Submission 007 Received 12 April 2013 Submission 007 Received 12 April 2013 Joint Select Committee on Broadcasting Legislation Additional Information Requested by the Committee Public Hearings, 18 March 2013 Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Commercial television broadcasting licensees – current holdings of ‘regulated media assets’ Controller TV audience TV licences Radio licences Associated reach (%) newspapers Seven West Media 73.8 6 9 2 Nine Entertainment Co. 59.4 6 - - Ten Network 66.7 5 - - Prime Media Group 24.4 13 10 - WIN Corporation 38.9 23 2 - Southern Cross 34.1 19 80 - Note: the audience reach figures in the above table have been calculated using the population figures determined by the ACMA under section 30 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (‘the section 30 schedule’). This section 30 schedule is based on the population figures contained in the 2006 Census. Submission 007 Received 12 April 2013 Ownership and control rules 75 per cent audience reach rule Subsection 53(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (BSA) provides that a person must not be in a position to exercise control of commercial television broadcasting licences whose combined licence area populations exceed 75 per cent of the population of Australia. Subsection 55(1) and 55(2) establish similar restrictions for a director of a company, or of 2 or more companies that are, between them, in a position to exercise control of commercial television broadcasting licences. An audience reach rule was first introduced in 1987 and set at 60 per cent. This was increased to 75 per cent in 1992. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is responsible for determining the population of licence areas under section 30 of the BSA, having regard to the most recently published Census. Section 52 provides that, if as a result of a new determination, a person would be in breach of subsections 53(1), 55(2) or 55(2), those subsections will continue to apply to the person or director as if the previous determination remained in force. In other words, a shift in the population which meant a person or director became in a position to control licences reaching more than 75 per cent of the Australian population would not, of itself, require corrective action. The following rules would remain in place after the repeal of the 75 per cent audience reach rule: Statutory control rules Subsection 53(2) of the BSA provides that a person must not be in a position to exercise control of more than one commercial television broadcasting licence in the same area. Subsections 55(3) and 55(4) establish similar restrictions for a director of a company or companies that between them control more than one commercial television broadcasting licence in the same area. Section 54 of the BSA provides that a person must not be in a position to exercise control of more than two commercial radio broadcasting licence in the same area. Section 56 establishes similar restrictions for a director of a company, or of 2 or more companies that are, between them, in a position to exercise control of more than two commercial television broadcasting licences in the same area. 2 out of 3 rule Section 61AEA of the BSA provides that there will be an unacceptable 3-way control situation in relation to a commercial radio broadcasting licence if a person is in a position to exercise control of a commercial television broadcasting licence, a commercial radio broadcasting licence area and an associated newspaper. 5/4 rule Section 61AB of the BSA provides that there will be an unacceptable media diversity situation if there are less than 5 points (or voices) in a metropolitan commercial radio licence area or less than 4 points (or voices) in a regional commercial radio licence area. ACCC competition rules In addition to the broadcasting specific rules, any proposed merger or acquisition may be subject to an ACCC assessment of whether it will, or is likely to, result in a substantial lessening of competition. The ACCC may assess matters that are referred to it by merger parties or that are brought to the ACCC’s attention by other parties, for example, through press reports or complaints by third parties. Submission 007 Received 12 April 2013 News Corporation’s Australian Media Assets1 News Corporation is a global media company that owns various media interests in Australia, including print publishing, subscription television and digital media. The company is listed on the United States NASDAQ and the Australian Securities Exchange. News Corporation’s Australian media interests are outlined below. Newspapers News Corporation wholly owns News Limited Newspapers, whose newspaper holdings in Australia are outlined below. Title Circulation Readership (Mon-Fri) (‘000s) (‘000s) Herald Sun 450 1,168 Daily Telegraph 333 842 Metropolitan Courier Mail 186 533 and national Advertiser 166 452 Australian* 122 417 Mercury 40 100 Gold Coast Bulletin 34 92 Townsville Bulletin 23 64 Regional Geelong Advertiser 22 56 Cairns Post 21 71 Northern Territory 18 36 News * The Australian is not an associated newspaper for the purposes of the current media diversity rules under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. News Limited also owns over 100 non-associated regional newspapers. Notes Circulation: average daily net paid print sales; calculated over 12 months ending December 2012; revised quarterly. (Data supplied by the Audit Bureau of Circulations) Readership: Number of people reading an average issue of each newspaper; calculated over 12 months to June 2012; revised quarterly. (Data supplied by Roy Morgan Research) The Broadcasting Services Act 1992 defines a newspaper as one that is in the English language and is published on at least 4 days in each week, but does not include a publication if less than 50% of its circulation is by way of sale. A newspaper is an ‘associated newspaper’, associated with the relevant licence area (as described below) and regulated under the media diversity rules, if the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is satisfied that: 1 This information has been prepared on the basis of publicly available information (with the exception of newspaper circulation and readership figures which were sourced from the Audit Bureau of Circulations and Roy Morgan Research). More detailed information on News Corporation’s Australian media assets would need to be sought from the company itself. Submission 007 Received 12 April 2013 at least 50% of the circulation of the newspaper is within the licence area of a commercial television broadcasting licence; or at least 50% of the circulation of the newspaper is within the licence area of a commercial radio broadcasting licence and the circulation of the newspaper within that licence area is at least 2% of the licence area population. Subscription television News Corporation owns 100 per cent of the subscription television channel provider Fox Sports and holds a 50 per cent stake in subscription television provider Foxtel. Foxtel has an estimated 2.3 million subscribers, post its merger with Austar. Digital media News Corporation also owns NewsDigitalMedia, which controls and operates the online websites of many of the company’s print publishing businesses (e.g. daily newspaper websites), along with classified sales and search engine websites (e.g. carsguide.com.au and careerone.com.au). Submission 007 Received 12 April 2013 Control of Associated Newspapers Owner Associated newspaper Radio licence areas Television licence areas The Canberra Times Canberra RA1 Southern NSW TV1 Western Advocate Bathurst RA1 Southern NSW TV1 Daily Liberal and Dubbo RA1 Southern NSW TV1 Macquarie Advocate The Herald Newcastle RA1 n/a Newcastle RA1/Muswellbrook RA1 Central Western Daily Orange RA1 Southern NSW TV1 The Sydney Morning Sydney RA1 Sydney TV1 Herald Sydney RA1/Campbelltown RA1 Sydney RA1/Katoomba RA1 Sydney RA1/Western Suburbs Sydney RA1 The Northern Daily Tamworth RA1 n/a Leader The Daily Advertiser Wagga Wagga RA1 Southern NSW TV1 Fairfax Illawarra Mercury Wollongong RA1 Southern NSW TV1 The Maitland Mercury n/a Northern NSW TV1 The North West Star Mt Isa RA1 Mt Isa TV1 RCEA TV1 The Advocate Devenport RA1 Tasmania TV1 The Examiner Launceston RA1 Tasmania TV1 The Border Mail Albury RA1 Eastern Victoria TV1 Regional Victoria TV1 Western Victoria TV1 The Courier Ballarat RA1 Regional Victoria TV1 Western Victoria TV1 Regional Victoria TV1/Western Victoria TV1 Regional Victoria TV1/Eastern Victoria TV1 The Bendigo Advertiser Bendigo RA1 Regional Victoria TV1 Maryborough (VIC) RA1 Western Victoria TV1 Regional Victoria TV1/Eastern Victoria TV1 Regional Victoria TV1/Western Victoria TV1 The Warrnambool Warrnambool RA1 Regional Victoria TV1 Standard Western Victoria TV1 Regional Victoria TV1/Eastern Victoria TV1 Regional Victoria TV1/Western Victoria TV1 The Age Melbourne RA1 Melbourne TV1 Melbourne RA1/Geelong RA1 Submission 007 Received 12 April 2013 The Daily Examiner Grafton RA1 n/a The Northern Star Lismore RA1 n/a The Bundaberg Bundaberg RA1 Regional QLD TV1 NewsMail The Observer Rockhampton RA1 Regional QLD TV1 The Gympie Times Gympie RA1 Regional QLD TV1 APN The Queensland Times Ipswich RA1 Brisbane TV1 The Daily Mercury Mackay RA1 Regional QLD TV1 Sunshine Coast Daily Nambour RA1 Regional QLD TV1 Nambour RA1/Gympie RA1 Fraser Coast Chronicle Maryborough RA1 Regional QLD TV1 The Morning Bulletin Rockhampton RA1 Regional QLD TV1 The Chronicle Toowoomba/Warwick RA1 Regional QLD TV1 Warwick Daily News n/a Regional QLD TV1 The