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ADH TV’s co-founder Jack Bulfin. The company has been negotiating with Southern Cross for some of its television assets.

Conservative broadcaster ADH TV firms on regional free-to-air network

Licences covering Tasmania, Darwin and a swathe of South Australia were put up for sale by ASX-listed Southern Cross Austereo last year.

  • Kylar Loussikian
Chief Executive Officer Lachlan Murdoch said on the company’s earnings call that Fox saw record political ad revenue during the first half of fiscal 2025.

Fox sales, profit surge; company plans new streaming service

Shares in the media company soared to their highest in nearly six years as its quarterly results were bolstered by higher US political ad spending.

  • Updated
  • Hannah Miller

Yesterday

Federal Court secretly suppresses Seven’s workplace dirty laundry

The judge did not alert news outlets until after the decision to withhold the claims had been made, despite previous attempts to oppose the move.

  • Max Mason

This Month

Ross Thornton has departed Sodali.

Corporate fixer Ross Thornton abruptly quits Sodali

It’s been barely a year since Sodali & Co was celebrating its acquisition of comms powerhouse Domestique. It’s already lost one of the biggest names.

  • Hannah Wootton
Joseph Sua’ali’i taps the ball to a support player during the Wallabies’ win against England.

Wallabies stand to bank millions under new TV bonus linked to wins

Nine is in the final stages of securing a new five-year deal to broadcast rugby union worth more than $210 million that pays up if the Wallabies can turn their form around.

  • Zoe Samios
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January

Len Blavatnik has sunk more than $US6 billion into Dazn, the streaming service he hopes to make the Spotify of sport.

Foxtel’s new owner Len Blavatnik makes a $10b bet on big sport

The Soviet Union-born businessman made his first billion in the oil industry before reinventing himself as a music mogul. Can he pull off his third act?

  • Updated
  • Kylar Loussikian and Zoe Samios
DeepSeek is accused of hoovering up OpenAI’s data.

The sweet irony of OpenAI’s DeepSeek beef

OpenAI thinks DeepSeek took its private data to train its models; the hearts of writers, artists, musicians and journalists around the world must bleed for it.

  • Paul Smith
Hamish McLennan, chairman of ARN Media, which owns KIIS FM.

ARN blasts archaic ownership laws, says it would ‘look at’ Nine Radio

The high-profile media executive says ownership restrictions should be scrapped in a world where local companies are competing against massive global players.

  • Kylar Loussikian
Today Show presenter Alex Cullen has left Nine following an incident involving a $50,000 cash prize.

Alex Cullen to leave Nine after accepting $50,000 from billionaire

Alex Cullen, who presented on popular breakfast program Today, was stood down last weekend after accepting the money from Adrian Portelli for on-air comments.

  • Updated
  • Zoe Samios
Donald Trump and Joe Biden debating at CNN’s Atlanta studios.

CNN sacks 200 employees as news broadcaster faces ‘profound’ shift

The cable network let go of 6 per cent of its workforce as it focuses on streaming and digital audiences amid declining ratings.

  • Updated
  • Jeremy Barr
Jake Paul lands a left to Mike Tyson during their heavyweight boxing match which became the most streamed sporting event in history in November.

Netflix refines its sports plan as Jake Paul helps wow investors

The streaming service says acquiring the rights to stream full seasons of sport makes no economic sense, despite success with the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match.

  • Amelia McGuire
The ACCC is suing Coles and Woolworths, accusing them of sham discounts.

Woolworths and Coles remain top Aussie brands despite court action

Commonwealth Bank has reclaimed the title of Australia’s most valuable brand after delivering a $10 billion full-year cash profit in 2024.

  • Zoe Samios
A scene from the December picket line outside the London offices of the Guardian and Observer.

Why it’s an unhappy new year at Guardian HQ

The ructions at the Australian arm echo the reports of low morale and spiky political divisions at the left-liberal news outlet’s London head office.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
Prince Harry

Prince Harry takes on Murdoch in high-stakes trial

The prince’s lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s UK tabloids begins this week, with potential consequences for the royal family and the media baron.

  • Mark Landler
ChatGPT can compile lists of interview questions.

OpenAI deal shows the value of journalism to AI giants

A commercial deal between ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and US publisher Axios is relatively small, but highlights the value big tech platforms should be paying for.

  • Paul Smith
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A Saudi Pro League football match at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. The kingdom is pouring money into sport and broadcasting.

Saudi Arabia nears deal to take big stake in Foxtel’s new owner DAZN

The investment would value the British sports streaming business, in which News Corp will have a six per cent holding, at more than $16 billion.

  • Kylar Loussikian
Former News Corp Australia chief executive Peter Tonagh will join the Nine board.

Former Foxtel chief executive Peter Tonagh to join Nine board

The businessman has recently left the ABC board, where he was deputy chairman. His appointment comes amid a broader overhaul of the media group’s management.

  • Kylar Loussikian
Donald Trump said he thought Facebook had “come a long way”, adding that Mark Zuckerberg was “probably” responding to threats he previously made against him.

Meta’s ‘free speech’ overhaul sparks advertisers’ concern

Ad bosses say the move to end fact-checking and weaken hate speech policies could cost the platform, where marketing makes up most of its $220b in annual sales.

  • Hannah Murphy and Daniel Thomas
Amanda Laing was Nine’s managing director until 2017. She went on to work for Foxtel, but left last year.

Amanda Laing firms for mega Nine broadcast job amid restructure

The former Foxtel executive left the News Corp-run pay television business last year. She could soon oversee Nine’s television, radio and Stan.

  • Kylar Loussikian
John Wylie (left) with Vidhur Rangaswamy and Lee Micelburough, the portfolio manager and investment manager of Tanarra’s Long Term Value Fund.

John Wylie’s Tanarra Capital takes Nine stake after share price slide

The former investment banker is known for pushing companies his firm holds stakes in, from Lendlease to Tabcorp, to make major changes and spin off assets.

  • Kylar Loussikian

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/media-and-marketing-5z7