MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Revealed: Neilson’s $100 million news agenda tops the bill

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lisa Murray
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 3-May-19

The Judith Neilson Journalism Institute has provided funding for a range of initiatives since it was founded, while its longer-term goals include producing podcasts and documentaries in partnership with established media companies. The institute was founded by philanthropist Judith Neilson, who is also its patron. Neilson says she has no input into the day-to-day operations of the institute, whose board includes former ABC chairman Jim Spigelman, Free TV Australia CEO Bridget Fair and Paul Kelly, the editor-at-large of ‘The Australian’.

CORPORATES
JUDITH NEILSON JOURNALISM INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WHITE RABBIT GALLERY LIMITED, WALKLEY FOUNDATION FOR JOURNALISM

Return to radio: Trioli to replace Faine

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 2 : 2-May-19

ABC TV presenter Virginia Trioli says it was "impossible" for her to reject an offer to succeed Jon Faine as the host of the public broadcaster’s morning radio program in Melbourne. Trioli has been co-host of the ABC’s ‘News Breakfast’ show since 2008, having previously been a radio presenter. There had been speculation that she could replace Tony Jones as host of ‘Q&A’. A spokeswoman for the ABC says no announcements are pending with regard to other unfilled air-on roles at the broadcaster.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, RADIO NATIONAL, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Nine close to selling Fairfax events business

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 2-May-19

Nine Entertainment Company is slated to receive final bids for Fairfax Media’s events business within days. Nine CEO Hugh Marks expects a deal to offload the business to be completed shortly. However, he has cautioned that Nine is unlikely to secure a deal to sell Fairfax’s New Zealand division by the end of June. Nine recently secured a deal to sell Fairfax’s portfolio of regional newspapers for $125m. Marks has reiterated Nine’s previous guidance for earnings growth of at least 10 per cent in 2018-19.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, STUFF LIMITED, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, METRO MEDIA PUBLISHING PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Catalano swoops on Nine’s regional papers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by John Stensholt, Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 & 24 : 1-May-19

Nine Entertainment Company has sold its portfolio of regional newspapers to former Domain Holdings CEO Antony Catalano. He will pay $125m for the assets in partnership with Alex Waislitz’s Thorney Investment Group. Catalano forecasts that the Australian Community Media business will post EBITDA of around $42m in 2018-19 and about $50m in 2019-20. The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance has urged ACM’s new owners to commit to maintaining quality journalism in regional communities. Nine also intends to sell Fairfax Media’s events business and its New Zealand assets.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, STUFF LIMITED, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD

Breakfast shows have lost their sizzle factor

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 29-Apr-19

Ratings data from OzTAM shows that the Seven Network’s ‘Sunrise’ averaged 256,000 viewers in January 2019, compared with 357,000 in January 2012. The average audience for the Nine Network’s rival ‘Today’ has fallen from 319,000 to 206,000 over the same period. Although the ABC’s breakfast show has consistently gained market share since its launch, TV industry veteran Rob McKnight says a key reason why viewers are shunning ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Today’ is their reluctance to take risks as they did in the past.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, OZTAM PTY LTD, AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, IPG MEDIABRANDS, DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK

News mulls its options in big Fox refinance

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason, Tony Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 29-Apr-19

Asian investors are said to have expressed interest in a potential $2.5bn refinancing deal for pay-TV group Foxtel. Major shareholder News Corp is believed to be considering a range of options for the refinancing, rather than raising the entire amount via debt. These options are said to include an equity injection of up to $500m or a direct loan from News Corp. Foxtel is facing growing competition from subscription video-on-demand services such as Stan and Netflix; it could also potentially lose customers to its own Kayo Sports streaming service.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, KAYO SPORTS, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Monitor’s win cuts copyright payments

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 23 : 29-Apr-19

Media monitoring firm Isentia expects a slight ­reduction in its copyright costs for 2018-19 after successfully challenging a 2018 deal between the Copyright Agency and newspaper publishers. The interim ruling could affect the revenue of news publishers, but Campbell Reid of News Corp says the company will await the final ruling. Isentia says the interim ruling will not affect its EBITDA guidance for the financial year. The company is facing growing competition from rivals such as Streem and Meltwater.

CORPORATES
ISENTIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX ISD, COPYRIGHT AGENCY LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, STREEM PTY LTD, MELTWATER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COPYCO

Hadley facing legal action over bullying

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Apr-19

A former employee of Sydney radio station 2GB is believed to planning to sue broadcaster Ray Hadley, claiming that bullying contributed to his mental health problems. Chris Bowen alleges that he was subject to ‘intense bullying’ over a 16-year period at 2GB. He first raised allegations of bullying via social media in March, but did not name Hadley at the time. Bowen has yet to file any documents in court.

CORPORATES
2GB, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, LAXON LAWYERS

Free TV miffed by government’s iceberg of policy in a sea of nothing

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 15-Apr-19

Free TV Australia CEO Bridget Fair has criticised the federal government’s failure to relax the content requirements of traditional broadcasters after nearly six years in office. She was responding to its decision to allow streaming video companies to access tax offsets for content that is filmed in Australia. Traditional broadcasters remain subject to quotas for content such as children’s programs and adult dramas. Fair contends that such quotas do not reflect changes in viewing habits.

CORPORATES
FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, TEN ALL-ACCESS

Apple TV+ targets market of over 17 million Aussies

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Apr-19

Research by Roy Morgan shows that the potential market for the Apple TV+ streaming video service is huge, given that over 17 million Australians aged 14+ (83.4%) currently access streaming video services or own Apple-branded devices. This includes 14.7 million Australians (71.8%) who already use streaming video services such as Netflix, Stan, ABC iView and others who would be interested in the Apple TV+ streaming service, as well as nearly 11.7 million Australians (57%) who own Apple devices. Analysing this potential market by Generation shows the biggest potential for Apple TV+ is with the 4.6 million Millennials who use streaming services or use an Apple device capable of streaming. This is closely followed by the over 4 million members of Gen Z and just under 4 million members of Gen X who use streaming services or use an Apple device capable of streaming.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, APPLE INCORPORATED, APPLE TV+, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD