Saviour found for Jeanswest chain

Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 26-Feb-20

The Australian subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Harbour Guide has secured a deal to acquire failed clothing retailer Jeanswest. Harbour Guide is owned by businessman Chun Fan Yeung, who is a shareholder in Jeanswest’s former parent company, Howsea. The sale to Harbour Guidance Pty Ltd is conditional on landlords agreeing to new lease arrangements for Jeanswest stores. The deal will result in up to 106 stores remaining open, which will allow about 680 employees to keep their jobs.

CORPORATES
JEANSWEST CORPORATION PTY LTD, HARBOUR GUIDE LIMITED, HARBOUR GUIDANCE PTY LTD, HOWSEA LIMITED

News Corp underpaid super

Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 : 25-Feb-20

News Corp Australia says that about 2,500 current and former employees have not received their correct superannuation entitlements due to payroll system errors. A spokesman says that most of the affected employees were underpaid by less than $250, and they are collectively owed around $1.5m. The underpayments were discovered during a review of News Corp’s super contributions, which also revealed some instances of wages being overpaid.

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

Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards 2019: Australia’s retail winners announced

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Feb-20

The 2019 Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards have been presented in Melbourne. The winners of the retail categories included some of Australia’s biggest brands, as well as some lesser-known businesses, all of which have earned their place at the top of their respective industries. There were several winners in the retail category that won 12 straight monthly awards throughout 2019. These include The Reject Shop (Discount Variety Store), Bunnings Warehouse (Hardware Store), Subway (Major Quick Service Restaurant), Rebel (Sports Store) and Foodland (Supermarket). Myer (Department Store) and IKEA (Major Furniture/Electrical Store) followed on from their wins last year, while Supercheap Auto (Auto Store), The Athlete’s Foot (Shoe Store), First Choice Liquor (Liquor Store), Harris Scarfe (Discount Department Store), Betta Home Living (Furniture/Electrical Store), Crust Pizza (Quick Service Restaurant), Guardian (Chemist/Pharmacy) and Michel’s (Coffee Shop) returned to the winners list after absences. Just Jeans (Clothing Store) won its first annual award.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Free-to-air TV takes a $2bn tumble

Original article by Max Maddison
The Australian – Page: 25 : 24-Feb-20

Australia’s three commercial free-to-air networks have written down the value of their broadcasting licences by $2.276bn since 2015. Amongst other things, the networks are facing growing competition from subscription video-on-demand services, which are not subject to the same regulation as traditional broadcasters and do not pay tax in Australia. Research by Roy Morgan in 2019 showed that nearly 14 million Australians had a paid subscription to a streaming service.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ABC eclipses rivals on bias inquiry list

Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 24-Feb-20

Of the 40 published reports produced by the Australian Communications & Media Authority between July 2015 and June 2019 that were prompted by complaints, 25 related to the ABC. ACMA found four breaches as a consequence of its published reports, with three relating to the ABC in regard to issues of fairness, impartiality and reply, including one relating to a report on former prime minister Tony Abbott. The revelations regarding the ABC come at a time when ACMA is conducting a review into commercial influence on free-to-air and subscription television news.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Seven slumps on downgrade

Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 17 & 23 : 19-Feb-20

Seven West Media has posted a 2018-19 interim net loss of $66.3m, with underlying EBIT down 21 per cent at $119.7 and revenue falling 3.2 per cent to $771.7m. The media group advised that its full-year earnings will be 13 per cent lower than previously forecast amid challenging condition in the advertising market, while CEO James Warburton has flagged the potential for "transformative" mergers and acquisitions. Seven will seek to reduce costs by 20 per cent in the second half, and it will consider asset sales.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Ten bounces back from Big Bash League loss

Original article by Zoe Samios
The Age – Page: Online : 17-Feb-20

New figures show that the Ten Network increased its share of the free-to-air TV advertising market by four percentage points in January, to 20.5 per cent. Ten’s share of advertising revenue fell to 16.4 per cent in January 2019, due to factors such as the loss of the Big Bash League broadcasting rights. This compares with 27.9 per cent in 2018, which was its last year as the BBL’s free-to-air broadcaster. The Nine and Seven networks’ share of ad revenue was 42.7 per cent and 36.9 per cent respectively in January.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, BIG BASH LEAGUE

Boris tells BBC licence fee will be scrapped

Original article by Tim Shipman
The Australian – Page: 9 : 17-Feb-20

The UK government proposes to overhaul the funding arrangements for the BBC by introducing a subscription fee instead of the traditional licence fee. However, BBC chairman Sir David Clementi warns that the move could result in some popular TV shows being cancelled, as well as less public service programming. The government’s proposals also include reducing the number of TV stations operated by the BBC, selling most of its radio stations and greater investment in the BBC World Service.

CORPORATES
BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Lions tour for next rugby TV deal scrum

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 17-Feb-20

Rugby Australia hopes to sign off on a new broadcasting rights deal by the end of April, with Foxtel, Optus and Network Ten understood to have signed non-disclosure agreements for the negotiating process. It is believed that Rugby Australia has secured the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour to help make its five-year rights deal more appealing to broadcasters; it had previously been reported that the deal would not include the tour. Rugby Australia’s new rights deal will include over 400 matches, including New South Wales and Queensland club rights.

CORPORATES
RUGBY AUSTRALIA, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Prosecutors drop more charges against media over Pell trial

Original article by Liz Main
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 14-Feb-20

Twenty-eight charges brought against four of the 36 journalists and media companies charged with breaching suppression orders in relation to Cardinal George Pell have been dropped. The orders were imposed in June 2018, with the media directed not to report on two trials that Pell faced over historical child sex offences until a verdict was handed down in the second trial. When Pell was found guilty in the first trial, the media reported that a high profile person had been found guilty, but that they were not allowed to report it. Prosecutors claimed that the media hints amounted to a breach of the orders.

CORPORATES
SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, VICTORIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC