PAY TELEVISION – AUSTRALIA

Tonagh’s plan to get halo back on pay TV

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 2-May-16

The iQ3 digital recorder, the Presto streaming video joint venture with Seven West Media and the wholesale broadband deal with Telstra are among the priorities for Foxtel CEO Peter Tonagh. Restoring Foxtel’s "halo" following the success of Netflix is also on the agenda for Tonagh, who acknowledges that the pay-TV group needs to do more to promote the fact that it offers a much large range of content than Netflix.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTAR UNITED COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FETCHTV PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, SKY PLC, EASYNET GROUP

Game of Thrones breaks records

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Original article by Max Mason
The Age – Page: 22 : 27-Apr-16

Pay-TV group Foxtel expects the season six debut episode of "Game of Thrones" to have attracted more than one million Australian viewers when Foxtel IQ and encore screening figures are taken into account. The first episode boasted a live viewing audience of 727,000 on 25 April 2016, with an average 396,000 people watching its initial broadcast during the day and an additional 285,000 viewers for the encore screening in prime-time.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, HBO, BITTORRENT INCORPORATED

Foxtel hits pause on box with bugs

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Original article by Dominic White
The Age – Page: 25 : 20-Apr-16

Australian pay-TV group Foxtel has temporarily ceased marketing the IQ3 video recording device. The IQ3 has been plagued by technical issues since its launch in March 2015, and Foxtel expects to resolve all outstanding problems shortly. It has resumed marketing earlier versions of the device until the problems are resolved.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FETCHTV PTY LTD

Foxtel’s $8b float plans delayed

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 18-Apr-16

Foxtel’s joint owners, News Corp and Foxtel, initially planned to list the pay-TV company on the Australian sharemarket in the second half of 2016. However, the proposed IPO is believed to have been pushed back to 2017. Negotiations over a new broadband arrangement are said to be a key issue. Plans for the IPO also include merging News-owned Fox Sports with Foxtel. Foxtel faces growing competition from subscription video-on-demand companies such as Netflix.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

NBA and EPL’s dedicated viewers are the most open to paying for sports on demand

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Apr-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 12.25 million Australians aged 14+ (63 per cent) have at least one sport that they "almost always" watch on TV, and over 1 in 6 of these dedicated fans either already pay to watch sporting events on demand or say they would like to. The survey, which was carried out in the year to December 2015, also shows that 23 per cent of American NBA basketball viewers already pay to watch sport on demand and another 21 per cent agree that they would like to. Meanwhile, 25 per cent of English Premier League viewers already pay to watch some sport on demand, with another 16 per cent open to the idea.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION, SUPER RUGBY, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, THE A LEAGUE PTY LTD, NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE

Merged Foxtel, Fox Sports ‘easier’ to float

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 20 : 30-Mar-16

Credit ­Suisse media analyst Fraser McLeish says a proposed IPO for Foxtel would be more attractive to investors if the pay-TV group was merged with Fox Sports. McLeish estimates that a merged Foxtel-Fox Sports would boast an enterprise value of about $A8.5bn. Telstra and News Corp each own 50 per cent of Foxtel, and News Corp has full ownership of Fox Sports.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED, EUROSPORT

Netflix halo effect dulls Foxtel lustre

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Original article by Dominic White
The Age – Page: 23 : 28-Mar-16

A survey by Canstar Blue shows that Netflix has the highest rating in terms of overall customer satisfaction among Australian users of subscription-based TV services. Netflix received five out of five stars, while Foxtel received just three stars. It is estimated that Netflix has gained more than one million customers since launching in Australia in March 2015. A key challenge for Foxtel is the fact that even its entry-level package costs more than a Netflix subscription.

CORPORATES
NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, CANSTAR BLUE PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, CBS CORPORATION, SHOWTIME, NBC UNIVERSAL INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

News move to increase stake in Foxtel will trigger ACCC interest

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 23-Mar-16

News Corporation would have a 51 per cent stake in the merged Foxtel-Fox Sports if the deal and a proposed IPO of Telstra’s stake in Foxtel proceeds. A second option would be for News to buy out Telstra’s 50 per cent stake in Foxtel. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says any move by News to increase its stake in Foxtel would attract scrutiny. However, he notes that the media group already has significant influence at Foxtel.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, SKY PLC, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Nightly show as Bolt gets bolder

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 23 : 21-Mar-16

Newspaper columnist, blogger and TV presenter Andrew Bolt will move from the Ten Network to pay-TV channel Sky News. "The Bolt Report" will be broadcast five nights a week on Sky News from May 2016, after previously airing on Sunday mornings on Ten. The new version of the program will be produced by Australian News Channel, which owns Sky News. Bolt will continue to write newspaper columns for New Corp and appear on Steve Price’s nightly show on Macquarie Media radio stations.

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS, AUSTRALIAN NEWS CHANNEL PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, 2GB, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

News, Telstra discuss Foxtel and Fox Sports merger

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 21-Mar-16

Foxtel’s joint owners Telstra and News Corp may merge the pay-TV group with News Corp’s fully-owned Fox Sports. Telstra recently flagged plans to list 60 per cent of its stake in Foxtel on the sharemarket, and merging it with Fox Sports would make the IPO more attractive to investors. Foxtel’s EBITDA and revenue fell in 2015, while Fox Sports posted EBITDA and revenue of $US135m and $US500m respectively in 2014-15.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED