MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

A giant of Australian journalism, George Negus dies at 82

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 16-Oct-24

Media industry identities have paid tribute to veteran journalist George Negus, following his death at the age of 82. Negus was one of the founding team of reporters on the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes program, while he was also a presenter on the ABC’s Foreign Corresponde and SBS’s Dateline in a career that spanned both print and broadcast journalism. Negus had been coping with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in recent years, and his family has released a statement advising that he died "surrounded by loved ones" after a "gracious decline" from the disease.

CORPORATES
NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Nine exec quits before cultural review hits

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 15-Oct-24

Nine Entertainment has lost another executive, with the departure of its director of communications and public relations, Victoria Buchan. Interim CEO Matt Stanton has indicated that her exit was by mutual agreement as part of a restructuring of the media group’s leadership team. Buchan’s departure is not believed to be linked to the upcoming release of the findings of an independent review of Nine’s workplace culture. The review was sparked by the exit of Darren Wick, the former director of news and current affairs; Buchan is said to have been close to Wick, who had been accused of inappropriate conduct.

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NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

A numbers game: how NRL can claim it’s the most watched sport

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 8-Oct-24

Data from OzTAM shows that the NRL Grand Final on Sunday attracted a national television audience of 3.4 million. The AFL Grand Final a week earlier was watched by 4.06 million people. However, the NRL’s premiership showdown was viewed by 762,000 people via the Nine Network’s free 9Now streaming platform, compared with a streaming audience of 654,000 for the AFL season decider via the rival 7plus app. NRL CEO Andrew Abdo contends that rugby league has a larger TV audience than any other sports code in Australia. The NRL will soon begin to negotiate a new broadcasting rights deal beyond 2027.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, 9NOW, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, 7PLUS, OZTAM PTY LTD

Racism at ABC systemic, new report declares

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 7 : 2-Oct-24

The ABC’s MD David Anderson says the public broadcaster’s staff will be given anti-racism training following the belated release of a racism review. The independent review was commissioned in mid-2023 and found that ABC employees from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds have been subject to systemic racism. The review has made 15 recommendations aimed at addressing the issue, while Anderson has apologised to current and former ABC employees who had been subjected to racist behaviour.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

ABC fields on protest coverage

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Original article by James Dowling
The Australian – Page: 2 : 1-Oct-24

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has lodged a complaint against the ABC over its coverage of Lebanon and Gaza solidarity protests in Sydney and Melbourne on Sunday. Its complaint related to multiple live crosses from the Sydney protest and an evening package covering the Melbourne rally, with the package of the Melbourne rally criticised for not telling viewers that Hezbollah is a registered terrorist organisation, or for mentioning the display of Hezbollah flags at the rally. In its response to criticism of the package covering the Melbourne rally, the ABC noted it was the third of three stories on the events in Lebanon commissioned for 7pm news bulletins, and that the earlier stories had provided full context on the conflict.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY

Billionaire Gordon closer to unlocking larger Nine stake

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 18-Sep-24

Several sources have indicated that regional broadcaster WIN Corporation is close to finalising a deal to sell Northern Rivers Television to the Ten Network. NRN broadcasts in northern NSW, and the TV station is tipped to fetch significantly less than the $55m that WIN paid for it in 2017. However, divesting NRN would allow WIN owner Bruce Gordon to increase his stake in Nine Entertainment to about 25 per cent by converting cash-settled equity swaps that are held on his behalf by Macquarie Group into shares.

CORPORATES
WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Sneesby had to go: top Nine investor

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 13-Sep-24

Nine Entertainment Company has advised that CEO Mike Sneesby will step down at the end of September, after more than three years in the role. Nine’s chief finance and strategy officer Matt Stanton will become acting CEO until the media company appoints a permanent replacement. Reece Birtles from institutional investor Martin Currie says Sneesby’s departure was not unexpected, given the challenges that Nine is facing; they include revenue growth, cultural issues and concerns about its Domain property listings business. Nine’s market capitalisation has fallen below $2bn, compared with more than $5bn when Sneesby became CEO in April 2021.

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NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MARTIN CURRIE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Voluntary news media recycling scheme receives official accreditation

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 6 : 28-Aug-24

Australia’s news media industry has been operating a voluntary recycling scheme for printed newspapers for more than 30 years. The success of the scheme resulted in just 0.2 per cent of all printed news­papers going to landfill in 2023. It is administered by ThinkNewsBrands, whose CEO Vanessa Lyons has welcomed the federal government’s decision to official accredit the ‘product stewardship’ scheme. Media industry executives have emphasised the importance of sustainability for the sector.

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THINKNEWSBRANDS

Matildas, Socceroos to remain on Network 10 for next five years

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Original article by Vince Rugari, Calum Jaspan
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 28-Aug-24

Ten Network president Beverley McGarvey says soccer fans will still be able to enjoy many matches featuring the Socceroos and the Matildas on free-to-air TV under a new five-year broadcasting rights deal with Football Australia. The new rights deal includes the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup and the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, as well as the Socceroos’ qualifiers for the 2026 Men’s World Cup; some matches will be shown exclusively on the Paramount+ streaming service. SBS holds the local broadcasting rights for the 2026 Men’s World Cup.

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TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, PARAMOUNT GLOBAL, PARAMOUNT+, FOOTBALL AUSTRALIA

Nine swings the axe with 85 staff let go

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: Online : 21-Aug-24

A spokesman for Nine Entertainment has indicated that 85 employees of its publishing division will leave the media company in coming months after successfully applying for voluntary redundancy packages. They primarily comprise journalists and production staff at Nine’s newspaper mastheads, and include Ben Potter, Aaron Patrick and Michael Pelly from the flagship Australian Financial Review. Nine had previously announced plans to cut 200 positions across its operations, including up to 90 at its publishing arm; CEO Mike Sneesby attributed the move to the difficult advertising market and Meta’s decision to withdraw from revenue-sharing deals with news publishers.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC