MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Seven West boosts board

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Original article by Max Mason, David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 25-Jun-15

Australian-listed Seven West Media has made four new appointments to its board of directors. CEO Tim Worner will join the board, as will iiNet founder Michael Malone, Gilbert + Tobin partner Sheila McGregor and former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett. The new directors offer expertise in a range of sectors beyond the media industry, and Kennett notes the need for boards to have a wide range of skills.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DOMAIN.COM.AU, HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB, BEYOND BLUE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Netflix is the new black: 1 million users, more than 3 times rivals Presto, Stan, Quickflix & Foxtel Play combined

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jun-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 1,039,000 Australians aged 14+ in 408,000 households had subscribed to the Netflix streaming video on demand service in May 2015. In contrast, 97,000 Australians were subscribed to the Presto joint venture between Foxtel and Seven West Media, while 91,000 had a subscription to Stan, which Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media launched in January. Meanwhile, Australian-listed Quickflix had just 43,000 subscribers and 40,000 had Foxtel Play, the streaming version of its pay-TV service.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

Seven Group new boss set to take helm

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 23-Jun-15

Seven Group Holdings’ incoming CEO Ryan Stokes will receive an annual salary of $A1.6m when he succeeds Don Voelte in July 2015. Stokes has been an executive director of the conglomerate since 2010, and became COO in 2012. His remuneration also includes both short- and long-term incentive plans. Voelte revealed his intention to step down in April.

CORPORATES
SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, WESTRAC HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Football rights on agenda as providers talk to codes

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Original article by John Stensholt, Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 22-Jun-15

The latest five-year deals for Australian Football League and National Rugby League broadcasting rights are expected to fetch between $A1.5bn and $A2bn. Both codes are believed to have held talks with digital companies and online steaming services. However, companies such as Google and Netflix are expected to partner with traditional media companies to offer content rather than providing live streaming of matches themselves. Singtel Optus is also keen to secure digital broadcasting rights.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, FETCHTV PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SKY SPORTS, FOX FOOTY CHANNEL

Davis ready to take APN reins

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 22-Jun-15

Australian Radio Network (ARN) CEO Ciaran Davis will succeed Michael Miller as CEO of parent company APN News & Media. ARN recruited Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson for the rebranded KIIS radio station during Davis’s five-year tenure as CEO. Meanwhile, Miller will become executive chairman of News Corp’s Australasian division.

CORPORATES
APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, KIIS1065, MIX-FM, 2DAY FM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL

Google a scary competitor, says Ten boss

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Original article by Paul McIntyre
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 22-Jun-15

Foxtel’s MCN advertising business will assume responsibility for selling ads on the Ten Network in September 2015. Ten CEO Hamish McLennan says global internet companies such as Google present a major threat to Australian TV broadcasters, and warns that they could soon be competing with traditional media companies for sports broadcasting rights. MCN CEO Anthony Fitzgerald adds that there is a need to redefine TV as consumers are now watching broadcast-quality video on a range of devices.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD, SOUND ALLIANCE PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, OPTIMUM MEDIA DIRECTION PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, McDONALD’S AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, THE HOOPLA

Former ACCC head believes Ten, Foxtel deal likely to go ahead

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

The proposed equity deal between Ten Network and Foxtel will have to be approved by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. Former chairman Allan Fels says the growth of internet-based streaming video services should ensure that the deal is not blocked on competition grounds. John Kettle of law firm McCullough Robertson also expects the deal to be approved, and he says contractual arrangements between Ten and Foxtel are likely to attract the most scrutiny.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, McCULLOUGH ROBERTSON, STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, ILLYRIA PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

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