at Qantas, but he is far from alone in highlighting management’s responsibility.
Qantas picked up $2bn in taxpayer funds during Covid, and delivered first class bonuses to executives, while pilots and engineers are fighting for higher pay.
But regardless of exactly what has gone so wrong to trash the reputation of a national icon in such a short space of time, it faces an uphill battle to regain the trust of the Australian public. Can the Qantas brand be fixed?
‘There’s a lot of attachments’
Qantas has never been shy about trading on its history as an aviation pioneer in the outback, and its periodic contributions amid national crises.
Born in 1920, it initially ferried mail as well as people, and for a while operated as a flying doctor service.
By the second world war, it was moving supplies and troops, and evacuating people from danger zones.
In 1974, a Qantas Boeing 747 evacuated 674 people from Darwin in the wake of Cyclone Tracy, and in 2002 Qantas plans brought the wounded home after the Bali bombings.
The airline’s reputation for safety was cemented by the 1998 film Rain Man (famously never shown on Qantas flights), in which Dustin Hoffman’s character Raymond notes that “Qantas never crashed”.
The national airline inspired deep, patriotic, loyal devotion, which helps to explain the sense of hurt, even betrayal, in reaction to its recent troubles.
Because it’s Qantas. The Spirit of Australia. Qantas is choirs singing in the outback. It’s the Flying Kangaroo. It’s Kylie and Hugh and calling Australia home.
In the middle of 2021, when people were deeply exhausted by the pandemic but optimistic that some sort of end was in sight, Qantas put out a true-to-brand tearjerker advertisement.
There’ll be meetings and holidays and maskless hugs and overseas weddings, it promised, if everyone got vaccinated.
“I had a dream that I’d just fly away,” Tones and I crooned. “Someday we’ll all be together once more”, Qantas promised.
“There’s so much emotion,” Chris Baumann, an associate professor at Macquarie University, says.
“People remember Qantas from their childhood. There’s a lot of attachment.”
Baumann, an economist and course director of the university’s bachelor of marketing and media course, says there is a century of “brand equity” in Qantas.
That buildup of fondness and high expectations means that, when Qantas fails, it hits hard. Baumann says when people are flying Jetstar, they’re just happy to get a free coffee. But the bar is much higher with the national carrier. When it fails, they don’t just feel disappointed; they feel betrayed.
“With these issues with the luggage, with flights being canceled… passengers will be forgiving if it’s the weather,” he says.
“But if they think it’s at least in part due to mismanagement, they blame the brand that they know.”
That historical equity, he says, also means it will all even out.
“People are upset at the moment,” but have short-term memories, he says. “In six months they’ll book again.”
Sitting in @Qantas lounge in Melbourne now. Plans being delayed and canceled and temperatures are certainly peaking in here….not the best of months for the brand! #CustomerService
Consumer psychologist Adam Ferrier – who has worked for Jetstar – agrees that the current woes are a “blip”.
“The amazing thing about strong brands is how little the short term matters,” he says.
Social media allows individual complaints to be elevated, then amplified by traditional media, he says, but that’s not reflective of the broader sentiment.
“There are years of emotional investment [in Qantas],” he says. “The current public relations issues Qantas is having are built off 100-plus years of being a really strong brand… this is a blip in the consumer psyche.”
Qantas apologized to travelers this week. In an interview on the Sydney radio station 2GB, senior manager Andrew David acknowledged the airline had let customers down.
“We are the national carrier – people have high expectations of us, we have high expectations of ourselves – and clearly over the last few months we have not been delivering what we did pre-Covid,” he said.
In a separate statement earlier this month, he said some criticism was fair, but some of the problems were global.
Restarting the airline after it was grounded by the pandemic was complex, he said. A tight labor market and rising Covid cases were the headwinds, not the baggage handler outsourcing. Qantas was now recruiting staff and cutting flights.
“Given Covid and flu will be ongoing, there will be a few more bumps along the way,” he said.
“But over the weeks and months ahead, flying will get back to being as smooth as it used to be.”
Phillip Adams wants his slogan back. Customers want their bags back.
Qantas wants its reputation back, and only time will tell where it will land.
There’s a chance the identity of the winner of the $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot will never be known — thanks to an Illinois law allowing people who score more than $250,000 to keep their names secret.
The winning ticket to the mind-boggling fortune was sold at the Speedy Cafe Speedway gas station in Des Plaines, lottery officials have said.
No one has come forward yet to claim the massive prize — with lotto officials saying it’s not even clear whether the winner was an individual or pool.
Illinois is one of a few states that allow lotto winners the option of anonymity.
Some other states offer some form of lotto anonymity, including New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming, according to a list compiled by Fox News.
But in New York, winners should expect to be required to attend a public announcement or press event, according to the state lottery’s website.
While Illinois winners have the option of staying anonymous, New York lotto winners don’t have that luxury.OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images
“The New York Lottery is a government agency and Lottery prizes are public funds, so we owe it to all our players to disclose the names of winners,” the site says.
Still, lotto anonymity has gained momentum in recent years, including in New York, where a proposal was passed the state legislature in 2019 before being vetoed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo’s 2019 veto message advised winners who wish to try to keep their identity hidden to create an LLC to collect the winnings on their behalf.
The winner of the all-time high ticket — for $1.537 billion, purchased in South Carolina in 2018 — has yet to be revealed.
PlayStation division operating income has been nearly cut in half due to unfavorable market conditions and increased game development spending.
VIEW GALLERY – 10 PICTURES
Sony’s recent Fiscal Year Q1’22 results show sharp declines in its billion-dollar gaming segment and highlight the tumultuous market that could inhibit consistent growth. Games & Network Services, which includes the mighty PlayStation brand, saw substantial drops in both total sales revenues when converted from yen to USD based on foreign exchange market rates provided by the company.
According to the data, PlayStation net sales revenues dropped to $4.67 billion in Q1’22, a decline of $890 million or 17% year-over-year.
Operating income in Q1’22 was $408 million, representing a year-over-year drop of $52 million or 46%.
There’s multiple causes for these drops. Tough competition from the previous year is a big one. as we explained with Capcom’s results, which also dropped by 50%, Sony had set a high water mark in FY20 and FY21 due to coronavirus spending boons as consumers sheltered in place, alongside more favorable conversion rates. Consumers are also being hit with inflation and are apparently spending less money on–and in–video games.
Sony says that first-party and third-party game sales declined in Q1’22, as reflected by the hard data provided by the company. First-party games were down 4.1 million units, and third-party games were down 12.4 million units.
Microtransaction spending in PlayStation’s Add-Ons segment was also down by nearly half a billion dollars year-over-year. Add-Ons make the lion’s share of PlayStation revenues every quarter/year due to the sheer volume of microtransaction spending opportunities in heavy-hitting, mega-popular F2P games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Warzone.
Revenue from video game sales and add-on content has also dropped 27% to $2.33 billion, but hardware sales are up 13% year-over-year to $1.04 billion, reflecting the strong adoption rate of the PlayStation 5 as well as Sony’s improved profit margins on each console sold.
Unfavorable exchange rates have primarily affected PlayStation’s USD conversions. Yen to USD exchange rates went from 109.5 in Q1’21 to a whopping 129.4 in Q1’22, representing 18% increase in USD value when compared to yen. The US dollar has more buying power in Japan during the comparative period.
Sony is also spending more money on games development and acquisitions. The company is readying a bunch of live games and wants to release 12 live service titles by 2025. It also recently purchased Haven, a new studio led by Assassin’s Creed vet Jade Raymond, and Bungie, the developer of Destiny and legacy Halo games.
Below we also have data on Sony’s growing Other segment, which includes PC game revenues, and Network Services, which includes PlayStation Plus.
