NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING – AUSTRALIA

Bleak view of Fairfax prospects

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 21 : 29-Nov-16

Citi has a "sell" recommendation on Fairfax Media, and values the company at $A0.70 per share. In contrast, Citi values the Domain property listings business at $A0.80 per share. The firm estimates that Fairfax would incur total costs of about $A330m if it opted to discontinue its print newspapers to focus on its digital operations. However, Citi notes that Fairfax’s digital revenue fell by 4.5 per cent in the first half of 2015-16.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, CARSALES.COM LIMITED – ASX CAR, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA

Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun score increased Readership across the whole week

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Nov-16

Roy Morgan Research has released its Print Readership and Cross-Platform Audience results for Australian newspapers for the year to September 2016. Some 8.3 million Australians aged 14+ (42%) read print newspapers in an average week in the 12 months to September 2016, down 3.3% year-on-year. "The Daily Telegraph" is the big winner, with an increase in readers for all weekday and weekend editions, while the "Herald Sun" also scored a rare hat-trick, albeit with smaller gains right across the week. Meanwhile, "The Sydney Morning Herald" lost print readers across the week, while "The Age" recorded a fall in readership of weekday editions but a rise in readership of the Saturday and Sunday editions. "The Sydney Morning Herald" remains Australia’s most-read masthead cross-platform, reaching a combined audience of 4,187,000 in an average week, including a net 1,152,000 print readers and 3,609,000 digital readers.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SCHWARTZ MEDIA PTY LTD

Newspaper paywall successes vindicate Murdoch’s strategy

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 25 : 24-Oct-16

The Australian has gained more than 80,000 paid digital subscribers since its website was paywalled five years ago. The News Corp Australia flagship’s CEO Nicholas Gray says the newspaper will seek to lift this to 100,000 paid subscribers in 2017. Meanwhile, editor-in-chief Paul Whittaker says many news websites are now looking to adopt the paywall model. He adds that the company’s digital products complement its traditional print newspapers and allow it to produce editions that are tailored for specific digital devices.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, GUARDIAN MEDIA GROUP PLC, DAILY MAIL AND GENERAL TRUST PLC, LONDON COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION

Media baron warns Leak cartoon probe biggest threat to press freedom

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 1 : 24-Oct-16

Seven Group’s executive chairman Kerry Stokes has criticised the Australian Human Rights Commission’s investigation into a Bill Leak cartoon that was published in August 2016. He has described the investigation as the greatest threat to freedom of the press that he has seen in his long career in the media industry, and he says section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act stifles the media’s ability to fully informing the public about important issues. Stokes has also praised "The Australian" for publishing the controversial cartoon.

CORPORATES
SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Censorship: editor, cartoonists attack Leak investigation

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Original article by Sharri Markson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 19-Oct-16

Mark Knight, John Spooner and Warren Brown are among the newspaper cartoonists who have defended Bill Leak and his right to free speech. He is being investigated by the Human Rights Commission over a controversial cartoon that was published in "The Australian" in August 2016. Spooner says the Leak case demonstrates the need for changes to section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. Brett McCarthy, the editor of "The West Australian", has also expressed support for Leak.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

News adds racing site to stable

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 21 : 6-Oct-16

Media giant News Corp Australia will increase its exposure to the wagering industry with the acquisition of punters.com.au. The website features horse racing news and a free digital form guide, and boasts some 375,000 unique visitors each month. The British division of News Corporation established a wagering joint venture with Tabcorp earlier in 2016.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, PUNTERS.COM.AU, SUNBETS, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH

ARM takeover spurs back-office cuts

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 23 : 12-Sep-16

APN News & Media’s deal to sell its Aust­ralian Regional Media division to News Corp Australia will be put to shareholders on 16 September 2016. ARM publishes regional and community newspapers in New South Wales and Queensland, and employs about 1,200 people. News Corp is expected to retrench about 300 staff if the deal proceeds, although these are likely to include some staff in its own regional operations in order to reduce duplication.

CORPORATES
APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, FETCH PLUS INCORPORATED PTE LTD, HERALD AND WEEKLY TIMES LIMITED

HWT appoints Zavecz

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 21 : 25-Aug-16

Pacific Magazines CEO Peter Zavecz will leave the Seven West Media-owned publisher on 30 September 2016, to take up the role of managing director, commercial at News Corp Australia’s Herald & Weekly Times subsidiary. Meanwhile, HWT’s executive general manager Peter Clark will join the newly-created News Digital Networks Australia division.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HERALD AND WEEKLY TIMES LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, PACIFIC MAGAZINES PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NEWS DIGITAL NETWORK AUSTRALIA, NEWS LIFE MEDIA PTY LTD

Print is here to stay, declares Thomson

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 23 : 18-Aug-16

News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson has assured Australian employees that the media group will continue to publish print newspapers. Thomson also noted the low quality of much online news content, and stressed the importance of premium content amid global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Thomson was addressing employees at the offices of "The Daily Telegraph" in Sydney.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Hywood goes it alone on digital subscription

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 23 : 11-Aug-16

Fairfax Media will no longer quote the Audited Media Association of Australia’s data on digital newspaper subscriptions in its financial reports, after questioning the accuracy of the figures. The media group will instead publish its own digital subscription data in ASX releases. The AMA has reported that subscriptions to the digital edition of "The Age" fell by 6.3 per cent in the March 2016 quarter and 3.4 per cent in the year to March, while "Sydney Morning Herald" digital subscriptions grew by 0.9 per cent in the year to March.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUDITED MEDIA ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED