MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

ABC sets new prime-time target of 60pc Australian content

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 22-Sep-15

Local productions will comprise just 43 per cent of the content broadcast in prime time on the ABC’s main channel in 2015. The public broadcaster’s director of television, Richard Finlayson, says ABC budget cuts have significantly affected local content, but he aims to lift this to 60 per cent within five years. The ABC is pushing for an increase in its funding and a requirement for global video-on-demand providers to help finance local TV productions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION, CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Netflix, Google ‘should invest in Aussie content’

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 21-Sep-15

Australia’s free-to-air and pay-TV industry is estimated to invest about $A3bn in content each year. The former Australian Labor Party’s Convergence Review in 2012 noted that free-to-air broadcasters invest 3-4 per cent of their revenue in local content. Screen Producers Australia and the ABC argue that subscription video-on-demand providers such as Netflix should have a similar obligation to invest in local content.

CORPORATES
SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ACCC alarmed by Foxtel plan for Ten

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) will decide the fate of the proposed Ten Network-Foxtel equity alliance on 22 October 2015. The ACCC has raised a number of concerns about the deal in a statement of issues. They include the potential for Ten and Foxtel to dominate bidding for sports broadcasting rights and the impact of the alliance on the television advertising market, as Ten’s advertising sales team would be merged with Foxtel’s MCN. The role of 8.5 per cent Ten shareholder and News Corp executive Lachlan Murdoch is also a concern for the ACCC.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX SPORTS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, CONSOLIDATED MEDIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Subscription outpaces free sites in flight to quality

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 23 : 14-Sep-15

A Nielsen Online Ratings survey shows that Australian consumers are embracing news websites that require a subscription to access the majority of content. The number of unique visitors to the five most-visited sites with a comprehensive paywall rose by 19.4 per cent year-on-year in August 2015. Meanwhile, the number of unique visitors to the top five new sites with a moderate paywall fell by 2.8 per cent. The top five sites with free access recorded growth of 2.5 per cent.

CORPORATES
THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

TV rating measures stretch to a month

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 25 : 14-Sep-15

OzTAM’s TV ratings methodology is being updated to embrace time-shifting and multiscreens. The new data will begin to be available later in 2015, and OzTAM will report ratings for programs that are viewed up to 28 days after initial transmission. OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer says preliminary data suggests that taking time-shifting into account can lift a program’s overall ratings by up to 10 per cent. He adds that multiscreen data is unlikely to have much impact on ratings, as most people still watch traditional TV.

CORPORATES
OZTAM PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Pay-TV’s spend on local content jumps to $800m

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 20 : 10-Sep-15

New figures show that Australia’s pay-TV industry invested $A796 million in new local productions in 2014-15, compared with $A656m in the previous fiscal year. Foxtel CEO Richard Freudenstein says the company’s investment in new content has spanned all genres, adding that overseas TV production groups have also invested in local content. Foxtel plans to further invest in local drama, entertainment and comedy over the next three years.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, VIACOM INCORPORATED, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, ESPN INCORPORATED, DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD

Netflix reaches 2.2 million Australians

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Sep-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 9.3 per cent of Australian households had access to Netflix in August 2015. This equates to more than 2.2 million Australians aged 14+. However, growth is slowing, with an additional 118,000 households subscribing to the subscription video on demand service in August. This is the lowest net gain since its first full month of Netflix’s local operations in April. It is the first time Netflix gained less than in the month before: it previously grew by 133,000 homes in May, 152,000 in June and 166,000 in July.

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

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

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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