Coonan clears the way for media revolution

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Helen Coonan last night opened the door to the biggest shake-up of the media industry in 20 years, saying sweeping new ownership laws for the industry will take effect from Wednesday.

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Helen Coonan last night opened the door to the biggest shake-up of the media industry in 20 years, saying sweeping new ownership laws for the industry will take effect from Wednesday.

The laws will abolish cross-media and foreign ownership restrictions, and could create a "free-for-all" in radio, television and print in capital city markets.

The proclamation could allow new foreign players to enter the media sector, with overseas companies no longer facing restrictions barring them from buying leading Australian assets.

Takeover targets being eyed by local and foreign predators include West Australian Newspapers, Southern Cross Broadcasting, Fairfax Media, Prime Television, NBN and Austereo.

The Seven Network already holds a 14.9 per cent stake in Perth-based West Australian Newspapers, and appears poised to strengthen its stake in the new media landscape.

Macquarie Media has moved to a 13.8 per cent stake in Southern Cross which owns 2UE in Sydney, 3AW in Melbourne and a host of regional television and radio stations.

Senator Coonan yesterday said the changes to the media ownership laws would "encourage greater competition, and allow media companies to achieve economies of scale and scope, while maintaining the diversity of Australia's media landscape".

But they have attracted criticism in some quarters.

A spokesman for News Limited, publisher of The Australian, said last night the package "won't deliver the intended benefits to consumers and will simply lead to industry consolidation among entrenched players who won't have any incentive to drive digital take-up".

Existing local media barons will be free to exploit the removal of the cross-media ownership restrictions that have painted proprietors as "princes of print" or "queens of the screen" for more than 20 years.

Companies will now be able to control media across two of the three major categories - radio, TV and print. Under the current regime, they can broadly control assets in only one of those media.

Rules that protect against media concentration in any one geographic area across Australia - largely to placate Nationals figures such as senator Barnaby Joyce - will see a minimum of five independent voices mandated in the metropolitan market, and four in regional markets.

A media register released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority earlier this week cleared the way for the four largest local media companies - News, the Seven Network, PBL and Fairfax - to expand major capital city holdings.