MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

2030 World Cup to remain on SBS, the spiritual home of football

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 2-Sep-26

SBS’s CEO Jane Palfreyman says the FIFA World Cup brings Australians together across cultures, languages, and communities. The public broadcaster’s coverage of the 2026 men’s World Cup attracted more than 18 million viewers, and Palfreyman says she is "thrilled" that SBS will be the tournament’s Australian broadcaster again in 2030. SBS is believed to have paid about $30m for the 2026 broadcasting rights, and sources have indicated that the cost of the next World Cup rights will exceed this. The 2030 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

CORPORATES
SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

KIIS slumps after Kyle and Jackie O exit

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Original article by Joseph Carbone
The Australian – Page: 3 : 2-Sep-26

GfK’s fifth radio ratings survey for 2026 shows that KIIS FM’s audience share in Sydney’s breakfast slot has fallen another 0.2 percentage points to just 6.9 per cent. The cancellation of the ‘Kyle and Jackie O show’ earlier this year has weighed on KIIS FM’s ratings, with the long-running program’s audience share having peaked at 17.9 per cent in 2023. Meanwhile, 3AW’s breakfast show continues to dominate the timeslot in Melbourne, with an audience share of 19.5 per cent in the latest survey.

CORPORATES
GFK PTY LTD, KIIS1065, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD

‘Rejection’: ABC snubs its stars’ film

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Original article by Steve Jackson, Stephen Rice
The Australian – Page: 3 : 26-Aug-26

The ABC continues to attract scrutiny over the role of ‘7:30’ presenter Sarah Ferguson in the production of a documentary on animal vivisection. The ABC recently advised that it will not broadcast ‘Sentient’, which has been screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival in the US. The 95-minute documentary was directed by Tony Jones, who is married to Ferguson and is the former host of ‘Q&A’. Ferguson was executive producer of the documentary, which received $200,000 in funding from Screen Australia and $3m from two animal rights activist groups that had campaigned in support of Labor and the Greens at the 2025 federal election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Magazine brands reach 14.5 million Australians across print and digital

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Aug-26

The Roy Morgan Australian Readership report for the 12 months to June 2026 shows that more than 14.5 million Australian aged 14+ (62.2% of the population) now read magazines across print and digital. Print remains at the heart of the magazine ecosystem, reaching almost 10.9 million Australians, or 46.6% of the population, demonstrating the continuing ability of magazines to deliver audiences at scale. Eight Australian magazines have total cross-platform audiences of over 1 million people, led by Woman’s Day and Better Homes & Gardens; both mastheads have total cross-platform audiences of well over 2.1 million. Meanwhile, Food & Entertainment is by far Australia’s largest magazine category, reaching 6.3 million Australians, over 2 million ahead of any other category and reaching well over one-in-four Australians. The nation’s two most widely read free magazines are Coles Magazine (with a print readership of 4,465,000) and Woolworths’ Fresh Ideas (4,041,000). The latest results are from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 59,959 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to June.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Tech tax changes could spur job losses at Nine, News Corp

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 5-Aug-26

The federal government’s changes to its News Bargaining Incentive will allow technology companies to offset a tax levy by securing commercial deals with at least six local media groups. However, the tax offset with each news pubisher will be capped at 16.7 per cent of the digital platform’s tax liability; this means there will be no incentive for them to provide more funding to one media company than another. Nine Entertainment’s CEO Matt Stanton says there could be more job losses in the media sector if the bill is passed by parliament in its current form, because it penalises media groups that have invested more in quality journalism than their peers. News Corp Australia has expressed similar concerns.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Foxtel goes global to fund record NRL deal

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones, Zoe Samios
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 8-Jul-26

The Australian Rugby League Commission’s chairman Peter V’landys says the National Rugby League’s new seven-year broadcasting rights deal will "future proof" the game. He adds that the record $5.3bn deal will allow the NRL to grow both in Australia and internationally. Incumbent broadcasters Foxtel and Nine Entertainment have retained the rights; every match in the regular season and the finals will be televised by Foxtel and its Kayo Sports streaming service, while Nine will show three matches per week and have exclusive rights to the NRL grand final and the State of Origin series. New Zealand pay-TV network Sky is also included in the deal. The NRL and Foxtel owner DAZN will establish a revenue-sharing deal which is aimed at launching the league in new markets.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE COMMISSION LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SKY NETWORK TELEVISION LIMITED – ASX SKT, DAZN

NRL rights tiebreaker looms as Nine plots eleventh-hour pitch to V’landys

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Original article by Steve Jackson, James Madden
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 1-Jul-26

Recent media reports indicated that the National Rugby League is poised to finalise a new seven-year rights deal with its current broadcast partners, Nine Entertainment and Foxtel. However, Nine CEO Mike Stanton is believed to be planning to hold further talks with the Australian Rugby League Commission’s chairman Peter V’landys in London, with a view to securing exclusive linear TV and streaming rights. Stanton is expected to argue that splitting the rights will limit the NRL’s growth.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE COMMISSION LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

ARN to pay $15m to sacked shock jock

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Original article by Steve Jackson
The Australian – Page: 2 : 17-Jun-26

ARN Media has struck a deal with Kyle Sandilands to settle legal action over the termination of his contract to co-host the breakfast show on KIIS FM. The listed company has agreed to pay him $5m per annum over three years; he had been seeking $85m in compensation from ARN for ending his 10-year contract to jointly host the ‘Kyle and Jackie O’ show after not much more than a year. Sandilands had been sacked earlier in 2026 over an on-air falling-out with long-running co-host Jackie Henderson, who is in turn seeking $82m in compensation for the loss of her own contract.

CORPORATES
ARN MEDIA LIMITED – ASX A1N, KIIS1065

Southern Cross Media to cut at least 200 jobs

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Original article by Angelica Snowden, John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Jun-26

Sources have indicated that proposd job cuts at Southern Cross Media Group could generate cost savings of about $25m. The media company is believed to have commenced a consultation process with its staff, and the Seven West Media division – which includes the Seven Network and The West Australian – is expected to bear the brunt of the job losses. Cassie Derrick from the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance says the mooted loss of about 200 jobs highlights the growing instability facing workers in Australia’s media sector. Southern Cross CEO Rohan Lund recently identified investment in news and sport as a priority for the group.

CORPORATES
SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, WEST AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS HOLDINGS LIMITED, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE

V’landys lures NRL bids from Amazon, Seven

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 3-Jun-26

The Australian Rugby League Commission’s chairman Peter V’landys has previously stated that he wants the National Rugby League’s next broadcasting rights deal to be finalised by 15 July. The ARLC has confirmed that Amazon Prime Video and the Seven Network’s parent Southern Cross Media Group have submitted bids for the five-year broadcasting rights deal from 2028. Sources have indicated that both groups are seeking the rights to one match per week, while Southern Cross will also seek the State of Origin rights. Current NRL broadcasters Nine Entertainment and Foxtel will seek the rights to all matches, although anti-siphoning laws would require Foxtel to on-sell some matches to a free-to-air network.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE COMMISSION LIMITED, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD