Networks support Reach Rule findings
TEN and Nine welcome a Policy Background paper on Media Control in their campaign to drop the Reach Rule.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
The government has released a Policy Background paper on Media Control and Ownership which has been welcomed by TEN and Nine Networks as they push for the “Reach Rule” to be dropped.
The Rule prevents a media organisation from reaching more than 75% of the population in a single market, by merging metropolitan and regional broadcasters.
But the 78 page document, released as Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull considers changing the rules governing Australia’s media, makes no specific recommendations. Instead it highlights the impact of potential change, noting that repealing the 75% reach rule could lead to consolidation in free-to-air TV.
A likely outcome, it suggests, would be the acquisition of, or merger between, commercial and regional broadcasters. This would ‘lead to some level of consolidation” in the free-to-air TV sector, but would be ”unlikely to result in a substantial reduction in the number of commercial television broadcasters operating in the affected geographical markets”.
TEN CEO Hamish McLennan released a statement welcoming the report:
“The government’s paper confirms that the current media control and ownership rules belong to the last century.
“They are outdated, ineffective and anti-competitive. They prevent homegrown media companies from competing with online behemoths whose growing global dominance is unfettered by regulation, or local tax laws. They inhibit local players from truly taking on the internet giants in this market. They also prevent commercial media companies from growing as the ABC is allowed to do across multiple platforms.
“Today, media companies must be truly cross-platform in order to be sustainable. The current media control and ownership rules arbitrarily prevent that from happening fully. They threaten media diversity, production of local content and local jobs. They must be repealed urgently.
“The paper recognises the financial headwinds that Australia’s news organisations are facing and which are resulting in heavy job losses in newsrooms across the industry, including at Ten Network, Seven Network and Fairfax Media. These job losses underline the urgent need to fix the media sector’s discriminatory regulatory settings.”
A Nine spokesperson concurred in a statement:
“Nine welcomes the report and notes there was a bipartisan report from the last parliament unanimously recommending the removal of the reach rule.
“We believe removal of the rule is critical to the future of broadcasting and regional broadcasting in particular, and we will work with government throughout their consultation process.”
But Seven said it preferred to maintain a ”polite silence” on the question of Reach Rule.
The paper indicates only a limited number of media operators are at the limit of this rule – Fairfax in Sydney and Melbourne, Seven West Media in Perth, WIN in Wollongong and Southern Cross Austereo in some 26 licence areas.
Speculation that News Corp may buy TEN has previously been denied.
Source: Fairfax, AdNews, The Conversation
2 Responses
Ten originally opposed changes to the reach rule along with Seven, because they were worried Nine would merge with Southern Cross. Now Southern Cross is stuck with Ten they have flipped.
Seven and Prime have a good working relationship and less to gain from merging so Seven are against letting Nine and Ten merge with their affiliates.
Seriously in this day and age what is the point of a law that says 25% of the country can’t receive a Channel Nine feed but must watch the same l Nine programmes on a affiliate run by Bruce Gordon and locked into a deal with Nine instead?
Ten, Fairfax, Fairfax radio and many others don’t even make any money any more and have little control over what people with an internet connection see, hear or read.
“The government’s paper confirms that the current media control and ownership rules belong to the last century.” – along with the attitudes of most of the boards and senior staff at the commercial TV networks.
I’m sure that eventually they’ll get the hang of this interweb thing. The first one to provide access to US and UK dramas at the same time as they get them, and for a reasonable price will make a killing.
“The paper recognises the financial headwinds that Australia’s news organisations are facing..”according to Hamish McLennan. As of several weeks ago, thanks to the ridiculous decisions he made, TEN no longer qualifies as a credible news organisation.
Seems to be a bit of a ‘two bob each way’ claim by the Network Ten CEO ( with Murdoch affiliations), where almost daily we hear and see Network Ten supposedly doing their utmost to regain Ten’s popularity of yesteryear.
Which is strange, because Ten’s yesteryear popularity was achieved under the very same conditions ( but with different management and staff morale) that he now claims are all wrong, and whilst other networks have retained and/or improved popularity under these same conditions.
Is the real problem, one of vested interests agendas, and should the ‘major change’ be at Ten’s management level, to one where management have both ‘ Network Ten’s and Viewers Interests’ at heart, instead of the vested interests who seems to have little heart and idolize the ‘God of Greed and Powerful Influence’