SWM doesn’t own any radio stations currently after it sold off the Redwave WA network to SCA. Also, changes in Australia’s media ownership rules a few years ago mean SWM can now own TV, radio and newspaper in the same city (e.g. Perth).
If you’re referring to its radio stations, the following ones to be sold off due to the ‘number of voices’ rule include:
2ST/Power FM Nowra
2EC/Power FM Bega
2NM/Power FM Muswellbrook
CADA 96.1 Katoomba (CADA would continue to live on as a DAB+ station)
River 94.9 Ipswich
4BU Bundaberg
4CC/4RO Rockhampton/Gladstone
4MK Mackay
5MU/Power FM Murray Bridge
Most of those stations were acquired from Grant Broadcasters.
In the case of Bundaberg & Mackay, ARN would only have to sell its AM station & be able to keep its FM station, and still meet the ‘number of voices’ rule.
This would be a good thing to be sold off.
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Not sure why they want to invest solely in radio when their primary means of income comes from broadcast/streaming. Why aren’t they doing anything in that space?
I mean they acquired a regional network to reach almost every market in Australia, launched a new channel and they’ve got 7Plus. Not sure what else they can do in those areas? They’re clearly just trying to match up with Nine in reach.
SVOD
They tried to do a Peacock partnership with NBCU but that didn’t happen. They definitely don’t have enough content to launch one on their own and there’s no content on the market to acquire right now. What would an SVOD service from them actually be?
The only thing they could do is go after the Warner/HBO deal, but they’d need to develop a whole platform on their own and then they’ve got no other content to put on there?
It’s an expensive endeavour and the market is already extremely saturated and difficult to break into on your own. It’s only going to make sense for 7 if they can couple up with Peacock.
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No doubt to the remnants of Grant Broadcasting who still own the Geelong stations, to then network in the CADA format…
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Agree but it’s clear they don’t give a stuff about it because they announced their deal with NBCU and yet it only applies to FTA. I know Foxtel is also involved but surely Seven can in the long-term cut them loose and have NBCU stuff to themselves and work to get Peacock or whatever co-branded streaming service ready?
They’re getting left further and further behind.
That’s why I feel the dismantling of Seven Studios was a big mistake, even though the three dramas it made (Secret Bridesmaids’ Business, Between Two Worlds, Back to the Rafters) didn’t rate. It could have still made various shows and put them on 7plus.
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Wasn’t it the case that Seven did try to convince NBCU to join forces to launch Peacock but they were unsuccessful?
Could SCA buy 96.1, I mean the precedence was set with ARN owning it…3 stations in the Sydney basin…
Or am I reading this wrong…
SCA already have two stations in Sydney not rating well at all - they should concentrate on those, than trying to get 96.1
Austereo (SCA’s predecessor) tried to buy 96.1 back in the 90s, but were not allowed to, due to having a 30%+ overlap with Sydney RA1. ARN were somewhat allowed to acquire the station, as each of their three Sydney basin stations were in three different licence areas (KIIS = Sydney RA1; WSFM = Western Suburbs Sydney RA1; 96.1 = Katoomba RA1).
Ahh right…So if WS and KIIS were both RA1, they would have been cooked!
AFR’s view on SWM’s results
No sign of dividends as Seven West Media profit slides
Seven West Media will not pay a dividend for an 11th reporting period despite posting a profit of $114.9 million in a “relatively robust” advertising market.
The Kerry Stokes-controlled company, which owns the Seven Network and The West Australian, posted $814.6 million in revenue in the six months to December, a decline of 0.5 per cent compared to the prior year. Earnings before interest, tax, deprecation and amortisation fell 4.8 per cent to $205 million.
The broadcaster is forecasting operating costs for the year between $1.22 billion and $1.23 billion, including the $45 million to $50 million it will pay for a long-term agreement with NBCUniversal.
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And that’s just for this year? And we think sports rights are inflated! They’d want to start seeing returns from it via 7Bravo, 7Plus and/or broadcast content soon…
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That was why I included that quote. So far there is no sign of 7Bravo getting any traction in the broadcast area. I can’t work out what demo is might be designed to attract as it doesn’t seem to get a higher share in any demo than its total people result. Possibly 7plus is getting more traffic?
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Yeah this must surely be a channel for content’s sake (for streaming), rather than for channel’s sake.