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NRL’s V’landys nears record NZ broadcast deal

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones, Zoe Samios
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 24-Jun-26

Sky Network Television has held the New Zealand broadcasting rights to National Rugby League matches for the last three decades. The Australian Rugby League Commission’s chairman Peter V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo recently held talks with Sky executives, and sources have indicated that the pay-TV group is close to securing a new five-year deal. However, free-to-air rival TVNZ is also believed to have submitted a bid for the NRL rights. Meanwhile, V’landys met with Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Tonagh yesterday, as the ARLC seeks to finalise the new NRL rights deal in Australia; Nine and Foxtel are the current NRL broadcasters.

CORPORATES
SKY NETWORK TELEVISION LIMITED – ASX SKT, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE COMMISSION LIMITED, TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

ARN to pay $15m to sacked shock jock

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Original article by Steve Jackson
The Australian – Page: 2 : 17-Jun-26

ARN Media has struck a deal with Kyle Sandilands to settle legal action over the termination of his contract to co-host the breakfast show on KIIS FM. The listed company has agreed to pay him $5m per annum over three years; he had been seeking $85m in compensation from ARN for ending his 10-year contract to jointly host the ‘Kyle and Jackie O’ show after not much more than a year. Sandilands had been sacked earlier in 2026 over an on-air falling-out with long-running co-host Jackie Henderson, who is in turn seeking $82m in compensation for the loss of her own contract.

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ARN MEDIA LIMITED – ASX A1N, KIIS1065

Southern Cross Media to cut at least 200 jobs

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Original article by Angelica Snowden, John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Jun-26

Sources have indicated that proposd job cuts at Southern Cross Media Group could generate cost savings of about $25m. The media company is believed to have commenced a consultation process with its staff, and the Seven West Media division – which includes the Seven Network and The West Australian – is expected to bear the brunt of the job losses. Cassie Derrick from the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance says the mooted loss of about 200 jobs highlights the growing instability facing workers in Australia’s media sector. Southern Cross CEO Rohan Lund recently identified investment in news and sport as a priority for the group.

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SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, WEST AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS HOLDINGS LIMITED, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE

V’landys lures NRL bids from Amazon, Seven

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 3-Jun-26

The Australian Rugby League Commission’s chairman Peter V’landys has previously stated that he wants the National Rugby League’s next broadcasting rights deal to be finalised by 15 July. The ARLC has confirmed that Amazon Prime Video and the Seven Network’s parent Southern Cross Media Group have submitted bids for the five-year broadcasting rights deal from 2028. Sources have indicated that both groups are seeking the rights to one match per week, while Southern Cross will also seek the State of Origin rights. Current NRL broadcasters Nine Entertainment and Foxtel will seek the rights to all matches, although anti-siphoning laws would require Foxtel to on-sell some matches to a free-to-air network.

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NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE COMMISSION LIMITED, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

China attacks Chalmers’ Northern Minerals ownership order

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Original article by Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 28-May-26

China has used an editorial in the state-backed Global Times to criticise the federal government over its decision to order Chinese-linked investors to divest their stakes in rare earths firm Northern Minerals. The editorial claimed that Australia continues to restrict Chinese investment in areas such as critical minerals and technology, while at the same time expecting China to buy its iron ore, agricultural products and natural gas. The project that Northern Minerals is behind is viewed as essential to Australia’s efforts in helping the Trump administration with its goal of trying to reduce China’s global dominance of rare earths

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NORTHERN MINERALS LIMITED – ASX NTU

CHINA – COMMERCE – AUSTRALIA]

ABC’s head of news quits, and his successor will probably be external

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 28-May-26

Justin Stevens has resigned as head of director of news and current affairs at the ABC after four years in the position, with Stevens having headed up a division with just under 2,000 staff. The decision as to who will replace him will be ABC MD Hugh Marks’ biggest decision to date, while it is likely that Stevens’ successor will come from outside the public broadcaster. Telling staff on Wednesday afternoon of his decision to leave, Stevens said the decision was both professional and personal, while the package for the role of head of director of news and current affairs, including superannuation, was $678,000 in the last financial year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

EXECUTIVES – AUSTRALIA – APPOINTMENTS AND RETIREMENTS]

Rinehart will want influence after buying into media: Ex-Fairfax chair

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 28-May-26

Roger Corbett contends it is almost certain that Gina Rinehart will express her views to how she thinks ‘The West Australian’ and Channel Seven should report the news, with both media outlets being owned by Southern Cross Media. Corbett was the chairman of Fairfax Media at a time when Rinehart was a shareholder, with the two having ‘crossed swords’ during that time, with his comments coming after it was revealed that companies associated with Rinehart, who is Australia’s richest person, had ‘bankrolled’ most of Bruce McWilliam’s $25 million stake in SCM. A former lawyer and commercial director of the Seven Network, McWilliam now owns just under 10 per cent of SCM.

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SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED,{SPACE]SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL,{SPACE]FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED

BILLIONAIRES – AUSTRALIA]

Top end of town turns to bargain brand Anko

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Original article by Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 6-May-26

Wesfarmers-owned Kmart now sells more than one billion Anko-branded items in Australia each year. Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott has told the Macquarie Australia Conference that more affluent consumers are now buying Anko products, and they are increasingly trusting the quality of the home-brand range. Scott added that Kmart’s new marketplace is "performing exceptionally" and offers more than 100,000 products. Scott noted that any additional increases in official interest rates are likely to put pressure on household budgets, although he says Wesfarmers’ core retailing businesses will perform well in such an environment.

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WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Gina Rinehart-backed Lynas Rare Earths posts record quarter

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Original article by Mark Wembridge
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 22-Apr-26

Lynas Rare Earths has advised that its sales revenue was 115 per cent higher year-on-year in the March quarter, at $265m. MD Amanda Lacaze says Lynas’s direct sales to customers helped it to sidestep the "dysfunctional" spot market. Lynas produced 3,233 tonnes of rare earths during the period, which is 69 per cent higher than previously. The average selling price across its rare earths was $84.60 a kilogram, which is 70 per cent higher than the same period in 2025. Lacaze notes that the use of renewable energy at its Mount Weld mine in Western Australia reduced its use of diesel fuel by 870,000 litres during the quarter.

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LYNAS RARE EARTHS LIMITED – ASX LYC

‘Urgent meeting’: ABC peace deal over pay on brink of collapse

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 15-Apr-26

The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has accused the ABC’s management of backing away from a key clause in the in-principle pay deal that was struck in late March and aimed at ending an industrial dispute. The clause granted automatic pay grade increases to ABC employees on band 5 of its pay scale; however, the MEAA says the ABC now claims that the clause will only apply to performance appraisals that have been completed since 2023. MEAA members wil discuss the possibility of further industrial action today, following the recent 24-hour strike that disrupted the ABC’s broadcast schedule.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE