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Guthrie’s fear of looking like idiot

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Original article by Deborah Cornwall, Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 26-Sep-18

The ABC’s former MD Michelle Guthrie defended her performance in the role at a meeting on 13 September at which she was asked to resign. She told ABC chairman Justin Milne and board member Donny Walford that she had made much progress in a transformation program, including a restructuring that significantly cut the public broadcaster’s management ranks. Guthrie asked to be allowed to remain in the role for at least another year so she could complete the transformation program. She may pursue legal action over her sacking only halfway through her five-year term.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEW CHAMBERS, JOHNSON WINTER AND SLATTERY, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Comcast outbids Fox and Walt Disney Co. with $40-billion offer for Europe’s Sky TV

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Original article by Meg James
Los Angeles Times – Page: Online : 22-Sep-18

The independent directors of pan-European satellite broadcaster Sky plc have endorsed Comcast’s successful bid in a corporate auction that was organised by the UK’s Takeovers Panel. Comcast offered $US22.75 per share for Sky, valuing its bid at nearly $US40bn. The rival bid from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox – which has a 39 per cent stake in Sky – was $US20.63 per share, which equates to about $US35bn. The auction followed a protracted bidding war for Sky, and Fox’s deal to sell the bulk of its entertainment assets to Walt Disney Company.

CORPORATES
SKY PLC, COMCAST CORPORATION, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, GREAT BRITAIN. THE TAKEOVER PANEL, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL, HULU LLC

Sport can save free-to-air: Netflix founder

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Original article by Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 24-Sep-18

Marc Randolph, the co-founder of subscription video-on-demand giant Netflix, says commercial free-to-air TV networks must adapt to changes in how consumers view content. Randolph notes that consumers increasingly prefer to binge-watch content such as drama; he has also stressed the importance of live content such as sports for traditional broadcasters, noting that viewers have not yet embraced such content via Netflix. Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner says that while live content is important for TV broadcasters, general entertainment remains a key element of the Seven Network’s programming.

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NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, OVO MOBILE

4K AFL on Foxtel’s Netflix of sport

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 21-Sep-18

Foxtel has advised that it will broadcast some Australian Football League matches in the 4K ultra-high-definition format during the 2019 season. Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany says one match per round is likely to be initially broadcast in the new format, with additional 4K coverage to be added as more of the high-definition cameras become available in Australia. Delany has also indicated that Foxtel will unveil details of a new sport-focused streaming video service in the next several months.

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FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Stokes rejects ABC: I didn’t plot to oust PM

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Sep-18

Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes has refuted suggestions that himself and fellow media magnate Rupert Murdoch had any role in the demise of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. The ABC has claimed in reports on its evening news bulletin and online that in the lead-up to the ousting of Turnbull, Murdoch told Stokes that Turnbull had to go. The reports were filed by the ABC’s national political editor, Andrew Probyn, who has previously worked for Seven West Media. Stokes says Probyn should therefore know that he does not engage in "speculative political gossip".

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

Lew urges Wilson to help fix Myer board

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 17-Sep-18

Geoff Wilson’s Wilson Asset Management has become a substantial shareholder in retailer Myer, with a 5.5 per cent stake. Solomon Lew, whose Premier Investments holds a 10.8 per cent stake in Myer and who has been unhappy with its performance since Premier acquired its stake in March 2017, has called on Wilson to help him toss out the Myer board. However, Wilson has indicated that he is happy to support new Myer CEO John King and his senior managers, while he has queried the rationale behind Lew’s attacks on the Myer board.

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MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV

Officeworks tipped for more growth

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 18-Sep-18

Wesfarmers’ Officeworks division posted earnings growth of 8.3 per cent in fiscal 2018, with sales rising by 9.1 per cent and return on capital up 13 per cent. MD Mark Ward is upbeat about the outlook for Officeworks, expressing confidence that it can maintain the recent growth momentum. Although Ward will retire in late 2018, Wesfarmers has yet to appoint a successor as it is focused on the upcoming demerger of Coles.

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OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, ONTHEGO PTY LTD

Cash hit halts ABC’s ideas plan

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 17-Sep-18

The ABC has put the second round of its Grand Ideas Grant scheme on hold until 2019, in order to focus on delivering the first round of projects to be funded via the initiative. The public broadcaster announced the Great Ideas Grant scheme in March 2017, as part of its ABC Content Fund. To date the ABC has launched only four of the nine GIG projects that it announced in mid-2017, although another three are at the pilot stage. Several of the GIG projects have attracted criticism over claims that they provide similar content to that of the ABC’s commercial rivals.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, MAMAMIA.COM.AU PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, JUNKEE MEDIA PTY LTD, KINDERLING, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Alan Jones defamed Wagner family over Grantham floods

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-18

Macquarie Media will have to pay Toowoomba’s Wagner brothers $3.75 million after it and broadcaster Alan Jones lost a defamation case in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The case related to allegations by Jones in broadcasts in 2014 and 2015 that the quarry the brothers owned had caused the deaths of 12 people in the Grantham floods in 2011. The Wagner brothers had been seeking $4.8 million in damages. Justice Peter Flanagan directed Jones and his programs to never again repeat his defamatory comments.

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MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, RADIO 4BC BRISBANE PTY LTD, 2GB, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH

Myer plunges to $486m loss but debt refinanced and covenants eased

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-18

Shares in retailer Myer fell by 4.6 per cent on 12 September after it announced a full-year net loss of $486 million. Underlying net profit fell 52.2 per cent to $32.5 million, while EBIT declined by 48 per cent to $55.4 million. Sales fell by 3.2 per cent to $3.1 billion, although online sales increased by 34 per cent to $192.5 million. Solomon Lew, whose Premier Investments is Myer’s biggest shareholder with 10.9 per cent, savaged the result. He said the Myer board was "a disgrace", and that chairman Gary Hounsell should stand down immediately.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, HOUSE OF FRASER HOLDINGS PLC, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD