News Corp CEO admits to ‘challenging’ ad market as Rupert Murdoch’s pay packet falls

Original article by Miranda Ward
Mumbrella – Page: online : 2-Sep-15

News Corporation has reported a loss of $US149 million ($A201.7 million) for 2014-15. Robert Thomson, CEO of the company, said that advertising remains "challenging". New products will be developed to stimulate growth in digital subscriptions. Thomson received $US10.29 million as total remuneration in 2014-15, compared with News Corp co-chairman Rupert Murdoch’s $US5.07 million.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, WPP GROUP PLC, FOX SPORTS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Reform campaign building, says Prime Media chairman

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 31-Aug-15

Prime Media Group chairman John Hartigan is an advocate of media reform which Seven Group opposes. Hartigan suggests that Seven Group CEO Ryan Stokes’ criticism of Prime Media’s strategy is an attempt to persuade Prime’s shareholders that Seven should have a seat on the board of the regional broadcaster. Seven has an 11 per cent stake in Prime.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WIN TELEVISION PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, IMPARJA TELEVISION PTY LTD

Foxtel has to score NRL deal

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 31-Aug-15

Foxtel is under commercial pressure to acquire the future pay television rights to show National Rugby League (NRL) games. OzTAM’s recent ratings figures suggest that NRL games are important for Foxtel’s ratings. If Foxtel fails to secure more games, more than $A350 million of its $A3.1 billion annual revenue could be at risk.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, OZTAM PTY LTD, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, FOX SPORTS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Ad prices to soar for TV football

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 31-Aug-15

The Seven and Nine TV networks intend to increase advertisement prices, with price rises of about 30 per cent. The average cost of a 30-second TV spot for a prime-time Australian Football League or National Rugby League match would rise to $A39,000, from $A30,000. The rises are necessary to recover the costs associated with new sports broadcast rights deals.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, SILVER POINT CAPITAL LP, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, APOLLO GROUP INCORPORATED

SMI: Ten’s revenue share rises as rivals tumble with newspapers down nearly 30 per cent

Original article by Nic Christensen
Mumbrella – Page: Online : 19-Aug-15

The July 2015 Standard Media Index (SMI) shows that Network Ten increased its share of ad revenue from media agencies by 3.2 per cent to 24.4 per cent, year-on-year. Newspapers recorded sharp falls, with media agency spend declining 29.4 per cent to $A47.2 million, $A19.6 million less than in July 2014. Digital bookings rose 6.7 per cent to $A123.5 million although late digital bookings are expected to cause the paid media market for July to be flat. In television, ad spending rose 3.2 per cent to $A301.3 million, while radio was up 0.4 per cent to $A47.2 million. Cinema recorded a rise of 43.6 per cent, to $A5.8 million. Outdoor declined 10.1 per cent to $A53.3 million while magazines recorded a fall in spend of 16.9 per cent to $A15.1 million. Among categories, food/alcoholic retail spending rose 33.5 per cent to $A32.2 million. The restaurants category improved year on year with bookings rising 16.6 per cent in July to $A28.6 million.

CORPORATES
SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Paywalled news sites head off foreign brigade

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 25 : 17-Aug-15

New figures from Nielsen suggest that international online portals are having problems with attracting Australian readers. Nielsen’s "Ratings by Unique Audience" report for July 2015 shows that "The Guardian" managed to increase its year-on-year unique audience by only two per cent. "The Daily Telegraph" and BBC increased their audiences by 3.8 per cent and four per cent respectively. Figures compiled by "The Australian" show that comprehensive paywall sites are more successful in growing their audiences, with "The Australian" recording a 10.6 per cent rise in unique visitors in the past 12 months.

CORPORATES
NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH INCORPORATED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, THE HUFFINGTON POST

Gyngell cleared of insider trading claims

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 25 : 17-Aug-15

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has decided not to take further action against Nine Network CEO David Gyngell. ASIC officers examined a large number of email and text message records but found no evidence supporting insider trading allegations. The investigation was triggered by the sale of 700,000 Nine shares by Gyngell on 20 May 2015

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, CRICKET AUSTRALIA

Netflix reaches 1.89 million Australians. Foxtel loses share (but not size) as Netflix expands pay and subscription TV market

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

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 1.89 million Australians aged 14+ in 737,000 households had a Netflix subscription in July 2015. Netflix has experienced strong growth in subscriptions, considering that it had 748,000 subscribers in April, 1.16 million in May and 1.53 million in June. Foxtel’s share of the pay/subscription TV market has declined to 76 per cent, although the size of its customer base remains almost unchanged (2,346,000). The total pay/subscription market has expanded almost 30 per cent since the start of 2015.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

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

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Aug-15

Roy Morgan Research has released its Print Readership and seven-day Cross-Platform Audience results for Australian newspapers for the year to June 2015. Readership of Print Monday to Friday editions have declined by 11.3 per cent overall in the total number of readers for the country’s major metropolitan papers. Meanwhile, there was an overall readership decline of 8.8 per cent for Saturday editions, while readership of Sunday newspapers fell by 7.1 per cent. "The Sunday Times" recorded the largest cross-platform audience growth overall, up 5.5 per cent to 901,000.

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 June 2015

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Aug-15

Roy Morgan Research’s Australian Magazine Readership Survey shows that 12,378,000 Australians aged 14+ read the latest issue of at least one magazine on average in the year to June 2015. "Coles Magazine" was the most widely read print magazine during the period, with an average readership of 2,721,000. Meanwhile, a number of titles recorded an increase in total cross-platform audiences, including "Cosmopolitan" (up three per cent to 513,000), "Men’s Health" (up 1.6 per cent to 587,000) and "New Idea" (up 1.3 per cent to 1,340,000).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, BAUER MEDIA KG