All the huffing and puffing on anti-siphoning doesn’t change that the opposition and minor parties have virtually no options if they don’t like what the government offers.
Pay tv
US spending cuts, cable TV drop-off don’t augur well for News results
Overnight we had a taste of what might be ahead for News when Comcast, America’s biggest cable TV group, revealed a fall in earnings despite higher revenues and advertising income.
On-the-run decision making aside, Senator Conroy, where’s our media policy?
Surely, surely, it is time Stephen Conroy and his department took a deep breath, sat back and actually tried to come up with a media policy. One with a coherent philosophy and clear aims.
Mungo MacCallum: Here’s the Goss — Abbott may struggle to win the media war
By saying the government’s $250m rebate to TV networks looks like a bribe, Tony Abbott has opened up a new front bin the media wars. Will the high risk strategy of aligning himself with the Pay TV media moguls work?
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.
Foxtel and the strange case of BBC World News
The BBC World News has been demoted from its prominent place on the first screen of the news and documentaries channel listings on Foxtel, writes Christopher Scanlon.
Looming GE-Comcast deal may out-flank Murdoch
While he has been obsessing about the internet and free content, Rupert Murdoch may be about to be out-flanked by the looming deal between General Electric and Comcast over NBC.
Pay TV’s biggest nightmare is GO
Nine Network’s new channel GO last night hit a unique milestone: it equalled the share of SBS’s main analogue channel. Was it just because last night didn’t have any high profile sports events?
Sports, TV and anti-siphoning laws: tripe for the picking
Major sporting organisations claim that anti-siphoning laws are bad for viewers, Foxtel argue it would be bad for sporting codes to have their sports shown to as many people as possible, and Rupert Murdoch is threatening to force his US cable rivals to pay him for carrying his Fox TV network.
Pay-through-the-nose TV: Foxtel prices may double
Big changes are afoot at Foxtel: new channels, a curious new name, a free iQ for most customers… and a possible price hike from $50 to $88 a month.
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.
How Telstra split opens up Foxtel ownership
The announcement that Telstra must separate its retail and wholesale division — including a sell-off of its 50% Foxtel stake — should make Consolidated Media a prime takeover target. Let the media mogul battle begin.
News Corp brings out the knife for Star TV
News Corp’s cost cutting and job shedding continues, with the US head office planning to put the cleaners through the Star Satellite Pay TV business spanning Asia.
Model TV ratings for Fox8 finale
The live finale of Australia’s Next Top Model broke records as Fox8’s most watched show ever.
Hypocrisy watch: Foxtel lectures Free to Air TV on competition
Foxtel CEO Kim Williams spoke yesterday about the need for greater competition in TV. Perhaps the problem is more that he’s just about to get some.
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.
Pay v. public: the battle for relevance in broadcasting
The pay television sector has made a comprehensive and pointed challenge to the ABC and SBS and their claims on the public purse, writes Margaret Simons.
Foxtel outfoxes the ABC — again
Foxtel has again dealt a devastating blow to the major core competence of the ABC, News and Public Affairs, writes Peter Cox.
Mark Scott, Pay TV and Rudd’s public affairs channel
It must be grim to watch the PM give the opposition a hand when they pinch your best ideas, writes Margaret Simons.
Stephen Conroy hearts Free-TV
Stephen Conroy is shaping up as the biggest friend of the free-to-air networks in ages – and given the track record of both sides of politics, that is saying something, writes Bernard Keane.
Digging a little deeper into Austar’s profit results
Glenn Dyer translates the words and numbers in Austar’s profit results with surprising results.
Commercial Free-to-air TV in free fall?
James Packer’s decision to cash in his chips at Channel Nine is looking like a better bet with every day.
