MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Tennis boss helped Seven win TV rights

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 3 : 5-Nov-19

The Federal Court has commenced hearing a civil lawsuit against former Tennis Australia executives Harold Mitchell and Steve Healy. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has made a number of allegations about the pair regarding the negotiations for a tennis broadcasting rights deal in 2012. Amongst other things, Mitchell is alleged to have provided the Seven Network with details of rival bids. The advertising industry veteran has denied the allegations.

CORPORATES
TENNIS AUSTRALIA, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Trust media on national security: Ita

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Original article by Sean Parnell
The Australian – Page: 5 : 5-Nov-19

ABC chair Ita Buttrose has urged Australians to support the media industry’s ‘Your Right to Know’ campaign. She has also stressed that the media can be trusted with regard to national security. Buttrose has called for legislative action to protect whistleblowers and public interest journalism, as well as an overhaul of Freedom of Information laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Magazine readership increases to over 15.2 million

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Nov-19

Roy Morgan has released the Australian Magazine Readership report for the 12 months to September 2019. A total of 15,205,000 Australians aged 14+ (73.3%) now read magazines in print or online, up 0.6 per cent from a year ago. Readership of print magazines is almost 13.3 million Australians (64.0 per cent), down 2.5% from a year ago. Five of Australia’s top 10 magazines grew their print readership over the past year. The free ‘Coles Magazine’ remains the most widely-read print magazine, with a readership of 4,762,000 (up 3.1 per cent), while ‘Better Homes & Gardens’ remains the most widely-read paid magazine with a print readership of 1,673,000 million (up 3.1 per cent). Meanwhile, Taste.com.au remains the best-read magazine title across print and digital formats, with a total cross-platform audience of almost 3.2 million (down 1.2 per cent). These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 49,462 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to September 2019.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

15.4 million Australians read newspapers in print or online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Nov-19

Roy Morgan has released the latest readership results for Australian newspapers, for the 12 months to September 2019. Now 15.4 million Australians aged 14+ (74%) read or access newspapers in an average seven-day period via print or online, a fall of 3.7 per cent from a year ago. The standout performer over the past year is again ‘The Australian Financial Review’, which increased its total cross-platform readership by 17.1 per cent to 1,599,000; this was driven by a substantial increase in its digital audience (up 24.6 per cent to 1,359,000). ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ is still Australia’s most widely-read masthead, with a cross-platform audience of 4,209,000, which is virtually unchanged on a year ago. Meanwhile, ‘Good Weekend’ remains Australia’s most widely-read newspaper inserted magazine, with print readership of 825,000 (down 25.2 per cent over the last year). These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 49,462 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to September 2019.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Cat’s plan for regional powerhouse

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich, John Durie
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 28 : 31-Oct-19

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission will scrutinise Seven West Media’s takeover bid for regional affiliate Prime Media Group, with a decision on the $64m deal to be made on 18 December. Meanwhile, Antony Catalano and Alex Waislitz have built a 10.26 per cent stake in Prime, which would prevent Seven from compulsorily acquiring the company. Catalano says the Seven deal is not in the best interests of regional media. Catalano has also revealed that he held merger talks with Prime Media earlier in 2019. Catalano and Waislitz recently bought Nine Entertainment’s regional newspapers.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SPHERIA ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WA CHESS INVESTMENTS

Foxtel customers get the loyal treatment

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 : 30-Oct-19

Subscribers who sign up to Foxtel’s new customer loyalty program will receive a range of exclusive offers. The Foxtel First loyalty scheme will reward customers based on the length of time they have been a subscriber. The launch of the customer loyalty program comes ahead of the impending entry of Disney+ and Apple TV+ into Australia’s streaming video market, where they will compete with established players such as Foxtel, Netflix and Stan.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, DISNEY+, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, APPLE INCORPORATED, FOXTEL NOW, KAYO SPORTS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

ABC raid could scare off sources

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Original article by Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 30-Oct-19

The Federal Court has adjourned its hearing into the ABC’s legal challenge to the validity of a police raid on its Sydney headquarters in June. Matt Collins, SC, who is representing the public broadcaster, has told the court that whistleblowers will be reluctant to contact journalists if the Australian Federal Police’s search warrant is not overturned. Amongst other things, the ABC’s case is based on the implied freedom of political communication in the Constitution.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Google backs industry code, not a revenue-sharing model

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 29-Oct-19

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has called for a code of conduct to govern business relationships between media companies and digital platforms. With both Google and Facebook having come under global scrutiny over their impact on journalism and its underlying business models, Google’s vice-president of news Richard Gingras says he believes the code is a "sensible" idea. However, he does not believe it should include revenue sharing.

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

You’re at dangerous crossroads, warns legendary news anchor

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Original article by Steve Jackson
The Australian – Page: 1 : 29-Oct-19

US broadcaster Larry King believes that Australia needs to adopt similar laws to the first amendment to the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press. King says he was shocked to learn of Australian Federal Police raids on a journalist’s home and on the ABC’s Sydney headquarters in June, saying he would have reacted with violence if his home had been raided in such a fashion.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Foxtel, NBCU close to TV, streaming deal

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 28-Oct-19

Foxtel is believed to be aiming to launch its new drama and entertainment streaming video service in March or April 2020. Foxtel is said to be close to finalising a new content agreement with US media giant NBCUniversal for both its broadcast and streaming video-on-demand services, after recently striking a new content deal with the BBC. The new subscription video-on-demand service will target consumers who want access to Foxtel content but do not want a pay-TV subscription.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NBC UNIVERSAL INCORPORATED, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION, KAYO SPORTS, FETCHTV PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, APPLE INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO