“At its core this case was first and foremost about truth and Justice Lee has found that Network 10 prevailed in proving that Brittany Higgins’ allegations of rape were true.
“This judgment is a triumph for truth.
“Justice Lee’s judgment is vindication for the courageous Brittany Higgins who gave a voice to women across the nation.
“Network 10 is considering Justice Lee’s 324-page judgment. It is clear however that Australia’s defamation laws remain highly restrictive.
“When put to the test, it was always our obligation to inform the public of these important social and political matters notwithstanding the challenges presented by these laws and today’s judgment vindicates the telling of Brittany’s story.
“Network 10 remains firmly committed to honest, fair and independent journalism; to holding those in power to account; to giving people a voice who wouldn’t otherwise have one; and to always pursuing without fear or favour, journalism that is firmly in the public interest.”
Reportedly this deal would have Sony Pictures split off and merged with Paramount Global, with Sony the majority owner. Basically this would mean Apollo wouldn’t have a stake in just Paramount but all of Sony Pictures like Columbia, SPT, etc.
One interesting part:
It is unclear what would happen to the 28 local TV stations CBS owns; FCC rules bar foreign entities (i.e. Tokyo-based Sony) from having majority ownership control of broadcast TV stations, so Sony would need to carve out a separate U.S. ownership structure for the station group.
Could we see 10 sold off to the new CBS owner? Sony have never been interested in owning tv stations, preferring to sell programs to the highest bidder. Could be bundled with CBS (as I said) as well as a few other stations worldwide like 5 UK.
Sony has never had an interest in streaming either (except for niche services like Crunchyroll), like you said they like to sell to the highest bidder.
But with TV, they do however have several international networks. Whilst Apollo could possibly take the CBS licenses, ownership of Paramount’s cable and international networks could remain in the overall joint deal.
Depends on the country, Sony have fairly extensive television and streaming operations in India, I think it’s just them figuring out what works in a given market rather than a preference for sales over ownership.
Not being allowed to own the CBS broadcast assets probably helps them avoid what will be a depreciating asset, but I don’t imagine they would fire sale the other TV assets they are allowed to own.
It is amusing all these mergers are ending up with somewhat stranded broadcast networks, like Fox after the Disney purchase, but I think that if you have to pick you choose the streaming and production parts of these companies.
Going private would be good if they can stick to it, the publicly listed companies have been destroying themselves trying to deliver the impossible growth that the market expects, so it might bring some stability to what Paramount can produce, and if they keep it maybe to Ten.
Paramount purchased FTA TV networks in UK, Chile and Australia primarily to act as a massive marketing aid for P+
The air time that is “free” to be able to market and promote their streamer is invaluable.
If P+ is shut down, merged, spun off from Para Global (likely) then then the new owner of Para Global will likely have no need for Channel 5 UK and Channel 10 in Oz.
I’m not sure who will pick up 10 - but I think you’ll see it down sized even more if it is not part of a Global Ent company.
In theory, could Seven or Nine buy 10, then keep best performing shows (I’m a Celebrity, Have You Been Paying Attention, The Cheap Seats), presenters, reporters, etc - then get rid of any excess staff, facilities, channels, etc.
Might need approval from the ACMA and the ACCC, but could be an actual option if Seven or Nine want to expand.
Been down that road before - don’t want to contemplate that scenario again.
Ideally not much changes in terms of structure and they go wherever the CBS stations go and maintain some form of premium streaming and good access to content from the parent company etc but who knows…
The future of 10 is likely a streaming/digital like business. 2030/40s will look different, that’s a given, networks will need to work harder, margins will slip, efficiencies will be key.
Already seeing considerable audience shifts at the moment. Look the total ratings pool for breakfast TV vs a decade back. New format launches are not launching to what they once would.
Ten News just isn’t even worth producing. That needs to go.
Well we do know that in 2022 10 had revenues of $650m and made a profit of around $42m. So there’s money to be made in the current structure. It would seem by the ASIC reporting that these figures are just the FTA network and don’t include P+, MTV etc.
But ideally they need to be linked to an international streamer to continue to diversify the content.
As a licensee they need to have 55% local content between 6am-Midnight each day on average. So th need to maintain some level of local content.
