News Corp and Fairfax need to take notice of Robert Gottliebsen

Original article by Michele Levine, Gary Morgan, Julian McCrann, Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Aug-17

Last week the Roy Morgan State of the Nation Media Report showed clearly that although traditional media face considerable challenges, their core product is not broken. In an age of "Fake News" a clear opportunity is available for established media players to exploit the huge "trust" advantages they hold over social media. Many newspaper and magazine publishers have large audiences still engaged with their publications. Advertisers will use "print" as it is a "trusted" media – the print media needs to aggressively "challenge" advertisers using solely digital platforms such as Google and Facebook with now almost 50% of the advertising dollar.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Thousands to get refunds after NBN overcharging

Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 21-Aug-17

Optus may look to refund customers who signed up for national broadband network (NBN) packages that offered internet speeds that could not be delivered. Telstra made a similar announcement in May, stating that almost 8,000 customers would get refunds. Optus has criticised the $A49 billion NBN project over the high cost of bandwidth, stating that this is making it difficult for it to offer high-speed internet access to some of its customers.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NBN CO LIMITED

APRA refines ‘serviceability’ rules for loans

Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 21-Aug-17

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has directed banks such as Westpac to be more rigorous when it comes to assessing the ability of borrowers to service their loans. Westpac will introduce new measures in this regard from 21 August, with further measures to be adopted in September. APRA’s move on loan serviceability is the latest in a number of measures by it and other regulators aimed at ensuring that borrowers are not taking on too debt and are in a position to repay loans.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Jacinda Ardern’s ascension to leadership revitalises Labour, up 2% to 32.5%; Turei scandal costs Greens support, down 4.5% to 9%

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 21-Aug-17

A New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention has found that support for the incumbent National Party has fallen by 0.5% to 42.5% in mid-August 2017. Support for the Labour Party has risen 2% to 32.5%, while support for a potential Labour/Greens alliance has fallen 2.5% to 41.5%. The Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating has fallen 0.5pts to 139pts. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says new Labour Leader Jacinda Ardern stands a very real chance of toppling incumbent Prime Minister Bill English, but it will likely be with the support of Winston Peters and his New Zealand First party, whose recent increases in support make it ever more likely that Peters will get to decide who emerges as PM after next month’s election.

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NATIONAL PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, LABOUR PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), GREEN PARTY OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, THE MAORI PARTY, UNITED FUTURE PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), NEW ZEALAND FIRST PARTY, ACT NEW ZEALAND, INTERNET PARTY, MANA PARTY

Village to sue hundreds of Aussies for piracy

Original article by John Davidson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 21-Aug-17

Village Roadshow intends to pursue legal action against Australians who download illegal copies of films and TV shows. Co-CEO Graham Burke says the film producer will only seek to recover the loss of revenue as a result of the piracy, as well as costs, rather than the huge damages payouts that had been initially been awarded for copyright violation in the US. The Federal Court recently ruled that local ISPs must block access to an additional 42 websites that provide access to pirated content.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, CREATIVE CONTENT AUSTRALIA, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, IPRIMUS

Shorten no to British citizenship proof calls

Original article by Rosie Lewis, Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Aug-17

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says dual citizenship is not an issue for any Australian Labor Party MPs, adding that they should not have to provide documented evidence that they are solely Australian citizens. Shorten himself was a British citizen by descent, but he stresses that he relinquished his British citizenship a year before being elected to Parliament in 2007. However, he has declined to supply proof of this. Meanwhile, the Government claims that several Labor MPs could be dual citizens.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Norris supports Comyn for CBA

Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 17 & 18 : 21-Aug-17

Former Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO Ralph Norris favours appointing an internal candidate to succeed incumbent Ian Narev. Norris argues that there is less risk associated with an internal appointment, despite calls from some analysts for CBA to recruit someone from outside the bank in order to pursue cultural change in the wake of the money-laundering scandal. Norris favours appointing the head of CBA’s retail banking division, Matt Comyn, to succeed Narev.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC

Reporting season needs a real kick-along

Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 21-Aug-17

To date some 76 companies in the S&P/ASX 200 companies have released their financial results so far in the August reporting season. Just 20 per cent of stocks to have issued guidance for 2017-18 have upgraded their earnings-per-share forecast. Blue-chip stocks such as Qantas and BHP Billiton will need to deliver solid earnings results in the next two weeks in order to bolster investor sentiment and boost the benchmark index. A major issue during the current reporting season has been the dearth of companies to have exceeded expectations.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MACQUARIE WEALTH MANAGEMENT, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, JANUS HENDERSON GROUP PLC – ASX JHG, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC – ASX JHX, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF, KOGAN.COM LIMITED – ASX KGN, THE A2 MILK COMPANY LIMITED – ASX A2M

News Corp picks merger deal over Ten

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 21-Aug-17

News Corp will increase its stake in Foxtel from 50 per cent to 65 per cent if a proposed merger between the pay-TV group and Fox Sports proceeds. This would make it harder for the joint venture between Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon to acquire the Ten Network, given that Murdoch is co-chairman of News Corp and the owner of Nova Entertainment. Murdoch and Gordon are said to have submitted a conditional bid for Ten, but they may be thwarted by the Federal Government’s failure to pass its media reform bill in the Senate. Offers to acquire Ten had to be submitted by 18 August.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL GROUP LLC, SKY NEWS, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, HT&E LIMITED – ASX HT1, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD, BIRKETU PTY LTD, ILLYRIA NOMINEES TELEVISION PTY LTD, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD

Nick of time: negotiations stalling reform

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 : 21-Aug-17

Senator Nick Xenophon remains hopeful that the Federal Government will agree to provide tax breaks for small media companies in return for supporting its cross-media ownership reforms. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has indicated that it would be inappropriate to extend such tax breaks to foreign-owned publications. The latest stalemate means that the media reform package will not be debated in the Senate for at least another two weeks.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, PRIVATE MEDIA PARTNERS PTY LTD, SCHWARTZ MEDIA PTY LTD, THE GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA