NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING – AUSTRALIA

New Fairfax chairman Falloon calls for media modernisation

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 6-Nov-15

Shareholders at the AGM of Fairfax Media have been told that its revenue from continuing businesses has risen by 2-3 per cent so far in 2015-16. Meanwhile, chairman Nick Falloon said changes to cross-media ownership laws are necessary as the "reach rule" and the " two-out-of-three rule" have become irrelevant and provide the Australian media industry’s offshore rivals with an advantage in the domestic market. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims also favours scrapping the reach rule.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, METRO MEDIA PUBLISHING PTY LTD, RBB ECONOMICS LLP

Roy Morgan Newspaper Print Readership and Cross-Platform Audience Results for September 2015

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Nov-15

Roy Morgan Research has released its Print Readership and seven-day Cross-Platform Audience results for Australian newspapers for the year to September 2015. Across print and digital formats, the country’s metro newspapers continued to reach 11.9 million Australians aged 14+ in an average week, unchanged from the previous year. The "Australian Financial Review" scored the largest increase in cross-platform audience. Driven by a 20.7 per cent increase in the average number of Australians who access the masthead by website or app, the AFR’s total net weekly audience grew by nine per cent to 760,000.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

Lynch in box seat for CFO at Seven

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 4-Nov-15

Australian-listed Seven West Media is shortly expected to announce a successor to former CFO Dave Boorman, who stepped down in early 2015. Warwick Lynch has been acting CFO, and he is believed to be the leading candidate to take on the role permanently. Lynch was also acting CFO prior to Boorman’s appointment in mid-2013. Boorman recently became the CFO at Ten Network.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, PEOPLE ONE PTY LTD, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW

Government prepares to move on reach rule

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Original article by Dominic White, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 2-Nov-15

The Australian Government is believed to be planning to legislate to abolish the so-called "reach rule" before the end of 2015. However, it is uncertain whether scrapping the "two-out-of-three" rule is also on the agenda at present. The Government’s proposed changes to cross-media ownership laws have some support within the Australian Labor Party, although there are some concerns within both the Opposition and the Australian Greens about the impact on media diversity if the "two-out-of-three" rule is abolished.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, PALMER UNITED PARTY, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, IMPARJA TELEVISION PTY LTD

Paywalled news sites head off foreign brigade

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 25 : 17-Aug-15

New figures from Nielsen suggest that international online portals are having problems with attracting Australian readers. Nielsen’s "Ratings by Unique Audience" report for July 2015 shows that "The Guardian" managed to increase its year-on-year unique audience by only two per cent. "The Daily Telegraph" and BBC increased their audiences by 3.8 per cent and four per cent respectively. Figures compiled by "The Australian" show that comprehensive paywall sites are more successful in growing their audiences, with "The Australian" recording a 10.6 per cent rise in unique visitors in the past 12 months.

CORPORATES
NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH INCORPORATED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, THE HUFFINGTON POST

Roy Morgan Newspaper Readership and Cross-Platform Audience Results for June 2015

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Aug-15

Roy Morgan Research has released its Print Readership and seven-day Cross-Platform Audience results for Australian newspapers for the year to June 2015. Readership of Print Monday to Friday editions have declined by 11.3 per cent overall in the total number of readers for the country’s major metropolitan papers. Meanwhile, there was an overall readership decline of 8.8 per cent for Saturday editions, while readership of Sunday newspapers fell by 7.1 per cent. "The Sunday Times" recorded the largest cross-platform audience growth overall, up 5.5 per cent to 901,000.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

News Corp websites cement digital standing

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 26 & 28 : 27-Jul-15

Data from Nielsen shows that News Corp’s news.com.au website boasted 3.7 million unique visitors in June 2015, making it Australia’s most popular free news website. Meanwhile, News Corp’s "The Australian" is the most popular paywalled news website, with one million unique visitors in June. The website of "The Australian Financial Review" had 452,000 unique visitors.

CORPORATES
THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA, THE HUFFINGTON POST

Hockey hit with costs on Fairfax case

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Original article by Marianna Papadakis, Katie Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Jul-15

Treasurer Joe Hockey faces a huge legal bill after the Federal Court ordered Fairfax Media to pay just 15 per cent of his legal costs in a defamation lawsuit. Hockey was awarded $A200,000 in damages over tweets and newspaper advertising posters that were deemed to be defamatory. However, it is estimated that Hockey’s total legal costs in defending the case could be around $A300,000. Hockey failed to prove that published newspaper articles relating to the tweets and posters were defamatory.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, ACA LAWYERS PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY

Hockey wins $200,000 in Fairfax case

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Original article by Marianna Papadakis, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 1-Jul-15

Fairfax Media has been ordered to pay $A200,000 in damages to Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey in his defamation case against the newspaper publisher. The damages payout comprises $A120,000 arising from the publication of newspaper posters saying "Treasurer for sale", plus $A80,000 for several tweets with a similar message. Justice Richard White ruled that the posters and tweets were defamatory, although the newspaper articles to which they referred did not defame Hockey.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NORTH SYDNEY FORUM

Seven West boosts board

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Original article by Max Mason, David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 25-Jun-15

Australian-listed Seven West Media has made four new appointments to its board of directors. CEO Tim Worner will join the board, as will iiNet founder Michael Malone, Gilbert + Tobin partner Sheila McGregor and former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett. The new directors offer expertise in a range of sectors beyond the media industry, and Kennett notes the need for boards to have a wide range of skills.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DOMAIN.COM.AU, HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB, BEYOND BLUE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD