Murdoch tightens Ten grip

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 16-Jun-15

Pay-TV group Foxtel will acquire a stake of around 15 per cent in the Ten Network, paying $A0.15 per share, which equates to about $A77m. Ten shareholders will also be offered additional stock at $A0.15, with the free-to-air broadcaster raising $A154m in total via the share placement. Meanwhile, Ten will take a 24.99 per cent stake in Foxtel’s Multi Channel Network advertising sales company, which will in turn merge with Ten’s advertising department.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, SKY PLC, 20TH CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED

Networks rely on sports for ad dollars

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 10-Jun-15

Concerns about an uncertain outlook for the advertising market prompted investors to sell down Australian media stocks on 9 June 2015. Nine Entertainment Company has partially attributed an earnings downgrade to slowing ad revenue. Ben Willee of Spinach Advertising notes that TV ad revenue is being affected by the growing use of mobile devices to access media content, while Starcom MediaVest Group CEO Chris Nolan says sports broadcasts are becoming a key source of viewers and ad revenue for TV networks.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SPINACH ADVERTISING PTY LTD, STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, OPTIMUM MEDIA DIRECTION PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Shareholder backs Nine despite downgrade

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 9-Jun-15

Nine Entertainment Company has attributed a profit downgrade to a subdued TV advertising market in the second half of 2014-15. The media group has advised that its full-year EBITDA will be within the range of $A285m to $A290m, compared with earlier guidance of $A311m. Entcho Raykovski of Deutsche Bank expects free-to-air ad revenue to be three per cent lower in the second half.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, WARNER BROS

Ten’s jungle success fires up fightback

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 3-Feb-15

Preliminary data from audience ratings provider OzTAM indicate that new reality TV show "I’m a ­Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!" has been very successful for Ten Network. It managed a total viewers figure of 1.1999 million on 1 February 2015, despite coverage of the Australian Open Tennis tournament’s finals by rival Seven West Media at the same time. Ten CEO Hamish McLennan says the free-to-air TV group should be given a greater share of the advertising spend by media buyers. Ten is also looking at takeover offers, but 14.99% shareholder Bruce Gordon remains a hurdle

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TIME WARNER INCORPORATED

Seven edges out Nine in TV ads

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 28-Jan-15

New data from KPMG show that the overall Australian metropolitan free-to-air TV advertising market suffered a 3.04% decline in the first six months of 2014-15, to $A1.5bn. This contrasts with growth a year earlier of 5.01% to $A1.6bn. However that period was marked by the federal election campaign, and Seven West Media chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette argues the slump now is merely cyclical rather than structural. His group lifted its share by 0.66% to 40.4%. Nine Entertainment also gained, while Ten Network saw its share fall from 21.52% to 20.4%

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CIMB SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Junk food ads saturate cricket broadcasts, uni study reveals

Original article by Kate Hagan
The Age – Page: 2 : 28-Jan-15

Obesity Policy Coalition members such as the Cancer Council Victoria and the Victorian branch of Diabetes Australia are urging Cricket Australia to abandon corporate sponsorship deals with fast food brands. New research by Wollongong University shows that during three One Day International and two Twenty20 matches as well as the first three days of the Ashes test series in 2014, junk food branding was shown 3,000-plus times in the TV broadcasts. Almost all of this was linked to naming rights sponsor KFC

CORPORATES
KFC, YUM! RESTAURANTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CRICKET AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG, OBESITY POLICY COALITION, DIABETES AUSTRALIA – VICTORIA, THE CANCER COUNCIL VICTORIA

Ten’s ad share in decline, rivals up

Original article by Lara Sinclair
The Australian – Page: 18 : 16-Jan-15

Data from SMI shows that the Seven Network had a 41 per cent share of metropolitan TV advertising revenue in calendar 2014, compared with 40.3 per cent previously. The Nine Network lifted its share of ad revenue from 37.6 per cent to 38.7 per cent, while the Ten Network’s share was down from 22 per cent to 20.3 per cent. TV accounted for 47.2 per cent of Australia’s total advertising market, down from 48.8 per cent in 2013

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Ad market rallies as splurge in government spending delivers

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 16-Dec-14

The latest Standard Media Index data shows that Australia’s advertising market grew by 3.8 per cent year-on-year in November 2014. There was a 110 per cent increase in spending on government advertising, while travel industry advertising and telecommunications advertising increased by 12.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively. Newspaper advertising declined by 12.2 per cent and free-to-air TV advertising was down 0.2 per cent

CORPORATES
SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, STW COMMUNICATIONS GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGN, APN OUTDOOR GROUP LIMITED – ASX APO, OOH!MEDIA LIMITED – ASX OML, OGILVY AND MATHER, J WALTER THOMPSON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Free TV ad revenue to plummet

Original article by Paul McIntyre
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 15-Dec-14

IPG Mediabrands expects digital media’s share of advertising revenue to rise from 36.5 per cent to 56 per cent over the next five years. The share of commercial free-to-air TV networks will fall from 26.6 per cent to just 19.9 per cent. The firm’s chief investment officer, Victor Corones, expects Australia’s advertising market to record overall growth of one per cent in 2014, rising to 3.8 per cent in 2015

CORPORATES
MEDIABRANDS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, MAGNA GLOBAL PTY LTD, THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL ADVERTISERS INCORPORATED, WAL-MART STORES INCORPORATED, FORD MOTOR COMPANY, NESTLE SA, MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, PERNOD RICARD SA, CADREON PTY LTD, VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED

SBS ad boost ‘will cost networks $198m’

Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Nov-14

The Australian Subscription Television & Radio Association has criticised the Federal Government’s plan to allow more advertising on SBS. The public broadcaster will be able to show 10 minutes of ads per hour during prime time if the reforms proceed. Mark Pejic of MediaCom estimates that this will boost SBS’s revenue by $A198.7m over five years, largely at the expense of the free-to-air commercial networks

CORPORATES
SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED, MEDIACOM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO PTY LTD, FOXTEL COMMERCIAL PRODUCTIONS, DISCOVERY CHANNEL, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, VIACOM AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY