MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Domain sees considerable upside to proposed Fairfax-Nine merger

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 14-Aug-18

Domain Holdings’ executive chairman Nick Falloon says the merger between Nine Entertainment Company and Fairfax Media will help to grow Domain’s business. Falloon is also the chairman of Fairfax, which owns 60 per cent of Domain. He notes that both Domain and Nine have lots of useful data that when combined would be of benefit to both businesses. The property listings company has a posted a statutory net loss of $6.2m for 2017-18, while revenue was 11.5 per cent higher at $357.3m.

CORPORATES
DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MARTIN CURRIE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Minister flip-flops over Sky News ban

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Original article by Samantha Hutchinson, David King
The Australian – Page: 3 : 14-Aug-18

The Victorian Government continues to attract scrutiny over its decision to ban Sky News content from metropolitan train station platforms. Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan says a controversial interview with right-wing extremist Blair Cottrell prompted a surge in complaints from commuters, although Sky News maintains that the interview was not broadcast on train platforms. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Allan says Sky News programming was removed as part of the government’s review of all content that is shown on the rail network.

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, JOBS, TRANSPORT AND RESOURCES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ANTI-DEFAMATION COMMISSION

Pay TV service Fetch breaks through 700,000 subscribers

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 13-Aug-18

FetchTV boasted revenue in excess of $155m in 2017-18m, and the number of transactions on its platform grew by 50 per cent to 2.5 million. Fetch gained around 160,000 subscribers during the financial year, and its customer base now exceeds 700,000. CEO Scott Lorson says Fetch is on track to having one million customers, although it lags well behind Foxtel with 2.8 million subscribers. He notes that Fetch is benefiting from global trends such a growing range of content options and fast broadband with limitless data.

CORPORATES
FETCHTV PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, IINET LIMITED, IPRIMUS, DODO INTERNET PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, THE A LEAGUE PTY LTD

Formal ACCC probe of Nine deal urged

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-Aug-18

Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance CEO Paul Murphy says the proposed merger between Nine Entertainment Company and Fairfax Media should be subject to a formal review by the competition regulator. He argues that an informal review is insufficient given the impact that the merger would have on the media sector. The MEAA’s media president Marcus Strom in turn says Nine and Fairfax should be required to submit detailed information on the merger’s impact on consumers and employees of the two companies.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Sky News ban exposed in train wreck interview

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Original article by Stephen Brook, Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 2 : 10-Aug-18

The Victorian Government has banned Sky News broadcasts on Melbourne train station platforms in the wake of the channel’s controversial interview with right-wing extremist Blair Cottrell. Transport Minister Jacinta Allan sought to defend the ban during an interview on Sky News, but she was informed that the Cottrell interview had not been broadcast on the rail network. Sky News content has been broadcast at train stations since 2015, but it is limited to news stories, sports highlights and weather reports.

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, JOBS, TRANSPORT AND RESOURCES, APN OUTDOOR GROUP LIMITED – ASX APO, AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, KIMBERLY-CLARK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SPECSAVERS OPTICAL GROUP LIMITED

Magazine readership up on a year ago powered by a wide variety of titles

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Aug-18

Roy Morgan has released the Australian Magazine Readership report for the 12 months to June 2018. A total of 15,040,000 Australians aged 14+ (74.1 per cent) read magazines either in print or online, up 0.7 per cent from a year ago. Readership of print magazines was over 13.6 million Australians (67.3 per cent), up 0.5 per cent from a year ago. Ten of Australia’s top 15 magazines grew their print readership over the past year, with six of the leading titles growing their readership by at least 5 per cent on a year ago. The free "Coles Magazine" remains the most widely-read print magazine, with an average readership of 4,563,000 per issue (up 21.5 per cent), while "Better Homes & Gardens" remains the most widely read paid magazine with more than 1.6 million readers. Meanwhile, Taste.com.au remains the best-read magazine title across print and digital formats, with a total cross-platform audience of more than 3.1 million.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Four out of five Australians continue to read newspapers

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Aug-18

Roy Morgan has released the latest readership results for Australian newspapers for the 12 months to June 2018. Over 16 million Australians aged 14+ (79.3%) now read or access newspapers in an average 7-day period via print or online, an increase of 3.3 per cent from a year ago. Four of Australia’s top five leading mastheads have grown their cross-platform audiences. "The Sydney Morning Herald" is still Australia’s most widely-read masthead, with a cross-platform audience of 4,279,000, up 1 per cent from a year ago. Meanwhile, "Good Weekend" remains Australia’s most widely-read newspaper inserted magazine, with print readership of 1,139,000 (down 10.3 per cent).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Optus app’s cup woes not demand-related

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 19 : 9-Aug-18

Optus will continue to pursue deals for live streaming of soccer matches despite the technical problems that marred its coverage of the FIFA World Cup. Optus CEO Allen Lew has attributed the problems with its Optus Sports app to "compatibility issues" rather than the impact of customer demand on its network. He adds that the app has undergone rigorous testing and describes it as "world class". Optus’s net profit after tax fell by 3.5 per cent to $154m in the June quarter, while operating revenue was six per cent higher than previously at $2.2bn.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), UNION EUROPEENNE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Macquarie Media turns up the volume with profit surge

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 9-Aug-18

Australian-listed Macquarie Media has posted a 2017-18 net profit of $21.5m, which is 24 per cent higher than previously. Revenue was four per cent higher at $136.3m, and shareholders will receive a final dividend of $0.04 per share. Fairfax Media has a 54.5 per cent stake in the radio broadcaster, and Macquarie Media chairman Russell Tate says the group will benefit from the synergies arising from Fairfax’s proposed merger with Nine Entertainment Company.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, 2GB, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD

Cottrell interview a mistake, says Sky

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 7-Aug-18

Blair Cottrell will not be seen on Sky News again, according to Angelos Frangopoulos. The CEO of Australian News Channel was responding to criticism of an interview between Cottrell, the former leader of the United Patriots Front, and Adam Giles on 5 August. Cottrell is known for his extremist views, once stating that all Australian classrooms should have a picture of Adolf Hitler on their wall. The criticism of Giles’ interview with Cottrell has prompted a management reshuffle at Sky News.

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS, AUSTRALIAN NEWS CHANNEL PTY LTD