Regional broadcasters seek approval to merge

Most television broadcasters have slashed jobs.

Regional free-to-air television broadcasters have not given up hope on embarking on a three-way consolidation play and are continuing to lobby the federal government for such a plan to occur.

Southern Cross Media Group for some time has been spearheading a plan to bring together its television operations with those of Prime Media Group and WIN Corporation.

However, media and competition laws prohibit such a transaction. The laws stipulate that regional areas need four traditional media voices and five in a city.

However, the broadcasters take the position that the laws are out of date with the emergence of global media giants.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission would also need to be convinced to offer its approval.

A plan for consolidation was put to Communications Minister Paul Fletcher late last year and a report by KordaMentha was conducted about the impact on the industry should consolidation not occur.

While the report explored how long the companies would remain financially viable, it did not consider the services that would be lost should the broadcasters withdraw from the market.

Top executives from the companies are understood to have written to the minister numerous times about the law changes and are still awaiting a response after putting the plan to Mr Fletcher.

Already, most television broadcasters have slashed jobs, including Southern Cross, axing 100 positions last year, and WIN last year closed newsrooms in Orange, Dubbo, Albury and Wagga Wagga in NSW and the Wide Bay area in Queensland.

Southern Cross is known to be open to selling its television operations should a buyer come forward with the right price. For the 2020 financial year, television generated $19.5m in underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation despite the effects of the pandemic.

It had 34.5 per cent of audience share and 37.6 per cent of commercial market share in the second half of the 2020 financial year.

TV broadcaster Prime Media Group delivered a $6.6m net profit. Wollongong-based WIN Corporation is privately held by Bruce Gordon, who is the deputy chairman of the company.