MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Murdoch tightens Ten grip

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 16-Jun-15

Pay-TV group Foxtel will acquire a stake of around 15 per cent in the Ten Network, paying $A0.15 per share, which equates to about $A77m. Ten shareholders will also be offered additional stock at $A0.15, with the free-to-air broadcaster raising $A154m in total via the share placement. Meanwhile, Ten will take a 24.99 per cent stake in Foxtel’s Multi Channel Network advertising sales company, which will in turn merge with Ten’s advertising department.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, SKY PLC, 20TH CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED

Nine plans local shift

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 15-Jun-15

Nine Entertainment Company will increase its investment in Australian drama, after deciding not to renew its content deal with US-based Warner Bros. Nine Network programming director Andrew Backwell says local drama is generally rating well, while the plethora of options available for viewing US drama means such shows no longer attract large audiences in Australia. He adds that piracy is not such a big issue with local drama. Nine will continue to buy current TV shows from Warner Bros.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, WARNER BROS, ENDEMOL ENTERTAINMENT HOLDING NV

Television keeps pretenders at bay as king of screens

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 12-Jun-15

A new report shows that Australian consumers still prefer to watch video content on TV rather than mobile devices or PCs. The Australia Multi-Screen Report indicates that Australians typically watched more than 89 hours of TV each month in the last year, compared with just over 93 hours previously. The average amount of time Australians spend each month watching video content on a computer device fell slightly in the last year. The report also shows that the 65+ age group tends to watch the most TV, while those aged 13-17 watch the least.

CORPORATES
OZTAM PTY LTD, THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, REGIONAL TAM PTY LTD

Community spirit still strong for newspapers

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

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that total readership of News Corp Australia’s community newspapers rose by just under one per cent to 5,062,000 in the 24 months to March 2015. Fairfax Media’s community publications maintained a combined reach of just over a million across New South Wales and Victoria, down 2.8 per cent compared with the 24 months to March 2014. The latest Roy Morgan Community Newspaper Readership results also show that the "St George & Sutherland Shire Leader" remains the most-read community paper in NSW, with an average of 194,000 readers per issue, and the "Waverley/Oakleigh Monash Leader" is now the most-read community paper in Victoria.

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

Racing Victoria bets on Seven deal

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Original article by John Stensholt, Patrick Bartley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 11-Jun-15

Racing Victoria is expected to post a net profit of at least $A15m for the 2014-15 financial year. Meanwhile, the racing body does not expect revenue to be unduly affected by Tabcorp’s decision to end Sky Channel’s coverage of Victorian horse races from mid-June 2015. Seven West Media is in talks with Racing Victoria to launch a dedicated racing channel.

CORPORATES
RACING VICTORIA LIMITED, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, SKY CHANNEL, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Aussies in mid-size towns want more local news

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Jun-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 51 per cent of Australians aged 14+ regard local news as the content they most want to see, hear or read one or more times across the week. The survey, which was carried out in the year to March 2015, also shows that 49 per cent of capital city residents cite local news as a weekday or weekend content preference, while residents of Australia’s 12 largest non-capital towns and urban areas generally prefer local news. This includes 71 per cent of residents of Launceston and 69 per cent of those in Albury.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Networks rely on sports for ad dollars

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 10-Jun-15

Concerns about an uncertain outlook for the advertising market prompted investors to sell down Australian media stocks on 9 June 2015. Nine Entertainment Company has partially attributed an earnings downgrade to slowing ad revenue. Ben Willee of Spinach Advertising notes that TV ad revenue is being affected by the growing use of mobile devices to access media content, while Starcom MediaVest Group CEO Chris Nolan says sports broadcasts are becoming a key source of viewers and ad revenue for TV networks.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SPINACH ADVERTISING PTY LTD, STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, OPTIMUM MEDIA DIRECTION PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Shareholder backs Nine despite downgrade

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 9-Jun-15

Nine Entertainment Company has attributed a profit downgrade to a subdued TV advertising market in the second half of 2014-15. The media group has advised that its full-year EBITDA will be within the range of $A285m to $A290m, compared with earlier guidance of $A311m. Entcho Raykovski of Deutsche Bank expects free-to-air ad revenue to be three per cent lower in the second half.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, WARNER BROS

Battle for eyeballs to play out ‘within 12 months’

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 4-Jun-15

FetchTV CEO Scott Lorson estimates that up to five million Australian households could potentially take out a subscription to a streaming video service. He does not expect any of the rival groups to be able to operate at a loss for very long, and forecasts that they will succeed or fail within the next year. However, other media industry experts say the emerging sector is a long-term proposition.

CORPORATES
FETCHTV PTY LTD, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Blackley back on board for SCM M&A bonanza

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 1-Jun-15

Southern Cross Media Group chairman Peter Bush expects mergers in Australia’s media sector if cross-media ownership laws are changed. He says the industry expertise of new CEO Grant Blackley will be an asset when dealing with the new media landscape. Bush adds that one of Blackley’s key tasks will be to assess the group’s "peak value". Blackley is a former CEO of the Ten Network.

CORPORATES
SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KEYSTONE GROUP PTY LTD