This Month
Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison is Network Ten’s new owner
New documents reveal the billionaire will control 77.5 per cent of Network Ten’s ultimate owner. But this does not end the uncertainty for the home of MasterChef.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
July
WIN, Southern Cross consider selling TV stations to Network Ten
A relatively small sale of regional broadcast assets could open the door for WIN owner Bruce Gordon to take a larger stake in Nine Entertainment.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
The TV networks’ big annual parties aren’t a good look this year
Cost-conscious broadcasters are set to overhaul their new season show reveals – champagne-fuelled events known as upfronts.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
Network Ten owner sold to ‘Top Gun’ billionaires
The billionaire family behind Oracle Corporation along with ‘Mission Impossible’ and ‘Top Gun’ films will take control of the network in a complex deal.
- Nick Bonyhady
Network Ten wavers on turning off broadcast across swath of WA
The regional signal – a joint venture between Seven West Media and WIN Corporation – will remain on air only after more funding from the federal government.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
June
Directors at Network Ten owner Paramount back merger with Skydance
The global media company, which owns Network Ten in Australia, is up for sale by its billionaire owner Shari Redstone.
- Christopher Palmeri, Lucas Shaw and Michelle F. Davis
May
- Opinion
- Media & marketing
New laws risk the end of free sports on TV
The government has one chance of modernising how broadcast rights are organised. Otherwise, iconic sporting events will be harder to find.
- Greg Hywood
Ten settles its Lehrmann bill, but from a shrinking purse
New accounts show Ten had almost $1 million set aside for litigation and legal bills before the Bruce Lehrmann defamation matter officially began.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
April
Private equity vs billionaires: Fight for Ten owner claims first scalp
Bob Bakish has stepped down as CEO of Paramount Global, the owner of Network Ten. With an ownership battle raging abroad, its Australian managers must watch on.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
Higgins memoir on ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ parties at Parliament House
Pages from Brittany Higgins’ unpublished memoir, which have been tendered in a defamation trial, reveal more grubby behaviour at the top of politics.
- Hannah Wootton and Tom McIlroy
- Analysis
- Defamation
Ten flips the Higgins narrative against Seven
Judge Michael Lee must decide if a man who may have lied to his lawyers, judges and the public has a reputation worthy of being protected.
- Aaron Patrick
March
Making excuses for weak margins has ended: Healius CEO
In a closed-door staff briefing, the new boss of the struggling pathology group said the company had not “done a good enough job” of setting up “for success”.
- Simon Evans
February
Major betting companies want their own TV channels
Entain has sought to buy direct access to Australian audiences via its own free-to-air TV channel, which could be exempt from gambling advertising changes.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones and Zoe Samios
As billionaires vie for Paramount, a Network 10 sale looks more likely
What happens to Ten as David Ellison, media mogul Byron Allen and PE firm Apollo look at wresting control of Paramount from Shari Redstone?
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
December 2023
James Packer buys up $US80m stake in Ten owner, Paramount Global
Mr Packer returned to the world of media earlier this year as an investor in broadcaster Alan Jones’ Australian Digital Holdings.
- Primrose Riordan
October 2023
Ten banks on nostalgia, older viewers in prime-time ratings push
It once pitched itself as the young, hip network. With many of those viewers heading to streaming services, the broadcaster is bringing back well-known formats.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
- Exclusive
- MasterChef
MasterChef’s Melissa Leong axed from judging line-up
Leong joined MasterChef Australia alongside co-hosts Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo in 2019 after the exit of Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris.
- Zoe Samios
September 2023
- Exclusive
- Media & marketing
Amazon demands 30pc of ad revenue from TV networks’ apps
Broadcasters have discussed pulling their apps from Amazon’s Fire TV devices after the global technology giant demanded 30 per cent of advertising revenue.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
July 2023
Van Onselen loses Network Ten contract breach lawsuit
The NSW Supreme Court found van Onselen breached his contract, but did not grant the injunction sought by Ten.
- Neve Brissenden
How much is a political editor worth anyway?
The ABC’s recent cost cuts, and last week’s court case involving Peter van Onselen, have put a spotlight on the role (and cost) of senior reporters in Canberra.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones and Mark Di Stefano