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Regional TV urges more deregulation

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 30-Apr-18

WIN Corporation, Prime Media and Southern Cross Austereo want the Federal Government to further relax cross-media ownership laws by scrapping the rule that a company can own just one TV broadcasting licence in a single market. This would enable regional broadcasters to merge, which Prime CEO Ian Audsley warns is crucial to the sector’s survival. He notes that the cost of buying content is rising while audiences and advertising revenue are fragmenting. Regional broadcasters have also called for the "two radio licences to a market" rule to be scrapped.

CORPORATES
WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

Wesfarmers CEO resists M&A pressure

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 27-Apr-18

Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott says he does not intend to make acquisitions just for the sake of it once the conglomerate has completed its demerger of Coles. Speaking on the release of Wesfarmers’ retail sales figures for the March quarter, he rejected rumours that it is interested in Fletcher Building. Outgoing Coles managing director John Durkan rejected claims that it had been increasing prices in an attempt to boost margins, noting that it cut the price of 500 products during the March quarter.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FLETCHER BUILDING LIMITED – ASX FBU, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Cricket Australia tunes into radio rights in wake of $1.2b TV deal

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 23-Apr-18

Cricket Australia will issue tender documents for its radio broadcasting rights in coming weeks, with a view to finalising a new deal quickly. CA officials are expected to hold talks with the ABC in coming days, while discussions have commenced with fellow cricket broadcasters Southern Cross Austereo and Macquarie Media. Sports Entertainment Network owner Crocmedia is also believed to be interested in broadcasting rights. All four broadcasters could potentially secure some rights.

CORPORATES
CRICKET AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, CROCMEDIA PTY LTD, SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK PTY LTD, TRIPLE M CORPORATION PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MACQUARIE SPORTS RADIO, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, BIG BASH LEAGUE, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

My Chemist wins pharmacy customer satisfaction again

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Apr-18

My Chemist is again the industry leader for Australian pharmacies early in 2018, with a customer satisfaction rating of 90.4% in February. It has won the Roy Morgan pharmacy customer satisfaction award for both January and February. My Chemist also won the Annual Roy Morgan Pharmacy/Chemist Customer Satisfaction Award for the first time in 2017. Close behind My Chemist in February were December 2017 monthly winner Discount Drug Stores with a customer satisfaction rating of 89.8%, rivals Priceline on 89.3% and newly-merged TerryWhite Chemmart on 89.0%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MY CHEMIST PTY LTD, DISCOUNT DRUGSTORES PTY LTD, PRICELINE PHARMACY, TERRYWHITE CHEMMART

Wilson confident she can defeat Bauer Media appeal over payout

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Original article by Broede Carmody
The Age – Page: 5 : 20-Apr-18

Bauer Media is challenging the size of its payout to actress Rebel Wilson after a Victorian jury found in 2017 that it had defamed her. Justice John Dixon awarded Wilson damages of $A4.5 million, which Bauer is now contesting in the Court of Appeal. Media is not challenging the judgment, but only the amount, which it claims is "manifestly excessive". It is also contesting Justice Dixon’s finding that Wilson should be compensated for roles she claims to have missed out on because of its actions, claiming that there was insufficient evidence on this issue.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA), FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Cricket loss not all bad for Nine

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Original article by Samantha Bailey, Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 19 : 17-Apr-18

Tennis and cricket broadcasting rights generate a loss for the Seven and Nine networks, and this is likely to continue when the sports change networks. Nine is estimated to have lost around $A50m a year from its cricket coverage, but Citigroup forecasts that its annual losses from tennis broadcasts will be within the range of $A20m to $A30m. Meanwhile, UBS forecasts that Seven will gain an increased share of advertising revenue at the expense of Nine and Ten following their loss of cricket broadcasting rights.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, CRICKET AUSTRALIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Nine hopes for early tennis break

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 16-Apr-18

The Nine Network will not broadcast any major sporting events during the 2018-19 summer after losing cricket broadcasting rights. A spokesman says the network will shortly decide on its summer schedule, and it has not ruled out approaching rival Seven about taking over tennis broadcasting rights a year ahead of schedule. Seven’s deal to acquire cricket rights in partnership with Foxtel means that it will broadcast both cricket and tennis for the next two summers, unless it strikes a deal with Nine and Tennis Australia to exit its contract early. Ten will also lack a major summer sport after losing the Big Bash League rights.

CORPORATES
NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CRICKET AUSTRALIA, TENNIS AUSTRALIA, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, CBS CORPORATION, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

New whistleblower bill unworkable

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Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 16-Apr-18

Griffith University’s Professor A.J. Brown has criticised proposed laws that aim to protect whistleblowers. He says a major flaw is that a whistleblower would essentially have to reveal themselves to be the source of information that was leaked to journalists in order to be protected by the legislation. He adds that as presently drafted, such protection would still only apply if they had gone public about an "imminent risk" of danger to public health or safety or to the financial system. Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance CEO Paul Murphy has also questioned the merits of the proposed laws.

CORPORATES
GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, SECURENCY INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD

Foxtel reacts to Facebook woes by slashing ad spend

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 13-Apr-18

Pay-TV company Foxtel will reduce the proportion of its marketing budget that is allocated to advertising on Facebook. The move follows the data breach scandal and the two-day testimony of CEO Mark Zuckerberg before the US Congress. Foxtel’s chief marketing officer Andy Lark says that Facebook is a media company rather than a technology company, and it should start acting like one. He adds that despite recent changes to Facebook’s privacy policy, the underlying problems exposed by the Cambridge Analytica scandal have not been addressed.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PRIVACY COMMISSIONER, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Fox cartel probe gets raid twist

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Original article by Nick Miller
The Age – Page: 31 : 13-Apr-18

UK lawyer Alex Haffner says raids conducted by European Commission officers on a number of media firms suggests that it suspects possible anti-competitive behaviour in regard to broadcasting rights for Dutch soccer. Companies raided include Fox Networks Group, a unit of 21st Century Fox, and Ziggo Sport, with the two firms being the main rivals for sports broadcasting in the Netherlands. Haffner, who is a sports and regulatory lawyer with London law firm Fladgate, says the EC has indicated its intention to monitor closely how rights for soccer broadcasts in Europe are tendered, and how they are won.

CORPORATES
EUROPEAN COMMISSION, FOX NETWORKS GROUP, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, ZIGGO SPORT, FLADGATE, ENDEMOL ENTERTAINMENT HOLDING NV