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ABC axes flagship roles for digital

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Original article by Steve Jackson
The Australian – Page: 7 : 25-Jun-20

About 70 jobs in the ABC’s news division will be cut under the five-year plan, as the public broadcaster shifts its focus to digital on on-demand content. This will result in a significant reduction in original reporting produced by its current affairs programs. The ABC’s news analysis and investigations teams will also be scaled back, while the position of chief economics correspondent is expected to be axed. ABC News director Gaven Morris has confirmed that fewer new episodes of ‘Australian Story’ and ‘Foreign Correspondent’ will be produced due to the budget cuts.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Directors take pay cut as ABC jobs axed

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 7 : 24-Jun-20

The ABC will release its five-year plan on 24 June, which will include up to 250 redundancies across its operations. Meanwhile, an ABC spokesman has advised that the Remuneration Tribunal has approved the public broadcaster’s proposal to temporarily reduce the salaries of its nine-member board by 10 per cent during the second half of 2020. The ABC’s five-year plan was originally slated to be released in March, but it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

The Australian named most trusted paper

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Original article by Christine Lacy
The Australian – Page: 19 : 22-Jun-20

The Reuters Institute’s annual Digital News Report has found that the ABC and SBS are the most trusted media outlets in Australia, with trust scores of 72 per cent and 71 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, ‘The Australian’ is the nation’s most trusted newspaper across print and digital, with a trust score of 56 per cent. The News Corp Australia flagship was also ranked second among newspapers in Australia, the US and the UK, behind the ‘Financial Times’ with a trust score of 58 per cent.

CORPORATES
REUTERS INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Third media report in a year

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 22-Jun-20

The federal government has issued a tender for an independent report on the media industry. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Communication will pay up $220,000 for the report, which will examine both the existing business models for the media sector and the regulatory regimes in other countries. The government previously received two separate reports on the regional broadcasting sector in late 2019 and early 2020, although this will not be a specific focus of the new report.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Tough love necessary, says News

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 18-Jun-20

News Corporation’s CEO Robert Thomson says the media group’s decision to axe the print editions of 112 regional and community newspapers was not taken lightly. The bulk of the titles will become digital-only publications, but 36 will be discontinued completely. Thomson says this was necessary to ensure the viability of the titles that will become digital-only. The number of News Corp journalists working on regional and community mastheads will be reduced from more than 1,200 to just 375.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Bauer Media offloads Aussie magazine arm for $50m, eight years after buying it for $525m

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Original article by Shannon Molloy
News.com.au – Page: Online : 18-Jun-20

Private equity firm Mercury Capital has struck a deal to acquire the Australian magazines business of Bauer Media. The sale price has not been disclosed, although it is believed to be less than $50m. Germany-based Bauer bought ACP Magazines for $525m in 2012, and it recently paid $40m for the Pacific Magazines division of Seven West Media. The Mercury Capital deal is expected to be completed in July.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MERCURY CAPITAL PTY LTD, BAUER MEDIA KG, PACIFIC MAGAZINES PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Catalano and Seven discussed news deal

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Original article by Max Mason, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 17-Jun-20

Sources have indicated that Antony Catalano is the previously undisclosed party to whom Seven West Media provided detailed financial information about its West Australian Newspapers business earlier in 2020. A deal for Catalano’s Australian Community Media to acquire WAN did not progress beyond initial discussions, and Seven West director Ryan Stokes advised at the time that the group had no plans to sell the business. Catalano was also holding talks with News Corp Australia about buying its portfolio of regional and community newspapers, a deal that also did not eventuate.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, WEST AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Contract discounts cost AFL $150m

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 3 : 12-Jun-20

Foxtel and Seven West Media struck revised broadcast deals with the Australian Football League just prior to the 2020 AFL season resuming on 11 June. The revised deals followed the AFL season being suspended for three months because of COVID-19, and will result in the two companies saving around $200 million on their AFL coverage over the next three years. Television companies had argued broadcast rights are worth less now than what they were previously because the AFL season has been shortened and the length of games have been reduced, while a lack of crowds has arguably reduced the quality of the broadcasts.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Regional TV on verge of market failure

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 12-Jun-20

The federal government may relax the local content requirements for regional TV broadcasters’ multi-channels due to their consistent failure to meet the hours-based quotas. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Communications notes that 12 regional or remote TV stations failed to comply with the Australian content quotas in 2017. This is primarily because regional broadcasters often chose not to carry some of the secondary channels of their metropolitan affiliates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Buy Australian, streaming services told

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Original article by Tom Burton, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 12-Jun-20

A draft options paper from Screen Australia and the Australian Communications & Media Authority has outlined a range of possible changes to broadcasting rules. Amongst other things, the industry options paper proposes that subscription video-on-demand providers be subject to the same local content rules that apply to traditional broadcasters. Screen Australia and ACMA have also suggested that commercial networks could be released from their obligation to broadcast children’s content, given that many younger viewers now prefer to watch content online; the ABC would become the main provider of children’s programming on linear TV.

CORPORATES
SCREEN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION