MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Nine Network (+ Stan) will close gap on Seven Network

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Sep-18

Research from Roy Morgan shows that almost 11.9 million Australians watch the Nine Network across broadcast and Catch Up platforms in an average week, while nearly 12.5 million watch the Seven Network and almost 11.3 million watch the ABC. Nine Entertainment’s merger with Fairfax Media will bring together two of Australia’s leading media companies, as well as their 50:50 joint venture subscription video-on-demand service Stan (which is watched by over 2 million Australians in an average four weeks). The merger will boost the combined viewership of Nine Entertainment platforms to over 12.2 million, within reach of the Seven Network. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that although some have expressed concerns about the potential lessening of competition the merger may bring, the proliferation of competing Pay TV and SVOD services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube Premium, Fetch and others, suggests that competition in the viewing space is intensifying rather than reducing.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AMAZON PRIME, YOUTUBE PREMIUM, FETCHTV PTY LTD

Ex-media sales executive behind ad-ban campaign

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 14-Sep-18

Denise Shrivell has confessed to being behind a "influence campaign" to try to persuade advertisers to pull their business from Sky News. Shrivell has worked as a sales executive with both News Corp and Fairfax Media, and she currently runs a small consulting business called MediaScope. She says she has "strong personal views" about some of the content that Sky News airs. Shrivell has also been involved in similar campaigns against the Seven Network and broadcaster Alan Jones, while she has admitted to having contact with US internet activist Sleeping Giants.

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS,{SHARE}NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD,{SHARE}FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ,{SHARE}SLEEPING GIANTS,{SHARE}2GB,{SHARE}MEDIA SCOPE

Alan Jones defamed Wagner family over Grantham floods

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-18

Macquarie Media will have to pay Toowoomba’s Wagner brothers $3.75 million after it and broadcaster Alan Jones lost a defamation case in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The case related to allegations by Jones in broadcasts in 2014 and 2015 that the quarry the brothers owned had caused the deaths of 12 people in the Grantham floods in 2011. The Wagner brothers had been seeking $4.8 million in damages. Justice Peter Flanagan directed Jones and his programs to never again repeat his defamatory comments.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, RADIO 4BC BRISBANE PTY LTD, 2GB, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH

Decision day for Alan Jones in Wagner defamation case

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Original article by Mark Schliebs
The Australian – Page: Online : 12-Sep-18

Supreme Court of Queensland Justice Peter Flanagan will hand down his decision in a defamation case involving broadcaster Alan Jones on 12 September. The Toowoomba-based Wagner brothers are seeking $4.8 million in damages over 32 broadcasts made by Jones in 2014 and 2015. The Wagners claim they were defamed by imputations that the collapse of a dirt wall in a quarry they owned caused the deaths of 12 people in floods in 2011. They are also suing Jones and co-defendants 4BC and Harbour Radio regarding allegations concerning the Wellcamp airport near Toowoomba; journalist Nick Cater is a defendant in regard to one of the 32 broadcasts.

CORPORATES
SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, RADIO 4BC BRISBANE PTY LTD, HARBOUR RADIO PTY LTD

Prime blames loss on ad decline

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 21 : 29-Aug-18

The Seven Network’s regional affiliate Prime Media Group has posted a 2017-18 net loss of $12.28m, compared with a loss of $48m previously. Prime’s revenue of $219.16m was 8.7 per cent lower than the previous financial year, while EBITDA fell 29.5 per cent to $45.16m and operating expenses rose 10.2 per cent to $55.02m.

CORPORATES
PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Buyer eyes Fairfax Media events arm

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 28-Aug-18

US-based Motiv has declined to comment on reports that it has made an informal approach to acquire Fairfax Media’s events business, which Macquarie Equities values at about $60m. Fairfax’s proposed merger partner, Nine Entertainment Company, divested its own events business in 2015. A Nine spokeswoman says it is too soon to comment on potential asset sales. There has been speculation that Nine could divest other Fairfax assets, including its regional newspapers.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MOTIV, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, STUFF LIMITED, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN METRO MEDIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AFFINITY EQUITY, TEG PTY LTD

Addressable TV advertising technology already reaches over 9 million Australians

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Aug-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows that over nine million Australians are already using the devices and services that addressable TV advertising technology requires, like smart TVs and streaming devices. However, broadcasters are only just starting to mature their own technologies and data stacks to be able to leverage connected devices such as smart TVs, streaming and set-top boxes to deliver personalised advertising. The services Australians already watch and that have the potential to deliver addressable TV today include Foxtel, Foxtel Now, Foxtel on Demand, Fetch, Google Play, 9Now, SBS on Demand, TENplay and 7Plus. Additional services that have the potential to deliver addressable TV but due to business decisions do not currently carry advertising and are watched by over 14.5 million Australians include Netflix, Stan, ABC iView, Quickflix, Ozflix, Bigpond movies, Dendy Direct, iTunes, Sports streaming, YouTube Premium and Amazon Prime Video. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the increasingly fast rate at which Australians adopt a multitude of new technologies does give great hope to traditional broadcasters developing addressable TV as a viable competitor to newer digital-centred services. Australians have shown an increasing willingness to try out new technologies and all the evidence from the marketplace shows that if done correctly addressable TV can be a formidable step forward for traditional broadcasters.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Ironic tryst: TV benefits as tech giants spend to lift image

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich, Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 27-Aug-18

Standard Media Index data shows that digital companies’ expenditure on TV advertising rose to $24.9m in 2017-18, an increase of 603 per cent. This includes digital disrupters such as Facebook and Google, but Nine Entertainment CEO Hugh Marks notes that all companies that are aiming to lift their digital audience have ramped up spending on TV advertising. Overall expenditure on TV advertising rose by 1.8 per cent to $1.98bn in the first half of 2018, with the free-to-air sector’s share of revenue up 3.81 per cent to $1.36bn.

CORPORATES
SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, TRIVAGO PTY LTD, THINK TV, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, AIRBNB AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AIRTASKER PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, BIG BASH LEAGUE, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SEVEN STUDIOS PTY LTD

Viewers turn to Seven to watch Libs decide leadership

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 24 : 27-Aug-18

The Seven Network’s rolling coverage of the Liberal Party’s leadership spill on 24 August boasted an average audience of 165,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, and a combined audience of 252,000 in both metropolitan and regional areas. The ABC’s coverage attracted 167,000 metropolitan viewers and a combined audience of 248,000. Seven also had the highest-rating evening news bulletin. Meanwhile, Sky News Live’s coverage of the leadership crisis had an average audience of 96,183, which is a record for the pay-TV channel.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SKY NEWS, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Content and data to underpin Nine growth

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 24-Aug-18

Nine Entertainment Company has posted a 2017-18 underlying net profit of $156.7m, which is 26.8 per cent higher than previously. Underlying EBITDA was up 25.1 per cent at $257.2m and revenue rose 6.5 per cent to $1.3bn. Nine boasted a 38.6 per cent share of free-to-air metropolitan advertising revenue in 2017-18, ahead of Seven West Media with a 38.1 per cent share. Nine CEO Hugh Marks is upbeat about the media group’s outlook, highlighting its capabilities in delivering content across media platforms and targeted advertising via its addressable TV technology.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, 9NOW, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT