J57 Internet Publishing and Broadcasting

Battle for eyeballs to play out ‘within 12 months’

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 4-Jun-15

FetchTV CEO Scott Lorson estimates that up to five million Australian households could potentially take out a subscription to a streaming video service. He does not expect any of the rival groups to be able to operate at a loss for very long, and forecasts that they will succeed or fail within the next year. However, other media industry experts say the emerging sector is a long-term proposition.

CORPORATES
FETCHTV PTY LTD, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Spotify adding 60,000 Australians per week

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 1-Jun-15

Spotify estimates that about 25 per cent of Australians have used its music streaming service at some point. Spotify says it is gaining about 60,000 additional users in Australia each week, and the rate of conversion to its paid service is estimated to top 30 per cent. Spotify’s MD in Australia, Kate Vale, forecasts that some rivals will either merge or quit Australia in coming years, and she believes that the local market can sustain 3-4 players in the long-term.

CORPORATES
SPOTIFY LIMITED, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBER TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED, SONY CORPORATION, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, RDIO INCORPORATED, PANDORA MEDIA INCORPORATED, COMEDY CENTRAL, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Hey Presto: Streaming joint venture gets ACCC green light

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 18-May-15

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has approved the Presto joint venture between Seven West Media and Foxtel. Presto’s Shaun James says this will allow the partners to substantially increase the content that is available on the video streaming service. Meanwhile, Fraser McLeish of Credit Suisse expects US-based Netflix to become the leading player in Australia’s video streaming sector. He forecasts that the industry will boast revenue of $A700m by 2023.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, STAN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Telstra has no plans to charge Netflix

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 11-May-15

Telstra spokesman Steve Carey notes that video now comprises around 50 per cent of the telco’s traffic, but he says it has ruled out charges streaming video providers to access its network. Singtel Optus CEO Allan Lew recently said such fees could be an option for providing higher-quality service to companies such as Netflix. Meanwhile, Telstra is pursuing a deal with Netflix to undertake joint marketing campaigns and promotions.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN

Hockey’s $1b ‘Netflix’ tax

roymorgansocial 1 Comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 10-Apr-15

Australia’s federal and state Treasurers have struck a deal to extend the application of the GST to items costing less than $A1,000 that are bought online and sourced from offshore. This will include digital versions of books, music and films that are downloaded or streamed from offshore providers. News Corp Australia CEO Julian Clarke recently criticised foreign companies such as Netflix for failing to pay GST, arguing that it gives them an unfair advantage over local rivals in terms of pricing their products

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, EBAY INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL RETAILERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Corbett on mergers, mistakes, News

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 23-Mar-15

Fairfax Media chairman Roger Corbett has welcomed proposed changes to Australia’s cross-media ownership laws. Corbett says Fairfax is in a strong position to participate in any rationalisation of the media industry, adding that there would be significant economies of scale from Fairfax merging with a TV network. Meanwhile, Corbett has stressed that the print editions of Fairfax’s major newspapers are not under threat, and concedes that the group should have bought Carsales.com in 2006

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, CARSALES.COM LIMITED – ASX CRZ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, DOMAIN.COM.AU, AUSTEREO GROUP LIMITED

Foxtel fights back as streaming services tempt subscribers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 23-Mar-15

A Venture Consulting surveys shows that around 250,000 of Foxtel’s customers intend to cancel or reduce their pay-TV subscription and start using a video streaming service in the next three months. Foxtel CEO Richard Freudenstein is confident that the company’s subscriber base will not be unduly affected by the growth of video streaming. Foxtel has joined forces with Seven West Media to establish its own streaming service

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, VENTURE CONSULTING PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, STAN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, APPLE INCORPORATED, COMCAST CORPORATION, TIME WARNER INCORPORATED

Hockey claim for ‘substantial’ damages in Fairfax case

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Marianna Papadakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 18-Mar-15

The defamation case brought by Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey against Fairfax Media continued on 17 March 2015. Hockey is being represented by Bruce McClintock, SC, who told the court that in addition to general damages his client should receive aggravated damages. McClintock argued that the three Fairfax newspapers that published the allegedly defamatory articles should be treated separately in any assessment of general damages

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NORTH SYDNEY FORUM, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Streaming service Stan strikes deal for Telstra customers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 17-Mar-15

A Telstra spokesperson says the telco is holding talks with the video streaming joint venture of Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment Company. The special promotional offer with Stan would be restricted to selected Telstra customers, although neither party has revealed details of the deal. Stan has also secured a deal with rival telco Vodafone, while Telstra owns 50 per cent of Foxtel, which in turn has its own streaming joint venture

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, FETCHTV PTY LTD, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, M2 GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTU

Turnbull risks wrath of moguls

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White, Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 16-Mar-15

Southern Cross Media Group CEO Rhys Holleran and Fairfax Media CEO Greg Hywood are among the industry executives who support cross-media ownership reforms proposed by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. These including abolishing the reach rule and the two-out-of-three rule. However, Turnbull’s proposal to retain the anti-siphoning list for sports broadcasts has attracted criticism from Foxtel CEO Richard Freudenstein and News Corp Australia CEO Julian Clarke

CORPORATES
SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS