MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Macquarie severs ties with Southern Cross

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 21-Mar-16

Macquarie Group has sold its entire shareholding in regional TV broadcaster Southern Cross Media Group. Nine Entertainment Company recently paid $A1.15 per share for 9.9 per cent of Macquarie’s 26.1 per cent stake in Southern Cross Media. Sources have indicated that Macquarie has since offloaded all of its remaining shares to institutional investors at $A1.08 per share.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Nightly show as Bolt gets bolder

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 23 : 21-Mar-16

Newspaper columnist, blogger and TV presenter Andrew Bolt will move from the Ten Network to pay-TV channel Sky News. "The Bolt Report" will be broadcast five nights a week on Sky News from May 2016, after previously airing on Sunday mornings on Ten. The new version of the program will be produced by Australian News Channel, which owns Sky News. Bolt will continue to write newspaper columns for New Corp and appear on Steve Price’s nightly show on Macquarie Media radio stations.

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS, AUSTRALIAN NEWS CHANNEL PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, 2GB, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Hywood has ‘no plan’ says ex-Fairfax exec

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 21-Mar-16

A former editor-in-chief of "The Australian Financial Review", Glenn Burge, says Fairfax Media directors have not sufficiently questioned the strategy of CEO Greg Hywood. Burge says Fairfax lacks a plan to maintain its standards of journalism, and he has criticised Hywood for saying the latest round of job losses is necessary for the media group to keep delivering "high quality journalism". He also says Fairfax is too reliant on advice from consultants.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, BAIN AND COMPANY, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, PAGEMASTERS PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU

News, Telstra discuss Foxtel and Fox Sports merger

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 21-Mar-16

Foxtel’s joint owners Telstra and News Corp may merge the pay-TV group with News Corp’s fully-owned Fox Sports. Telstra recently flagged plans to list 60 per cent of its stake in Foxtel on the sharemarket, and merging it with Fox Sports would make the IPO more attractive to investors. Foxtel’s EBITDA and revenue fell in 2015, while Fox Sports posted EBITDA and revenue of $US135m and $US500m respectively in 2014-15.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Fairfax journos strike over jobs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jake Mitchell, Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 3 : 18-Mar-16

Fairfax Media’s plans to cut the equivalent of 120 full-time jobs have met with dismay among journalists who decided to protest against an editorial restructure of metropolitan mastheads. Other cost cutting measures include cuts to contributor costs and expenses. Staff at the newspapers walked out in protest on 17 March 2016. Their action will last until 21 March.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE

Telstra mulls Foxtel IPO

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1&8 : 18-Mar-16

Telstra is believed to be considering a sharemarket float or sale of its stake in pay TV Foxtel. As Foxtel is worth between $A8 billion and $A9 billion in total, Telstra could receive $A4.5 billion for its 50 per cent stake in the company. Foxtel announced on 17 March 2016 that its CEO Richard Freudenstein will be replaced by News Corporation Australia CEO Peter Tonagh.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Television ad market slumps as Nine, regional broadcasters’ shares slide

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 16-Mar-16

Standard Media Index data shows that free-to-air TV advertising revenue in Australia’s capital cities fell by 4.6 per cent to $A182.6m in February 2016. The Seven Network’s share of ad revenue rose from 39 per cent to 40.4 per cent, while the Nine Network’s share fell from 39.9 per cent to 35.5 per cent and the Ten Network’s share rose from 21.1 per cent to 24.3 per cent. Meanwhile, regional TV networks’ ad revenue was down 11.3 per cent, but there was 2.3 per cent growth in ad revenue for the subscription TV industry.

CORPORATES
SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Seven CEO slams TV, film tax benefit gap

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 15-Mar-16

The Australian Government’s tax offset for TV producers is just 20 per cent at present, compared with 40 per cent for producers of feature films. The free-to-air and pay-TV industry has urged the Government to match the tax offset for the film industry, with Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner arguing that many TV shows that are currently on hold would be in production if there was a level playing field. Ten Network CEO Paul Anderson adds that the tax offset’s current cap of 65 per cent should be abolished.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Foxtel price rise sparks backlash

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 15-Mar-16

Pay-TV group has defended its decision to increase the cost of its basic package by $A1 per month to $A26, arguing that it is the first price rise in two years. Foxtel boasts around 2.7 million subscribers, and the modest increase could add about $A30m to its annual revenue. However, some customers complained on social media, noting that Foxtel is raising its prices after losing the English Premier League rights.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Ten rebuffs Southern Cross offer to sell assets

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 14-Mar-16

Regional broadcaster Southern Cross Media Group has offered to sell its TV assets to Ten Network during negotiations for a new affiliation agreement. However, Ten chairman David Gordon has ruled out any such deal, saying the metropolitan broadcaster is not interested in buying Southern Cross’s TV stations. Regional broadcasters are facing growing competition from the streaming services offered by metropolitan networks and offshore players such as Netflix.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, TRIPLE M CORPORATION PTY LTD, HIT NETWORK, FREEHILLS PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS