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Print media takes aim at broadcast media

Two more articles today offer up their views on Network TEN with varying degrees of optimism.

2013-03-02_0113If you’re not completely sick to death of TEN analysis articles this week (and yes I’ve thrown in my 2c worth) then there is a very good read in Fairfax today from Adele Ferguson and Michael Idato.

They write about the downfall of James Warburton leading to the appointment of Hamish McLennan:

By December, it was clear Warburton had to go and his replacement had to start within one or two months. To that end, a list of 30 names was put in and out the box. The candidates were then vetted by a head hunter with a remit to find a replacement with strong leadership skills.

The urgency automatically ruled out candidates from the Australian media industry because they would have a six to nine-month non-compete clause or, God forbid, end up in a legal battle as had happened when Warburton was hired from Seven Network in 2011.

As chairman, Murdoch led the recruitment process. He included McLennan, who he had known for 15 years and who had been working for his father, Rupert, for the past year.

Throughout the Christmas and January period, there were many board discussions about the various candidates, followed by a meeting with each of the directors. McLennan was the standout.

However an article by business analyst Terry McCrann in The Australian suggests the time is nigh for three commercial Free to Air networks:

Simply, bluntly, the “missed point” in all this Murdoch frenzy is that the time for three FTA TV networks has gone.

Both the broader context which sustained the overall industry revenue base, and the particular operating characteristics of the three players that produced three viable businesses, are no longer. And neither can be reborn.

If that is understood and accepted, that leads to a second prospective conclusion: that attempts to sustain a three-network future will not only be futile, but costly and highly damaging to the FTA TV industry overall.

12 Responses

  1. I love the blinkered irony of articles in print media decrying that the end is nigh for this or that television network. It’s like someone in the ocean pointing at a shark circling someone else in the water whilst failing to notice that they’re bleeding out from the stump where their leg used to be.

    Last night I was offered a West Australian newspaper for free as it was apparently included in the ticket price for a football match I attended. I declined as I have plenty of toilet paper and it’s a bit scratchy anyway.

  2. Yes, we need Ten to keep the other two honest. I think Nine is the most likely to become too dominant with its hold on major sports and highly rated shows (Voice, AGT, Celebrity A, etc).

  3. I can only watch news & television shows the old fashioned way, on a TV. My internet speed is way too slow to watch hour or longer programs on my computer. Watching a 5 minute clip is about all it can take, and even that takes ages sometimes.

  4. I tend to agree. The days of FTA networks are numbered (as are the traditional print media I would think), simply because technology has moved on and what audience is looking for is moving on.

    There are now legit channels on You Tube, for example the news channel ‘The Young Turks’, which as an audience viewer, I’m enjoying that far more than the mainstream traditional news service, which includes the television news service.

    Weather wise, I no longer watch the news for the weather, but get it from dedicated storm chasing groups who give out much more dedicated and detailed information than what you will ever see on any news channel (or even the official sources for that matter – check out for example ‘Oz Cyclone Chasers’ on You Tube as an example – and yes, they do know what they are talking about).

    With the introduction of the NBN and the ability to get on demand services easier than ever nowadays with IPads etc, the FTA networks, and print media, just won’t be able to compete, and the advertising will just follow to where the audiences are (and is already starting to do so), and that in future will be the internet, onto sites like You Tube, Netflix etc, with legit channels by content creators and producers for the audiences.

    Must admit though, there are more complexities other than advertising and the NBN to be worked through to make the Internet viable for the FTV industry, namely policy issues on copyright, geo-locking etc, but I’m sure that will be worked through over time.

    Overall though, the old school traditional FTV/media industry has had its day, and the new guard of producers and other content creators will be heading towards the new era of the internet and online distribution (for the most part).

  5. Stoke bought 3% of Channel 10, back in December. It is currently trading at 36c so he is currently sitting on a paper profit. You don’t need to look much further than that for reasons.

  6. The SMH article is a better version of one that appeared earlier in the week in the Financial Review. It argues that Ten will recover to some extent.

    McCrann, could be right there is only room for 2 FTA networks (I have argued it seem possible). Especially with the resources to lock up popular sport and reality TV franchises.

    The increase in household saving and internet advertising look like permanent changes. The retail sector, and hence advertising, could improve though when the global economy improves and the dollar falls. And once they adapt to increased price competition and lower margins.

    The NBN looks like it will make Hulu and Netflix type services viable in this country, which will further reduce the size of the FTA market.

    But you never know, a 3rd niche FTA network could be viable in some other form.

  7. And while the mega rich play their games, it seems those of us they now must definitely class as ‘necessary evils’, we the viewers fade even further into their pixelated background.

    Given the blatant undisguised bias of many in the media in the lead up to our next election, are many already banking on favours to be returned, or if not favours, perhaps relying on another display of the power of persuasion/perceptions that they can wield.

  8. The time for three commercial networks is gone, simply because one has had a bad couple of years? Absolutely rubbish. Can you imagine the duopoly of Nine and Seven? Maybe at least more people will watch the ABC, but in general I think television will suffer if that happened.

  9. The appointment of Adam Boland followed by Kerry Stokes purchase of just under 5% of Ten shares seems to suggest some strategic stealth. Reading this article made me consider what might be gong on behind the scenes. Heaven help Ch9 if this turns out to be right.

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