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Unjust ABC ‘stealing our markets’

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 2 : 1-Aug-17

Australian Associated Press CEO Bruce Davidson is the latest media industry executive to criticise the ABC’s push to gain content deals in the corporate sector. The public broadcaster recently secured a deal to replace AAP as the provider of syndicated news feeds to outdoor advertising group oOh!media. Davidson says AAP may have to retrench staff if it continues to lose contracts to the ABC. Meanwhile, One Nation has called for the ABC to increase the amount of content it produces that is aimed at regional and rural audiences.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS PTY LTD, OOH!MEDIA LIMITED – ASX OML, ONE NATION PARTY, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Lone Star joins pack tuning into Ten

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 31-Jul-17

About nine potential buyers of the Ten Network have obtained an information memorandum and signed a non-disclosure agreement. They are believed to include US private equity firm Lone Star Funds, which boasts some $US70bn ($A87.7bn) worth of assets under management. Oaktree Capital Management, hedge fund Anchorage Capital and CBS Corporation have also expressed interest in buying Ten. Indicative bids for the failed network must be submitted by late August.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, LONE STAR FUNDS, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, CBS CORPORATION, FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP LLC, ASTRO JAPAN PROPERTY GROUP – ASX AJA, AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, PPB ADVISORY, MOELIS AND COMPANY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, ILLYRIA PTY LTD, BIRKETU PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Calls to rein in ABC and SBS

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 31-Jul-17

Media industry executives have expressed concern that the ABC and SBS are increasingly competing directly with commercial rivals for content and viewers, and urged the Federal Government to step in to ensure that the public broadcasters adhere to their charters. Criticisms of the ABC and SBS include the fact that they are not subject to the same media regulations as their commercial rivals and that SBS is using taxpayers’ funds to outbid commercial networks for US content.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, MELBOURNE PRESS CLUB

MasterChef chews on a karate chop from Ninja

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 3 : 25-Jul-17

The ratings for Ten Network’s "MasterChef" grand final on 24 July will be closely scrutinised following the success of Nine Network’s "Australian Ninja Warrior". The first part of the "MasterChef" finale attracted an audience of 953,000 in the five major capital cities on 23 July, compared with a peak audience of 1.75 million for Nine’s sports reality show. The ratings success of "Australian Ninja Warrior" has also prompted the Seven Network to reschedule some programs.

CORPORATES
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, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

SBS driving up prices, says Nine

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 21-Jul-17

Nine Entertainment Company CEO Hugh Marks has told a parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s film and TV industry that the cost of buying overseas TV programs has risen due to competition from public broadcasters. He said SBS in particular is outbidding commercial networks for international content, and he has questioned the relevance of some of these programs to SBS’s charter. Meanwhile, the Ten Network has urged the Federal Government to abolish content quotas for children’s TV programs.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SCRIPPS NETWORKS INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Court orders investigation into Ten administrators

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 19-Jul-17

The Federal Court has appointed insolvency firm Ferrier Hodgson to conduct an independent review of the fees paid by Ten Network to KordaMentha in the months prior to the TV broadcaster’s collapse. The move follows concerns that KordaMentha may have a conflict of interests in its role as administrator of Ten, given that co-founder Mark Korda had been acting as an adviser to Ten’s board since late February.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, FERRIER HODGSON AND COMPANY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, ARNOLD BLOCH LEIBLER, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD

Online shoppers come out at night while malls get mauled

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 18-Jul-17

Online sales in Australia rose by more than 11 per cent in 2016, according to a new report from Australia Post. The "Inside Australian Online Shopping Report" shows that 30 per cent of online purchases comprised items from department stores and variety stores, while fashion products accounted for 22 per cent of all sales. Meanwhile, almost 33 per cent of online purchases were made between 7pm and 10pm, while residents of the Melbourne suburb of Point Cook boasted the largest growth in online purchases.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST

Harrison found liable to pay Seven’s costs

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 18-Jul-17

Seven West Media is unlikely to enforce a costs order against former employee Amber Harrison provided she complies with a non-disclosure agreement. The Supreme Court of New South Wales has ruled that Harrison must pay Seven’s legal costs on an indemnity basis. Justice John Sacker said that Seven had incurred
"unnecessary and significant legal costs" due to Harrison’s
"unreasonable" actions in pursuing legal action against the media group.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

ASIC questions Korda’s Ten role

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 19 : 18-Jul-17

The independence of KordaMentha as administrator of the Ten Network has come under scrutiny by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission and the Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association. The issue centres on KordaMentha’s role as an adviser to Ten prior to its collapse. ASIC and KordaMentha have supported a proposal for Peter Gothard of Ferrier Hodgson to undertake an independent investigation into whether the fees received by KordaMentha constituted a preference payment.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN RESTRUCTURING INSOLVENCY AND TURNAROUND ASSOCIATION, FERRIER HODGSON AND COMPANY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BIRKETU PTY LTD, ILLYRIA PTY LTD, ATANASKOVIC HARTNELL CORPORATE SERVICES PTY LTD

We’re the ratings big shot, Seven reminds doubters

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 : 17-Jul-17

Data from OzTAM shows that the Seven Network has won 25 of the 28 weeks so far in the 2017 TV ratings season. Seven’s director of programming Angus Ross is not unduly concerned about the ratings success of the Nine Network’s "Australian Ninja Warrior", noting that Seven is leading in all of the core age demographics. He is also upbeat about Seven’s program line-up for the second half of the year.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITEDSEVEN (WAN) PTY LTDNINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITEDNINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NECOZTAM PTY LTDNETFLIX INCORPORATEDSTAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTDAMAZON PRIME VIDEOWALT DISNEY COMPANYFACEBOOK INCORPORATEDGOOGLE INCORPORATEDYOUTUBE INCORPORATED