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

Court simmers with cooking show face-off

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 5-Aug-15

The Seven Network is seeking an injunction to prevent the Nine Network from broadcasting "The Hotplate" until a copyright dispute is heard in court. Lawyers for Nine and the show’s producer, Endemol, say the case may not be resolved until 2016, which would effectively force Nine to abandon the cooking show.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, ENDEMOL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Court simmers with cooking show face-off

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 5-Aug-15

The Seven Network is seeking an injunction to prevent the Nine Network from broadcasting "The Hotplate" until a copyright dispute is heard in court. Lawyers for Nine and the show’s producer, Endemol, say the case may not be resolved until 2016, which would effectively force Nine to abandon the cooking show.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, ENDEMOL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Ten deal could give News Corp huge sports power

Original article by Max Mason, John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 4-Aug-15

There are concerns that Ten Network’s proposed equity alliance with Foxtel could give the free-to-air network an advantage over rivals in negotiations for sports broadcasting rights. There are also fears that News Corporation could gain significant control over sports broadcasts, as it owns a 50 per cent stake in Foxtel and completely owns Fox Sports. Foxtel proposes to acquire a 15 per cent stake in Ten.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION