MASS MEDIA – UNITED STATES

News Corp fury after ISS urges vote against Lachlan Murdoch

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 6-Nov-25

Institutional Shareholder Services says News Corporation shareholders should vote against chairman Lachlan Murdoch at the media group’s upcoming annual meeting. ISS has expressed concern that Murdoch’s $5bn bid to gain control of the family’s stake in News Corp and Fox Corp had included pledging $US1bn ($1.5bn) worth of the companies’ shares as collateral; the firm contends that the pledging of company stock by directors or executive officers can pose a risk to the investments of outside shareholders. However, News Corp has accused ISS of using ‘arbitrary metrics’ to misrepresent and overstate the pledge’s applicability to Murdoch, noting that he Lachlan did not own the shares directly and only held a one-third interest in the company that did via a trust. ISS has also recommended voting against the re-election of three other members of News Corp’s board.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, INSTITUTIONAL SHAREHOLDER SERVICES INCORPORATED, FOX CORPORATION

Siblings paid to exit Murdoch media empire

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 10-Sep-25

Sources have indicated that the Murdoch family has settled the long-running dispute over future control over its media empire in a deal worth $US3.3bn ($5bn). Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son Lachlan is set to assume full control of the family’s stakes in News Corp and Fox Corporation, ending the dispute with his siblings. Prudence MacLeod, Elisabeth Murdoch and James Murdoch will each receive $US1.1bn, while they have also agreed to sell all of their shares in the two companies over the next six months. The family trust that was at the centre of the legal dispute between the Murdochs will be dissolved as part of the deal.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX CORPORATION

Australian editor to lead Murdoch’s new US tabloid

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Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 6-Aug-25

News Corporation has advised that it will launch a new Los Angeles-based masthead called the California Post in early 2026. It will be a localised version of News Corp’s popular right-wing tabloid, the New York Post. Sean Giancola, the CEO of News Corp subsidiary the New York Post Media Group, says the new masthead will offer a similar mix of "common-sense journalism", sports, celebrity and entertainment news across multiple platforms, including a daily print edition. The Herald Sun’s Sunday editor Nick Papps will be the inaugural editor-in-chief of the California Post.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEW YORK POST MEDIA GROUP

Murdoch defamation case could be impossible for Trump to win, experts say

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Original article by Georgie Hewson
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 23-Jul-25

The Wall Street Journal intends to "vigorously" defend its journalism in a defamation lawsuit that has been launched by US President Donald Trump. The newspaper, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, is facing legal action after publishing an article which alleged that Trump had sent a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that included a sexually suggestive drawing. Trump has denied sending any such letter to the convicted sex offender. Harry Melkonian from the US Studies Centre notes that it is very hard for public figures – and particularly the nation’s president – to win a defamation lawsuit in the US.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. UNITED STATES STUDIES CENTRE

The Murdochs are stuck in a multibillion-dollar family feud. The empire they’re fighting over is flourishing

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Original article by
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 4-Jun-25

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch will pursue an appeal against a Nevada court’s ruling in late 2024 which blocked his bid to change the terms of a family trust. However, the Murdoch family’s in-fighting over the future control of their media empire appears to have had little impact on News Corp and Fox Corp. Fox’s market capitalisation has risen to around $US24bn ($37bn), despite the growing shift from both cable and broadcast TV to streaming services; the 2019 decision to sell its general entertainment assets and focus on news and sport has paid off. Likewise, News Corp’s share price has risen by nearly 50 per cent in the last two years, although Jason Bazinet of Citigroup contends that this is due largely to assets such as its stake in REA Group rather than its newspaper and book publishing assets.

CORPORATES
FOX CORPORATION, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA

Rupert Murdoch loses bid to change control of family trust

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Original article by Jessica Toonkel, Katherine Sayre
The Australian – Page: 15 : 11-Dec-24

Nevada probate commissioner Edmund Gorman jnr has rejected a bid by media mogul Rupert Murdoch to change the terms of a family trust in favour of his oldest son, Lachlan. At present, Murdoch’s four oldest children will have equal control of the 93-year-old’s media empire when he dies; however, Murdoch had sought to give Lachlan full control of the trust, and therefore its voting stakes in News Corporation and Fox Corp. A lawyer for Murdoch has flagged plans to appeal the ruling.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX CORPORATION

Perpetual backs in Murdochs at News

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Original article by Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 20-Nov-24

News Corporation will shortly hold its AGM in New York, where shareholders will vote on a proposal to abolish the media group’s dual-share structure. The existing share structure means that the Murdoch family controls 41 per cent of News Corp’s voting shares but just 14 per cent of the company’s stock overall. The push for a single class of shares is being led by hedge fund Starboard Value, but Perpetual’s head of equities Vince Pezzullo says the Australian fund manager will support the status quo at the AGM. Pezzullo says the Murdochs and News Corp’s management have made a number of strategic decisions over the last decade that have paid off, including the sale of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets at the peak of the market.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Headaches for Murdochs in battle for trust

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 20 : 11-Sep-24

A probate court in Nevada will shortly commence hearing Rupert Murdoch’s bid to change the terms of a family trust to ensure that eldest son Lachlan has control of the magnate’s media empire when he dies. Three of Murdoch’s other children are insisting that all four siblings retain equal voting rights. Documents that were recently filed with the court show that the Murdochs want rival media outlets such as CNN and The New York Times to be barred from the courtroom; amongst other things, the Murdochs contend that their personal safety would be at risk if the court proceedings were open to the media.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX CORPORATION

High-flyer takes on Hollywood

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Original article by Jessica Toonkel, Joe Flint
The Australian – Page: 17 : 10-Jul-24

Skydance Media founder David Ellison says he aims to transform Paramount Global into a "media and tech hybrid" to enable it to compete with rivals such as Disney and Netflix. The complex merger deal will initially see Skydance acquire Paramount’s major shareholder, National Amusements, for $US1.75bn; Paramount will in turn acquire Skydance for about $US4.7bn. Skydance has identified around $US2bn worth of cost savings at Paramount, and aims to make the iconic film studio cashflow positive by the end of 2026. Paramount’s assets include the Ten Network in Australia.

CORPORATES
SKYDANCE MEDIA LLC, PARAMOUNT GLOBAL, NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS INCORPORATED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Network 10 to axe local jobs in global Paramount redundancies

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 16-Feb-24

US media group Paramount Global has confirmed that the Ten Network will be impacted by its move to cut 800 jobs across its operations. Ten’s staff were advised on Thursday that those who will be affected by the downsizing would be informed by the end of the day. However, a local source within Paramount has indicated that the impact of the job cuts on its operations in Australia will be minimal. The restructuring has coincided with Paramount’s recent discussions regarding potential mergers.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, PARAMOUNT GLOBAL