ARN acquisition of Southern Cross Austereo (pending approval)

So one network owning 4 stations in each capital city? still needs regulatory approval.

1 Like

No

3 Likes

Not sure how many times this has to be said & it’s not just in here people keep saying that.
NO ARN will own 2 stations (current thoughts are KIIS & Triple M) & Anchorage will own the other 2.

Anchorage are really only an interim investor, putting in money that allows ARN to do what it needs to do to achieve the takeover, who knows what they’ll do to the stations ARN don’t want & how long they’ll hold on to them before selling them off?

Personally I don’t think Anchorage will hold onto the stations much past 24 months, before offloading them, some may go sooner if a willing buyer shows up & offers the right price, there have already been talks with some of the smaller networks/station owners, maybe Grant Broadcasters will buy some?

I believe Anchorage were the ones who bought Dick Smith Electronics, stripped it down & sold it to Kogan, let hope they don’t destroy any of the stations before selling them off, leave that up to Caralis to do.

7 Likes

Not quite. Anchorage bought Dick Smith Electronics from Woolworths and floated it 15 months later for considerably more than they paid. Turns out investors bought a dud and it went into administration and receivership a few years later. Kogan then bought just the brand name from the Liquidators.

We could quite possibly see Anchorage package up their stations and float it on the stock market. If that happens they’ll be looking to strip those stations back as much as possible to increase profitabilty in the short term. TBH this is really going just be SCA mk2. Many of the same execs will be re-hired or retained by anchorage due to the lack of depth in the industry. The only difference will be that the board is different and the new company won’t be bound by the hugh massive debt SCA has had to manage, largely from their various takeovers.

4 Likes

This is not good for the industry

15 Likes

There are more washed up radio execs than there are floating islands of plastic junk in our oceans.

At programming level, Fitzy and Gemma might want to rekindle their workplace romance.

Management sees the perennial Rhys Holleran with Guy Dobson back to ‘save’ the stations. If you’re an atheist, you’ll find god down every fox hole, god save us all.

And many many more redundant legends in their own lunchboxes who think their ratings win in 2005 deserve a lifetime career.

3 Likes

No the ownership is split between two separate companies. Although let’s face it they will work together. But no regulatory approval required.

1 Like

I’d argue that Nova may line up in order to complete their Smooth network in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide (although, I’m curious about what they’d do with 5AA. Perhaps sell to Nine?).

6 Likes

100.9 Smooth FM Hobart…

2 Likes

Not necessarily, as it doesn’t reduce the number of market participants in the metro capitals, thanks to the ‘2 stations to a market’ rule still in being place, thankfully.

With ARN and Anchorage co-owing a new streaming service, this will be good news for the the Australian radio industry as this new app will most likely be available globally , giving the 1 million+ Australian expats around the world the opportunity to stream Australian stations on a single app, unlike now , where you can’t (except in NZ with LiSTNR). It will be able to compete with the BBC iPlayer and Global radio player apps.

Also, with more scale, a bigger ARN may launch digital radio into Newcastle, Central Coast and Wollongong, and possibly even the Sunshine Coast.

3 Likes

Isn’t this exactly what RadioApp does? I can listen to pretty much every station in the country on that.

2 Likes

Not overseas you can’t. It’s a domestic app , not a global app.

Gutting a company and massive layoffs upcoming. Can’t see how an app is a big enough upshot of all of this.

3 Likes

You’re jumping the gun a bit? No one has any idea what’s going to unfold. It probably won’t be as many lay offs as you think. Anyway, there’s not much fat left to cut at SCA as most of it has already been cut.

3 Likes

I’m pretty sure this “new” app will be LiSTNR, giving ARN the ability to break free from iHeart. What information is their to suggest it will be any more global than what it currently is?

1 Like

I doubt it would still be called LiSTNR. I think ARN and Anchorage can come up with a better name than that.

Doesn’t ARN have the rights to iHeart to 2036?

As the new app is being co-owned by ARN and Anchorage , housing all of their stations, it’s a good bet they would make it global like the Global Player. No one knows for sure, but I think it’s likely, and would be independent of iHeart.

2 Likes

wouldnt it be better to close down LiSTNR and for ACP to get the stations onto iHeart if fhe deal happens?

3 Likes

I’d prefer migration to iHeart, as their platform includes community radio and other non ARN stations like the Capital Radio Network eg GNFM.

And because I’m sick of hearing SCA spelling out Listnr all the time!

8 Likes

A combined app would be preferred or make the direct streaming URLs available instead of hiding them. I have too many apps on my phone as it is.

2 Likes

They’ll probably keep iHeart as is, as it only covers Australia, and the new app will house both ARNs and Anchorage’s suite of stations - and make it available globally.

Like I said before, no one has any idea what’s going to happen, it’s just speculation - but you’d think making a global Australian radio app would be on the cards with the number of stations and scale of a combined entity behind the new app giving it a good chance of success with the overseas Australian diaspora , and the ability to make money through geo-located, targeted advertising (for example UK, EU and US/Canada).

2 Likes