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News Corp on the prowl for job cuts and efficiencies to survive corona crisis

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Original article by Rod Myer
The New Daily – Page: Online : 28-Apr-20

News Corp has engaged Deloitte to undertake a review of the media company’s Australian operations as it seeks to respond to the impact of COVID-19. It is understood that the review will focus on reviewing and cutting print costs, and centralising editorial and commercial functions. Measures already announced by News in response to COVID-19 include stopping the printing of around 60 community newspapers, while it has indicated that the virus will have a "material adverse impact" on its revenues.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

AAP closure and AFP raids see Australia slide in World Press Freedom Index

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Original article by Hannah Blackiston
Mumbrella – Page: Online : 24-Apr-20

Australia has ranked 26th in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, down from 19th place in 2019. The index is compiled by Reporters Without Borders, which has indicated that the decline was largely due to the proposed closure of newswire service AAP and police raids on the ABC’s head office and the home of a News Corporation journalist in mid-2019. Numerous national security laws brought in since the September 11 terror attacks in the US and defamation laws passed in 2018 were also seen as of concern by Reporters Without Borders.

CORPORATES
REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

TV networks brace for potential 30 per cent fall in ad revenues despite rising viewership

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Original article by Rod Myer
The New Daily – Page: Online : 21-Apr-20

The coronavirus lockdown has prompted a spike in ratings for TV news bulletins as Australians seek information on the pandemic. Think TV CEO Kim Portrate says there has been strong growth in audiences for traditional linear TV, broadcast video-on-demand and subscription video-on-demand services. However, TV networks’ revenue is being hit by a sharp fall in bookings from advertisers; Jane Ratcliffe from Standard Media Index estimates that ad revenue could fall by 25-30 per cent in April.

CORPORATES
THINK TV, SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED

ABC’s cash-for-Covid doctor slammed for seeking access to federal GP advisory contract

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Original article by Greg Brown, Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 3 : 20-Apr-20

Dr Norman Swan, the host of ABC Radio National’s ‘The Health Report’, has been accused of a ‘conflict of interest’ by federal Liberal MP Craig Kelly. This follows reports that a company of which Swan is a director was trying to secure a contract for an advertising campaign funded by the federal government to promote awareness of COVID-19 among GPs at the same time that Swan was criticising the government’s strategy on the virus. Kelly claims Swan’s predictions about the impact of COVID-19 had been shown to be "alarmist and hopelessly wrong".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

It’s too little, too late: media lament aid deal

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich, Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 16-Apr-20

The federal government has announced a $91m financial relief package for the media sector, which has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Amongst other things, the government will suspend content quotas for local drama and children’s programs for the rest of the year, while TV and radio networks will collectively receive $41m in tax rebates for spectrum fees. Regional media companies will also receive financial support totalling $50m. However, industry executives had hoped for a further relaxation of cross-media ownership laws and action to force digital companies to pay for content.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, ELLIOTT NEWSPAPER GROUP PTY LTD, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, HT&E LIMITED – ASX HT1

AFP search of journalist’s home illegal

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Original article by Michael Pelly, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 16-Apr-20

Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw says News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst could still face criminal charges despite a landmark High Court ruling on the legal validity of a search warrant. The court has unanimously ruled that the warrant used to search her home in June 2019 was invalid as it was too imprecise and "impossibly wide". However, the court narrowly rejected an application for an injunction requiring the AFP to return or destroy data that it seized in the raid.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

News Corp warns of hit to Foxtel, Kayo and real estate classifieds

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 15-Apr-20

News Corp expects to lose more Foxtel and Kayo Sports subscribers due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on live sports events. Foxtel’s broadcast and commercial subscriber base fell to 2.268 million in the December quarter, compared with 2.326 million in the September quarter, while its churn rate rose from 14.4 per cent to 16 per cent. Meanwhile, Kayo boasted 402,000 paid subscribers in early November, but this had fallen to around 370,000 by early February. News Corp also expects its property listings businesses in Australia and the US to be hit by the pandemic.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, MOVE INCORPORATED

Catalano’s Australian Community Media to suspend some print titles

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 15-Apr-20

Australian Community Media has responded to the coronavirus-induced downturn in the advertising market by suspending publication of some non-daily regional print newspapers. Four of its printing facilities will also be closed until late June. ACM’s joint owner Antony Catalano says he recently approached Communications Minister Paul Fletcher about financial support for regional media groups. Catalano contends that consolidation in the regional media sector is necessary.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA

High Court to rule on warrant AFP used to raid journalist Annika Smethurst’s Canberra home

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Original article by Elizabeth Byrne, Matthew Doran
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 15-Apr-20

The issue of press freedom will come under scrutiny again on 15 April, when the High Court decides on the validity of a search warrant used in a media raid in June 2019. News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst has challenged the legal validity of the search warrant issued to Australian Federal Police officers who raided her home in Canberra. Her lawyers have argued amongst other things that the law under which the warrant was issued was invalid because it breached the implied constitutional right to freedom of political communication. The ABC has unsuccessfully challenged the search warrant used in a separate raid on its Sydney premises.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Clock ticking on debt-laden Seven as lenders make plans

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich, Perry Williams, Bridget Carter
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-Apr-20

Seven West Media’s $541m debt equates to 2.4 times its underlying earnings. CEO James Warburton is seeking to reduce costs in response to the coronavirus-induced downturn in the advertising market, but there are concerns that Seven’s lenders may opt to on-sell their debt; any buyers of this debt could potentially call in their loans or gain control of Seven via a debt-for-equity swap. Seven’s outlook has been complicated by uncertainty regarding the future of its $40m deal to sell Pacific Magazines to Bauer Media.

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