MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Solstice buys high-profile travel magazine

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 30-Jul-25

Solstice Media has added Australian Traveller magazine to its portfolio of print and online titles. The independent media company will acquire an 80 per cent stake in the publisher of Australian Traveller, and will move to full ownership over the next two years. The deal is part of Solstice Media’s strategy to increase revenue and grow its business. Its other assets include news website The New Daily, which it bought from Industry Super Holdings in late 2024.

CORPORATES
SOLSTICE MEDIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLER MEDIA PTY LTD, THE NEW DAILY, INDUSTRY SUPER HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Nine buys Premier League rights in Australia as Optus Sport shuts down

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Original article by Martin Pegan
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Jul-25

Nine Entertainment has struck a deal to acquire the sports broadcasting rights that are currently held by telco Optus. They include the English Premier League, the FA Cup and the National Women’s Soccer League, which will all shift from Optus Sport to Stan Sport. The deal is said to be worth about $300m in total, and Optus is believed to have agreed to contribute about $40m to the estimated annual cost of $100m per annum for the final three years of its broadcasting rights deal for EPL matches. The Optus Sport platform was launched in 2006, but it will be shut down at the end of July; this will allow Optus to focus on its core business.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN SPORT, OPTUS SPORT, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE

New Australian free-to-air TV rules could allow alcohol ads from 10am, even on weekends and school holidays

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Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 21-May-25

Free TV Australia has proposed a revised code of practice for the nation’s commercial broadcasters. Amongst other things, the industry lobby group is pushing for M-rated TV programs to be broadcast for five hours during the daytime, rather than three at present; alcohol advertisements are permitted during M-rated blocks of programming, and Free TV Australia wants there to be no restrictions on such ads during weekends and school holidays, when children are most likely to be watching TV. It also proposes retaining the current loophole that allows alcohol ads to be shown during live sports broadcasts. The Australian Communications & Media Authority is currently reviewing the proposed changes to the code, which has not been updated for about a decade.

CORPORATES
FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Magazines matter to most Australians: over 65%, or 14.9 million, read magazines in print or online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Apr-25

The Roy Morgan Australian Readership report for the 12 months to March 2025 shows that 11.2 million Australians aged 14+ (49.2%) now read print magazines. This market broadens significantly to more than 14.9 million Australians aged 14+ (65.4%) who read magazines in print or online either via the web or an app. Overall, seven of the top 25 most widely read magazines increased their readership over the last year. The most widely read magazine category is Food & Entertainment, with a readership of 7,175,000 (over 3 million ahead of any other category and reaching well over 30% of the population). Meanwhile, Better Homes and Gardens is still Australia’s most widely read paid magazine, with a print readership of 1,744,000; the second-placed The Australian Women’s Weekly has a print readership of 1,180,000. Australia’s two most widely read free magazines are still Coles Magazine (with a print readership of 5,245,000) and Woolworths’ Fresh Ideas (4,645,000). These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 69,305 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to March.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Piastri factor puts heat on Formula 1 TV rights race

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 8-May-25

Nine Entertainment’s CEO Matt Stanton says the media group is interested in securing the broadcasting rights for Formula 1 racing. Foxtel currently holds exclusive rights to all F1 races except the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, which is also televised by the Ten Network under the nation’s anti-siphoning laws for major sports events. Foxtel is believed to be in the final year of its current three-year rights deal, and F1 would be a good fit for Nine’s Stan Sport streaming platform. The success of Australian driver Oscar Piastri so far in the current F1 is likely to have boosted local interest in the sport.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN SPORT

Retail Media and the evolving NEO Consumer: A Roy Morgan Business Address

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-May-25

NEO retail guru Scott Browning will give a presentation on the dramatic emergence of ‘Retail Media’ and the role the next economic order of consumers (NEOs) are playing in its financial growth. Scott will unpick the confusion swirling around Retail Media and analyse where it poses a threat and provides exceptional opportunities. He will review the established players like Woolworths and Coles, reveal Amazon as the ‘elephant in the room’ and contextualise the emerging players like Officeworks, Chemist Warehouse, Bunnings, and others. Social scientist and author Dr Ross Honeywill will also share his latest insights into the evolving NEO consumer wave and what it means for brands in 2025 and beyond. Bookings are essential for this face-to-face briefing at Tonic House (386 Flinders Lane, Melbourne) at 4.00pm on 20 May.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ThinkNewsBrands, Roy Morgan and Ipsos Australia form single source of truth for Total News Publishing digital audience measurement

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-May-25

ThinkNewsBrands, in collaboration with Roy Morgan and Ipsos Australia, has responded to the media industry’s calls for clarity and consistency by leading a project to integrate Ipsos iris digital audience data for Total News Publishing within Roy Morgan Single Source. From 19 May, Roy Morgan digital measurement data, in most cases dating back to January 2023, will be replaced with Ipsos iris measurement data for brands or entities within Total News Publishing. This data will be referred to as Roy Morgan iris. The move to a common digital news publishing source will streamline media planning and create consistency as all advertisers, agencies and publishers will be able to rely on one digital measurement, endorsed by all parties, irrespective of which system they subscribe to – Roy Morgan Single Source or Ipsos iris.

CORPORATES
THINKNEWSBRANDS, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, IPSOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Netflix rival Max rolls out in Australia with bold profit prediction

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 & 19 : 1-Apr-25

Warner Bros Discovery’s Max streaming service debuted in an already crowded Australian market on Monday. Warner Bros Discovery executive Jean-Briac Perrette is upbeat about the outlook for the sector, contending that streaming will be a "fantastic business". Perrette expects Max to be profitable in Australia within three years, and he has not ruled out acquisitions in the local market. Much of the HBO content that was previously available on Foxtel’s Binge streaming platform will now exclusively on Max.

CORPORATES
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY INCORPORATED, MAX, HBO, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, BINGE

Nine formally appoints Matt Stanton as chief executive

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 14-Mar-25

Media company Nine Entertainment has announced that it has formally appointed Matt Stanton as its CEO, with chair Catherine West said the board was delighted to do so after an extensive search for Mike Sneesby’s successor. Sneesby had stepped down in September after an ongoing period of share price decline and a rocky few months for Nine, and Stanton had been acting as interim CEO since then. He had previously been Nine’s chief strategy and financial officer, while companies that he worked for before joining Nine include Woolworths and Bauer Media, where he had been CEO.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC,(SPACE)WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW,(SPACE)BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

REA banks on news.com.au to beat Domain bidder

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 5-Mar-25

News Corporation has a majority stake in REA Group, which in turn owns the realestate.com.au property listings portal. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson has downplayed concerns about US-based CoStar’s takeover bid for rival property listings group Domain Holdings. Thomson says CoStar lacks a publishing network and would have to ramp up the marketing of Domain to increase its market share. Thomson adds that News Corp has a comparative advantage, as it can leverage its media assets – including the news.com.au website – to drive traffic to REA Group.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, COSTAR GROUP INCORPORATED