MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Subscription the prescription for Father’s Day

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Sep-14

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that "National Geographic" is the most popular magazine among Australian men whose children under the age 18 still live at home. The latest readership data from Roy Morgan shows that 153,000 fathers read an average issue of this title in the year to June 2014. This was followed by "Better Homes and Gardens" (120,000) and "Men’s Health" (111,000)

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Sky set to replace Australia Network

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Original article by Sharri Markson
The Australian – Page: 20 : 8-Sep-14

The Australian Government in its May 2014 Budget abolished the Australia Network overseas service operated by public broadcaster ABC. It had won the contract from the previous federal government, over the privately-owned Sky News. The latter is now set to launch its new Australia Channel, which will have similar content but be subscription-based and online. Viewers in 180 countries, including via internet-enabled TV sets, are the target according to Sky News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos. There will be no public funding, in contrast with the $A223m over a decade for the ABC

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS, AUSTRALIAN NEWS CHANNEL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, GLOBECAST AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, FRANCE TELECOM SA, AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED, BRIGHTCOVE INCORPORATED

Who’s afraid of the big bad Netflix?

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 8-Sep-14

Australian media groups are ramping up their presence in the video-on-demand sector in response to expectations that US-based Netflix will enter the local market. Pay-TV operator Foxtel has introduced a new channel that allows subscribers to watch whole seasons of TV shows, while it has also reduced the cost of its basic package. CEO Richard Freudenstein is hopeful that people who take up this package will upgrade to get additional channels

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Foxtel reprices for growth effort

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Original article by Dominic White, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 5-Sep-14

Pay-TV operator Foxtel will reduce the cost of its basic package by 50 per cent as part of a strategy to increase its subscriber base. Foxtel’s market penetration is currently around 30 per cent, but CEO Richard Freudenstein is confident of achieving strong growth by revising its prices. Foxtel will also launch a new channel which will offer on-demand viewing of entire seasons of popular TV shows

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, STREAMCO, AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED

New set of silks for Magic Millions

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 2-Sep-14

Free-to-air TV network Seven West Media owns the broadcasting rights to the Sydney Easter Carnival, Melbourne Spring Carnival and Emirates Melbourne Cup Carnival. It has now also secured a deal for the remaining major thoroughbred horseracing event series, the Magic Millions staged on the Gold Coast in Queensland, with owners Gerry Harvey and Katie Page. It had until now been screened by the Nine Entertainment rival of Seven

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MAGIC MILLIONS LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, THE EMIRATES MELBOURNE CUP, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN

Fairfax-Nine rumours quashed

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 27-Aug-14

The combined stake of 36% in Nine Entertainment held by US-based hedge funds Oaktree Capital and Apollo Global Management will come out of escrow on 28 August 2014. There have been claims in News Corporation newspaper "The Australian" that rival publisher Fairfax Media is preparing to acquire a major holding in Nine. However due to current cross-media ownership laws it would only be able to purchase 14.99% of the free-to-air TV group, and Fairfax has rejected the speculation

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Seven grabs Comm Games

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 20-Aug-14

Seven West Media hopes to emulate the Nine Network’s ratings success with the most recent Commonwealth Games that were held in Australia in 2006. Seven is believed to have paid $A43m for the traditional and digital media rights to the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Seven CEO Tim Worner says that securing the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games until 2020 prompted the decision to bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, COMMONWEALTH GAMES FEDERATION, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

TV networks not on the same wavelength: Why NRL clubs want more Sunday games

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Original article by Brad Walter
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 46 : 19-Aug-14

The Nine Network and Fox Sports like National Rugby League (NRL) matches to be scheduled on Thursday nights, as the timeslot attracts high ratings. However, attendance at Thursday night matches tend to be low, and NRL teams suggest that playing matches on Sunday afternoons would draw a much bigger crowd. Likewise, Monday night matches are popular with TV viewers but often attract low crowd numbers

CORPORATES
NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BULLDOGS RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB LIMITED, SOUTH SYDNEY RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB, BRISBANE BRONCOS RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB LIMITED, SYDNEY ROOSTERS RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL, GOLD COAST TITANS, MELBOURNE STORM RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB LIMITED, ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS, PARRAMATTA RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB, GEELONG FOOTBALL CLUB, CARLTON FOOTBALL CLUB, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, MANLY WARRINGAH DISTRICT RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB, NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS LIMITED, NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS LIMITED

Ten taps Foxtel for stream service

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 25 : 18-Aug-14

Australian free-to-air TV network Nine Entertainment is tipped to roll out its new streaming service by late 2014. In response pay TV operator Foxtel launched its Presto video-on-demand offering, and it has now cut the price by 50% to $A9.95 a month. Foxtel has also been named by Rebekah Horne, the chief digital officer at Ten Network, as a likely partner for that group’s streaming plans. She noted that Foxtel uses software from major supplier Ooyala. Horne also said Ten may choose to charge users for the special content to be available under the new Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV system, expected to arrive in September or October

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, OOYALA INCORPORATED, FREEVIEW AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Fairfax eyes more cuts in the race to stem revenue bleed

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 15-Aug-14

Fairfax Media has announced a 2013-14 full-year net profit of $A224.4m post-tax, after a 2012-13 loss of $A15.5m. Excluding abnormal gains from the divestment of the Stayz and InvestSmart businesses, the operating earnings were up 1.8% to reach $A306.4m. Revenue in the newspapers division was down 9.2% to $A803.2m, and that of the radio assets 6% to $A103.8m. However at the Domain property wed site unit it grew 15.5% to $A146.6m. CEO Greg Hywood signalled further cost reductions, and investors pushed Fairfax shares $A0.06 higher to a close of $A0.94 on 14 August 2014

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DOMAIN.COM.AU, STAYZ PTY LTD, INVESTSMART FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD