MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Sky News goes free-to-air for regions

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 28-May-18

Pay-TV channel Sky News Australia has secured a content supply deal with regional broadcaster WIN Corporation. Sky News hopes to attract new subscribers to its full suite of channels via the deal, which is believed to includes a revenue-sharing arrangement. WIN will broadcast selected content from Sky News and Fox Sports News on a new 24-hour news channel to be called Sky News on WIN. Sky News has also held preliminary discussions with Seven West Media regarding a program supply deal, and Sky News Business has held talks with Nine Entertainment Company.

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN NEWS CHANNEL PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SKY PLC

ABC to spend up big on digital ads

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 3 : 25-May-18

The ABC’s CFO Louise Higgins has revealed that the public broadcaster will allocate around $1.4m to advertising on Facebook during 2018, while its budget for Google’s AdWords will be about $A500,000. However, Higgins has rejected suggestions that the ABC is using taxpayers’ funds to compete with commercial TV networks. She also told a Senate estimates committee hearing that the ABC has an obligation to make consumers aware of the content it produces.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

It’s official: Most Australians now visit news or newspaper websites

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-May-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that nearly 15.7 million Australians aged 14+ (almost 78%) accessed news or newspaper websites in an average four weeks during the year to March 2018. News.com.au is visited by nearly 5.9 million Australians in an average four-week period, ahead of the Sydney Morning Herald (5.3 million visitors) and ABC News (just over five million visitors). Of Australia’s 20 leading news websites, nine are direct extensions of leading Australian newspaper mastheads, led by the SMH, The Daily Telegraph and The Age. A further seven of the leading websites are primarily Internet channels, led by news.com.au and Daily Mail.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Aunty coy about how budget affects news

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-May-18

The ABC’s CFO Louise Higgins has warned that the Federal Government’s looming funding freeze will force the public broadcaster to decide which services it continues to provide. The three-year funding freeze announced in the May 2018 Budgets takes effect in mid-2019, and Higgins says the ABC will negotiate with the government in the interim. Meanwhile, SBS CEO Michael Ebeid says there is no scope for further joint cost-saving initiatives by the public broadcasters.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS

Optus moves to secure Champions League

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 21-May-18

Optus is keen to acquire the Australian broadcasting rights to more overseas soccer competitions, after recently renewing its English Premier League deal. Optus CEO Allen Lew says Optus aims to be the local broadcaster of elite football, and he has signalled its interest in gaining the local rights to UEFA’s Champions League. Optus and Telstra are increasing their focus on content as a means of attracting and retaining customers, amid growing competition in the mobile telephone market.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, UNION EUROPEENNE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, WORLD CUP, BEIN SPORTS AUSTRALIA, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED

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