RADIO STATIONS – AUSTRALIA

I’m not going anywhere: Holleran

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 2-Mar-15

Southern Cross Media Group’s share of the radio market fell from 34.3 per cent to 27.5 per cent year-on-year in the December 2014 quarter. CEO Rhys Holleran is confident that the group can rebuild market share by the end of 2015, saying a priority will be to turn around the struggling 2Day FM network. He has also downplayed speculation that he could step down, and stresses that the media group is not actively pursuing merger discussions at present

CORPORATES
SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, 2DAY FM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KIIS1065, AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED – ASX PBG, MANTRA GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTR, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, LION PTY LTD, IBM AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTEREO GROUP LIMITED, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Murdoch exits streaming as Rdio revamps

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 2-Feb-15

Nova Entertainment, the radio stations group behind the Nova and Smooth FM networks owned by Lachlan Murdoch, in 2012 entered into a joint venture with US-based Rdio. The latter will now mount an increased effort to boost its local market share, after Nova divested its 50% stake in their Rdio Australia vehicle in late 2014. A number of similar online music streaming services have been closed recently, due to the dominance of Spotify and Pandora

CORPORATES
RDIO INCORPORATED, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SPOTIFY LIMITED, PANDORA MEDIA INCORPORATED, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, AUSTEREO GROUP LIMITED, SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, UNIVERSAL MUSIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DEEZER, LIVE NATION AUSTRALASIA PTY LTD, THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED

Fairfax plans triple treat of deals before tackling free-to-air TV merger

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 19-Dec-14

Insiders claim that Fairfax Media is preparing a suite of divestments to prepare itself for a merger in 2015 with a free-to-air TV network. The newspaper publishing group will combine most of its radio assets, which under current media ownership laws prevent it from joining a TV broadcaster, with those of rival Macquarie Radio in a move worth $A200m. Fairfax CEO executive Greg Hywood also wants APN News & Media’s Australian Radio Network to acquire his company’s Perth station. At the same time Fairfax is about to pay $A75m for the remaining stake in ­Melbourne business Metro Media Publishing

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MACQUARIE RADIO NETWORK LIMITED – ASX MRN, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD, METRO MEDIA PUBLISHING PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Fairfax revives radio sale talks

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 20 : 3-Oct-14

Insiders say Robin Bishop and Darren Keogh of investment banking firm Macquarie are consulting to Fairfax Media on possible asset divestments. The divisions being looked at are the radio stations network and the Domain real estate classifieds business. The former may be sold to 2GB owner Macquarie Radio, despite previous talks on such a deal ending acrimoniously. Domain may be spun off in a sharemarket float, and could have a market capitalisation of up to $A1.8bn. Fairfax is lobbying for reform of media ownership laws that prevent it from moving into certain segments

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MACQUARIE RADIO NETWORK LIMITED – ASX MRN, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, DOMAIN PROPERTY GROUP, FAIRFAX RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD, 2GB, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, METRO MEDIA PUBLISHING PTY LTD, TRADE ME GROUP LIMITED – ASX TME, ALL HOMES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Rinehart in secret talks on Fairfax

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Original article by Sharri Markson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 10-Sep-14

A spokesman for mining magnate Gina Rinehart has downplayed speculation that she is planning to make a takeover bid for Fairfax Media. Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting holds a 14.99 per cent stake in the media group, and it has been revealed that she held talks with Matt Handbury regarding a bid for Fairfax in 2012. Handbury sold Murdoch Magazines in 2004 and Murdoch Books in 2012

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, MURDOCH MAGAZINES PTY LTD, MURDOCH BOOKS PTY LTD, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, ALLEN AND UNWIN PTY LTD

CFO Lewis ‘not right fit’ for Southern Cross

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 18-Jul-14

Peter Lewis has stepped down as CFO of Australian-listed Southern Cross Media. He only joined the company in mid-June 2014, and CEO Rhys Holleran says Lewis had indicated that he did think he was the "right fit" for the media group. Holleran notes that Southern Cross is very different to the companies for which Lewis has worked in the past, which include Seven West Media

CORPORATES
SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Southern Cross in trouble as new CFO quits

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 17-Jul-14

Analysts are concerned Australian-listed Southern Cross Media (SXL) may soon breach its banking covenants. Peter Lewis, who was appointed CFO in mid-June, has resigned just one month later, and the company is believed to be considering a share issue. Its stock on 16 July closed $A0.01 higher at $A1.16, but has lost 31% so far in calendar 2014. There is speculation that if Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull changes media competition laws, SXL will cut its affiliate ties with Ten Network and merge with the latter’s Nine Entertainment rival. SXL has been affected by declining audience ratings for its and radio and regional TV stations

CORPORATES
SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, 2DAY FM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTEREO GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE WEALTH MANAGEMENT