TELEVISION BROADCASTING – AUSTRALIA

Nine lures 1.2 million to 9Now

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 25 : 23-May-16

The 9Now website of Nine Entertainment Company has gained almost 1.2 million subscribers since it was launched in February 2016. The site offers live streaming of Nine’s primary and digital channels, as well as a catch-up service. Access to 9Now is free, but users must register, which Nine’s chief marketing and digital officer Alex Parsons says has not been a deterrent. Data from Nielsen shows that 9Now boasted a unique audience of 1.6 million in March 2016.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, CRICKET AUSTRALIA, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

WIN nails affiliate deal with Ten

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

WIN Corporation is set to finalise a five-year affiliation deal with the Ten Network, after the regional broadcaster was dumped by Nine Entertainment Company in April 2016. Ten is expected to receive a much lower proportion of WIN’s TV revenue under the content supply deal than the one struck by Southern Cross Media with Nine. Southern Cross and WIN will switch affiliation partners on 1 July 2016, which Dentsu Aegis Network Australia CEO Simon Ryan warns is likely to have a short-term impact on their revenue.

CORPORATES
WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, DENTSU AEGIS MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OPTIMUM MEDIA DIRECTION PTY LTD, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, MINDSHARE, WPP AUNZ

Bundled reforms await return

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 26 & 28 : 16-May-16

The Australian Government will have to reintroduce its bill on cross-media ownership reform to Parliament if it wins the 2016 election. It is likely to package the reforms with a bill to reduce TV broadcasting licence fees, changes to the anti-siphoning for sports events and the pricing and allocation of broadcasting spectrum. The Government has previously ruled out introducing separate bills to abolish the "reach rule" and the "two-out-of-three rule".

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

TV still a strong ad earner: Howcroft

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 22 : 13-May-16

The Ten Network’s executive general manager in Melbourne, Russel Howcroft, will become the inaugural chairman of Think TV. The industry body has been established by Australia’s free-to-air commercial networks and Foxtel in order to promote the benefits of traditional TV to advertisers in an era of digital disruption. Statistics highlight the continued market power of broadcast TV, which was viewed by 87.4 per cent of Australians each week in the December 2015 quarter.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, THINK TV, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, THINKBOX, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, OZTAM PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Foxtel chief waves off Ten takeover talk

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 9-May-16

Foxtel CEO Peter Tonagh has downplayed speculation that the pay-TV group could seek to acquire free-to-air broadcaster Ten Network if cross-media ownership rules are relaxed. He argues that the competition regulator could be expected to closely scrutinise such a deal, and notes that a merger with Ten would make it more difficult for Foxtel to enter commercial arrangements with other free-to-air networks. Foxtel bought a 13.8 per cent stake in Ten in 2015.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Licence fee cut short of adequate: networks

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 28 : 5-May-16

Macquarie Securities estimates that Nine Entertainment Company’s EBITDA will increase by $A10.9m due to the reduction in broadcasting licence fees in the Australian Government’s May 2016 Budget. The EBITDA of Seven West Media and Ten Network will rise by $A12.1m and $A7m respectively. Seven West CEO Tim Worner says the 25 per cent reduction in the annual licence fee is insufficient for commercial TV networks to remain competitive.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, MACQUARIE SECURITIES PTY LTD, NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL

TV licence fees cut while ABC, SBS get extra funds

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Original article by Fleur Anderson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: B15 : 4-May-16

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield says a further reduction in free-to-air TV networks’ licence fees will be considered later in 2016. The annual licence fee was reduced by 25 per cent in the Australian Government’s May 2016 Budget. This will make the networks more competitive against streaming rivals such as Netflix, which are not subject to licence fees. The Budget also includes additional funding for the ABC and SBS.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), APPLE INCORPORATED, NBN CO LIMITED

Foxtel seeks delayed EPL coverage

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

Pay-TV group Foxtel is said to be negotiating a deal to broadcast the TV channels of some of the most popular English Football League teams. The channels provide delayed coverage of EPL matches, and were previously shown in Australia by FetchTV. Foxtel CEO Peter Tonagh does not expect many EPL fans to cancel their Foxtel subscription when Optus’s exclusive three-year deal for live coverage of EPL matches begins in August 2016.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, FETCHTV PTY LTD, MANCHESTER UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB, MANCHESTER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB, LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB PLC, ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB PLC, CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB, BEIN MEDIA GROUP, BEIN SPORTS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Ten and WIN deal expected shortly

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Original article by Jake Mitchell, Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 27 & 29 : 2-May-16

The Ten Network is said to be close to finalising an affiliation agreement with regional broadcaster WIN Corporation, which currently has a content supply deal with Nine Entertainment Company. Speculation that Nine will pursue a merger with Southern Cross Media Group has intensified since the two groups signed a five-year affiliation agreement on 29 April 2016. Nine will receive 50 per cent of Southern Cross’s advertising revenue under the new deal, compared with the 34 per cent that Ten receives at present.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, TRIPLE M CORPORATION PTY LTD, HIT NETWORK, WEST DIGITAL TELEVISION, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT

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