Author: roymorgansocial

Cricket chiefs look to post a big score

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 19 : 14-Nov-22

Sources have indicated that Cricket Australia was "underwhelmed" by the initial ­offers for the next broadcasting rights deal and has asked broadcasters to make new submissions. Seven West Media and Foxtel paid $1.18bn for the current rights deal, which expires in two years’ time. Seven and Nine Entertainment are believed to have offered around $50m per year solely for Test match rights, while Ten and Foxtel are said to have pitched for the rights to all international and domestic matches. CA’s negotiations with broadcasters follows Nine’s recent renewal of its rights deal with Tennis Australia in a new five-year deal worth a record $425m.

CORPORATES
CRICKET AUSTRALIA, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Covid waves here for a decade or so

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Original article by Rhiannon Down
The Australian – Page: 5 : 14-Nov-22

More than 54,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported across Australia in the last week; some 975 people are currently in hospital with the respiratory illness, including 32 in intensive care. Infectious diseases expert Peter Collignon has downplayed concerns about the new wave of cases, arguing that the key metrics of hospitalisations and deaths are much lower than in previous waves. He adds that new variants of COVID-19 are likely to emerge for the next 5-10 years. Meanwhile, epidemiologists say the arrival of the Majestic Princess cruise ship in Sydney with 800 Covid-positive passengers is unlikely to have much impact on Australia’s fourth wave of cases.

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Streaming services come to the rescue of local TV drama

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Original article by Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 14-Nov-22

Data from Screen Australia shows that pay-TV and subscription streaming services spent $445m on producing Australian drama in 2021-22. In contrast, the nation’s free-to-air broadcasters invested just $208m in local dramas during the last financial year. Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason says streaming services are producing more Australian drama because they know local audiences want to see Australian stories on the screen. However, Mason advocates imposing local content quotas on international streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+.

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SCREEN AUSTRALIA, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, DISNEY+

‘Stuck in a rut’: Diversity rules to be overhauled in major media reform

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Age – Page: Online : 14-Nov-22

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland is to ask the Australian Communications and Media Authority to review current rules that measure and determine the diversity of Australia’s media, with a view to having them revamped. Rowland will tell the Communications and Media Law Association Seminar on 4 November that media policy had been "stuck in a rut" under the previous government, while any change to the way that media diversity is measured could have a big impact on the way that media companies approach further consolidation in the future.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA LAW ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Economic turmoil to weigh on M&A: Goldman

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 15 : 14-Nov-22

Mark Sorrell of investment bank Goldman Sachs believes that global merger and acquisition activity will remain subdued until at least 2024. He notes that until recently, there had been widespread expectations that sentiment toward M&A deals would improve in the second half of 2023, but factors such as geopolitical tensions and aggressive interest rate increases have pushed back the likely time-frame for any rebound. Data from Refinitiv shows that there has been a 60 per cent decline in announced deals involving Australian companies in 2022, compared with the same time in 2021.

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THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, REFINITIV AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

PM breaks ice with China

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Original article by Ben Packham, Amanda Hodge
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 14-Nov-22

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese briefly spoke with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the East Asia Summit’s gala dinner on Saturday night. It was the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of the two nations in three years, and Albanese says the four-minute conversation focused on the upcoming 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and China. Albanese also had an unscheduled 40-minute meeting with US President Joe Biden on the final day of the summit on Sunday; they discussed issues such as the AUKUS alliance and climate change, and Albanese invited Biden to address a joint sitting of parliament in 2023 when he visits Australia for a meeting of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue nations. Albanese hopes to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, EAST ASIA SUMMIT, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)

NAB is the most trusted agribusiness bank among farmers, followed by Rural Bank and Rabobank

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Nov-22

A special Roy Morgan Agribusiness Brand Trust Survey of Australian farmers measured trust and distrust in the nation’s agricultural sector. National Australia Bank has emerged as the most trusted bank in the agribusiness sector in 2022, with farmers commending NAB for maintaining good relationships with farmers, for their reliability, good service and high standards. Farmers also trusted Rural Bank and Rabobank for their commitment to customer relationships, as well as their good service and reliability. Trust towards individual agribusiness banks varied by farmer demographics, with Rural Bank and Rabobank receiving high trust scores among Victorian farmers, while ANZ was most trusted in South Australia. Dairy farmers were more trusting of agribusiness banks overall, with all six banks measured in the survey recording higher Net Trust Scores among this group of farmers. Rural Bank and Rabobank were more trusted among wool farmers. The results of the Roy Morgan Farmer Agribusiness Brand Trust Survey Report are based on detailed interviews with 1,230 Australian farmers conducted during June and July 2022.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RURAL BANK LIMITED, RABOBANK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Call for energy ministers to agree to gas price cap at 30% of current market offers

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Original article by Peter Hannam
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 28-Oct-22

Federal and state energy minister will meet in Melbourne on Friday, in the wake of the budget forecast of big increases in electricity and gas prices. Energy Users Association of Australia CEO Andrew Richards has called for gas prices to be capped in response to the energy crisis that has been driven by the invasion of Ukraine. He notes that some industrial users are being offered contracts for gas at about $35 per gigajoule. This compares with about $10 per gigajoule just over a year ago, and Richards contends that capping prices at around this level would be "pretty fair and reasonable" for manufacturers and gas producers alike.

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ENERGY USERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

Nuclear energy must be part of the conversation

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 17 : 28-Oct-22

BHP’s chief technical officer Laura Tyler has told a business forum that Australia needs to consider adding nuclear power to the nation’s energy mix. She has highlighted the potential for nuclear energy to provide baseload power, but acknowledged that Australia is still "having the conversation" about nuclear at a political level. Meanwhile, Zen Energy chairman Raymond Spencer cautioned against government over-intervention in energy markets, in the wake of the Victorian government’s plans to directly invest in renewable energy.

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BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ZEN ENERGY PTY LTD

Melbourne Institute & Roy Morgan – Taking The Pulse of the Nation: Long COVID linked to mental distress, unemployment and is affecting more women than men

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Oct-22

Several large-scale studies are attempting to measure the prevalence of long COVID in the population and its long-term impact. In this TTPN report, we examine the association between long COVID and mental distress and employment. The proportion of the Australian population who have ever tested positive for COVID-19 increased dramatically from 15.1% in March 2022 to 48.9% in September 2022, following the winter peak in COVID cases. Of those who tested positive, 15.5% reported that their symptoms lasted for more than one month; 6% of those testing positive reported symptoms lasting for 3 months or more. Long COVID affects a large proportion of the population who can have severe symptoms not usually associated with having a cold or the flu. These symptoms are associated with high levels of mental distress and unemployment, affect women more than men, and across all age groups, especially those aged between 50 to 69. Having a booster is the best long-term defence against the effects of COVID, yet rates of booster vaccinations remain dangerously low and immunity is waning. The Australian government needs to significantly increase booster shots using the best evidence on how to do this successfully. This report is based on a total of 1,013 respondents from data collected in September 2022. Visit the Melbourne Institute Taking the Pulse of the Nation web portal for further information and to access interactive charts and other findings: https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/data/ttpn.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH