MEDIABLAB DECEMBER 4
December 4th 2007 01:44
From MediaBlab daily media news service compiled by Peter Olszewski for Dow Jones' Factiva
AUSTRALIA’S NEWLY-LISTED CONSOLIDATED MEDIA HOLDINGS VALUED AT $2.7 BILLION IN FIRST DAY TRADING
Former shareholders of James Packer-controlled Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd are more than $330 million better off after a successful Australian share market debut for the two companies created by splitting the media and gaming empire, according to The Australian.
The national paper reports that debut has also left Packer's private company, Consolidated Press Holdings, more than $128 million richer: and currently in control of Australia's largest listed gaming empire, Crown Ltd, and its fourth-largest listed media company, Consolidated Media Holdings.
Steady buying yesterday saw Consolidated Media Holdings rise as high as $4.10 in the afternoon, before closing at $4.02: up 7c on the nominal opening price, valuing Consolidated Media Holdings at $2.7 billion.
The Australian said, “This puts it above the value of Ten Network Holdings ($2.6 billion), West Australian Newspapers ($2.5 billion) and APN News & Media ($2.5 billion), but below that of News Corp, Fairfax Media and the Seven Network.”
NEW REALITY SHOW PLANS TO TELEVISE WEDDINGS BETWEEN US LEGAL CITIZENS AND IMMIGRANTS
The show's backers at Morusa Media hope to make a sort of love match between reality TV and a national obsession with immigration in the US.
MOBILE PHONE NOVELS BIG IN JAPAN
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, mobile phone novels (keitai shousetsu) have become a publishing phenomenon in Japan, “turning middle-of-the-road publishing houses into major concerns and making their authors a small fortune in the process.”
One book, Koizora (Love Sky) about high-school girl who is bullied, gang-raped, becomes pregnant has sold more than 1.2 million copies since being released.
The mobile internet has a role in this growing phenomenon in Japan, with another book Moshimo Kimiga (420,000 copies) starting with installments uploaded to an internet site and sent our to “thousands of young subscribers.”
HONG KONG’S RECRUIT.NET LAUNCHES IN NEW ZEALAND
TechCrunch reports that Hong Kong-based Recruit.net, a job search engine , is expanding.
Recruit.net launched into Malaysia in September and will launch a New Zealand portal this week. In fact, the site is already up.
Coming soon are sites for Vietnam and the Philippines in the first quarter of 2008. The company already provides sites for Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Singapore.
Recruit.net aggregates job listings from partner sites for its main portal and also provides syndicated results for other sites, a model that sees the Recruit.net bringing in increasing revenues in a hyper-competitive vertical.
NAPPY HEADED HO’S RADIO JOCK RETURNS TO US AIRWAVES
Controversial US radio jock Don Imus returned to the airwaves on Monday, eight months after he was fired for a racially charged remark about the Rutgers women's basketball team, and introduced a new cast that included two black comedians, Karith Foster and Tony Powell
AP reports that, as he did several times in the days after the episode, Imus condemned his controversial remark and said he had learned his lesson.
AP said his debut on Monday completed a comeback that seemed improbable at the height of the uproar over calling the women basketball players "nappy-headed hos." CBS Radio fired him on April 12, pulling the plug on his Imus In the Morning program that had aired on more than 70 stations and the MSNBC cable network.
WHO’S SEARCHING FOR WHAT ONLINE
Telstra Big Pond Ponderings said that according to Sensis, the top five Australian online search topics for October were:
1. Amateur theatre
2. Melbourne Cup Racing
3. Dress fabrics
4. Big Day Out 2008
5. Sydney Festival
In the US, Yahoo revealed its top queries of the year were:
Britney Spears
WWE
Paris Hilton
Naruto
Beyonce
Lindsay Lohan
Rune Scape
Fantasy Football
Fergie
Jessica Alba
AMERICAN MAGAZINES CASH IN ON HEALTH OBSESSION
Media Daily News reports that with the American obsession on health-related topics major magazines are striking wide-ranging deals with health publishers, allowing them to use their content in print and online.
The latest brings video content from HealthiNation to the web site of US News & World Report, available at health.usnews.com.
According to the publishers, the content will be integrated into a variety of US News content categories, including its increasingly popular listing of the nation's ‘Best Hospitals.’
In October, The New York Times teamed with A.D.A.M., a company that maintains an online compendium of information on health conditions, treatments and insurance, new treatments, and diagnostic options.
In mid-September, Hearst bought RealAge.com, a site that engages consumers with the promise of a quiz that determines their ‘real age,’ based on various health and lifestyle factors.
In June, Meredith Corporation bought Healia.com, a consumer-health search engine. is integrating Healia's search technology into its various magazine web sites.
FCC APPROVES ZELL BUYOUT OF THE TRIBUTE COMPANY IN THE US
International Business Times reported that the US Federal Communications Commission approved the US$8.2 billion buyout of the Tribune Co by a 3-2 vote Friday, a move that will allow the deal to close by the end of the year.
Tribune Co owns The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, nine other dailies and 23 television stations in the US.
The buyout is being led by real estate billionaire Sam Zell and will result in the publicly traded company becoming private.
US MEDIA GIRDS ITS LOINS FOR A WAVE OF ACQUISITIVE MIDDLE EAST OIL MONEY
Uh oh, the Arabs keep coming and now US reports say they’re not only interested in American financial firms such as Citigroup – Middle East investors are also eyeing the media arena.
TheStreet.com reports that commercial real estate investment firm Blumberg Capital Partners is planning to launch its first fund to invest in US media companies, and its investor base will consist of Middle East-based entities.
The fund, for which ceo Philip Blumberg says there is interest amounting to at least US$500 million, will target newspapers as well as Hollywood movie studios, online media outfits, broadcast news and possibly radio businesses. Including the use of leverage, the fund will have buying power of approximately $1.5 billion and could kick off by the second quarter next year.
The Street says, “The interest in US media firms from the Middle East comes as foreign investors take advantage of a deflated U.S. dollar to buy into cash-strapped US entities or firms that appear cheap. Investors in the Middle East are rich from global growth and demand for oil, which has sent the price of a barrel to hover near US$100.
MEDIA ADVERTISING SPEND ABOUT TO BOOM OR BUST DEPENDING ON WHICH ANALYST YOU BELIEVE
Publicis' ZenithOptimedia unit predicts advertising spending will rise at a relatively healthy rate despite growing uncertainty surrounding the general economy. The prediction is for a 6.7 percent increase in global ad spending, up from 5.3 percent this year, and a 4.1 percent increase in the US.
The increases are being driven largely by incremental spending attributed to cyclical events such as the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, the US presidential election, and the European football tournament Euro 2008.
By 2010, China will be the fourth-largest advertising market, and Russia will be sixth;
The complete report is available at www.zenithoptimedia.com.
Meanwhile The Hollywood Reporter says the US advertising market is slowing down and is apt to be under a lot of pressure at least through 2009, according to industry analyst, Lee Westerfield of BMO Capital Markets.
He feels the ad cycle retrenchment will likely stretch through 2009 and now expects US ad spending growth of only 2.6 percent this year, 3.6 percent in 2008 and 2.7 percent the year after that.
He said next year's spending will be helped by the U.S. presidential elections and the Olympics, but will be held down by the unwinding of "overinvestment among many financial-service advertisers in recent years," and draws a parallel to the dot-com bust, "that theme rings eerily familiar to the 2000-2001 period."
Reuters reports that Goldman Sachs' Anthony Noto issued bad news for the media sector in a recent analyst report, saying that a US recession is a 50/50 chance, and that will lead to a downturn in advertising by as much as 10 percent. That doesn't include web advertising, which many expect to rise more than 20 percent next year.
Finally, Aegis Media Asia Pacific, is predicting a strong 9.5 percent growth in ad spend around Asia in 2008, driven largely by growth in digital media and a booming China economy.
BRITISH DAILY MAIL AND GENERAL TRUST’S AUSTRALIAN RADIO BUSINESS DECREASES LOSSES
British media group Daily Mail and General Trust 2006-2007 figures show that its Australian radio business, DMG Radio Australia, losses fell from GBP4.9 million (A$11.4 million) to GBP3.7 million (A$8.6 million) for the 12 months to September 30, 2007.
Revenue was up 6.4 percent to GBP39.8 million (A$92.6 million.)
The Australian Financial Review reported that this was driven largely by the company’s two Australian Nova radio stations in Melbourne and Sydney.
The loss excluded the contribution from Nova Perth and 97.3FM Brisbane, which are jointly owned by DMG and the Australian Radio Network.
The Australian Radio Network is joint venture between APN News & media, and American media group Clear Channel.
The Australian Financial Review explained that the loss also excluded a one-off gain on the sale of Sunshine Coast radio station, Hot 91, which was sold to Paul Ramsay’s Prime Media Group (formerly Prime Television) three months ago.
Australian Mediaweek yesterday looked closer at the financial performance of DMG Radio Australia, which had revenue of $109 million in 2006-07, up from $101 million in 2005-06.
The figure includes the share of profits from Nova Perth and 97.3 Brisbane which the company jointly owns with Australian Radio Network. The results also include a $1.5 million profit on the sale of 14.9 percent of Hot 91 on the Sunshine Coast.
BBC COMMISSION NEW AUSSIE SOAP TO COMPENSATE FOR LOSS OF MOST-WATCHED DAYTIME SOAP NEIGHBOURS
The BBC reports that it has commissioned a new daytime Australian soap after losing the long-running show Neighbours in a bidding war with Five.
The new program, to be called Out of the Blue, will be set in the Sydney seaside suburb of Manly and opens with a group of friends in their 30s returning to their hometown for a reunion.
Filming begins in the new year but the soap's timeslot is still to be decided.
"This is an ambitious project that we think will break new ground," said BBC fiction controller Jane Tranter.
The BBC has initially ordered 130 episodes of Out of the Blue from the production company Southern Star Group.
The group's chief executive Hugh Mars said the soap would be "full of life, contemporary and very broad in its appeal".
Neighbours will be moving to Five in 2008 after the BBC pulled out of talks to keep the show, saying it had been asked to pay three times the show's current price.
Former BBC One controller Peter Fincham said at the time that he had been asked for GBP300 million (A$698 million) over eight years by Fremantle Media, which owns the rights to the show.
Both Fremantle and Five are owned by the RTL Group media company.
Neighbours, screened twice a day on BBC One, reached its peak in 1990, when it drew a combined audience of 19 million every day.
In recent years, viewing figures have fallen with landmark episodes such as last year's plane crash only attracting six million.
But it is regularly the most-watched daytime TV program in the UK, other than news bulletins.
UK COMPETITION COMMISSION’S FINDINGS ON AUSTRALIA’S MACQUARIE INFRASTRUCTURE’S NATIONAL GRID WIRELESS ACQUISITION
Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group said the UK Competition Commission has released its provisional findings on the acquisition of 100 percent of National Grid Wireless by Macquarie UK Broadcast Ventures Ltd, the parent company of Arqiva Ltd.
The key point of the findings is that the competition issues which the commission has identified are limited to the supply of transmission services to television broadcasters and radio broadcasters.
In relation to the provision of site access and ancillary services to mobile network operators and wireless communications providers, the merged company's shares are below the level which would raise potential concerns, and the commission does not expect a substantial lessening of competition in these markets.
The commission has also provisionally concluded that the acquisition does not raise competition concerns with respect to foreclosure in the provision of multiplexing services. The provisional findings are under consideration by Arqiva, which will respond to the commission in due course.
In reaching its provisional findings, the commission has not yet taken into account synergies and other benefits in relation to digital switchover which will result from the acquisition.
In accordance with its standard procedure, these will be taken into account by the commission in the next stage of the process.
At the time of the acquisition of National Grid Wireless, Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group made clear that the legal and economic aspects of the regulatory risk and potential outcomes of the National Grid Wireless acquisition had been considered, and that EV and EBITDA multiples, revenue and availability of synergies had been evaluated on that basis.
The commission has advised that it expects the review process to be concluded in late January 2008. Arqiva and National Grid Wireless remain subject to a ‘hold separate’ arrangement during the review process and will continue to operate as discrete entities.
MURDOCH’S PART-OWNED GEORGIAN TV STATION MAY BE BACK ON AIR THIS WEEK AFTER GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN
Polish journalist and ex-dissident Adam Michnik, who was sent to Georgia last week by the European Union to negotiate the 51 percent-News-Corp- owned Imedi TV channels’ return to the air, told a news conference on Saturday that the station might start broadcasting again this week.
Imedi often screened opposition campaign material before it was shut down by the authorities on November 7, fuelling unrest that led to an eight-day state of emergency
As MediaBlab reported yesterday, there have been strange rumblings in the eastern European media about Rupert Murdoch’s entry into the Georgian television market, with News Corp’s acquisition of a supposed controlling share of Imedi Television, formerly fully owned by Georgian tycoon and presidential contender Badri Patarkatsishvili.
News Corp bought 49 percent of the station last year, and last month it bought another two percent.
But shortly after News Corp bought the additional two percent, the station was shut down by the government for “instigating anti-constitutional actions.”
Apparently there also are numerous ambivalences and shortcomings in the acquisition documentation and a lack of clarity about who actually has operational control.
Last Wednesday Georgian 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, in time for Imedi to reopen for the forthcoming presidential election campaign.
Initially News Corp turned down the ownership proposal and declined to provide further data on its actual stake in Imedi TV.
Several European diplomats have criticised president Mikheil Saakashvili's assault on Imedi, arguing that it contradicts his commitment to democratic reform in the ex-Soviet Caucasus state, which is seeking to join NATO and the EU
MOOTER MEDIA HIRES US-BASED STRATEGIC CONSULTANT
Mooter Media Ltd said that Brian O’Kelley, a founder and former chief technology officer of Right Media Inc, a US based online advertising company, has signed a strategic services agreement, under which he will provide strategic advice and consulting services Mooter.
Under the agreement, Umhali Inc will receive 1 million fully paid ordinary Mooter shares, in return for providing O’Kelley’s services.
Mooter has been conducting pilots with a number of partners, most notably Yahoo! and Sensis, across a range of markets and publisher sites predominately in Australasia, to demonstrate the value created in using the Mooter advantage suite of targeting and analysis tools to increase publisher revenue and returns for advertisers.
As a consequence of the performance of these pilots, Mooter commenced the scale project in September, with the intention of deploying the Mooter advantage platform in other high traffic, economically attractive markets.
At that time, O’Kelley commenced a process of evaluation and consulting work with Mooter, including advising on the scale project and providing technical and strategic advice, which culminated in the strategic services agreement with Umhali.
Mooter Media is a B2B developer and provider of internet advertising targeting solutions which can predict, personalise and deliver the most relevant advertisement to the end user reading publisher content (non search) web pages.
Mooter Media sells or licences those technologies as a service to publishers and advertising aggregators in the high growth internet advertising markets.
MITCHELL COMMUNICATION GROUP APPOINTS ITS INAUGURAL
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
The Mitchell Communication Group, which is expanding more rapidly that the Holy Roman Empire, has appointed Luke Littlefield as its inaugural chief operating officer.
The group’s ceo Stuart Mitchell, said Luke Littlefield has 15 years of commercial experience and has an excellent track record of achievement in the successful management, development and growth of emerging companies.
Prior to joining Mitchells, Littlefield’s most recent role was that of chief operating and financial officer of IWL Ltd, a position which he held for over six years until the company was taken over by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in November 2007.
Prior to joining IWL, Luke worked for Accenture, Pacific Dunlop and KPMG.
He is also member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is based in Melbourne.
NEW YORK TIMES LAUNCHES ITS STYLE MAGAZINE ONLINE
The New York Times Style magazine, called T, has launched online, according to Online Journalism News.
The site will feature a fashion and style news blog called The Moment, with contributions from staff editors, T contributors, artists, filmmakers and celebrity guest bloggers.
According to the Times, the new site will also include flash-based interactive content and original videos.
The launch of the site was set to coincide with the December publication of T Magazine in the International Herald Tribune.
New York-based agency Createthe Group engineered the new site.
HELLO, IT’S DENIS O’BRIEN CALLING – I’D LIKE TO BUY YOU
Followthemedia has been following Irish tycoon Denis O’Brien’s hectic acquisition trail after he increased holdings in Independent News and Media last week, becoming its second largest shareholder
He also increased holdings in executive recruitment firm Imprint PLC, expanded his mobile phone company Digicel, spanning the Caribbean to the South Pacific, bought the GSM operator in Tonga, and is speculating on a possible radio venture in Jordan.
Followthemedia said, “O’Brien’s deal appetite is voracious. He leveraged the highly successful 98FM in Dublin for a pan-European radio group of more than 30 stations in eight countries. Then there was that little mobile phone deal in Ireland that made him a billionaire.
“He started up Digicel, a mobile phone holding company operating in the Caribbean, South America and just getting stated in the Pacific islands. A November 28 press release touted its contribution to the GDP of Papua New Guinea.
“Digicel announced the purchase of Tonfon Communications, a wireless network, ISP and TV operator, from Tonga’s King George Toupu V, and O’Brien’s Communicorp may be expanding into the Middle East with a joint venture radio development in Jordan.
CORRECTIION: SWISH BLACK CAT MAKING BOLLYWOOD MOVIE IN AUSTRALIA IN JANUARY – BUT NOT THE ONE FEATURING CRICKET STAR BRETT LEE
Yesterday MediaBlab reported that Swish Group’s film production business, Swish Black Cat, had scored a coup, with news that famous 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 to be made in Australia in January.
But Cary Stynes, Swish’s managing director, told MediaBlab that while his company is making a Bollywood film in Australia in January, it’s not the film featuring Brett Lee. That, according to Stynes, is being made by someone else, possibly the Nine Network, but he’s not sure.
HONG KONG’S ASIA CITY PUBLISHING EDITORIAL DIRECTOR QUITS
Marketing-interactive reports that Asia City Publishing group editorial director Tom Hilditch has resigned from the Hong Kong group after more than three years with the company.
Asia City, publishers of free English language magazines HK Magazine, I-S Magazine and B-K Magazine, has not announced a replacement.
"I have had a wonderful ride at Asia City Publishing," he told Marketing-interactive, "I have made many lasting friendship and learnt a ton of stuff about the free magazine industry. But having built up our editorial teams, redesigned the magazine and pushed it to the outer limit of its potential circulation, it is time to move on to fresh challenges.”
MYANMAR TO HOST ASEAN FILM FEST THIS WEEK
Myanmar will hold the first ASEAN film festival in Yangon this week to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 10-nation regional grouping, a local weekly journal said on Sunday.
The Voice said the December 6-9 festival will show seven films, including Myanmar's love-story Mystery of Snow.
VIETNAM WILL LAUNCH INDOCHINA CREATIVE AWARDS TO BE CALLED THE INCHIS
Brand Republic’s Media Asia reports that Vietnam will stage IndoChina's first creative awards show, the Inchi Awards, early next year.
Entries are open to agencies in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, to help improve creative standards and motivate young advertising professionals in the fast-growing Southeast Asian sub-region.
The Inchis are the brainchild of TBWA Vietnam executive creative director Birger Linke, who expects the event to be staged in Ho Chi Minh City in the first quarter of next year.
AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION’S NEW TRAVEL GRANT FUNDING
The Australian Film Commission released new travel grant funding guidelines including a new strand (Type F) for exceptional opportunity cases.
The AFC offers six types of travel grants for industry practitioners:
Festival Travel Grants (Type A)
Market Travel Grants (Type B and C)
Pitching Travel Grants (Type D)
Digital Media Travel Grants (Type E)
Exceptional Opportunity Grant (Type F)
The new strand Type F will offer a producer or director nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA (film awards only) or International Emmy the opportunity to travel to one of these award ceremonies.
Practitioners whose film or program has achieved a level of international recognition that would warrant travel to an event that is not included on the eligible events list can also apply for a travel grant through this strand. There will be a maximum of five Exceptional Opportunity grants offered in 07/08 and the event, practitioner or production must meet specific eligibility criteria.
Changes to the travel grant guidelines include dividing digital media travel grants (Type E) into two sections; E1 for practitioners selected into a digital media event and E2 for practitioners looking to attend digital market MILIA or selected into Content 360 Pitching @ MILIA.
The travel grant program is an essential part of the AFC Marketing Branch operations and supports Australian practitioners to attend screenings of their work at key international film festivals; to attend international markets seeking finance for film, television and digital media projects; and to attend key international pitching and financing forums.
In 2006/07 the AFC Marketing Branch provided 106 travel grants to Australian practitioners across digital, feature, shorts, and documentary.
(a level of international recognition that would warrant travel to an event
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Comment by Anonymous
what is up with Meredith?
Comment by Anonymous
I'll attempt to get an answer fior you