After an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, pay TV and internet provider AUSTAR admitted “its contracts were likely to mislead consumers and breach Australian Consumer Law.” Plus other media news of the day.
Austar
Mayne: Austar intervention opens way to challenge Murdoch gerrymander
Another day, another blow to the world’s most powerful media empire.
Do ACCC doubts mark the end of media concentration in Australia?
Has the ACCC signalled an end to media concentration in Australia by raising significant doubts about the $2 billion takeover bid from Foxtel for regional Pay TV group, Austar?
Murdoch’s BSkyB bid fails, is Austar next?
With News Corp’s BSkyB bid abandoned ahead of what would have been a unanimous vote in the UK Parliament, Rupert Murdoch is clearly vulnerable.
Media briefs: Dept of Corrections … hello Canadian HuffPo! … WikiLeaks, the musical …
In today’s Media Briefs: Suharto’s son wins damages from magazine … Oprah finale rakes highest ratings in 18 years … The life of WikiLeaks founder to be played out on stage … and more …
How Steve Fielding helped billionaires dominate media ownership
Steve Fielding retires from the Senate on June 30, but one of his lasting legacies will be the continuing flow of media deals triggered by John Howard’s liberalisation of foreign and cross-media ownership laws in 2005.
Bad ad placement … NT News watch … Al Jazeera’s revolution …
In today’s Media Briefs: inappropriate ad placement #548,958, crocodiles dominate the NT News, footage of JFK’s last night made public after 47 years, Hamish and Andy set to sign with Nine and more…
Business As Usual: While young Murdoch loses the plot, Thomas the Tank Engine and Barney the Dinosaur are broke …
James Murdoch gives The Independent a piece of his f-cking mind … Greece asset prices fall right across the board … In Asia, Japan is still king of the debtors … Austar is making money hand over fist … Thomas the Tank Engine and Barney the Dinosaurare all but broke
Business As Usual: Property still booming … Pay TV in play … Murdoch’s Rosebud moment
Is Austar’s biggest investor about to pull the plug? Plus a stirring performance from Rupert Murdoch, car sales up, a chilly winter for Europe’s retail sector, and other business bits from around the globe.
New SBS arts channel in the works
Pay-TV arts channel, Ovation, has been given the flick by Foxtel and Austar to make way for a new arts channel from SBS, which hopes to attract a younger and more male demographic.
Optus accidently spills new Pay TV channel details online
Optus has accidentally revealed details of the new Pay TV channels that will be launched later this year, including five new movie channels and one dedicated entirely to makeovers (no, really). The leaked info was quickly removed, but Media Spy has it all saved.
The shining star in the media universe: pay TV
Pay TV is turning out to be one of the biggest money spinners in the media sector, with reported increased earnings across Australia and the UK.
Austar execs get cashed up
Austar believe so much in the company that now the shares have weakened, they are making the first in a controversial long term incentive program next Tuesday in cash, writes Glenn Dyer.
Telstra’s year zero Foxtel fiction
Telstra’s claim that Foxtel is worth nothing in its books is surprising given its status as the country’s number one Pay TV business, writes Glenn Dyer.
A-pac hits the airwaves, beats ABC to the punch
The ABC and pay television are going head to head in a battle for access to that most valuable of natural resources, the broadcasting spectrum, writes Margaret Simons.
Digging a little deeper into Austar’s profit results
Glenn Dyer translates the words and numbers in Austar’s profit results with surprising results.
Austar looking ripe for a takeover
Regional Pay TV group, Austar, has shown why it’s one of the three big media plays left in this country with very solid third quarter earnings, writes Glenn Dyer.
Media briefs and TV ratings
Geared up media sector is “fully priced” … More fines handed out for UK competition rorts … Last night’s TV ratings.
Foxtel to run for cash as Hoyts proves a dud
The three shareholders in Foxtel, (Telstra, News and PBL), have decided to start running the urban Pay TV monopoly for cash after the attempt to merge with regional rival, Austar failed.
The C7 case: The knives are out, unsheathed and sharpened for Kerry Stokes
From the way everyone is gleefully piling in to Kerry Stokes in the wake of his comprehensive defeat in the C7 case, we can conclude that he is no longer regarded as an underdog, and that the mighty media moguls he has antagonised intend to make him feel the cost of his impertinence.
Media mergers: now who is the biggest of them all?
Is Fairfax Media — and the Fairfax family — now the biggest giant on the media scene?
