Business of Media
ARN Media raids Southern Cross Media, Jefferies on board
ARN Media snapped up a 14.8 per cent in its major rival – Triple M radio station owner Southern Cross Media Group – on Monday night, reports The Australian’s Bridget Carter.
The company, previously known as Here, There and Everywhere or HT&E, had investment bank Jefferies making efforts to buy the shares, as first revealed online by DataRoom.
They closed at 76c, with Southern Cross Media’s market value at $182m.
A term sheet sent to investors said shares were being sought at $1.08 each, a 42.1 per cent premium to the last Southern Cross share price of 76c and a 42.5 per cent premium to its average trading price over 5 days.
ARN Media was looking to buy up to 14.8 per cent, which it had secured before the bid deadline of 7pm.
ARN Media does not currently have an economic interest in Southern Cross Media Group.
An acquisition of a position over 15 per cent requires future approval of the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Disney succession: Will a new CFO have keys to the kingdom?
At the Walt Disney Co., the CFO job has long been intertwined with rumors of succession, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin.
In an earlier era, Tom Staggs had been Disney’s CFO, before moving to oversee its parks business and then to the COO position, where he was widely seen as a possible successor to Bob Iger.
Jay Rasulo, who succeeded Staggs as CFO, stepped down from the role after Staggs’ promotion to COO, as the Iger deputies grappled over who would become second-in-command to Iger, the entertainment industry’s honorary captain.
Neither of those executives are still with Disney. And yet nearly a decade later, Iger is still in charge in his second tour as CEO, and the CFO role is once again throwing a wrench in Disney’s succession drama.
Christine McCarthy, who was named Disney’s CFO in 2015 following Rasulo’s resignation, said on June 15 that she would take a family medical leave of absence, though she would remain under contract with Disney through June 2024, to help onboard a possible successor.
Like Staggs and Rasulo, McCarthy was at one point seen as a possible CEO successor, notably after the surprise ouster of Bob Chapek last November. And like her predecessors, Iger is poised to outlast her stay.
Germany’s best-selling newspaper Bild to replace editors with AI as it cuts jobs
Bild, Germany’s best-selling newspaper, is cutting hundreds of jobs and replacing its editors with artificial intelligence (AI) as it attempts to turn a corner following a string of sex scandals, reports The Telegraph’s James Warrington.
The tabloid newspaper has embarked on a radical overhaul of its business model as it looks to stem a decline in readership and rehabilitate its reputation.
Bild, which is owned by publishing giant Axel Springer, told staff on Monday it was making sweeping redundancies as part of a move away from print towards digital journalism.
The exact number of job cuts has not been disclosed, but is believed to be in the low hundreds. Bild said many of the roles will be replaced with AI.
In a message to staff, seen by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, bosses said the company would “unfortunately part ways with colleagues whose jobs will be replaced by AI and/or automated processes in the digital world, or who do not find themselves in this new line-up with their current skills”.
They added: “Roles such as editors, print production journalists, proofreaders, photo editors and assistants will no longer exist like they do today.”
News Brands
‘It’s change or death’: Leigh Sales on ABC restructure
ABC journalist Leigh Sales has backed the public broadcaster’s decision to restructure, arguing that it must continue to evolve to remain relevant to audiences, or risk death, reports Nine Publishing’s Nell Geraets.
The organisation announced sweeping changes on Thursday, as a result of which, 120 jobs including that of national political editor Andrew Probyn will become redundant. State news bulletins on Sunday night will be replaced with one national bulletin, and the organisation’s two most senior arts journalists will be made redundant.
Sales, who helmed the current affairs program 7.30 for over a decade and currently hosts Australian Story, said redundancies in any workplace were difficult, but an unfortunate reality.
“I’ve been at the ABC for a long time, so I’ve been through lots of periods of people being made redundant. It’s always really sad because you see good people go, so it’s always upsetting,” she said.
“But the reality is that I know the way I consume media has changed so drastically – I don’t watch anything now on a schedule, I literally timeshift every single thing that I watch. So, I just accept the reality that things are different now, and we have to keep adapting and evolving and changing if we want to remain relevant to the audience. So while it’s always sad to see things change – and change is always hard – it’s change or death basically in the media landscape.”
Asked whether the restructuring could trigger changes to her own position at the ABC, Sales said she believed her role would not be altered.
Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media considers major shake-up of brands
Seven West Media is considering a major shake-up of its brands and corporate structure in an attempt to streamline the business, engaging three marketing strategy and analytics firms as advisors, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
The ASX-listed media group, controlled by billionaire businessman Kerry Stokes, owns the Seven Network, The West Australian newspaper and operates an investment arm known as Seven West Ventures.
The company’s shares have remained relatively unchanged over the last 12 months, but are down from highs of 75¢ last February. Seven West shares rose 1¢ on Monday morning to trade at 40¢, giving the company a market capitalisation of just over $632.6 million.
The brand review is being conducted by Seven West with the assistance of M&C Saatchi-owned agency Re, ARN Media-backed creative agency Emotive, and a consultancy called Forethought, The Australian Financial Review has confirmed. Seven West declined to comment.
Television
How did Logies arrive at Popular nominations this year?
Yesterday a flurry of shows were celebrating their Logie nominations for 2023 in either (or both) Popular and Outstanding categories, reports TV Tonight.
See Also: Nominees for the 63rd TV WEEK Logie Awards revealed with new changes to gold voting
The revamp of the Popular categories, which previously entailed viewers helping collate a shortlist from lengthy shopping lists of shows. This was agreed to in 2019 following some criticism that social media campaigns had hijacked them.
In 2023 industry judges determined the Popular nominees after networks submitted just 6 candidates per category for shows broadcast between 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023,on a major metropolitan free-to-air network, subscription TV network or subscription streaming service.
Judges determined nominees based on a criteria of audience impact and engagement, PR and social media reach and 28-day consolidated viewing figure or, in the case of SVODs which keep numbers under wraps, other audience data.
The public decides the winner of Popular categories through a wide voting campaign (which ironically could still see social media play a big part).
Sports Media
Ben Cousins: Former West Coast Eagles great to read sports news for Seven
More than 27 years after making his AFL debut, Ben Cousins has clocked up another significant career first — on the desk, reading the sports news, for Seven, reports Perth Now’s Tim Clarke.
In a first for the network, and for the former West Coast great, Cousins read the sports headlines in the Perth network’s morning bulletin on Monday.
It was not only a significant move for the network, it was also another major step in Cousins’ rehabilitation from his well-documented off-field issues.
The 44-year-old has ignited an impressive comeback in his personal and professional life — with a spot fronting the sports bulletin another major milestone.
The role is in addition to using the Brownlow medallist’s expertise in breaking down the week’s play on Thursday nights.
“It’s been fun. A journey, but I’m learning every day,” Cousins said.
“I can tell you, as the words scroll through, it’s harder than it looks.”