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A numbers game: how NRL can claim it’s the most watched sport

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 8-Oct-24

Data from OzTAM shows that the NRL Grand Final on Sunday attracted a national television audience of 3.4 million. The AFL Grand Final a week earlier was watched by 4.06 million people. However, the NRL’s premiership showdown was viewed by 762,000 people via the Nine Network’s free 9Now streaming platform, compared with a streaming audience of 654,000 for the AFL season decider via the rival 7plus app. NRL CEO Andrew Abdo contends that rugby league has a larger TV audience than any other sports code in Australia. The NRL will soon begin to negotiate a new broadcasting rights deal beyond 2027.

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NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, 9NOW, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, 7PLUS, OZTAM PTY LTD

Arcadium move could cost Rio $9b: investors

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Original article by Peter Ker, Joanne Tran
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 19 : 8-Oct-24

Wilson Asset Management’s Matt Haupt is "broadly supportive" of Rio Tinto’s takeover bid for Arcadium Lithium. He argues that the target is worth more as part of a larger company than a stand-alone business. Rio Tinto confirmed the takeover approach on Monday, and emphasised that there is no certainty that the talks will result in a deal. Arcadium’s market capitalisation was about $US3.3bn ($4.85bn) on Friday. However, Rob Stein from Morningstar estimates that Arcadium is valued at around $US8.5bn, based on the sum ‘of its parts’; he adds that Rio Tinto may need to offer a control premium to reflect the synergies arising from combining the companies’ lithium projects in Argentina.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ARCADIUM LITHIUM PLC – ASX LTM, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD

Paladin’s $1.5b uranium deal slowed by national security probe

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 3-Oct-24

Paladin Energy had expected to complete a deal to acquire Toronto-listed Fission Uranium by the end of September. However, the timetable for closing the $1.5bn deal is uncertain following the Canadian government’s decision to initiate a national security review of the transaction. A Chinese state-owned entity has a 25 per cent stake in Paladin’s flagship Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia; another such company holds an 11 per cent stake in Fission and tried to block the Paladin deal.

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PALADIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX PDN, FISSION URANIUM CORPORATION

Racism at ABC systemic, new report declares

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 7 : 2-Oct-24

The ABC’s MD David Anderson says the public broadcaster’s staff will be given anti-racism training following the belated release of a racism review. The independent review was commissioned in mid-2023 and found that ABC employees from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds have been subject to systemic racism. The review has made 15 recommendations aimed at addressing the issue, while Anderson has apologised to current and former ABC employees who had been subjected to racist behaviour.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Liontown’s first shipment sets sale for China

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Original article by Chris Herde, Valerina Changarathil
The Australian – Page: 16 : 1-Oct-24

Liontown Resources has advised that the inaugural shipment of spodumene concentrate from its Kathleen Valley lithium project left the Port of Geraldton on Friday. The shipment comprised 11,855 wet metric tonnes of concentrate and is en route to China. Liontown has produced 28,000 WMT of concentrate since production at Kathleen Valley commenced several months ago. Liontown posted a loss of $64.9m for the 2023-24 financial year on Friday, following a loss of $22.2m in 2022-23.

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LIONTOWN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX LTR

ABC fields on protest coverage

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Original article by James Dowling
The Australian – Page: 2 : 1-Oct-24

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has lodged a complaint against the ABC over its coverage of Lebanon and Gaza solidarity protests in Sydney and Melbourne on Sunday. Its complaint related to multiple live crosses from the Sydney protest and an evening package covering the Melbourne rally, with the package of the Melbourne rally criticised for not telling viewers that Hezbollah is a registered terrorist organisation, or for mentioning the display of Hezbollah flags at the rally. In its response to criticism of the package covering the Melbourne rally, the ABC noted it was the third of three stories on the events in Lebanon commissioned for 7pm news bulletins, and that the earlier stories had provided full context on the conflict.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY

Billionaire Gordon closer to unlocking larger Nine stake

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 18-Sep-24

Several sources have indicated that regional broadcaster WIN Corporation is close to finalising a deal to sell Northern Rivers Television to the Ten Network. NRN broadcasts in northern NSW, and the TV station is tipped to fetch significantly less than the $55m that WIN paid for it in 2017. However, divesting NRN would allow WIN owner Bruce Gordon to increase his stake in Nine Entertainment to about 25 per cent by converting cash-settled equity swaps that are held on his behalf by Macquarie Group into shares.

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WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Bunnings boss rejects gouging claim

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Original article by James Thomson, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 17-Sep-24

National Party senator Ross Cadell has reiterated his view that the pricing policies of so-called ‘big-box’ retailers such as Bunnings should be scrutinised by a parliamentary inquiry. However, Bunnings MD Mike Schneider has responded to suggestions that the hardware giant may have engaged in price gouging and abused its market power. He notes the company’s long-running ‘lowest prices are just the beginning’ advertising slogan, arguing that Bunnings puts a lot of work and capital into ensuring that it lives up to this claim.

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BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

The future of the Murdoch empire comes down to a court in Nevada

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Original article by Jim Rutenberg
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 17-Sep-24

Edmund Gorman Jr is about to decide the future of the Murdoch family’s media empire in a courthouse in Reno in Nevada, with Gorman being a county probate commissioner. Gorman is expected to hear testimony from Rupert Murdoch and his four eldest children, with Murdoch seeking to change the terms of a ‘irrevocable’ family trust he agreed to some two decades ago. The trust gives Lachlan Murdoch and his three other siblings listed in the trust equal say over the controlling shares of the family’s companies after Rupert Murdoch’s death, but Rupert Murdoch wants Lachlan Murdoch to get full control of them.

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Northern Minerals looks beyond China saga with $48m raising

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Original article by Adrian Rauso
The West Australian – Page: Online : 17-Sep-24

Northern Minerals has raised $43m from new and existing investors via a share placement, and it will seek to raise an additional $5m via a share purchase plan. Northern Minerals has indicated that it has sufficient cash to complete the definitive feasibility study for its Browns Range heavy rare earths project in Western Australia. The company aims to make a final investment decision on the project in the first half of 2025. China dominates the heavy rare earths sector, and Northern Minerals recently attracted scrutiny after the federal government ordered several investors with links to China to reduce their stakes in the company.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN MINERALS LIMITED – ASX NTU