Kerry Stokes: “Viewer gets nothing” in media reform
Seven chairman says media reform is all about transactions and calls on the govt to create a level-playing field to make content.
- Published by David Knox
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Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes has called for a level playing field in the current debate over media reform.
“If the government passes the right set of media laws, the (television) industry will be thriving,” he said.
“To do that requires not just to concentrate on the ‘merchant bankers changes’ which is reach and two out of three, which some operators want, merely for trading and merchant bank activity and takeovers.
“We are far more interested in the sustainability of the industry and we keep saying to the government: licence fees are very important to our industry, we pay the most in the world and it is a cross to bear which is affecting our ability to produce.
“Last year at Seven, we sold $60 million worth of product overseas, including Home and Away and My Kitchen Rules … but we have to suffer a 10 per cent difference to other producers in this country,” he said.
Stokes said the government should “make it a level playing field”.
“The government has just introduced a 40 per cent offset to encourage movies to come and be made in Australia.
“We endorse that – give us the same opportunity. Let us make television product, let us make series – let us make those things we can export to the word: give us the same advantages that the overseas studios are getting in Australia,” he said.
But he also called for the anti-siphoning sports broadcasting rights list to be left intact.
“I think I actually speak for News Corp and Channel TEN insofar as I agree with their views on media laws except they would like to see anti-siphoning changed and I wouldn’t.
“Apart from that issue I think we pretty much agree on all these other changes,” he said.
“The reach and ‘two out of three’ are merely focusing on merchant bank transactions. The viewer gets nothing. No one gets anything.”
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6 Responses
“The viewer gets nothing.”
He’s talking about the new TV Code of Practice isn’t he?
This is like someone burgling you of your jewellery and then knocking on the door asking you to let them in so that they can also take all of the equipment in your TV cabinet.
Ah Yes Mr Stokes,amazing the amount of grovelling that goes on in WA when he deigns to speak, he seemed to have Abbott in his pocket problem is he runs The Worst Australian which is outside of the Telegraph one of Australia’s worst papers, also a monopoly in Perth apart from News Ltd Oz.
Ch 7 I dont think I have watched 7 for many yrs but they love in Perth why I will never know maybe they are just easy pleased
easygoing777:: I Dont watch Seven regularly either. Always watch Nine News.
The east coast is were Nine wins . Perth & Adelaide is were Seven wins.
Stokes said the government should “make it a level playing field”. – so Foxtel should be able to buy all sport? Sounds good to me
I can see his argument however australia needs more foreign investment in the media industry because of our low populas. I kind of agree with Stokes about certain aspects of the reform agenda but not others. At the end of the day its plain to see he and others are just trying to protect their own assets. Who says protectionism is dead?
So basically its just rent seeking, by level he means tilted in favour a billionaire owner of a multinational media and mining conglomerate. Wanting free access to billions of dollars worth of public spectrum and the anti-siphoning list meaning he makes more money from sports broadcasting, at the expense of taxpayers, consumers, telecommunications companies, sports and athletes.
But as long as those evil merchant bankers don’t get what they want, that must be good.