MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

SBS on a roll with Tour de France cycling and World Cup

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 42 : 7-Jul-14

The 2014 Tour de France cycling event is expected to generate good TV audience ratings for public broadcaster SBS in Australia. It has boosted the number of sponsors by one to five, and they are Skoda, QBE Insurance, Colonial First State, Optus TV/FetchTV and Scenic Tours. For the first of the three weeks, SBS will also still show live matches from the soccer World Cup in Brazil. In cycling news, major sponsor Orica has voiced its confidence in the Australian GreenEDGE team competing in the Tour de France, after rider Daryl Impey returned a positive drug test

CORPORATES
SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), ORICA LIMITED – ASX ORI, GREENEDGE CYCLING PTY LTD, SKODA AUTOMOBILOVA AS, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, COLONIAL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED – ASX CNG, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, FETCHTV PTY LTD, SCENIC TOURS PTY LTD

Hywood defends strategy amid online disruption

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Original article by Stefanie Balogh
The Australian – Page: 23 : 2-Jul-14

The audience at an event staged at the Australian National University by Fairfax Media’s "The Australian Financial Review" on 1 July 2014 heard from Greg Hywood. The Fairfax CEO argued that the recent closing of newspaper printing plants in Melbourne and Sydney was an example of positive digital disruption, as more readers can now be reached via smartphone apps and web pages with the same content at a fraction of the capital cost. Hywood says the move had effectively saved Fairfax $A599.2m. The outlook for its long-term debt rating of "BB+" has also been lifted by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, from "negative" to "stable"

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

‘Credible strategy’ lifts Fairfax credit rating outlook

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Original article by Madeleine Heffernan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 1-Jul-14

Standard & Poor’s has revised the credit rating outlook for Fairfax Media’s "BB+" long-term rating from "negative" to "stable". The ratings agency stated on 30 June 2014 that the media company had developed a "credible" strategy for its earnings over the medium term. The stock closed at $A0.9275 on 30 June 2014. Since the beginning of 2014, it has risen 44.5 per cent

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, CREDIT SUISSE AG, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD, RSVP.COM.AU PTY LTD, GANNETT COMPANY INCORPORATED

How will Lachlan Murdoch and James Packer react to Ten bid?

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 24-Jun-14

US-based Providence Equity Partners is said to be preparing for a possible takeover of Australian-listed free-to-air TV group Ten Network. The reactions to such a bid by the four main stockholders will vary. Lachlan Murdoch and James Packer have suffered substantial losses on their investments in the company, and may be content to depart despite having to sell at about $A0.245 a share when they had bought in at $A1.50. Equally relieved to exit may be mining heiress Gina Rinehart, whose limited media sector exposure also includes Fairfax Media. The most likely to keep the faith that Ten will be turned around is TV industry stalwart Bruce Gordon, who owns 15%

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, PROVIDENCE EQUITY PARTNERS INCORPORATED, ITV PLC, ITV NETWORK LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, WIN TELEVISION PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Ten falls on weak outlook

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires, Tom Cowie
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 20-Jun-14

Australian-listed TV broadcaster Ten Network has advised that its 2013-14 revenue will be between 3.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent lower than previously. COO Paul Anderson has noted the difficult conditions in the TV advertising market and the low ratings for many of the network’s programs earlier in 2014. The group’s shares closed 6.9 per cent lower at $A0.27 on 19 June

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN

Fairfax defence: Leighton consultancy deal ‘corrupt’

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Original article by Leo Shanahan, Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 25 : 23-Jun-14

Fairfax Media is resorting to the defence of truth in the defamation law suit brought against it by ex-Leighton Holdings CEO Wal King. He objects to a series of articles published in 2013 that claimed he had knowledge of bribes paid to gain oil sector contracts in Iraq. The defence now mounted by Fairfax also alleges that corrupt and unethical conduct occurred when King sought to obtain a consultancy role worth $A5m from Leighton after he stepped down. The company maintains that no such agreement was in fact struck

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, UNAOIL GROUP, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Private equity firms sound out Ten

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Original article by Sarah Thompson, James Chessell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Jun-14

Insiders claim struggling Australian free-to-air TV group Ten Network’s board and management are keen to see it delisted. Some four tenths of its issued scrip is already held by just four major investors, in the shape of Lachlan Murdoch, James Packer, Gina Rinehart and Bruce Gordon. There are now rumours that US-based Providence Equity Partners is interested in taking Ten private, and has held talks with it. The media company has recruited law firm Gilbert + Tobin and investment bank City as advisers on any sale plans

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, PROVIDENCE EQUITY PARTNERS INCORPORATED, FOX TELEVISION STATIONS INCORPORATED, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, CBS CORPORATION, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CONSOLIDATED MEDIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS