MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Seven claims ratings win as millions tune in

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 8 : 21-May-18

The Seven Network’s coverage of the royal wedding on 19 May has been widely criticised, despite the fact that it topped the ratings with an average metropolitan audience of nearly two million. This delivered Seven an audience share of 36.4 per cent share for the night, well ahead of Nine’s 26 per cent share. The audience share of Ten’s primary channel sunk to just 3.4 per cent after the network opted to relegate coverage of the wedding to its Ten Daily news website.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, OZTAM PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

ABC in rescue plan to lift dire ratings

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 24 : 21-May-18

The ABC will revamp its flagship evening news bulletin, with a focus on major stories, exclusive content and interviews. A strategy document also shows that the public broadcaster wants to ensure that "ABC News" is better integrated with "7:30" so the latter does not cover the same stories. The ABC is seeking to arrest a decline in the ratings of its 7pm news, which boasted an audience of just 660,000 across the five main capital cities in mid-May. Its audience is also heavily skewed toward the 50+ age demographic.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Field wide open as VRC spruiks media rights

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 18-May-18

Victoria Racing Club hopes to use a new broadcasting rights deal for the Melbourne Cup carnival to attract more people to Flemington Racecourse for the event, arguing that it is more than just about horse racing. The VRC has not issued a tender for the four-day carnival since Seven West Media gained the rights in 2002. VRC CEO Neil Wilson says it is open to deals with more than one partner, including a sub-licensing arrangement.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA RACING CLUB LIMITED, THE LEXUS MELBOURNE CUP, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TWITTER INCORPORATED

Performance bonuses here to stay at ABC

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 3 : 17-May-18

The ABC has defended its remuneration system in the wake of revelations that staff received bonuses totalling $A2.6m in 2017. A spokesman has indicated that fixed remuneration rates for ABC executives are consistent with market rates, while performance pay scales are below market rates. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield notes that federal government departments abolished executive bonus schemes in 2008, but the government has no power to direct the ABC to do so.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NBN CO LIMITED, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION

Pirates undermine Optus-SBS World Cup rights

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 14-May-18

SBS and Optus are the official Australian broadcasters of the 2018 soccer World Cup in Russia. SBS is said to have paid $A40m for the local rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, before securing a sub-licensing deal with the telco. However, there is concern that many consumers will bypass the official broadcasters by using streaming devices that provide access to pirated broadcasts of the World Cup from overseas TV networks.

CORPORATES
SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, WORLD CUP, BEIN SPORTS, AL JAZEERA, WORLD MEDIA INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD

Hard-hitting, trusted news still sells, in digital and in print

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Original article by Chris Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 25 & 26 : 14-May-18

Traditional news providers have allowed Facebook to "cherry pick" their content to provide news feeds that have the potential to undermine their business. News publishers have also allowed themselves to be blinded by technology, and have forgotten what good journalism is meant to be about, namely the provision of news and stories that matter to the general public. The Australian Competi­tion & Consumer Commission’s inquiry into digital platforms gives traditional publishers the opportunity to "fight back". The inquiry has shown that digital platforms should pay for the content they use from traditional news sources, and that they should be viewed as publishers, and therefore subject to the same laws as traditional publishers.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Telstra kicks another goal with FFA rights

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 21 : 11-May-18

Telstra will have exclusive mobile streaming rights to local soccer matches under a five-year deal with Football Federation Australia. Telstra’s mobile customers will be able to watch FFA matches without incurring any data usage fees via the My Football Live app. The app will feature targeted advertising, but Telstra’s head of marketing Joe Pollard says sponsorships will be the primary source of revenue from the app.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TWITTER INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

It’s official: Newspaper masthead readership is up 3.2% to over 16 million!

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-May-18

Roy Morgan has released the latest readership report for Australian newspapers for the 12 months to March 2018. Some 16.1 million Australians aged 14+ (almost 80%) now read or access newspapers in an average 7-day period either in print or online via website or app, an increase of 3.2 per cent from a year ago. Cross-platform audiences have increased for four out of Australia’s top five leading mastheads. "The Sydney Morning Herald" is still the most widely-read masthead, with a cross-platform audience of 4,269,000, up 0.6 per cent from a year ago. Meanwhile, "Good Weekend" remains Australia’s most widely-read newspaper inserted magazine, with print readership of 1,167,000 (down 10.2 per cent).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Over 15 million Australians read magazines across print and online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-May-18

Roy Morgan has released the Australian Magazine Readership report for the 12 months to March 2018. A total of 15,007,000 Australians aged 14+ (74.3 per cent) read magazines either in print or online via the web or an app, down 0.3 per cent from a year ago. Readership of print magazines was just under 12.6 million (62.3 per cent), virtually unchanged from a year ago. The free "Coles Magazine" remains the most widely-read print magazine, with an average readership of 4,367,000 per issue (up 15.4 per cent), while "Better Homes & Gardens", "Women’s Weekly" and "Woman’s Day" remain the top three most widely-read paid magazines. Meanwhile, seven of Australia’s 10 leading magazines ranked by cross-platform audiences retain a significantly larger readership via their print editions than their digital platforms. As more magazine publishers expand their online offerings this is slowly changing, although magazines remain significantly more reliant on print editions than their online engagement.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ABC determined to fight $84m funding cut

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 10-May-18

ABC MD Michelle Guthrie has told the public broadcaster’s staff that a funding freeze in the May 2018 Budget will affect its ability to comply with the requirements of its charter. The ABCs budget will be unchanged at $A3.16bn over the three years from July 2019, effectively reducing its funding by $A83.7m over this period. Guthrie says the ABC’s management will "seek every opportunity" to have the funding cuts scrapped before they take effect. Funding for SBS will be increased by $A14.6m over two years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS