MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Tough love necessary, says News

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 18-Jun-20

News Corporation’s CEO Robert Thomson says the media group’s decision to axe the print editions of 112 regional and community newspapers was not taken lightly. The bulk of the titles will become digital-only publications, but 36 will be discontinued completely. Thomson says this was necessary to ensure the viability of the titles that will become digital-only. The number of News Corp journalists working on regional and community mastheads will be reduced from more than 1,200 to just 375.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Bauer Media offloads Aussie magazine arm for $50m, eight years after buying it for $525m

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Original article by Shannon Molloy
News.com.au – Page: Online : 18-Jun-20

Private equity firm Mercury Capital has struck a deal to acquire the Australian magazines business of Bauer Media. The sale price has not been disclosed, although it is believed to be less than $50m. Germany-based Bauer bought ACP Magazines for $525m in 2012, and it recently paid $40m for the Pacific Magazines division of Seven West Media. The Mercury Capital deal is expected to be completed in July.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MERCURY CAPITAL PTY LTD, BAUER MEDIA KG, PACIFIC MAGAZINES PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Catalano and Seven discussed news deal

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Original article by Max Mason, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 17-Jun-20

Sources have indicated that Antony Catalano is the previously undisclosed party to whom Seven West Media provided detailed financial information about its West Australian Newspapers business earlier in 2020. A deal for Catalano’s Australian Community Media to acquire WAN did not progress beyond initial discussions, and Seven West director Ryan Stokes advised at the time that the group had no plans to sell the business. Catalano was also holding talks with News Corp Australia about buying its portfolio of regional and community newspapers, a deal that also did not eventuate.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, WEST AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

12.7 million Australians use streaming music services

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jun-20

Over 12.7 million Australians (61%) now use music streaming services in an average four weeks, an increase of over 3.7 million from three years ago. Spotify is the clear market leader, used by 8 million Australians; it has more than doubled its Australian user-base since 2017, up by 4.4 million (+122%). The most prominent rival to Spotify is clearly YouTube Music (including Google Play Music), now used by 5.5 million Australians (26%). Apple Music and SoundCloud are each used by substantial numbers of Australians as the third and fourth most popular services in the music streaming market. It is important to understand that these figures do not include all live radio streams and podcasts that Australians are able to listen to via these services. Early in 2019 over 1.6 million Australians downloaded podcasts in an average four weeks, and there are many others who livestream radio broadcasts of sporting events and talkback radio as well. In contrast to these growing services a declining minority of 8.1 million Australians (39%) do not currently use any music streaming services, a drop of 2.7 million from three years ago.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, SPOTIFY LIMITED, YOUTUBE MUSIC, APPLE MUSIC, SOUNDCLOUD

Facebook says it doesn’t need news stories for its business and won’t pay to share them in Australia

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Original article by Naaman Zhou, Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 16-Jun-20

Social media company Facebook has rejected a proposal to share its advertising revenue with news publishers. The mandatory code of conduct being developed by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission would govern the relationship between media companies and digital platforms such as Facebook and Google. Facebook claims that there would be no significant impact to its income if it stopped sharing news content, while it says the revenue-sharing proposal means it would be subsidising a competitor.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Regional TV on verge of market failure

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 12-Jun-20

The federal government may relax the local content requirements for regional TV broadcasters’ multi-channels due to their consistent failure to meet the hours-based quotas. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Communications notes that 12 regional or remote TV stations failed to comply with the Australian content quotas in 2017. This is primarily because regional broadcasters often chose not to carry some of the secondary channels of their metropolitan affiliates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Buy Australian, streaming services told

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Original article by Tom Burton, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 12-Jun-20

A draft options paper from Screen Australia and the Australian Communications & Media Authority has outlined a range of possible changes to broadcasting rules. Amongst other things, the industry options paper proposes that subscription video-on-demand providers be subject to the same local content rules that apply to traditional broadcasters. Screen Australia and ACMA have also suggested that commercial networks could be released from their obligation to broadcast children’s content, given that many younger viewers now prefer to watch content online; the ABC would become the main provider of children’s programming on linear TV.

CORPORATES
SCREEN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Netflix, Apple and Stan could be required to boost Australian content

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Original article by Anne Davies
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 11-Jun-20

Expanding local content rules to include subscription video-on-demand services is among the options canvassed in a report that was released by the Australian Communications & Media Authority and Screen Australia prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Although local player Stan has invested in local content, SVOD providers are currently under no obligation to do so. An alternative to directly investing in the production of local content may be for streaming services to contribute to a fund that would support local production.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, SCREEN AUSTRALIA, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Foxtel locks in Super Rugby deal

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Jun-20

Pay-TV group Foxtel will broadcast a scaled-down Super Rugby season after the traditional five-nation competition was cancelled due to the coronavirus. The revised 2020 tournament will comprise five Australian teams, which will play a 10-week round-robin series followed by a two-week finals series. Rugby Australia has yet to secure a broadcasting rights deal beyond 2020.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, RUGBY AUSTRALIA

More jobs to go at News Corp in metro restructure

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Age – Page: Online : 10-Jun-20

News Corp Australia has advised that plans to centralise the production and editorial operations of its metropolitan mastheads will result in job losses. The job cuts will affect staff of ‘The Daily Telegraph’ and the ‘Herald Sun’, with news content to be shared across the two newspapers. The move follows News Corp’s recent decision to discontinue the print editions of many regional and community newspapers, which affected more than 600 jobs. There will also be some job cuts at its flagship national masthead, ‘The Australian’.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS