MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Southern Cross, Nine in $2.2bn merger talks

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Original article by Christine Lacy, Damon Kitney, Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-Nov-15

Nine Entertainment Company has held merger discussions with regional broadcaster Southern Cross Media Group, and sources have suggested that there is an even chance of a deal proceeding. The "reach rule" would prohibit a full merger at present, but the deal being discussed is said to involve Nine acquiring Southern Cross’ radio stations immediately. Nine would subsequently buy Southern Cross’s TV stations if and when cross-media ownership rules are relaxed.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO PTY LTD, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MI9, NINEMSN PTY LTD, 2DAY FM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TRIPLE M CORPORATION PTY LTD, THE HIT NETWORK, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, CVC ASIA PACIFIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, LUMINIS PARTNERS PTY LTD

2.677 million Australians have Netflix as subscriptions surpass one million homes

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Nov-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that the number of Australian homes with a Netflix subscription rose by 11.4 per cent in October 2015 to 1,039,000. Some 2.677 million Australians aged 14+ now live in a home with a Netflix subscription. The survey also shows that 19.3 per cent of Australians bought a DVD in an average three-month period during the six months to September 2015, compared with 20.6 per cent in an average three months in the six months to September 2014. Likewise, the rate of downloading TV shows or movies has fallen from 10.8 per cent a year ago to 9.1 per cent in the six months following the launch of Netflix in Australia.`

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Nine may save by ceding Saturday night NRL

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 12-Nov-15

Fox Sports owner News Corp is continuing to hold talks with the National Rugby League regarding pay-TV broadcasting rights. The media group has indicated that it is willing to pay $A30m a year to broadcast the Saturday night NRL match, which Nine Entertainment Company acquired as part of a $A925m five-year free-to-air and streaming rights deal earlier in 2015. Nine is said to be seeking to have the cost of its deal reduced by about $A40m a year in return for relinquishing the Saturday night fixture.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY FOOTBALL LEAGUE, OZTAM PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Gary Morgan – Business confidence surveys and selective reporting by the Australian media

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Nov-15

It is impossible to stop "organisations" conducting "questionable" polls – sometimes ill-conceived and too often completely self-serving or even mischievous polls. However, it is a disgrace when Australia’s national news services "selectively report" only such polls. Australia’s media has a critical role to play in keeping the Australian people informed. Australia’s major media is concentrated and controlled by too few – probably soon to be fewer! This makes the ethics of journalists and media owners even more important. Good governance dictates journalists must be briefed to report all facts honestly – not report "selectively" to support their own opinion.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

NRL looks to seal deal for two Friday games

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Original article by Jake Mitchell, Brent Read
The Australian – Page: 3 : 11-Nov-15

The National Rugby League may finalise a deal for pay-TV rights in the next several weeks. Negotiations with Fox Sports are believed to involve regaining the rights to a Saturday night match, which the Nine Network secured in its recent $A925m deal with the NRL. Fox Sports would also gain the rights to a Friday night match, while Nine would broadcast a second match on Friday. Any deal is said to be condition on Fox Sports regaining the popular Saturday night match.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

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