MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Hartigan denies friction with Seven

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 11-Nov-15

Prime Media Group’s 11.4 per cent stakeholder Seven Group Holdings voted against the regional broadcaster’s remuneration report at its 2015 AGM. The "two strikes" rule will apply at the 2016 AGM after more than 34 per cent of Prime’s shareholders rejected the report. Meanwhile, Prime CEO Ian Audsley said the group could be acquired or seek to buy assets itself if there are changes to cross-media ownership laws. He added that Prime may be interested in buying radio assets but is unlikely to expand into regional print newspapers.

CORPORATES
PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, V8 SUPERCARS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Nine CEO puts innovation top of must-do list

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 10-Nov-15

David Gyngell will remain on the board of Nine Entertainment Company after stepping down as CEO. Gyngell. His successor, Hugh Marks, has told Nine’s staff that producing "engaging, relevant content" will remain the media group’s priority, but has stressed the need for Nine to continue to innovate. Issues such as the prospect of cross-media ownership reforms and growing competition from digital media groups will be among his initial challenges.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, RGM ARTISTS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, MEDIA VENTURE PARTNERS PTY LTD, SOUTHERN STAR CORPORATION, NINE FILMS AND TELEVISION PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN

Seven, Nine win free TV numbers game

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 9-Nov-15

The Seven Network is poised to claim the title of top-rating free-to-air broadcaster again in 2015, although its prime-time audience share has fallen by 1.2 per cent to 29.3 per cent. The Nine Network’s share of prime-time audiences is 1.3 per cent lower at 27.9 per cent, while the Ten Network’s share is up 1.1 per cent at 18.9 per cent. However, Nine has emerged as the market leader in the 25-54, 18-49 and 16-39 age groups, which are favoured by advertisers.

CORPORATES
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, OZTAM PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

New Fairfax chairman Falloon calls for media modernisation

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 6-Nov-15

Shareholders at the AGM of Fairfax Media have been told that its revenue from continuing businesses has risen by 2-3 per cent so far in 2015-16. Meanwhile, chairman Nick Falloon said changes to cross-media ownership laws are necessary as the "reach rule" and the " two-out-of-three rule" have become irrelevant and provide the Australian media industry’s offshore rivals with an advantage in the domestic market. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims also favours scrapping the reach rule.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, METRO MEDIA PUBLISHING PTY LTD, RBB ECONOMICS LLP

Roy Morgan Newspaper Print Readership and Cross-Platform Audience Results for September 2015

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Nov-15

Roy Morgan Research has released its Print Readership and seven-day Cross-Platform Audience results for Australian newspapers for the year to September 2015. Across print and digital formats, the country’s metro newspapers continued to reach 11.9 million Australians aged 14+ in an average week, unchanged from the previous year. The "Australian Financial Review" scored the largest increase in cross-platform audience. Driven by a 20.7 per cent increase in the average number of Australians who access the masthead by website or app, the AFR’s total net weekly audience grew by nine per cent to 760,000.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

Roy Morgan Magazine Readership and Cross-Platform Audiences for September 2015

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Nov-15

Roy Morgan Research’s latest Australian Magazine Readership survey shows that 12,249,000 Australians aged 14+ read the latest issue of at least one print magazine on average in the year to September 2015. This is 2.7 per cent lower than the previous year. "Coles Magazine" remained the most widely-read print magazine during the period, with an average readership of 2,804,000 per issue. Meanwhile, a number of titles recorded an increase in total cross-platform audiences, including "The Monthly" (up 12.4 per cent to 263,000), "Reader’s Digest" (up 6.1 per cent to 916,000), and "Open Road" (up five per cent to 1,022,000).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Fairytale Cup viewing figures open era of streaming success

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 5 : 5-Nov-15

The 2015 Melbourne Cup attracted an average TV audience of 2.931 million nationally. An average of 2.068 million people watched the race in Australia’s capital cities, compared with 2.178 million in 2014. However, the Seven Network’s live stream attracted an additional 342,000 views. The post-race presentation boasted an average metropolitan audience of 1.788 million.

CORPORATES
THE EMIRATES MELBOURNE CUP, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SKY RACING, OZTAM PTY LTD

Lynch in box seat for CFO at Seven

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 4-Nov-15

Australian-listed Seven West Media is shortly expected to announce a successor to former CFO Dave Boorman, who stepped down in early 2015. Warwick Lynch has been acting CFO, and he is believed to be the leading candidate to take on the role permanently. Lynch was also acting CFO prior to Boorman’s appointment in mid-2013. Boorman recently became the CFO at Ten Network.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, PEOPLE ONE PTY LTD, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW

EPL rights loss to Optus a blow to Foxtel, Macquarie says

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 4-Nov-15

Andrew Levy of Macquarie Group says Singtel Optus’s deal to acquire the English Premier League rights is a "clear negative" for incumbent broadcaster Foxtel. Levy notes that English soccer is popular with Foxtel subscribers, and the pay-TV group has benefited from the Premier League’s exclusion from the anti-siphoning list. Fox Sports also recently lost the right to broadcast the popular Saturday and Monday night National Rugby League matches.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FETCHTV PTY LTD

Marks set to replace Gyngell at Nine

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 2-Nov-15

Nine Entertainment Company is expected to announce that Media Venture Partners MD Hugh Marks will succeed CEO David Gyngell. Marks is a director of Nine, and his previous roles in the media industry include CEO of Southern Star and director of Nine Films & Television. Nine is also believed to be keen to retain Gyngell’s services in some capacity, which could include becoming a director or a consultant to the media group.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE FILMS AND TELEVISION PTY LTD, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MEDIA VENTURE PARTNERS PTY LTD, SOUTHERN STAR CORPORATION, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, RGM ARTISTS PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL