MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Harrison found liable to pay Seven’s costs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 18-Jul-17

Seven West Media is unlikely to enforce a costs order against former employee Amber Harrison provided she complies with a non-disclosure agreement. The Supreme Court of New South Wales has ruled that Harrison must pay Seven’s legal costs on an indemnity basis. Justice John Sacker said that Seven had incurred
"unnecessary and significant legal costs" due to Harrison’s
"unreasonable" actions in pursuing legal action against the media group.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

ASIC questions Korda’s Ten role

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 19 : 18-Jul-17

The independence of KordaMentha as administrator of the Ten Network has come under scrutiny by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission and the Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association. The issue centres on KordaMentha’s role as an adviser to Ten prior to its collapse. ASIC and KordaMentha have supported a proposal for Peter Gothard of Ferrier Hodgson to undertake an independent investigation into whether the fees received by KordaMentha constituted a preference payment.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN RESTRUCTURING INSOLVENCY AND TURNAROUND ASSOCIATION, FERRIER HODGSON AND COMPANY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BIRKETU PTY LTD, ILLYRIA PTY LTD, ATANASKOVIC HARTNELL CORPORATE SERVICES PTY LTD

Nine kicks a ratings winner with Origin

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 3 : 14-Jul-17

Data from OzTAM shows that the Nine Network’s broadcast of the third rugby league State of Origin match boasted an average national audience of 3.66 million people on 12 July. This includes 2.49 million viewers in the five major capital cities and 1.12 million in regional areas. Nine lifted its audience share to 40.5 per cent as a result of the rugby league coverage, while Seven Network had a 10.8 per cent share of viewers.

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

Nine puts hard word on CA for new rights deal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 2 : 12-Jul-17

Nine Entertainment Company is said to be keen to secure a broadcasting rights deal for all cricket formats before the end of 2017. The Nine Network’s head of sport, Tom Malone, does not expect Cricket Australia’s pay dispute to have an impact on negotiations over broadcasting rights, which Nine wants to finalise quickly. Cricket Australia had expectations that the next five-year deal could be worth up to $A900m, although broadcasting rights experts suggest that about $A700m is more likely. The current deal is worth about $A600m.

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

Netflix risks backlash by passing on GST

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Jul-17

US-based streaming video giant Netflix will increase its subscription fees for new and existing Australian customers by between $A1 and $A3 per month. Netflix has attributed the price increase to the Federal Government’s decision to apply the goods and services tax to offshore providers of digital services. Rival subscription video-on-demand company Stan also recently increased its prices.

CORPORATES
NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Local content slides at ABC

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 11-Jul-17

New figures show that the ABC produced 52 hours of drama in 2015-16, compared with 69 in 2012-13, while its output of factual programs fell from 547 hour to just 87. The ABC’s content budget fell by nine per cent over the four-year period. The ABC’s former head of TV, Kim Dalton, has claimed in the past that local content has become a lower priority for the public broadcaster since he stepped down in 2013. The ABC argues that it broadcasts more Australian-made content than its commercial rivals, and it should not be subject to local content quotas.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

‘I wouldn’t apologise for 50k,’ Harrison warns Seven

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 10-Jul-17

Seven West Media is believed to have incurred legal costs of more than $A1m in its dispute with former employee Amber Harrison. Seven will seek to recover its full legal costs after insisting that Harrison must issue a public apology as part of a deal to settle the case. Harrison had offered to abandon legal action against Seven and accept a permanent suppression order, but with no apology or payment from Seven. The media group had offered to pay her $A50,000 to settle the dispute.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, JOHNSON WINTER AND SLATTERY, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Fairfax steps up Domain hard sell

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Scott Murdoch
The Australian – Page: 24 : 10-Jul-17

Domain is losing market share to REA Group in some markets, which may make it harder for Fairfax Media directors to convince shareholders to back a proposed demerger of the property listings business. Demergers also have a chequered history in Australia. Analysis by Credit Suisse in 2015 shows that spin-offs generally perform well in their first six months as a separately-listed company, while there is typically no significant benefit for shareholders of the parent company during this period.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DOMAIN.COM.AU, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, TRADE ME GROUP LIMITED – ASX TME, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, NZME LIMITED – ASX NZM, AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD, ADSHEL PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, PAPERLINX LIMITED – ASX PPX, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, CSR LIMITED – ASX CSR, RINKER GROUP LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, THE STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGR, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, TPG CAPITAL LP, HELLMAN AND FRIEDMAN, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD

Optus to power National Geographic app

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 27 : 6-Jul-17

Optus has secured a deal to provide its postpaid mobile phone customers with exclusive content from National Geographic. The app will allow Optus customers to watch two live National Geographic TV channels and access the digital editions of its magazines. Ben White, the head of marketing and product at Optus, says the telco will also produce content in partnership with National Geographic. Customers will be able to view National Geographic content without any impact on their monthly data allowance. Optus has previously secured English Premier League rights.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, FOX NETWORK

ACCC looks at bids for shaky Ten

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 5-Jul-17

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has been approached to assess whether a joint bid for the Ten Network by Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon would be likely to substantially reduce competition. The ACCC will issue a statement of issues by 24 July on a potential bid for Ten by their investment vehicles, Illyria and Birketu. A formal bid for Ten by Murdoch and Gordon would be conditional on changes to cross-media ownership rules, given their other media interests.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ILLYRIA PTY LTD, BIRKETU PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, CANWEST GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PPB ADVISORY