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‘Antiquated legislation’: Catalano pushes rules overhaul in bid to create regional media giant
By Zoe Samios
Real estate entrepreneur Antony Catalano wants to combine the newsrooms of his publishing company with broadcaster Prime Media Group and will intensify his push for regulatory overhaul to realise ambitions of creating a regional media giant.
Mr Catalano, who jointly runs Australian Community Media with Melbourne rich lister Alex Waislitz, has said he is planning to launch several newspapers and will urge the federal government to review media laws that prevent him from taking full control of Prime.
Former Domain chief executive Antony Catalano wants to build a regional media company with a diversified set of media assets.Credit: Jesse Marlow
“If you look at the business that Nine has been able to create - it has newspapers, it has websites, radio stations, and they have a streaming video and a digital real estate business,” Mr Catalano told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
“ACM now has newspapers, websites, a free-to-air and a digital real-estate medium. There’s a similarity to what we’re doing. Our aspiration is to create a very sustainable multimedia business.” Nine is the owner of this masthead.
Mr Catalano was informed last week he could acquire an additional 5 per cent stake in regional television company Prime, bringing is total ownership to 19.99 per cent.
The former Domain chief executive struck a deal with WIN Corp billionaire Bruce Gordon to boost his stake last month, a trade that was subject to review by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. He also controls a 26 per cent stake in real-estate listings website, Real Estate View.
“We’d like to have a conversation with Prime about how we can start work together more closely,” Mr Catalano said. “I would love to see us become an exciting news gathering company...and have journalists that have the capacity to work across print, digital and broadcast.”
ACMA’s clearance has come with a caveat - Mr Catalano will be required to sell two of his newspapers to avoid breaching media laws - The Wagga Daily Advertiser and The Bendigo Advertiser. He is about to commence a campaign targeting federal ministers in regional areas and urge them to review media laws so he does not have to sell the two newspapers.
Under media regulation, there must be a minimum number of media voices in a market - four in regional Australia, and five in metro areas.
“We certainly need to meet with government ASAP to discuss this,” Mr Catalano said. “This requirement, which is being forced upon us by the antiquated legislation that predates smartphones and the internet is completely at odds with our goals to build a business that does not have to rely on government handouts.
“We see a future where the voices in these important regional markets can be preserved and strengthened by a vibrant and viable media business model, serving journalism and advertising across multiple platforms. That’s why we are increasing our stake in Prime.”
The increased stake in Prime comes as Mr Catalano prepares to launch a raft of newspapers in regional areas. The executive chairman of ACM declined to comment on the specific location of the new print publications, but they will be in addition to the recently launched Northern Beaches Review and Northern Rivers Review. Mr Catalano was in talks with News Corp to buy its regional division last year. The discussions fell over and resulted in the print closure of more than 100 regional and community newspapers.
Like many media companies, ACM was hit by a sharp advertising downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to receiving government funding to support the business during the pandemic, Mr Catalano has implemented several other measures to cut costs such as closing his print centres.
“We are transforming the business from a very capital heavy media company with manufacturing arms and huge capex requirements,” he said.
“In the 12 months, we’ve either sold or closed six of those printers, which has removed a heavy cost burden on the business.
“We’ve introduced digital sales, we’ve invested in journalism teams, we’ve launched additional publications. We’ve launched two with plans to launch at least another five or six new publications in the coming months.”
Mr Catalano has said his company still generates between $350 million and $400 million in revenue annually. The newspapers have more than 80,000 digital subscribers, he said, but these figures are not publicly available.