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Coroner takes aim over privacy

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Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 26 & 28 : 13-Jun-16

The Seven Network’s Bruce McWilliam has expressed concern about the broader implications of a proposal for the inquest into the death of cricketer Phillip Hughes to scrutinise media coverage of the tragedy. He warns that this would give coroners greater power to regulate the reporting of incidents in which people died. The Ten Network’s senior litigation counsel, Tasha Smithies, says it is not appropriate for issues such as breaches of privacy to be handled by a coronial inquest.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NEW SOUTH WALES. CROWN SOLICITOR’S OFFICE, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN PRESS COUNCIL

Ricketson pushes for tougher press regulation

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 26 & 28 : 13-Jun-16

The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance’s representative on the Australian Press Council has again weighed into the debate on industry regulation. Matthew Ricketson has advocated changes to the way media companies are regulated, and suggested that regulation of the online media sector is lacking. He was a controversial choice for the MEAA’s representative on the APC, given that he co-authored the Finkelstein report which proposed the establishment of a statutory regulator for the media sector.

CORPORATES
MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN PRESS COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Fairfax advised to exit regionals

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 26 : 13-Jun-16

Australian businessman Alex Waislitz holds around two per cent of Fairfax Media’s shares via Thorney Investment Group and the listed Thorney Opportunities fund. He has suggested that Fairfax could divest its regional newspapers division, which could include merging it with the regional newspapers arm of rival News Corp Australia. Waislitz also says Fairfax should not seek to acquire or merge with a free-to-air TV network, arguing that the group should focus on growth businesses such as Domain.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THORNEY OPPORTUNITIES LIMITED – ASX TOP, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, DOMAIN.COM.AU, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, NEW ZEALAND. COMMERCE COMMISSION, FETCH PLUS, AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA

Rich-Lister calls on $100m Fairfax buyback

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 10-Jun-16

Australian businessman Alex Waislitz holds around two per cent of Fairfax Media’s shares via Thorney Investment Group and the listed Thorney Opportunities fund. He says Fairfax could improve value for shareholders by repurchasing an additional $A100m worth of its shares, while he also advocates offloading non-core assets. However, Waislitz says Fairfax should invest more capital in real estate listings business Domain rather than selling it.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THORNEY OPPORTUNITIES LIMITED – ASX TOP, DOMAIN.COM.AU, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN

NZ merger aims to create Kiwi BSkyB

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 10-Jun-16

The Australian shares of New Zealand-based Sky Network Television closed 20.5 per cent higher at $A5 on 9 June 2016, in response to a proposed merger with Vodafone NZ. Sky Network TV will hold a 51 per cent stake in the merged entity if the $NZ3.4bn ($A3.25bn) deal proceeds. The combined group would be similar to other so-called "triple play" providers such as BSkyB in the UK, offering pay-TV, broadband and telephone services. Macquarie notes that this may result in a lower customer churn rate.

CORPORATES
SKY NETWORK TELEVISION LIMITED – ASX SKT, VODAFONE NEW ZEALAND LIMITED, SKY PLC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, COMCAST CORPORATION, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, LAZARD PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SKY ITALIA SPA, SKY DEUTSCHLAND AG, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Free to air squeeze on games

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Original article by Caroline Wilson
The Age – Page: 40 : 9-Jun-16

The Seven Network’s coverage of the Australian Football League will be reduced from 2017 under the new six-year broadcasting deal. Seven will only broadcast three matches in 11 rounds of the home-and-away season, compared with four at present. The Ten Network had hoped to buy the free-to-air rights to these matches from Foxtel, but negotiations have stalled. The pay-TV group is believed to have been reluctant to surrender exclusive coverage of these matches.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX FOOTY CHANNEL, BIG BASH LEAGUE

Ten aims to build on Big Bash success

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Original article by Max Mason
The Age – Page: 20 : 8-Jun-16

Ten Network CEO Paul Anderson is optimistic that ratings for the Big Bash League domestic Twenty20 competition will increase in the 2016-17 season, after growth of 25 per cent in capital city audiences in 2015-16. The national audience rose by 16 per cent. Ten will expand its coverage of the Big Bash League to include live broadcasts of 47 matches. The network’s current broadcasting rights deal is worth $A20m annually over five years, but this cost may rise significantly when the current deal expires in 2018.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, BIG BASH LEAGUE, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, CRICKET AUSTRALIA

Rio’s lithium category-killer set to shock boom’s hopefuls

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 22 : 2-Jun-16

Rio Tinto will spend an additional $US20m ($A27.5m) on its Jadar lithium-borate project in Serbia. The Jadar discovery is the only site in the world that features both lithium and borate, which has led to the official recognition of a new mineral called jadarite. Rio Tinto estimates that the Jadar project could eventually account for more than 10 per cent of the global supply of lithium, which is in high demand for use in electric vehicles.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

The lithium boom will end, like all the others

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 28 : 1-Jun-16

Expectations of strong growth in demand for lithium-ion batteries has prompted a rally in the price of lithium, and in turn bolstered the share prices of lithium producers. However, there are some similarities between the lithium boom and the iron ore boom. Macquarie Group believes that the lithium boom will have run its course within about 18 months. It has "buy" recommendations on just two lithium producers, Orocobre and Neometals.

CORPORATES
OROCOBRE LIMITED – ASX ORE, NEOMETALS LIMITED – ASX NMT, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, GALAXY RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GXY, GENERAL MINING CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX GMM, PILBARA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX PLS, ALTURA MINING LIMITED – ASX AJM, LATIN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX LRS, TALISON LITHIUM LIMITED, SQM, ALBERMARLE CORPORATION, FMC LITHIUM, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, VALE SA, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Aldi closes in on giants as profitability grows

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 31-May-16

UBS has forecast that Aldi will record annual growth in grocery sales in Australia of 15 per cent over the next three years. This is 4-5 times higher than the sector’s growth rate overall. Ben Gilbert of UBS forecasts that Aldi’s share of the national grocery market will exceed 10 per cent by 2019-20, compared with about seven per cent at present. He believes that the discount grocery chain will soon reach a "tipping point" in terms of its share of consumers’ main grocery shop.

CORPORATES
ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, LIDL GMBH & CO KG