Google finally agrees to pay for news content – but not with everyone

June 26, 2020roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 15 : 26-Jun-20

Digital giant Google has reached agreement with several media companies in Australia regarding a deal to licence their news content. The deal covers smaller news publishers such as Solstice Media, Schwartz Media and The Conversation. Google is also said to be in talks with larger news publishers such as News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment Company and Australian Community Media. News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller says the deal shows that Google is willing to negotiate directly with small publishers. Google will also pay for news content from several media companies in Germany and Brazil.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED

ABC axes flagship roles for digital

June 25, 2020roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Steve Jackson
The Australian – Page: 7 : 25-Jun-20

About 70 jobs in the ABC’s news division will be cut under the five-year plan, as the public broadcaster shifts its focus to digital on on-demand content. This will result in a significant reduction in original reporting produced by its current affairs programs. The ABC’s news analysis and investigations teams will also be scaled back, while the position of chief economics correspondent is expected to be axed. ABC News director Gaven Morris has confirmed that fewer new episodes of ‘Australian Story’ and ‘Foreign Correspondent’ will be produced due to the budget cuts.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Directors take pay cut as ABC jobs axed

June 24, 2020roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 7 : 24-Jun-20

The ABC will release its five-year plan on 24 June, which will include up to 250 redundancies across its operations. Meanwhile, an ABC spokesman has advised that the Remuneration Tribunal has approved the public broadcaster’s proposal to temporarily reduce the salaries of its nine-member board by 10 per cent during the second half of 2020. The ABC’s five-year plan was originally slated to be released in March, but it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

The Australian named most trusted paper

June 22, 2020roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Christine Lacy
The Australian – Page: 19 : 22-Jun-20

The Reuters Institute’s annual Digital News Report has found that the ABC and SBS are the most trusted media outlets in Australia, with trust scores of 72 per cent and 71 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, ‘The Australian’ is the nation’s most trusted newspaper across print and digital, with a trust score of 56 per cent. The News Corp Australia flagship was also ranked second among newspapers in Australia, the US and the UK, behind the ‘Financial Times’ with a trust score of 58 per cent.

CORPORATES
REUTERS INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Tough love necessary, says News

June 18, 2020roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

June 18, 2020roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

June 17, 2020roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

June 17, 2020roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

Regional TV on verge of market failure

June 12, 2020roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

ABIX

Australia's News Summarising Service

MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA