Revealed: Neilson’s $100 million news agenda tops the bill

Original article by Lisa Murray
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 3-May-19

The Judith Neilson Journalism Institute has provided funding for a range of initiatives since it was founded, while its longer-term goals include producing podcasts and documentaries in partnership with established media companies. The institute was founded by philanthropist Judith Neilson, who is also its patron. Neilson says she has no input into the day-to-day operations of the institute, whose board includes former ABC chairman Jim Spigelman, Free TV Australia CEO Bridget Fair and Paul Kelly, the editor-at-large of ‘The Australian’.

CORPORATES
JUDITH NEILSON JOURNALISM INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WHITE RABBIT GALLERY LIMITED, WALKLEY FOUNDATION FOR JOURNALISM

Kidman bid not a replacement for Lynas, says Wesfarmers chief

Original article by Patrick Hatch, Darren Gray
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 3-May-19

Shares in Kidman Resources rose 45 per cent to close at $1.87 on 2 May after conglomerate Wesfarmers made a $776 million takeover bid for the lithium miner. Kidman’s main asset is a 50 per cent stake in a Western Australian lithium project, and joint venture partner SQM supports Wesfarmers’ bid. Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott says that despite the Kidman bid, its takeover bid for rare earths producer Lynas Corporation remains on the table.

CORPORATES
KIDMAN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX KDR, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, SOCIEDAD QUIMICA Y MINERA SA, LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, WESTERN AREAS LIMITED – ASX WSA

Return to radio: Trioli to replace Faine

Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 2 : 2-May-19

ABC TV presenter Virginia Trioli says it was "impossible" for her to reject an offer to succeed Jon Faine as the host of the public broadcaster’s morning radio program in Melbourne. Trioli has been co-host of the ABC’s ‘News Breakfast’ show since 2008, having previously been a radio presenter. There had been speculation that she could replace Tony Jones as host of ‘Q&A’. A spokeswoman for the ABC says no announcements are pending with regard to other unfilled air-on roles at the broadcaster.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, RADIO NATIONAL, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Nine close to selling Fairfax events business

Original article by Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 2-May-19

Nine Entertainment Company is slated to receive final bids for Fairfax Media’s events business within days. Nine CEO Hugh Marks expects a deal to offload the business to be completed shortly. However, he has cautioned that Nine is unlikely to secure a deal to sell Fairfax’s New Zealand division by the end of June. Nine recently secured a deal to sell Fairfax’s portfolio of regional newspapers for $125m. Marks has reiterated Nine’s previous guidance for earnings growth of at least 10 per cent in 2018-19.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, STUFF LIMITED, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, METRO MEDIA PUBLISHING PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Catalano swoops on Nine’s regional papers

Original article by John Stensholt, Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 & 24 : 1-May-19

Nine Entertainment Company has sold its portfolio of regional newspapers to former Domain Holdings CEO Antony Catalano. He will pay $125m for the assets in partnership with Alex Waislitz’s Thorney Investment Group. Catalano forecasts that the Australian Community Media business will post EBITDA of around $42m in 2018-19 and about $50m in 2019-20. The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance has urged ACM’s new owners to commit to maintaining quality journalism in regional communities. Nine also intends to sell Fairfax Media’s events business and its New Zealand assets.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, STUFF LIMITED, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD

Parties locked in close contest for second week: ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49%

For the second straight week the two major parties are locked in a tight contest with a slight edge to the ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49% on a two party preferred basis according to a face-to-face Roy Morgan Poll conducted over the weekend of April 27/28, 2019 with a representative cross-section of 826 Australian electors.

Primary Voting Intention

Both major parties managed to increase their primary votes this week at the expense of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation but there was no change to the close overall two-party preferred result ahead of tonight’s first Leaders’ Debate between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in Perth.

The L-NP now has a primary vote of 39.5% (up 0.5%) and remains clearly ahead of the ALP on 36% (up 0.5%) while Greens support is unchanged on 9.5%. Support for One Nation is down 2% to 2.5% while support for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party is unchanged on 2%. Support for Independents/Others is up 1% to 10.5%.

Roy Morgan Government Confidence

Roy Morgan Government Confidence has improved this week with 43% of electors saying Australia is now heading in the right direction, up 3% from a week earlier while 41.5% (up 0.5%) say Australia is heading in the wrong direction.

These results put Government Confidence marginally above the neutral level of 100 now at 101.5, up 3.5pts from a week ago.

Electors were asked: “At the Federal election for the House of Representatives on May 18 – which party will receive your first preference?? and “Generally speaking, do you feel that things in Australia are heading in the right direction or would you say things are seriously heading in the wrong direction?”

This Roy Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention and Roy Morgan Government Confidence was conducted via face-to-face interviewing last weekend. Roy Morgan interviewed 826 Australian electors aged 18+ on the weekends of April 27/28, 2019. 4.5% of electors can’t say who they support.

Visit the Roy Morgan Online Store to browse our range of Voter Profiles by electorate, detailed Voting Intention Demographics Reports and Most important Political Issue Reports (all 151 electorates ranked by an issue).

For comments or more information about Roy Morgan data, please contact:

Contact Office Mobile
Gary Morgan: +61 3 9224 5213 +61 411 129 094
Michele Levine: +61 3 9224 5215 +61 411 129 093

Breakfast shows have lost their sizzle factor

Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 29-Apr-19

Ratings data from OzTAM shows that the Seven Network’s ‘Sunrise’ averaged 256,000 viewers in January 2019, compared with 357,000 in January 2012. The average audience for the Nine Network’s rival ‘Today’ has fallen from 319,000 to 206,000 over the same period. Although the ABC’s breakfast show has consistently gained market share since its launch, TV industry veteran Rob McKnight says a key reason why viewers are shunning ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Today’ is their reluctance to take risks as they did in the past.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, OZTAM PTY LTD, AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, IPG MEDIABRANDS, DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK

News mulls its options in big Fox refinance

Original article by Max Mason, Tony Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 29-Apr-19

Asian investors are said to have expressed interest in a potential $2.5bn refinancing deal for pay-TV group Foxtel. Major shareholder News Corp is believed to be considering a range of options for the refinancing, rather than raising the entire amount via debt. These options are said to include an equity injection of up to $500m or a direct loan from News Corp. Foxtel is facing growing competition from subscription video-on-demand services such as Stan and Netflix; it could also potentially lose customers to its own Kayo Sports streaming service.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, KAYO SPORTS, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Monitor’s win cuts copyright payments

Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 23 : 29-Apr-19

Media monitoring firm Isentia expects a slight ­reduction in its copyright costs for 2018-19 after successfully challenging a 2018 deal between the Copyright Agency and newspaper publishers. The interim ruling could affect the revenue of news publishers, but Campbell Reid of News Corp says the company will await the final ruling. Isentia says the interim ruling will not affect its EBITDA guidance for the financial year. The company is facing growing competition from rivals such as Streem and Meltwater.

CORPORATES
ISENTIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX ISD, COPYRIGHT AGENCY LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, STREEM PTY LTD, MELTWATER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COPYCO

Game On: Easter Roy Morgan Poll shows election race tightening: ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49% on a two-party preferred basis

The ALP 51% leads the L-NP 49% on a two party preferred basis according to a face-to-face Roy Morgan Poll conducted on the Easter weekend of April 20/21, 2019 with a cross-section of 707 electors.

The tight result at Easter means the Roy Morgan Poll has swung by 1.5% to the L-NP since the prior surveying period of April 6/7 & 13/14, 2019.

Primary Voting Intention

The L-NP now has a primary vote of 39% (up 1.5%) and clearly ahead of the ALP on 35.5% (down 1%) while Greens support is down 1.5% to 9.5%.

Support for One Nation is up 1% to 4.5% while support for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party is up 0.5% to 2%. Support for Independents/Others is now 9.5% (down 0.5%).

Roy Morgan Government Confidence

Roy Morgan Government Confidence has improved this week with 40% of electors saying Australia is now heading in the right direction, up 1% from a week earlier while 41% (down 1.5%) say Australia is heading in the wrong direction.

These results leave Government Confidence below the neutral level of 100 and indicate the ALP is still the favourite to win with early voting opening next week although the L-NP has closed the gap significantly during the last week.

 

Electors were asked: “At the Federal election for the House of Representatives on May 18 – which party will receive your first preference?and “Generally speaking, do you feel that things in Australia are heading in the right direction or would you say things are seriously heading in the wrong direction?”

This Roy Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention and Roy Morgan Government Confidence was conducted via face-to-face interviewing on the first weekend of April. Roy Morgan interviewed 707 Australian electors aged 18+ on the weekends of April 20/21, 2019. 3.5% of electors can’t say who they support.

Visit the Roy Morgan Online Store to browse our range of Voter Profiles by electorate, detailed Voting Intention Demographics Reports and Most important Political Issue Reports (all 151 electorates ranked by an issue).

For further information:

Contact Office Mobile
Gary Morgan: +61 3 9224 5213 +61 411 129 094
Michele Levine: +61 3 9224 5215 +61 411 129 093