MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Fifield demands more efficiency from Aunty

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 5 : 5-Apr-19

The ABC was given a modest funding increase in the April 2019 Budget, to allow the public broadcaster to increase its newsgathering capacity in regional and rural areas. Acting MD David Anderson has welcomed the increased funding for the Enhanced News initiative, but he has criticised the decision to retain a freeze on overall funding for the next three years. He says this will require some difficult decisions regarding staffing and services, but Communications Minister Mitch Fifield argues that the ABC has greater funding certainty than any other Australian media organisation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Violent content bill could criminalise journalism

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 4-Apr-19

Legislation targeting social media companies for failing to remove violent content from their platforms is expected to be passed by the House of Representatives on 4 April. It was endorsed by the Senate on 3 April. Media industry executives have expressed concern that the proposed laws could extend beyond social media and impose criminal sanctions on traditional media companies for news reports that are broadcast on TV or on their websites. Attorney-General Christian Porter has stressed that the bill will only apply to video or audio content that is supplied by the perpetrator of a crime or terrorist attack.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NEWSMEDIAWORKS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, DIGITAL INDUSTRY GROUP, COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Room for other streamers but not at scale-player level, says Stan

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 1-Apr-19

Brian Han of Morningstar estimates that market penetration of subscription video-on-demand services in Australia is probably still below 50 per cent, although he says this will grow. Apple and Disney are expected to launch SVOD services in Australia, but Stan CEO Mike Sneesby says any new entrants to the market will need to make a big investment in content if they are to compete against established players. Sneesby adds that Stan boasts 1.5 million active subscribers.

CORPORATES
STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, APPLE INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, STARZ ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LLC, SHOWTIME, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, CBS CORPORATION, 10 ALL ACCESS, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, TELSYTE PTY LTD, LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION

New public interest test just one part of Greens’ wide-ranging media reforms

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Original article by Samantha Maiden
The New Daily – Page: Online : 26-Mar-19

The Greens want to encourage public interest journalism by extending tax breaks for news media subscriptions. Its plans are part of a media reform package that would also involve a clampdown on false news on social media and the possible breakup of media companies such as News Corporation. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says regulators should be given stronger powers so that they can penalise broadcasters that provide proponents of hate speech a platform for their views.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, SKY NEWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Morrison includes telcos in social media crackdown

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 21-Mar-19

The federal government will meet with representatives of ISPs and digital platforms on 26 March to discuss measures to prevent the distribution of objectionable content. Social media companies have come under scrutiny after their platforms were used to live-stream the Christchurch mosque shootings, and they were initially expected to be the focus of the government’s talks. However, representatives of Telstra, Optus and Vodafone will also attend the meeting in Brisbane. The telcos have announced that they will block access to footage of the mosque attacks.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Furious PM’s office threatens Ten over Waleed Aly’s emotional Christchurch plea

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Original article by Samantha Maiden
The New Daily – Page: Online : 19-Mar-19

Sources at the Ten Network have confirmed that the office of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has complained about comments made by Waleed Aly on ‘The Project’ in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks. Aly did not mention Morrison by name in his editorial, in which he said a member of the Coalition’s shadow cabinet in 2010 suggested that the party should capitalise on anti-Muslim sentiment in the community. Aly then said the unnamed person is now Australia’s "most senior politician", a comment which prompted Morrison’s office to warn of the potential for defamation action.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Netflix surges beyond 11 million users in Australia

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

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that nearly 14 million Australians aged 14+ now have access to some form of Pay TV/Subscription TV, up 11.8% on a year ago. Netflix has continued to lead the growth of Subscription Video on Demand services, with over 11.2 million Australians having a Netflix subscription in their household in the three months to February 2019, up by 25.2% on a year ago. Meanwhile, Stan is now accessible by over 2.6 million Australians, up 45.2% on a year ago. YouTube Premium (formerly YouTube Red) now has over 1.2 million users, up 31.9% on a year ago, and Fetch now has nearly 760,000 users, up by 9% on a year ago. However, the largest increase was for Amazon Prime Video, which more than doubled its user base over the last year, to over 570,000.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, YOUTUBE PREMIUM, FETCHTV PTY LTD, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Foxtel steps up incentives to retain premium customers

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 18-Mar-19

Foxtel is offering selected customers in Queensland a free upgrade to the iQ4 set-top box, which provides access to 4K content. The offer can be redeemed at Harvey Norman stores or by calling Foxtel, and it is expected to be extended to customers in other regions. Meanwhile, some Foxtel subscribers are being offered 12 months’ free access to its movies package, which usually costs $20 per month. The initiatives are part of a strategy to target premium subscribers, who might otherwise opt to scale back their package in favour of Foxtel’s Kayo Sports streaming service.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN

Break up Google to level field in media

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 3 : 13-Mar-19

News Corp Australia has used its submission to the Australian Competition & Consumer Com­m­ission’s landmark review of digital platforms to propose forcing Google to sell either its search or advertising business. The media group contends that forced divestment may be the best way to address the market power of digital platforms. ACCC chairman Rod Sims recently noted that digital platforms are not subject to the same regulations as traditional media companies.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Guthrie’s pay day: $1.64m to go away

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich, Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 3 : 7-Mar-19

The ABC’s acting David Anderson has told a Senate committee that former MD Michelle Guthrie was paid $730,000 gross to settle her adverse action claim. He said the public broadcaster agreed to a confidential settlement after legal advice suggested that it could have incurred costs of up to $2m if the case had gone to court. Labor and the Community & Public Sector Union have criticised the size of the payout. Guthrie also received a $911,117 severance package following her dismissal in September.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, ABC ALUMNI