MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Seven post-Games Spartan bet hits the skids

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 19 : 27-Feb-18

Data from OzTAM shows that the debut episode of the Seven Network’s "Australian Spartan" boasted just 816,000 viewers on 25 February. This compares with 1.54 million viewers for the Nine Network’s "Married at First Sight", and 1.12 million viewers for Seven’s "My Kitchen Rules" in the same timeslot a week earlier. Seven had been hoping to capitalise on the strong ratings for its coverage of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games by scheduling "Australian Spartan" earlier in the year than it had originally intended.

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

Media chiefs hail digital inquiry

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 27-Feb-18

Media industry executives are supportive of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s inquiry into the digital media sector. News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller says it looks forward to actively participating in the inquiry, while Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner says the company is keen to express its views. Miller says the inquiry represents an opportunity to reform the digital media sector into one that offers the opportunity for all participants to compete on a "more even playing field"

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NEWS CONNECT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, SNAPCHAT INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED

Nine and News Corp in tie-up talks on cricket

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 26-Feb-18

The Ten Network may lose the Big Bash League broadcasting rights if a potential deal between Nine Entertainment Company and News Corp’s Fox Sports comes to fruition. Sources have indicated that they may a joint bid for all forms of the game, with Nine to retain its existing coverage of international matches and share coverage of the domestic Twenty20 competition with Fox Sports. The two media groups are believed to be proposing to offer between $A130m and $A150m per year, although they have not yet approached Cricket Australia.

CORPORATES
NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, BIG BASH LEAGUE, CRICKET AUSTRALIA, CBS CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Nine has options if cricket broadcast rights escalate

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 23-Feb-18

Nine Entertainment Company has posted a 2017-18 interim net profit of $A116m, compared with $A75m previously, with revenue rising nine per cent to $A720m. Meanwhile, CEO Hugh Marks says that while Nine wants to retain the cricket broadcasting rights, it will not pay an excessive price. He has also signalled that Nine may be open to a joint bid for the cricket rights. Nine paid $A500m for international cricket broadcasting rights under the current five-year deal, with Ten paying $A100m for Big Bash League rights. There has been speculation that the next rights deal could cost close to $A1bn.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, BIG BASH LEAGUE, CRICKET AUSTRALIA

Seven cuts dividend to focus on debt

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

Seven West Media has posted a 2017-18 interim underlying net profit of $A100.7m, which is 5.2 per cent higher than previously. EBITDA was up 3.5 per cent at $A176.8m, but revenue fell 10.4 per cent to $A809.4m. The media group reduced its costs by $A13.8m during the first half, and it aims to cut costs by $A40m over the full year. CEO Tim Worner says dividends have been put on hold to enable Seven to reduce its debt and capitalise on potential merger opportunities in the wake of the federal government’s cross-media ownership reforms.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, YAHOO!7 COMMUNICATIONS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Networks douse CA’s rights hopes

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 19-Feb-18

Cricket Australia hopes to gain nearly $A1bn for its next broadcasting rights deal, compared with $A600m for the five year-deal that expires in 2018. However, free-to-air TV network executives have warned that the industry cannot afford a large increase in the cost of broadcasting rights. Some have noted that the new rights deal between European pay-TV company Sky and the English Premier League is significantly lower than the previous deal. There is speculation that a free-to-air network will bid for the cricket rights in partnership with Fox Sports.

CORPORATES
CRICKET AUSTRALIA, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, SKY PLC, BT PLC, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, CBS CORPORATION, BIG BASH LEAGUE

Telstra seeks Foxtel merger finetune

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 20 : 16-Feb-18

The Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission have approved the merger of Fox Sports and Foxtel. However, Telstra CEO Andy Penn says there are still some fine points to be worked out. Telstra’s stake in the merged entity will fall from 50 per cent to 35 per cent, with News Corporation to own 65 per cent. News and Telstra have indicated that they hope to complete the Foxtel-Fox Sports merger by the end of March. Meanwhile, Foxtel has reported 1.7 per cent growth in subscribers during the six months to December 2017.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Upbeat Miller sets digital course

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 12-Feb-18

News Corp Australia boasted 389,600 digital subscribers at the end of the December 2017 quarter, an increase of 26 per cent year-on-year. Executive chairman Michael Miller describes digital subscriptions as a "huge opportunity" for the media group, noting that this market is recording annual growth of 20 per cent. Millers adds that the merger between Foxtel and Fox Sports is progressing, while he also says News Corp is open to mergers and acquisitions, including free-to-air TV networks.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Labor backs changes to protect journalists

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 2 : 9-Feb-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to provide greater protection for journalists in its proposed espionage laws. Attorney-General Christian Porter has indicated that journalists will not face prosecution for publishing classified information if they had believed that doing so was in the public interest. The media industry had expressed concern that journalists could face criminal prosecution for receiving classified information.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

15 million Australians read magazines across print & online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Feb-18

Roy Morgan has released the Australian Magazine Readership report for the 12 months to December 2017. A total of 12,565,000 Australians aged 14+ (62.5 per cent) read print magazines – down 93,000 (0.7 per cent) from a year ago. However, the audience reach of magazines is extended to 15 million Australians 14+ when you include magazine reading online (either via the web or an app). The withdrawal of major publishers from audited circulation results for magazines just over a year ago means Roy Morgan’s readership results continue to be the only truly independent measure of magazine performance now available. "Coles Magazine" remains the most widely-read print magazine, with an average readership of 4,152,000 per issue (up 11.3 per cent). 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 offerings – a clear contrast to their print newspaper cousins, although this picture is slowly changing as more magazine publishers expand and refine their online offerings.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD