MEDIABLAB DECEMBER 3
December 2nd 2007 21:43
From MediaBlab daily news service compiled by Peter Olszewski for Dow Jones' Factiva
AUSTRALIAN TV CHANNEL DECLINES TO EVEN ISSUE PRESS RELEASE AFTER RATINGS LOSS
The end-of-year ratings for Australian commercial television have been posted, and the ailing but once predominant Nine Network has taken the unusual step of declaring that it won’t be issuing a formal press release
It advised that the only comment from the network is from the ceo David Gyngell who said, “We are pleased to have 2007 behind us. We're building for 2008 and beyond.”
This is in the face of Seven crowing for weeks about its capture of the number one title.
Nine ended the survey year with 26.9 percent share across the five city metro markets.
This equates to a 34.6 percent share of commercial television viewing.
The east coast markets remained Nine’s strongest region of viewing with 27.7 percent share in Sydney, 27.1 percent share in Melbourne and 28.1 percent in Brisbane. The aggregated east coast share for Nine was 27.6 percent.
The Nine Network ended the survey year with day-of-week wins along both the five city metro markets and the east coast for Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. In Sydney Nine secured day-of-week wins for all days except Mondays and Tuesdays. In Melbourne Nine won Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, while in Brisbane Nine won Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The battle along the east coast was closely contested with Nine winning only 12 days less than Seven.
The Ten Network was far more buoyant in its announcement, declaring that is had a record year with an all-time high share in the 18-49 age demographic.
It said its highlights were the record high share in 18-49 target demographic of 34.5 percent, and a win in the 16-39 age demographic for the seventh straight year with 38 percent. Ten also claimed number one in daytime in all key demographics, and increase of 1.8 percent in 25-54 demographic, which brought it within 0.8 share points of Nine.
It said it was the clear number two in 16-54, with a 33.1 percent share versus Nine on 30.7 percent.
It didn’t do so well in the demographic people 50 with only a 15.7 percent share.
It had seven of top 10 shows in 18-49 including The Biggest Loser Finale at number one and Big Brother Winner Announced at number two.
It had nine of top 10 shows in 16-39 with Big Brother Winner Announced at number one and The Biggest Loser Finale at number two.
But Seven was the big winner of the ratings battle, and for the first time in almost 30 years, the Seven Network has officially taken arch-rival Nine's number one ratings title.
According to OzTAM figures, Seven won the year in the five capital city markets with a 29.1 percent share of the prime-time (6pm to midnight) audience, against Nine's 26.9 percent.
The ABC figures were also a surprise, with the public service channel upping its share from 15.4 percent last year to 16.6 percent this year.
SBS retained its 5.5 percent share despite the backlash against it for scheduling commercials for the first time this year.
WHY RUPERT MURDOCH’S HALF-OWNED TV STATION IN GEORGIA WAS SUSPENDED BY GOVERNMENT
The Eurasian Daily Monitor reports that “unanswered questions persist and are even multiplying about the relationship between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and Imedi Television, the vehicle of Georgian tycoon and presidential contender Badri Patarkatsishvili.”
The Monitor said that Imedi TV, co-owned by News Corp and Patarkatsishvili, but controlled de facto by Patarkatsishvili-appointed program managers, agitated for regime change through unconstitutional means during the November 2-7 rallies in Tbilisi and was suspended by the government pending clarification of its status.
The Georgian government has invited News Corp to discuss ways of reopening Imedi TV as an independent, privately-owned channel, and Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze and other officials have held talks with News Corp in recent days.
The government wants Imedi to reopen under the auspices of a responsible party, which could well be News Corp itself, to ensure that the channel is not again used for instigating anti-constitutional actions.
The existing financial and managerial arrangements are ambiguous and non-transparent.
According to statements by Patarkatsishvili and others, from August 2006 onward, Patarkatsishvili sold a 49 percent stake in Imedi TV to News Corp at that point in time and another 2 percent on October 31 The veracity of these statements and legality of these moves went unquestioned all along. However, there seems to be no document on record with Georgian authorities and no public statement on record by News Corp that would register those sale-and-purchase agreements or spell out their terms.
Under the Georgian Law on Broadcasting, ownership changes must be registered with Georgia’s National Communications Commission within 10 days by the contracting parties.
The acquisition price, if any, of those stakes is not known either. There is no clarity either about News Corp investments, or investment commitments, as part of its reported equity purchases into Imedi TV.
In fact Imedi TV’s operational control seems to have lacked a legal basis during the November 2-November 7 street rallies, for which the channel agitated at times.
Only one News Corp representative, Lewis Robertson, has been permanently stationed in Tbilisi for the past 12 months. Thus, News Corp. seemed to lack any real intent to exercise operational control of Imedi TV, lacking the on-site presence for doing so. Patarkatsishvili’s handover of control does not look genuine under such circumstances. Rather, it seems intended to affix a News Corp cover to Patarkatsishvili’s political misuse of Imedi TV during the final phase of his regime-change campaign.
Last Wednesday Prime Minister Gurgenidze proposed during a news conference that News Corp. should raise its ownership stake in Imedi TV to 100 percent and exercise operational control.
The government is setting three conditions for such an arrangement: financial transparency, clarity about operational authority, and adherence to professional and ethical standards of journalism.
Initially News Corp turned down the ownership proposal without stating its reasons and declined to provide data on its actual stake in Imedi TV.
But the Georgian government expects further response from News Corp shortly, in time for Imedi to reopen in connection with the presidential election campaign
Adam Michnik has been appointed by the government to mediate the process of reopening Imedi TV and to ensure professional coverage of the electoral campaign by Georgian media in general .
Michnik was a leader in Poland’s Solidarity movement during the 1980s and is chief editor of the highly respected Gazeta Wyborcza.
The notion of a self-regulated and professional Imedi TV has been endorsed by US and EU envoys, Matt Bryza and Peter Semneby.
The Georgian Media Council of Georgia, composed of Georgian journalists and Western-oriented NGOs, has adopted a set of professional guidelines for voluntary adoption by journalists and media outlets, to be adhered to during the presidential campaign and in its aftermath.
Vladimir Socor sums up his authoritative piece by writing, “The authors of these proposals understand that to reopen Imedi Television in the formula that operated up to November 7 would be tantamount to playing with fire and perhaps igniting one in a vulnerable democracy, to the benefit of that democracy’s now-resurgent adversaries.”
MACQUARIE BANK UK SUBSIDIARY HANDS BACK RADIO STATION LICENCE
UK Radio Holdings, principally owned by Australia’s Macquarie Bank, has surrendered its license for local Plymouth radio station Diamond FM to the regulator, the Office for Communication.
Macquarie was awarded the license in March 2006 but the station never went to air and was required by license to be on the air by March 2008, according to Followthemedia.
The award was the second radio license given to a non-UK company after the relaxation of UK foreign ownership rules. Local applicants complained about the awarding of the licence to UK Radio Holdings.
Canadian publisher and broadcaster CanWest was the first non-UK radio investor, now operating several local UK stations.
Followthemedia suggests the surrender of UK Radio Holdings licence could be a sign that investors are pulling the plug on UK radio following the posting of another loss last week by UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, GCap Media PLC.
GCap’s plunging profit was a shock to the radio industry because the Advertising Association had forecast that UK radio ad revenues, which account for 84 percent of the GCap’s group’s revenue, would rise 0.4 percent year-on-year. But they actually fell 5.2 percent.
AUSTRALIA’S TEN NETWORK EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN COLLECTS $1.5 MILLION IN SHARES
Channel Ten Australia executive chairman Nick Falloon, as part of his employment package, has acquired almost $1.5 million worth of the company’s shares.
Ten Network Holdings Ltd informed the Australian Stock Exchange on Friday that Falloon, who already owned 217, 300 company shares, had acquired 523, 536 Ten Network shares valued at $1,424,999.
This brings his total Ten Network share holdings to 740,836.
Ten Network said, “The shares were acquired on market in accordance with Mr Falloon's employment arrangements.”
ABC NEW FLY-IN TRANSMITTERS WILL ENABLE BROADCASTS FROM DISASTER SITES IN THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK
New technology will help ABC-Australia bring local coverage directly to communities affected by natural disasters like floods and cyclones.
Three fly-in transmitters have been purchased to allow local ABC stations to set up shop anywhere in Australia.
The units were originally designed for the US military to use in the Iraq war, reports ABC Online.
Mark Spurway, head of transmission services with the ABC, said the transmitters will ensure affected communities are kept informed.
"Its function is basically to look at flying it in once there's been a disaster declared or we need to get additional information out to smaller communities," he said.
"These units are designed to be set up within an hour, as long as you've got access to a small generator or mains power, mainly a small generator. You can get it up and running and then you can start broadcasting.”
PACIFIC STAR NETWORK RADIO TO BUILD ON ITS AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL BROADCASTING NEXT YEAR
Australian radio station owner Pacific Star Network Ltd chairman Andrew Moffat told shareholders at the annual general that with the introduction of digital broadcasting, the company will be preparing for the conversion to a digital platform from January 1, 2009.
Moffat said, “In essence, our business comprises of a permit or license to broadcast, beyond that success is determined by the quality of personnel at all levels within the company. Continued recruitment and retention of management, talent and presenters and staff is therefore critical to the ongoing growth and success of our business.
“Our Australian Rules Football coverage began with the Nab pre season competition games in February before the commencement of the AFL season in March. We have received a lot of positive feedback regarding the quality of our AFL broadcasting which was further recognised by SEN 1116 winning Best
AFL Sports Program Award for Crunch Time sponsored by Holden.
“This financial year we will seek to capitalise and build upon on what we consider to be a great start to our AFL broadcasting.
“We will seek to build our revenue not only via the traditional agency and
direct advertising sales routes, but also via creative sponsorships, internet revenue opportunities and interstate representation.
“As always we will seek to identify and drive efficiency improvements and
actively manage the business’ operating costs.”
The company has recorded a positive EBITDA result for the four months to October, but it is mindful that January and February are typically soft revenue months for the Australian radio industry.
The company’s cfo, Stephen Sweeney reported that the increased revenue in 06-07 started to flow in the second quarter and continued strongly in the second half of the financial year. Key factors to this were increased spend by clients over the duration of the AFL season and securing sponsorships across both of its radio stations.
Operating costs increased $2.3 million to $11 million, and the main cost drivers were AFL rights and broadcast costs, sales commissions, and discretionary costs such TV and press advertising to promote the SEN and 3MP stations.
He said revenue for the current year continues to improve, and for the July to
October period was up 60 percent on the comparative period (October 2006) with both 3MP and SEN contributing strongly to this result.
DESTRA PARTNERS WITH CINEMANOW IN AUSTRALIAN VIDEO ON DEMAND VENTURE
Destra Corporation Ltd has entered into an exclusive partnership with CinemaNow Inc, a digital entertainment innovator delivering high-quality Hollywood movies and TV shows across multiple-platforms.
This partnership will bring video on demand to Australia, and will see a merge of both parties’ substantial content.
Domenic Carosa, Destra’s ceo Destra Corporation explained, “We will initially launch 1,000 titles, with a concentration on independent films, merging our existing content offerings with select films from CinemaNow’s massive library. We plan to expand the offering as broadband speeds increase in Australia, shortening download times for consumers.”
Destra’s recent acquisition of Magna Pacific Holdings, the leading independent film and DVD publisher in Australia, provides a breadth of content for consumers to access. Destra also has a 19.9 percent stake in online movie rental company Quickflix that is quickly developing online film customers.
David Cook, coo of CinemaNow, said the company is “continuously expanding its services to provide high quality video forr users.
CinemaNow is a leading authorised distributor of feature films and video on the internet, and carries more than 10,000 Hollywood movies and popular TV shows. CinemaNow will provide Destra with the opportunity to increase its content through the company’s affiliation with over 250 licensors.
MYANMAR DOCUMENTARY WINS SBS TV’S GINNY STEIN ONE OF HER TWO AUSTRALIAN WALKLEY AWARDS
A foray into the new Myanmar capital of Naypidaw has won SBS TV journalist Ginny Stein of the two prestigious Australian Walkley awards that were bestowed on her during the awards ceremony last night.
Her report ‘Burma – Inside the Secret City’ won the International Journalism category.
She also won the Investigative Journalism category for her report ‘Rwanda – Questions of Murder.’ She travelled across six countries over six months to track down a former UN staff member accused of multiple murders during the Rwandan conflict.
He Myanmar story was also challenging and she said, “I have been covering Burma for more than a decade, building many contacts inside and outside the country.
”While getting into the country on a tourist visa was not difficult, filming was a challenge. I used a small camera posing as a tourist, but on other occasions filmed with a hidden camera.
”But the biggest challenge of all, is operating safely. Not so much for yourself, but for those you make contact with.
”At the time of my visit, the new capital was still off limits to the outside world.
”But fortunately for me, flooding while I was there meant a request to catch a local bus south to the town near the new capital was not considered completely suspicious.
”Until then, I had been told no foreigner had been allowed to buy a ticket to the new capital. Nor had foreigners been allowed to stay in the capital or adjoining town, let alone film any of it. Two Burmese journalists caught filming the year before had been jailed for four years.
”A local businessman seeing an opportunity to make some money on the side offered me a room in one of the emerging city's new resort hotels. I seized the chance, knowing it would take me into the new capital where I could film with a hidden camera. But I made sure I left early the following day.”
PERTH’S ASPERMONT POSTS ITS FOURTH YEAR OF RECORD PROFITS
Perth’s publishing mighty minnow, Aspermont Ltd has posted its fourth year of record profits, posting a net profit after tax of $1.96 million, an increase of 45 percent on the previous financial year.
Revenue was up 43 percent to $14.55 million, and the company paid a final dividend of 0.13c per share.
The company’s ceo Colm O’Brien said during the year Aspermont introduced several new online and print products, a conferencing business, as well as a continuation of the company’s strategic acquisition program.
Colm O’Brien said Aspermont is performing ahead of its targets and is on track to deliver circa $16 million turnover, with an EBITDA of $5 million.
One of Aspermont’s several highlights for the year included increasing its stake in one of the world’s major mining publications, the UK based Mining Journal. Aspermont is now the largest shareholder with 35 percent of the Journal.
Other highlights included the launch of B2B publications in both print and online to the medical professional community with a joint venture partner Virtual Medical Centre, and increased our stake in UK publisher MCL to 41 percent, and the launch of a Coal Register and the rebranding and repositioning of its US Longwalls magazine
AUSTRALIA’S SWISH GROUP COMPLETES PRODUCTION OF ITS FIRST INDIAN BOLLYWOOD-STYLE MOVIE SHOT IN THE US
Australia’s Swish Group division, Swish Black Cat, has completed production of its first Indian movie project shot in the US and is beginning pre production of its next Australian Bollywood film which will commence shooting in Australia in January 2008.
Over the weekend Swished scored a coup, with news that famour Aussie fast bowler Brett Lee will be joined by fellow cricketers Mike Hussey and Jason Gillespie, as well as former Test captain Allan Border, in a Bollywood movie about cricket.
The film, titled Victory, will begin production wth shooting during the India-Australia Test series.
Victory's producers have cast as many as 25 well-known local and international cricketers.
"They are all playing themselves," producer Anupam Sharma says.
With Australia as the backdrop and our cricketers as stars, Sharma expects Victory to find a big audience here when it is released at the end of next year.
Swish Black Cat has established relationships with some of the largest film studios in India.
Last year, Swish Black produced the movie Chak de India starring India’s biggest male star, Shah Ruk Khan. Chak de India was the major film at this year’s Australian Indian
Film Festival produced by the company and has been extraordinarily successful globally.
Swish MG Distribution, the company’s film distribution business, released 20 Indian films in Australia during the year and is anticipating releasing up to a further 20 Indian / Bollywood films in Australia this year for screening at leading cinemas chains including Hoyts and Greater Union.
FAIRFAX MEDIA: CHAIRMAN HITS OUT AT DEFEATED AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT OVER ITS INFORMATION SUPPRESSION
Fairfax Media chairman Ronald Walker took a swipe at the recently defeated Howard government over its excessive secrecy.
Walker told the company’s shareholders at its annual general meeting that over the past eleven years Australia’s Howard government made “the suppression of public information an art form.”
He said Fairfax now proposes to work with the new Rudd government to implement the constructive proposals it has made to strengthen Australia’s Freedom of Information laws and other key reforms.
The chairman said, “On the subject of freedom of speech, may I say Australia is one of the world’s great democracies, something we all take for granted.
“We do enjoy a free press, but it is endangered by ongoing series of regressive steps taken by governments across Australia to limit what the public can learn about how government functions, and how tax dollars are spent.
“Fairfax Media is a founding member of Australia’s Right to Know Coalition. We have joined together with every major media company in the country, and the public broadcasters, to urge for a return to transparency and accountability in government at all levels.
“We want stronger Freedom of Information laws, protection for courageous whistle-blowers, shield laws for our journalists so that they are not jailed for doing their jobs, and a reduction in suppression orders in the courts.
“In the past 11 years of the previous government they have made the suppression of public information an art form.
“We look forward to working with the Rudd government to implement the constructive proposals they have made to strengthen our Freedom of Information laws and other key reforms.”
On the balance sheet side of things, Walker said Fairfax’s costs in Australian publishing have been reduced by $52 million over the past two years.
He said Fairfax now reaches over 6 million people daily, in print and online, in Australia, New Zealand, America and worldwide.
It publishes over 360 newspapers and magazines, has over 50 major websites and is the leader in online news in Australia. Fairfax Digital has over 14 million unique browsers per month online, a growth rate of over 33 percent last year. Its online audience downloads over 4 million videos a month of breaking news and entertainment.
He said that after a period of successful expansion, Fairfax is now focussed on the earnings, and earnings growth, it will deliver to its shareholders, with
EPS growth based on the investments it has made now being its core objective.
FAIRFAX MEDIA: CEO DECLINES TO GIVE FIRST-HALF REVENUE PREDICTION DUE TO ELECTION DISRUPTIONS
Australia’s newspaper publisher Fairfax Media ceo David Kirk told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting that year to date trading to October was strong, with revenue growth in the mid-single digits.
But because of the disruption in the advertising market caused by Australia's general election, company could not give an accurate prediction for its first-half revenue.
He said the integration of Rural Press with Fairfax Media is proceeding as planned and Fairfax estimates that cost benefits of $45 million will be generated over the next two financial years and it well on track to achieving those benefits in that timeframe.
He said Fairfax is building the infrastructure to carry it forward as a digital media company.
“We have successfully completed the move in Sydney to One Darling Island, where we are now publishing The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald from the newsroom of the future: an integrated, digital newsroom where print and online editors sit and work together to make editorial decisions across all our platforms.
“It is the most advanced newsroom in the country, reflecting the convergence of media content and our ability to distribute it in print, online, in video and audio, and on mobile platforms.
“We intend to build the same advanced newsroom in Melbourne as part of a new headquarters for The Age and 3AW in Melbourne. This major project will be formally announced next month.”
Kirk said for the year ahead Fairfax management has two clear key priorities.
He said the first is to “generate earnings per share growth through continuous operational improvements, achieving the synergy benefits from the Rural Press merger and Southern Cross Broadcasting acquisition and to continue the strong investment and growth in earnings from our digital businesses.”
The second step is to “maintain the pace of change occurring in our working processes, capabilities and culture as we expand in an increasingly complex media and digital world.”
FAIRFAX MEDIA: LARGEST SHAREHOLDER WARNS OF POSSIBLE FALL OUT IN AUSTRALIA DUE TO US SUB-PRIME CRISISFairfax Media's largest shareholder, John B. Fairfax, on Friday became the second major Australian media owner to warn of rough times for newspaper advertising as part of the fallout from the US sub-prime crisis.
Fairfax told The Australian yesterday: "There is a bit of a question mark over next year in terms of the impact of the American economy and what impact it has here."
News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch said last month that "all the economic indicators are that next year could be rough".
Fairfax echoed Mr Murdoch's sentiments about the possible fallout. "That advertising dollar is a fairly fluctuating little ball," he said.
"If there aren't any houses available for sale, they don't advertise. So there are a few unknowns at the moment."
NETWORK TEN TO LAUNCH AUSTRALIA’S NEWEST DIGITAL TV CHANNEL NEXT WEEK
Australia’s Network Ten will launch Australia's newest digital channel, Ten-HD on December 16, and unveiled its new high definition broadcast schedule for the inaugural week.
Highlights include:
Distinct programming from that on Ten's main channel, including award-winning documentaries, cinema quality movies, science fiction, and drama series such as The Shield and Veronica Mars.
Time-shifted viewing, including Ten News at Five and Australia's No.1 daytime show, The Bold and the Beautiful
Breakaway Thursday: Ten-HD will break-away from Ten’s primary channel every Thursday from 3pm including prime time sci-fi shows Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, Torchwood and The 4400, as well as documentaries and movies
Ten said it will progressively increase Ten-HD's unique content in the months ahead.
Live sport will feature on Ten-HD many mornings in 2008, with more than five hours of NASCAR each week starting February, NFL and the World Golf Championships.
Also, all Ten’s AFL home and away season matches will be in HD next year.
MOODY’S CHANGES PBL’S RATINGS IN AUSTRALIA
Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd has received notice from Moody’s Investors Service that Moody’s has revised its senior unsecured issuer ratings of PBL and its subsidiary, Publishing and Broadcasting (Finance) Ltd, to Baa2 from Baa1.
The short term rating remains at P-2.
Moody’s downgrade followed the court orders approving the PBL scheme and the demerger scheme that will result in the demerger of PBL’s gaming and media businesses and the establishment of two new listed entities, Crown Ltd and Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd.
PBL expects the issuer rating to be withdrawn and a new issuer rating of Baa2 assigned to Crown once the demerger of PBL’s businesses is implemented in December 2007.
NEW GENERAL MANAGER FOR AUSTRALIA’S NEWS MAGAZINES MEN’S DIVISION
Mark Kelly begins as News Magazines new general manager, men's division today and he will be in charge of the titles GQ Australia, Alpha, Australian Golf Digest and specialist titles Overlander 4WD, Modern Fishing, Modern Boating, Two Wheels, Live To Ride, Scooter, Chopper, Truckin’ Life and Trucks Australia.
Kelly was most recently the publishing director of the Time Inc titles Who, In Style, Practical Parenting and Bride to Be.
Before this he spent 16 years with Murdoch Magazines in senior marketing and publishing roles, overseeing the launch of new magazine titles, including Marie Claire and Men’s Health, and magazine television programs Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle TV.
FREE TV AUSTRALIA WELCOMES AUSTRALIA’S NEW COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER
Free TV Australia has welcomed the announcement from Prime Minister-elect, Kevin Rudd that Senator Stephen Conroy will be appointed as the government's new Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.
Mediaweek Australia reported Free TV chairman David Leckie saying, "We are enormously pleased that Senator Conroy will be appointed to this portfolio. The senator has demonstrated an impressive understanding of the issues facing free-to-air broadcasters during his time as shadow minister. “More than 98 percent of people rely on their Free TV broadcasters for their television, particularly news, sport and Australian production and it is critical that Australian families continue to receive the services they have come to value so highly."
Julie Flynn, ceo of Free TV said, "There are a number of key issues facing the industry at this time and we are confident that Senator Conroy is well placed to address them.
"Some of the key issues for Free TV are managing the switchover to digital broadcasting, protecting the ability of Australians to continue to watch their sporting events for free, and the increasing fragmentation of the media environment.
"As the representative of Australia's 54 commercial television licensees, I look forward to building on our strong working relationship with Senator Conroy and the new Rudd Labor government."
Commercial Radio Australia has also welcomed the new minister. Ceo Joan Warner said she intends to seek discussions with Senator Conroy on a range of issues, including the rollout of digital radio and local content obligations imposed on regional radio stations by the former government.
FORTUNE MAGAZINE GETS A NEW LOOK AND STYLE
Media Daily News reports that Fortune magazine is getting a makeover, with a new look and style, beginning with its December 10 issue.
The highlights of the revamped magazine will include four expanded editorial areas: technology, management, investing and luxury. The technology section will include reporting from a newly established Silicon Valley bureau.
There will also be more front-of-book coverage, as well as more long-form business journalism and in-depth photojournalism essays.
Online references will be highlighted in a bid to drive traffic to the online site and its partners at CNNMoney.com.
Fortune will also begin contributing more content to CNNMoney.com, including breaking and daily news, broadcast-quality video, a news aggregator called Daily Brief, and four technology blogs.
DOW JONES’ MARKETWATCH DEVELOPS NEW PORTFOLIO TOOL
TechCrunch reports that while Dow Jones’ MarketWatch may not report stock information about particular companies as well as its competitors, it has taken the initiative to develop a new portfolio tool that tops them all.
MarketWatch has developed a tool that enables readers to thoroughly compare the performances of selected stocks side-by-side. During market hours, the tool will even update the stocks’ performances, and the investments readers have made in them, automatically so the page doesn’t need refreshing.
MarketWatch’s new tool makes it easy to add stocks to a portfolio, organise them with tags, and view many performance metrics. In one well-laid-out chart, readers can track their stocks’ most recent prices, price changes as percentages, price changes within ranges, trade volumes, price charts, and news. They can also see outstanding shares, 52-week highs and lows, market caps, P/E ratios, EPSs, yields, and dividends.
CHINESE BLOGGER IN TROUBLE OVER CONNECTION TO ILLEGAL MAGAZINE
Reporters Without Borders have condemned a search at the home of
journalist and blogger Zhai Minglei, who was due to answer an official
summons linked to an investigation into the "illegal publication" of the
magazine Minjian, aka Civil Society.
Zhai posted on his blog, Yaobao, nominated for the international Best of
the Blogs awards, what happened when police arrived at his home in
Shanghai, eastern China.
"They searched every room of the house and took away my printer, the latest
edition of the magazine Minjian, as well as my computer hard disc to look in
my files," he said.
Those carrying out the search told him it was linked to the illegal
publication of the magazine, However Minjian "is not in fact a private
publication but a revue produced by the sociology department of the
University of Sun Yat-sen which does not make any profit", Zhai said.
"Moreover it has no pornographic or reactionary content and is not linked to
religion or minorities, Closure of this review is illegal, a
violation of the freedom of the university, freedom of the press and the
media in general."
WORST YEAR ON RECORD FOR THE KILLING OF JOURNALISTS
The number of journalists and media workers killed to 171 this year, the worst in over a decade, the International News Safety Institute has said.
"This horrible statistic should be regarded as a low point in the safety and welfare of the media profession," said the institute's honorary president, Chris Cramer. "We need better protection for media workers worldwide."
A statement from the media safety group said 2007 was already the worst since it and the International Federation of Journalists began keeping records in the early 1990s. It said last year had been the bloodiest with 168 deaths.
According to this year's International News Safety Institute, 121 of the journalists were apparently targeted because of their work. Fifteen died in crossfire or random attacks, 34 were killed in road or air accidents while working, and the circumstances of one death were unclear.
Iraq was again the deadliest place for media personnel, with 64 slain this year, taking the toll to at least 235 since the start of the war in 2003.
Other dangerous countries included Sri Lanka, where six were killed. Afghanistan, Mexico, India and the Philippines had five each. Worldwide, the dead included 142 journalists and 29 support staff, such as drivers, translators and news technicians.
MASS ARRESTS OF JOURNALISTS AT MANILA HOTEL COUP ATTEMPT
More than a dozen journalists were arrested last week to prevent them covering a failed coup attempt at a Manila hotel where around 30 soldiers had demanded the ousting of President Gloria Arroyo.
The journalists were taken, their hands bound, to the National Capital Region Police Office in Bicutan, south-east of the capital. Police said that they had arrested 17 members of the press, four of whom work for foreign news agencies.
They were released overnight without charge after being questioned for obstruction of justice. Police said it had been necessary to check that none of the rebels had escaped by hiding among the journalists.
Interior minister, Ronaldo Purno, said that “the journalists had been
well-treated but they had not complied when police told them to leave the
scene of the aborted coup.”
He said the journalists were questioned to determine whether or not they had obstructed justice deliberately.
A correspondent for Philippines ABS-CBN television told Agence France-Presse that seven members of its crew had been arrested and their films seized. The foreign press association said that at least seven of its members had been placed in custody. Two highly popular television presenters, Pinky Webb and Ces Drilon, were also arrested.
FOUR MAJOR US TV NETWORKS GENERATE $120 MILLION IN REVENUE FROM FREE WEB STREAMING
The Financial Times reported that the four US television networks in a pay dispute with Hollywood television writers over online video advertising are in line to generate US$120 million of revenues in 2007 from free web streaming of their content, according to a leading media buyer.
The total online video advertising market will be worth close to $1.3 billion this year after doubling in size in 2006, according to Accustream
AFP BUYS STAKE IN CITIZEN JOURNALISM SITE SCOOPLIVE AND RENAMES IT CITIZENSIDE
Agence France-Presse has bought a 30 percent stake in the citizen journalism platform Scooplive, which will be renamed Citizenside.
AFP said it will not take part in editorial decisions on the site, which allows users to publish and sell films and photos for commission.
"This is for us a purely commercial and technical experiment in the Web 2.0 field, to help our clients, mainly in the media field," said Pierre Louette, AFP chairman.
Journalism.co said AFP's investment was matched by another French firm IAM, but the remaining shares for the site, which was set up in 2006, will stay with the platform's creators.
"Citizenside will capitalise on its founders and new partners experience to create a link between two worlds: professional journalism and amateur reporting. We will thus be able to offer good quality documents in real time," said Matthieu Stefani, a founder of Scooplive.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO PUSH AHEAD WITH ONE STANDARD FOR MOBILE TV
The European Commission will ahead with plans to favour one standard for mobile TV services by February, despite opposition from three major members of the bloc.
The International Herald Tribune reported that ministers from Britain, Germany and the Netherlands are opposed to efforts by Viviane Reding, telecommunications commissioner for the 27-nation bloc, to back a single technology in Europe, thereby helping to promote its dominance.
But Reding said that she would move ahead with a proposal to give preferred status to the standard she favoured, Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld, or DVB-H, by placing it on a list of standards that governments "have to support and encourage."
Meanwhile the European Union has adopted new legislation that will ease television advertising rules, while retaining some European cultural diversity, and could come into force at the end of the year.
The measures, endorsed by the European Parliament, also deal with the protection of minors and, for the first time, enshrines advertising product placement in European law. The main objective of the revisions to the 1989 "television sans frontieres" rules, which set minimum television ad standards across the bloc, is to protect European services from the flood of new technology such as the internet and e-trade, while regularising the broadcasting rules.
MEDIA COMPANIES PUSH FOR TECHNOLOGY THAT CONTROLS CONTENT ACCESS BY SEARCH ENGINES
Leading news organisations and other publishers will push for a revision to technology that controls access to their content by search engines, according to the International Herald Tribune.
Google, Yahoo and other top search companies now voluntarily respect a web site's wishes as declared in a text file that allows a site to block indexing of individual web pages, specific directories or the entire site.
The proposal, presented by a consortium of publishers at the headquarters of The Associated Press, would add to those commands, further restricting access.. Leading the drive for the extensions are groups representing publishers of newspapers, magazines, online databases, books and journals.
The use of the new protocol would be voluntary, so search engines ultimately would have to agree to recognise the commands. Search engines could ignore them and leave it to courts to rule on any disputes over fair use.
THE WORD ‘WOMEN’ TO BE REPLACED BY ‘FAMILY’ ON IRAN TV
The word 'women' must now be replaced on Iranian state television by 'family', reformist Norouz news agency reports.
In program broadcast throughout the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Sunday November 25. Iranian state TV used the world family instead.
In recent weeks, Iran's Centre for the Participation of Women changed its name to the Centre for Family Matters.
AKI News reports that at the time of former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, the centre was set up within the president's office. Khatami was president of Iran from 1997 to 2005.
CNN OPENS NEW BUREAU IN CHENNAI INDIA AS PART OF ITS $10 MILLION GLOBAL EXPANSIONCNN as part of its recently announced international expansion said that Liz Neisloss, a former CNN senior producer, will be based in Chennai formerly known as Madras, in southern India, as a reporter for the network.
Neisloss, an award wining senior producer and correspondent, was with CNN from 1990 to 2006, Neisloss is an award-winning senior CNN producer and correspondent, and has covered the United Nations in New York since 1997.
In this new position, Neisloss will cover not just the southern part of India but also support the CNN bureau in New Delhi, where CNN also appointed Sara Sidner as its New Delhi-based correspondent.
Sidner comes to CNN having been the weekend news anchor for KTVU in San Francisco and Oakland, as well as being a field reporter, where she won a number of awards. With more than 12 years of experience, Sidner has also worked in a number of other TV news markets in Texas, Florida and Missouri.
Parisa Khosravi, senior vice president of CNN International newsgathering, told TV Newser that, “The rapid growth in India in terms of global business and regional political influence underlines how crucial these appointments are as part of CNN's international expansion. With Sara and Liz now confirmed, we can combine that with the strength of our sister network CNN-IBN and have a powerful editorial presence in India."
The new position in Chennai, plus the boost to staff numbers in New Delhi, is part of the multi-million dollar investment that CNN announced earlier this month.
The expansion will see additional editorial resources and correspondents based in a number of countries. New operations are also planned for Afghanistan, Belgium, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland and Vietnam.
REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS URGES PAKISTAN TO RESCIND BAN ON TV STATIONS BROADCAST FROM DUBAI
Reporters Without Borders has written to Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf asking him to quickly rescind his ban on the Geo TV group's various television stations and two independent radio stations, Power99 FM and Mast Fm 103.
The letter reads, “The authorities in Dubai have just given the privately-owned TV station Geo News permission to resume broadcasting from the Emirate but its programs are still banned in Pakistan. Your government is also preventing broadcasting by two privately-owned radio stations, whose equipment was seized when the state of emergency was imposed.
“We hail the Dubai government's decision to restore Geo News's rights. Your government must now quickly follow this example and allow Pakistani cable operators to resume distribution of all of Geo TV's stations. Similarly, the sanctions that were unfairly imposed on the Pakistani news radio stations, Power99 FM and Mast FM 103, must be lifted immediately.
“Amina Rustamani of the Dubai Media Centre announced yesterday that the Geo TV's Geo News is again authorised to broadcast from the Emirate. "Geo News will resume broadcasting at midnight from the Dubai Media Centre following productive discussion between the two parties," Rustamani said. In Pakistan, the only people with access to Geo TV's stations are those with satellite dishes, the importation of which is restricted.
“As well as blocking Geo News, your government has also banned the broadcasts of the group's sports, entertainment and youth channels. ‘They are trying to strangle us financially by all possible means,’ Geo TV president Imran Aslam told us in a letter. ‘We are losing half a million dollars a day, a figure the government is well aware of and which must have been factored into its calculations. We are ready to dialogue with honour, but we will not submit to any humiliating accord and to conditions that undermine our credibility.’
“On November 5, Geo TV petitioned the Sindh high court to lift the ban, but the government's representative is sidestepping any substantive debate and on November 27, the government again claimed that it did not know why the station was blocked.
“The Association of Independent Radio has condemned the plight of Power99 FM and Mast FM 103 resulting from the seizure of their equipment on November 3, and said it was the editorial line of these two radio stations and the attention they paid to current affairs that prompted their closure.
“Although they were very popular, both because of their own news programmes and their retransmission of the Urdu-language news programmes of the BBC and Deutsche Welle, they are now on the verge of bankruptcy.
“Mr President, the arbitrary manner in which these popular and respected news media are being treatment is having disastrous consequences for your country's international image and for the hundreds of Pakistani journalists who risk losing their jobs.”
AUSTRALIAN TV CHANNEL DECLINES TO EVEN ISSUE PRESS RELEASE AFTER RATINGS LOSS
The end-of-year ratings for Australian commercial television have been posted, and the ailing but once predominant Nine Network has taken the unusual step of declaring that it won’t be issuing a formal press release
It advised that the only comment from the network is from the ceo David Gyngell who said, “We are pleased to have 2007 behind us. We're building for 2008 and beyond.”
This is in the face of Seven crowing for weeks about its capture of the number one title.
This equates to a 34.6 percent share of commercial television viewing.
The east coast markets remained Nine’s strongest region of viewing with 27.7 percent share in Sydney, 27.1 percent share in Melbourne and 28.1 percent in Brisbane. The aggregated east coast share for Nine was 27.6 percent.
The Nine Network ended the survey year with day-of-week wins along both the five city metro markets and the east coast for Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. In Sydney Nine secured day-of-week wins for all days except Mondays and Tuesdays. In Melbourne Nine won Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, while in Brisbane Nine won Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The battle along the east coast was closely contested with Nine winning only 12 days less than Seven.
The Ten Network was far more buoyant in its announcement, declaring that is had a record year with an all-time high share in the 18-49 age demographic.
It said its highlights were the record high share in 18-49 target demographic of 34.5 percent, and a win in the 16-39 age demographic for the seventh straight year with 38 percent. Ten also claimed number one in daytime in all key demographics, and increase of 1.8 percent in 25-54 demographic, which brought it within 0.8 share points of Nine.
It didn’t do so well in the demographic people 50 with only a 15.7 percent share.
It had seven of top 10 shows in 18-49 including The Biggest Loser Finale at number one and Big Brother Winner Announced at number two.
It had nine of top 10 shows in 16-39 with Big Brother Winner Announced at number one and The Biggest Loser Finale at number two.
But Seven was the big winner of the ratings battle, and for the first time in almost 30 years, the Seven Network has officially taken arch-rival Nine's number one ratings title.
According to OzTAM figures, Seven won the year in the five capital city markets with a 29.1 percent share of the prime-time (6pm to midnight) audience, against Nine's 26.9 percent.
The ABC figures were also a surprise, with the public service channel upping its share from 15.4 percent last year to 16.6 percent this year.
SBS retained its 5.5 percent share despite the backlash against it for scheduling commercials for the first time this year.
WHY RUPERT MURDOCH’S HALF-OWNED TV STATION IN GEORGIA WAS SUSPENDED BY GOVERNMENT
The Eurasian Daily Monitor reports that “unanswered questions persist and are even multiplying about the relationship between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and Imedi Television, the vehicle of Georgian tycoon and presidential contender Badri Patarkatsishvili.”
The Monitor said that Imedi TV, co-owned by News Corp and Patarkatsishvili, but controlled de facto by Patarkatsishvili-appointed program managers, agitated for regime change through unconstitutional means during the November 2-7 rallies in Tbilisi and was suspended by the government pending clarification of its status.
The Georgian government has invited News Corp to discuss ways of reopening Imedi TV as an independent, privately-owned channel, and Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze and other officials have held talks with News Corp in recent days.
The government wants Imedi to reopen under the auspices of a responsible party, which could well be News Corp itself, to ensure that the channel is not again used for instigating anti-constitutional actions.
The existing financial and managerial arrangements are ambiguous and non-transparent.
According to statements by Patarkatsishvili and others, from August 2006 onward, Patarkatsishvili sold a 49 percent stake in Imedi TV to News Corp at that point in time and another 2 percent on October 31 The veracity of these statements and legality of these moves went unquestioned all along. However, there seems to be no document on record with Georgian authorities and no public statement on record by News Corp that would register those sale-and-purchase agreements or spell out their terms.
Under the Georgian Law on Broadcasting, ownership changes must be registered with Georgia’s National Communications Commission within 10 days by the contracting parties.
The acquisition price, if any, of those stakes is not known either. There is no clarity either about News Corp investments, or investment commitments, as part of its reported equity purchases into Imedi TV.
In fact Imedi TV’s operational control seems to have lacked a legal basis during the November 2-November 7 street rallies, for which the channel agitated at times.
Only one News Corp representative, Lewis Robertson, has been permanently stationed in Tbilisi for the past 12 months. Thus, News Corp. seemed to lack any real intent to exercise operational control of Imedi TV, lacking the on-site presence for doing so. Patarkatsishvili’s handover of control does not look genuine under such circumstances. Rather, it seems intended to affix a News Corp cover to Patarkatsishvili’s political misuse of Imedi TV during the final phase of his regime-change campaign.
Last Wednesday Prime Minister Gurgenidze proposed during a news conference that News Corp. should raise its ownership stake in Imedi TV to 100 percent and exercise operational control.
The government is setting three conditions for such an arrangement: financial transparency, clarity about operational authority, and adherence to professional and ethical standards of journalism.
Initially News Corp turned down the ownership proposal without stating its reasons and declined to provide data on its actual stake in Imedi TV.
But the Georgian government expects further response from News Corp shortly, in time for Imedi to reopen in connection with the presidential election campaign
Adam Michnik has been appointed by the government to mediate the process of reopening Imedi TV and to ensure professional coverage of the electoral campaign by Georgian media in general .
Michnik was a leader in Poland’s Solidarity movement during the 1980s and is chief editor of the highly respected Gazeta Wyborcza.
The notion of a self-regulated and professional Imedi TV has been endorsed by US and EU envoys, Matt Bryza and Peter Semneby.
The Georgian Media Council of Georgia, composed of Georgian journalists and Western-oriented NGOs, has adopted a set of professional guidelines for voluntary adoption by journalists and media outlets, to be adhered to during the presidential campaign and in its aftermath.
Vladimir Socor sums up his authoritative piece by writing, “The authors of these proposals understand that to reopen Imedi Television in the formula that operated up to November 7 would be tantamount to playing with fire and perhaps igniting one in a vulnerable democracy, to the benefit of that democracy’s now-resurgent adversaries.”
MACQUARIE BANK UK SUBSIDIARY HANDS BACK RADIO STATION LICENCE
UK Radio Holdings, principally owned by Australia’s Macquarie Bank, has surrendered its license for local Plymouth radio station Diamond FM to the regulator, the Office for Communication.
Macquarie was awarded the license in March 2006 but the station never went to air and was required by license to be on the air by March 2008, according to Followthemedia.
The award was the second radio license given to a non-UK company after the relaxation of UK foreign ownership rules. Local applicants complained about the awarding of the licence to UK Radio Holdings.
Canadian publisher and broadcaster CanWest was the first non-UK radio investor, now operating several local UK stations.
Followthemedia suggests the surrender of UK Radio Holdings licence could be a sign that investors are pulling the plug on UK radio following the posting of another loss last week by UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, GCap Media PLC.
GCap’s plunging profit was a shock to the radio industry because the Advertising Association had forecast that UK radio ad revenues, which account for 84 percent of the GCap’s group’s revenue, would rise 0.4 percent year-on-year. But they actually fell 5.2 percent.
AUSTRALIA’S TEN NETWORK EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN COLLECTS $1.5 MILLION IN SHARES
Channel Ten Australia executive chairman Nick Falloon, as part of his employment package, has acquired almost $1.5 million worth of the company’s shares.
Ten Network Holdings Ltd informed the Australian Stock Exchange on Friday that Falloon, who already owned 217, 300 company shares, had acquired 523, 536 Ten Network shares valued at $1,424,999.
This brings his total Ten Network share holdings to 740,836.
Ten Network said, “The shares were acquired on market in accordance with Mr Falloon's employment arrangements.”
ABC NEW FLY-IN TRANSMITTERS WILL ENABLE BROADCASTS FROM DISASTER SITES IN THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK
New technology will help ABC-Australia bring local coverage directly to communities affected by natural disasters like floods and cyclones.
Three fly-in transmitters have been purchased to allow local ABC stations to set up shop anywhere in Australia.
The units were originally designed for the US military to use in the Iraq war, reports ABC Online.
Mark Spurway, head of transmission services with the ABC, said the transmitters will ensure affected communities are kept informed.
"Its function is basically to look at flying it in once there's been a disaster declared or we need to get additional information out to smaller communities," he said.
"These units are designed to be set up within an hour, as long as you've got access to a small generator or mains power, mainly a small generator. You can get it up and running and then you can start broadcasting.”
PACIFIC STAR NETWORK RADIO TO BUILD ON ITS AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL BROADCASTING NEXT YEAR
Australian radio station owner Pacific Star Network Ltd chairman Andrew Moffat told shareholders at the annual general that with the introduction of digital broadcasting, the company will be preparing for the conversion to a digital platform from January 1, 2009.
Moffat said, “In essence, our business comprises of a permit or license to broadcast, beyond that success is determined by the quality of personnel at all levels within the company. Continued recruitment and retention of management, talent and presenters and staff is therefore critical to the ongoing growth and success of our business.
“Our Australian Rules Football coverage began with the Nab pre season competition games in February before the commencement of the AFL season in March. We have received a lot of positive feedback regarding the quality of our AFL broadcasting which was further recognised by SEN 1116 winning Best
AFL Sports Program Award for Crunch Time sponsored by Holden.
“This financial year we will seek to capitalise and build upon on what we consider to be a great start to our AFL broadcasting.
“We will seek to build our revenue not only via the traditional agency and
direct advertising sales routes, but also via creative sponsorships, internet revenue opportunities and interstate representation.
“As always we will seek to identify and drive efficiency improvements and
actively manage the business’ operating costs.”
The company has recorded a positive EBITDA result for the four months to October, but it is mindful that January and February are typically soft revenue months for the Australian radio industry.
The company’s cfo, Stephen Sweeney reported that the increased revenue in 06-07 started to flow in the second quarter and continued strongly in the second half of the financial year. Key factors to this were increased spend by clients over the duration of the AFL season and securing sponsorships across both of its radio stations.
Operating costs increased $2.3 million to $11 million, and the main cost drivers were AFL rights and broadcast costs, sales commissions, and discretionary costs such TV and press advertising to promote the SEN and 3MP stations.
He said revenue for the current year continues to improve, and for the July to
October period was up 60 percent on the comparative period (October 2006) with both 3MP and SEN contributing strongly to this result.
DESTRA PARTNERS WITH CINEMANOW IN AUSTRALIAN VIDEO ON DEMAND VENTURE
Destra Corporation Ltd has entered into an exclusive partnership with CinemaNow Inc, a digital entertainment innovator delivering high-quality Hollywood movies and TV shows across multiple-platforms.
This partnership will bring video on demand to Australia, and will see a merge of both parties’ substantial content.
Domenic Carosa, Destra’s ceo Destra Corporation explained, “We will initially launch 1,000 titles, with a concentration on independent films, merging our existing content offerings with select films from CinemaNow’s massive library. We plan to expand the offering as broadband speeds increase in Australia, shortening download times for consumers.”
Destra’s recent acquisition of Magna Pacific Holdings, the leading independent film and DVD publisher in Australia, provides a breadth of content for consumers to access. Destra also has a 19.9 percent stake in online movie rental company Quickflix that is quickly developing online film customers.
David Cook, coo of CinemaNow, said the company is “continuously expanding its services to provide high quality video forr users.
CinemaNow is a leading authorised distributor of feature films and video on the internet, and carries more than 10,000 Hollywood movies and popular TV shows. CinemaNow will provide Destra with the opportunity to increase its content through the company’s affiliation with over 250 licensors.
MYANMAR DOCUMENTARY WINS SBS TV’S GINNY STEIN ONE OF HER TWO AUSTRALIAN WALKLEY AWARDS
A foray into the new Myanmar capital of Naypidaw has won SBS TV journalist Ginny Stein of the two prestigious Australian Walkley awards that were bestowed on her during the awards ceremony last night.
Her report ‘Burma – Inside the Secret City’ won the International Journalism category.
She also won the Investigative Journalism category for her report ‘Rwanda – Questions of Murder.’ She travelled across six countries over six months to track down a former UN staff member accused of multiple murders during the Rwandan conflict.
He Myanmar story was also challenging and she said, “I have been covering Burma for more than a decade, building many contacts inside and outside the country.
”While getting into the country on a tourist visa was not difficult, filming was a challenge. I used a small camera posing as a tourist, but on other occasions filmed with a hidden camera.
”But the biggest challenge of all, is operating safely. Not so much for yourself, but for those you make contact with.
”At the time of my visit, the new capital was still off limits to the outside world.
”But fortunately for me, flooding while I was there meant a request to catch a local bus south to the town near the new capital was not considered completely suspicious.
”Until then, I had been told no foreigner had been allowed to buy a ticket to the new capital. Nor had foreigners been allowed to stay in the capital or adjoining town, let alone film any of it. Two Burmese journalists caught filming the year before had been jailed for four years.
”A local businessman seeing an opportunity to make some money on the side offered me a room in one of the emerging city's new resort hotels. I seized the chance, knowing it would take me into the new capital where I could film with a hidden camera. But I made sure I left early the following day.”
PERTH’S ASPERMONT POSTS ITS FOURTH YEAR OF RECORD PROFITS
Perth’s publishing mighty minnow, Aspermont Ltd has posted its fourth year of record profits, posting a net profit after tax of $1.96 million, an increase of 45 percent on the previous financial year.
Revenue was up 43 percent to $14.55 million, and the company paid a final dividend of 0.13c per share.
The company’s ceo Colm O’Brien said during the year Aspermont introduced several new online and print products, a conferencing business, as well as a continuation of the company’s strategic acquisition program.
Colm O’Brien said Aspermont is performing ahead of its targets and is on track to deliver circa $16 million turnover, with an EBITDA of $5 million.
One of Aspermont’s several highlights for the year included increasing its stake in one of the world’s major mining publications, the UK based Mining Journal. Aspermont is now the largest shareholder with 35 percent of the Journal.
Other highlights included the launch of B2B publications in both print and online to the medical professional community with a joint venture partner Virtual Medical Centre, and increased our stake in UK publisher MCL to 41 percent, and the launch of a Coal Register and the rebranding and repositioning of its US Longwalls magazine
AUSTRALIA’S SWISH GROUP COMPLETES PRODUCTION OF ITS FIRST INDIAN BOLLYWOOD-STYLE MOVIE SHOT IN THE US
Australia’s Swish Group division, Swish Black Cat, has completed production of its first Indian movie project shot in the US and is beginning pre production of its next Australian Bollywood film which will commence shooting in Australia in January 2008.
Over the weekend Swished scored a coup, with news that famour Aussie fast bowler Brett Lee will be joined by fellow cricketers Mike Hussey and Jason Gillespie, as well as former Test captain Allan Border, in a Bollywood movie about cricket.
The film, titled Victory, will begin production wth shooting during the India-Australia Test series.
Victory's producers have cast as many as 25 well-known local and international cricketers.
"They are all playing themselves," producer Anupam Sharma says.
With Australia as the backdrop and our cricketers as stars, Sharma expects Victory to find a big audience here when it is released at the end of next year.
Swish Black Cat has established relationships with some of the largest film studios in India.
Last year, Swish Black produced the movie Chak de India starring India’s biggest male star, Shah Ruk Khan. Chak de India was the major film at this year’s Australian Indian
Film Festival produced by the company and has been extraordinarily successful globally.
Swish MG Distribution, the company’s film distribution business, released 20 Indian films in Australia during the year and is anticipating releasing up to a further 20 Indian / Bollywood films in Australia this year for screening at leading cinemas chains including Hoyts and Greater Union.
FAIRFAX MEDIA: CHAIRMAN HITS OUT AT DEFEATED AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT OVER ITS INFORMATION SUPPRESSION
Fairfax Media chairman Ronald Walker took a swipe at the recently defeated Howard government over its excessive secrecy.
Walker told the company’s shareholders at its annual general meeting that over the past eleven years Australia’s Howard government made “the suppression of public information an art form.”
He said Fairfax now proposes to work with the new Rudd government to implement the constructive proposals it has made to strengthen Australia’s Freedom of Information laws and other key reforms.
The chairman said, “On the subject of freedom of speech, may I say Australia is one of the world’s great democracies, something we all take for granted.
“We do enjoy a free press, but it is endangered by ongoing series of regressive steps taken by governments across Australia to limit what the public can learn about how government functions, and how tax dollars are spent.
“Fairfax Media is a founding member of Australia’s Right to Know Coalition. We have joined together with every major media company in the country, and the public broadcasters, to urge for a return to transparency and accountability in government at all levels.
“We want stronger Freedom of Information laws, protection for courageous whistle-blowers, shield laws for our journalists so that they are not jailed for doing their jobs, and a reduction in suppression orders in the courts.
“In the past 11 years of the previous government they have made the suppression of public information an art form.
“We look forward to working with the Rudd government to implement the constructive proposals they have made to strengthen our Freedom of Information laws and other key reforms.”
On the balance sheet side of things, Walker said Fairfax’s costs in Australian publishing have been reduced by $52 million over the past two years.
He said Fairfax now reaches over 6 million people daily, in print and online, in Australia, New Zealand, America and worldwide.
It publishes over 360 newspapers and magazines, has over 50 major websites and is the leader in online news in Australia. Fairfax Digital has over 14 million unique browsers per month online, a growth rate of over 33 percent last year. Its online audience downloads over 4 million videos a month of breaking news and entertainment.
He said that after a period of successful expansion, Fairfax is now focussed on the earnings, and earnings growth, it will deliver to its shareholders, with
EPS growth based on the investments it has made now being its core objective.
FAIRFAX MEDIA: CEO DECLINES TO GIVE FIRST-HALF REVENUE PREDICTION DUE TO ELECTION DISRUPTIONS
Australia’s newspaper publisher Fairfax Media ceo David Kirk told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting that year to date trading to October was strong, with revenue growth in the mid-single digits.
But because of the disruption in the advertising market caused by Australia's general election, company could not give an accurate prediction for its first-half revenue.
He said the integration of Rural Press with Fairfax Media is proceeding as planned and Fairfax estimates that cost benefits of $45 million will be generated over the next two financial years and it well on track to achieving those benefits in that timeframe.
He said Fairfax is building the infrastructure to carry it forward as a digital media company.
“We have successfully completed the move in Sydney to One Darling Island, where we are now publishing The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald from the newsroom of the future: an integrated, digital newsroom where print and online editors sit and work together to make editorial decisions across all our platforms.
“It is the most advanced newsroom in the country, reflecting the convergence of media content and our ability to distribute it in print, online, in video and audio, and on mobile platforms.
“We intend to build the same advanced newsroom in Melbourne as part of a new headquarters for The Age and 3AW in Melbourne. This major project will be formally announced next month.”
Kirk said for the year ahead Fairfax management has two clear key priorities.
He said the first is to “generate earnings per share growth through continuous operational improvements, achieving the synergy benefits from the Rural Press merger and Southern Cross Broadcasting acquisition and to continue the strong investment and growth in earnings from our digital businesses.”
The second step is to “maintain the pace of change occurring in our working processes, capabilities and culture as we expand in an increasingly complex media and digital world.”
FAIRFAX MEDIA: LARGEST SHAREHOLDER WARNS OF POSSIBLE FALL OUT IN AUSTRALIA DUE TO US SUB-PRIME CRISISFairfax Media's largest shareholder, John B. Fairfax, on Friday became the second major Australian media owner to warn of rough times for newspaper advertising as part of the fallout from the US sub-prime crisis.
Fairfax told The Australian yesterday: "There is a bit of a question mark over next year in terms of the impact of the American economy and what impact it has here."
News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch said last month that "all the economic indicators are that next year could be rough".
Fairfax echoed Mr Murdoch's sentiments about the possible fallout. "That advertising dollar is a fairly fluctuating little ball," he said.
"If there aren't any houses available for sale, they don't advertise. So there are a few unknowns at the moment."
NETWORK TEN TO LAUNCH AUSTRALIA’S NEWEST DIGITAL TV CHANNEL NEXT WEEK
Australia’s Network Ten will launch Australia's newest digital channel, Ten-HD on December 16, and unveiled its new high definition broadcast schedule for the inaugural week.
Highlights include:
Distinct programming from that on Ten's main channel, including award-winning documentaries, cinema quality movies, science fiction, and drama series such as The Shield and Veronica Mars.
Time-shifted viewing, including Ten News at Five and Australia's No.1 daytime show, The Bold and the Beautiful
Breakaway Thursday: Ten-HD will break-away from Ten’s primary channel every Thursday from 3pm including prime time sci-fi shows Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, Torchwood and The 4400, as well as documentaries and movies
Ten said it will progressively increase Ten-HD's unique content in the months ahead.
Live sport will feature on Ten-HD many mornings in 2008, with more than five hours of NASCAR each week starting February, NFL and the World Golf Championships.
Also, all Ten’s AFL home and away season matches will be in HD next year.
MOODY’S CHANGES PBL’S RATINGS IN AUSTRALIA
Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd has received notice from Moody’s Investors Service that Moody’s has revised its senior unsecured issuer ratings of PBL and its subsidiary, Publishing and Broadcasting (Finance) Ltd, to Baa2 from Baa1.
The short term rating remains at P-2.
Moody’s downgrade followed the court orders approving the PBL scheme and the demerger scheme that will result in the demerger of PBL’s gaming and media businesses and the establishment of two new listed entities, Crown Ltd and Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd.
PBL expects the issuer rating to be withdrawn and a new issuer rating of Baa2 assigned to Crown once the demerger of PBL’s businesses is implemented in December 2007.
NEW GENERAL MANAGER FOR AUSTRALIA’S NEWS MAGAZINES MEN’S DIVISION
Mark Kelly begins as News Magazines new general manager, men's division today and he will be in charge of the titles GQ Australia, Alpha, Australian Golf Digest and specialist titles Overlander 4WD, Modern Fishing, Modern Boating, Two Wheels, Live To Ride, Scooter, Chopper, Truckin’ Life and Trucks Australia.
Kelly was most recently the publishing director of the Time Inc titles Who, In Style, Practical Parenting and Bride to Be.
Before this he spent 16 years with Murdoch Magazines in senior marketing and publishing roles, overseeing the launch of new magazine titles, including Marie Claire and Men’s Health, and magazine television programs Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle TV.
FREE TV AUSTRALIA WELCOMES AUSTRALIA’S NEW COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER
Free TV Australia has welcomed the announcement from Prime Minister-elect, Kevin Rudd that Senator Stephen Conroy will be appointed as the government's new Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.
Mediaweek Australia reported Free TV chairman David Leckie saying, "We are enormously pleased that Senator Conroy will be appointed to this portfolio. The senator has demonstrated an impressive understanding of the issues facing free-to-air broadcasters during his time as shadow minister. “More than 98 percent of people rely on their Free TV broadcasters for their television, particularly news, sport and Australian production and it is critical that Australian families continue to receive the services they have come to value so highly."
Julie Flynn, ceo of Free TV said, "There are a number of key issues facing the industry at this time and we are confident that Senator Conroy is well placed to address them.
"Some of the key issues for Free TV are managing the switchover to digital broadcasting, protecting the ability of Australians to continue to watch their sporting events for free, and the increasing fragmentation of the media environment.
"As the representative of Australia's 54 commercial television licensees, I look forward to building on our strong working relationship with Senator Conroy and the new Rudd Labor government."
Commercial Radio Australia has also welcomed the new minister. Ceo Joan Warner said she intends to seek discussions with Senator Conroy on a range of issues, including the rollout of digital radio and local content obligations imposed on regional radio stations by the former government.
FORTUNE MAGAZINE GETS A NEW LOOK AND STYLE
Media Daily News reports that Fortune magazine is getting a makeover, with a new look and style, beginning with its December 10 issue.
The highlights of the revamped magazine will include four expanded editorial areas: technology, management, investing and luxury. The technology section will include reporting from a newly established Silicon Valley bureau.
There will also be more front-of-book coverage, as well as more long-form business journalism and in-depth photojournalism essays.
Online references will be highlighted in a bid to drive traffic to the online site and its partners at CNNMoney.com.
Fortune will also begin contributing more content to CNNMoney.com, including breaking and daily news, broadcast-quality video, a news aggregator called Daily Brief, and four technology blogs.
DOW JONES’ MARKETWATCH DEVELOPS NEW PORTFOLIO TOOL
TechCrunch reports that while Dow Jones’ MarketWatch may not report stock information about particular companies as well as its competitors, it has taken the initiative to develop a new portfolio tool that tops them all.
MarketWatch has developed a tool that enables readers to thoroughly compare the performances of selected stocks side-by-side. During market hours, the tool will even update the stocks’ performances, and the investments readers have made in them, automatically so the page doesn’t need refreshing.
MarketWatch’s new tool makes it easy to add stocks to a portfolio, organise them with tags, and view many performance metrics. In one well-laid-out chart, readers can track their stocks’ most recent prices, price changes as percentages, price changes within ranges, trade volumes, price charts, and news. They can also see outstanding shares, 52-week highs and lows, market caps, P/E ratios, EPSs, yields, and dividends.
CHINESE BLOGGER IN TROUBLE OVER CONNECTION TO ILLEGAL MAGAZINE
Reporters Without Borders have condemned a search at the home of
journalist and blogger Zhai Minglei, who was due to answer an official
summons linked to an investigation into the "illegal publication" of the
magazine Minjian, aka Civil Society.
Zhai posted on his blog, Yaobao, nominated for the international Best of
the Blogs awards, what happened when police arrived at his home in
Shanghai, eastern China.
"They searched every room of the house and took away my printer, the latest
edition of the magazine Minjian, as well as my computer hard disc to look in
my files," he said.
Those carrying out the search told him it was linked to the illegal
publication of the magazine, However Minjian "is not in fact a private
publication but a revue produced by the sociology department of the
University of Sun Yat-sen which does not make any profit", Zhai said.
"Moreover it has no pornographic or reactionary content and is not linked to
religion or minorities, Closure of this review is illegal, a
violation of the freedom of the university, freedom of the press and the
media in general."
WORST YEAR ON RECORD FOR THE KILLING OF JOURNALISTS
The number of journalists and media workers killed to 171 this year, the worst in over a decade, the International News Safety Institute has said.
"This horrible statistic should be regarded as a low point in the safety and welfare of the media profession," said the institute's honorary president, Chris Cramer. "We need better protection for media workers worldwide."
A statement from the media safety group said 2007 was already the worst since it and the International Federation of Journalists began keeping records in the early 1990s. It said last year had been the bloodiest with 168 deaths.
According to this year's International News Safety Institute, 121 of the journalists were apparently targeted because of their work. Fifteen died in crossfire or random attacks, 34 were killed in road or air accidents while working, and the circumstances of one death were unclear.
Iraq was again the deadliest place for media personnel, with 64 slain this year, taking the toll to at least 235 since the start of the war in 2003.
Other dangerous countries included Sri Lanka, where six were killed. Afghanistan, Mexico, India and the Philippines had five each. Worldwide, the dead included 142 journalists and 29 support staff, such as drivers, translators and news technicians.
MASS ARRESTS OF JOURNALISTS AT MANILA HOTEL COUP ATTEMPT
More than a dozen journalists were arrested last week to prevent them covering a failed coup attempt at a Manila hotel where around 30 soldiers had demanded the ousting of President Gloria Arroyo.
The journalists were taken, their hands bound, to the National Capital Region Police Office in Bicutan, south-east of the capital. Police said that they had arrested 17 members of the press, four of whom work for foreign news agencies.
They were released overnight without charge after being questioned for obstruction of justice. Police said it had been necessary to check that none of the rebels had escaped by hiding among the journalists.
Interior minister, Ronaldo Purno, said that “the journalists had been
well-treated but they had not complied when police told them to leave the
scene of the aborted coup.”
He said the journalists were questioned to determine whether or not they had obstructed justice deliberately.
A correspondent for Philippines ABS-CBN television told Agence France-Presse that seven members of its crew had been arrested and their films seized. The foreign press association said that at least seven of its members had been placed in custody. Two highly popular television presenters, Pinky Webb and Ces Drilon, were also arrested.
FOUR MAJOR US TV NETWORKS GENERATE $120 MILLION IN REVENUE FROM FREE WEB STREAMING
The Financial Times reported that the four US television networks in a pay dispute with Hollywood television writers over online video advertising are in line to generate US$120 million of revenues in 2007 from free web streaming of their content, according to a leading media buyer.
The total online video advertising market will be worth close to $1.3 billion this year after doubling in size in 2006, according to Accustream
AFP BUYS STAKE IN CITIZEN JOURNALISM SITE SCOOPLIVE AND RENAMES IT CITIZENSIDE
Agence France-Presse has bought a 30 percent stake in the citizen journalism platform Scooplive, which will be renamed Citizenside.
AFP said it will not take part in editorial decisions on the site, which allows users to publish and sell films and photos for commission.
"This is for us a purely commercial and technical experiment in the Web 2.0 field, to help our clients, mainly in the media field," said Pierre Louette, AFP chairman.
Journalism.co said AFP's investment was matched by another French firm IAM, but the remaining shares for the site, which was set up in 2006, will stay with the platform's creators.
"Citizenside will capitalise on its founders and new partners experience to create a link between two worlds: professional journalism and amateur reporting. We will thus be able to offer good quality documents in real time," said Matthieu Stefani, a founder of Scooplive.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO PUSH AHEAD WITH ONE STANDARD FOR MOBILE TV
The European Commission will ahead with plans to favour one standard for mobile TV services by February, despite opposition from three major members of the bloc.
The International Herald Tribune reported that ministers from Britain, Germany and the Netherlands are opposed to efforts by Viviane Reding, telecommunications commissioner for the 27-nation bloc, to back a single technology in Europe, thereby helping to promote its dominance.
But Reding said that she would move ahead with a proposal to give preferred status to the standard she favoured, Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld, or DVB-H, by placing it on a list of standards that governments "have to support and encourage."
Meanwhile the European Union has adopted new legislation that will ease television advertising rules, while retaining some European cultural diversity, and could come into force at the end of the year.
The measures, endorsed by the European Parliament, also deal with the protection of minors and, for the first time, enshrines advertising product placement in European law. The main objective of the revisions to the 1989 "television sans frontieres" rules, which set minimum television ad standards across the bloc, is to protect European services from the flood of new technology such as the internet and e-trade, while regularising the broadcasting rules.
MEDIA COMPANIES PUSH FOR TECHNOLOGY THAT CONTROLS CONTENT ACCESS BY SEARCH ENGINES
Leading news organisations and other publishers will push for a revision to technology that controls access to their content by search engines, according to the International Herald Tribune.
Google, Yahoo and other top search companies now voluntarily respect a web site's wishes as declared in a text file that allows a site to block indexing of individual web pages, specific directories or the entire site.
The proposal, presented by a consortium of publishers at the headquarters of The Associated Press, would add to those commands, further restricting access.. Leading the drive for the extensions are groups representing publishers of newspapers, magazines, online databases, books and journals.
The use of the new protocol would be voluntary, so search engines ultimately would have to agree to recognise the commands. Search engines could ignore them and leave it to courts to rule on any disputes over fair use.
THE WORD ‘WOMEN’ TO BE REPLACED BY ‘FAMILY’ ON IRAN TV
The word 'women' must now be replaced on Iranian state television by 'family', reformist Norouz news agency reports.
In program broadcast throughout the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Sunday November 25. Iranian state TV used the world family instead.
In recent weeks, Iran's Centre for the Participation of Women changed its name to the Centre for Family Matters.
AKI News reports that at the time of former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, the centre was set up within the president's office. Khatami was president of Iran from 1997 to 2005.
CNN OPENS NEW BUREAU IN CHENNAI INDIA AS PART OF ITS $10 MILLION GLOBAL EXPANSIONCNN as part of its recently announced international expansion said that Liz Neisloss, a former CNN senior producer, will be based in Chennai formerly known as Madras, in southern India, as a reporter for the network.
Neisloss, an award wining senior producer and correspondent, was with CNN from 1990 to 2006, Neisloss is an award-winning senior CNN producer and correspondent, and has covered the United Nations in New York since 1997.
In this new position, Neisloss will cover not just the southern part of India but also support the CNN bureau in New Delhi, where CNN also appointed Sara Sidner as its New Delhi-based correspondent.
Sidner comes to CNN having been the weekend news anchor for KTVU in San Francisco and Oakland, as well as being a field reporter, where she won a number of awards. With more than 12 years of experience, Sidner has also worked in a number of other TV news markets in Texas, Florida and Missouri.
Parisa Khosravi, senior vice president of CNN International newsgathering, told TV Newser that, “The rapid growth in India in terms of global business and regional political influence underlines how crucial these appointments are as part of CNN's international expansion. With Sara and Liz now confirmed, we can combine that with the strength of our sister network CNN-IBN and have a powerful editorial presence in India."
The new position in Chennai, plus the boost to staff numbers in New Delhi, is part of the multi-million dollar investment that CNN announced earlier this month.
The expansion will see additional editorial resources and correspondents based in a number of countries. New operations are also planned for Afghanistan, Belgium, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland and Vietnam.
REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS URGES PAKISTAN TO RESCIND BAN ON TV STATIONS BROADCAST FROM DUBAI
Reporters Without Borders has written to Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf asking him to quickly rescind his ban on the Geo TV group's various television stations and two independent radio stations, Power99 FM and Mast Fm 103.
The letter reads, “The authorities in Dubai have just given the privately-owned TV station Geo News permission to resume broadcasting from the Emirate but its programs are still banned in Pakistan. Your government is also preventing broadcasting by two privately-owned radio stations, whose equipment was seized when the state of emergency was imposed.
“We hail the Dubai government's decision to restore Geo News's rights. Your government must now quickly follow this example and allow Pakistani cable operators to resume distribution of all of Geo TV's stations. Similarly, the sanctions that were unfairly imposed on the Pakistani news radio stations, Power99 FM and Mast FM 103, must be lifted immediately.
“Amina Rustamani of the Dubai Media Centre announced yesterday that the Geo TV's Geo News is again authorised to broadcast from the Emirate. "Geo News will resume broadcasting at midnight from the Dubai Media Centre following productive discussion between the two parties," Rustamani said. In Pakistan, the only people with access to Geo TV's stations are those with satellite dishes, the importation of which is restricted.
“As well as blocking Geo News, your government has also banned the broadcasts of the group's sports, entertainment and youth channels. ‘They are trying to strangle us financially by all possible means,’ Geo TV president Imran Aslam told us in a letter. ‘We are losing half a million dollars a day, a figure the government is well aware of and which must have been factored into its calculations. We are ready to dialogue with honour, but we will not submit to any humiliating accord and to conditions that undermine our credibility.’
“On November 5, Geo TV petitioned the Sindh high court to lift the ban, but the government's representative is sidestepping any substantive debate and on November 27, the government again claimed that it did not know why the station was blocked.
“The Association of Independent Radio has condemned the plight of Power99 FM and Mast FM 103 resulting from the seizure of their equipment on November 3, and said it was the editorial line of these two radio stations and the attention they paid to current affairs that prompted their closure.
“Although they were very popular, both because of their own news programmes and their retransmission of the Urdu-language news programmes of the BBC and Deutsche Welle, they are now on the verge of bankruptcy.
“Mr President, the arbitrary manner in which these popular and respected news media are being treatment is having disastrous consequences for your country's international image and for the hundreds of Pakistani journalists who risk losing their jobs.”
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