New media reform brawl brews between government, companies

Media companies are dismayed by the government’s media reform package, raising the prospect of another clash.

Regional News

Media companies including ­Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Kerry Stokes’s Seven West Media are dismayed by the government’s reform package, raising the prospect of another clash over contentious changes in an election year.

News Corp (publisher of The Australian) and Seven believe the changes do not sufficiently ­address the speed of change in an age of disruptive technology, ­although other media operators have offered full support.

Executive chairman of News Corp Australasia Michael Miller has labelled a draft reform bill “disappointing” by limiting the scope of reform to just two changes to the regulatory framework. “It will be even more disa­ppointing if at the end of the process only minimal changes were achieved,” Mr Miller said.

Chief executive of Seven Group Ryan Stokes said Communications Minister Mitch Fifield’s proposal did not offer a “holistic” solution to the problems posed by a highly regulated communications environment shaped by legislation that predated many of the developments in digital media.

“Without looking at the laws in their entirety, it’s an opportunity forgone,” Mr Stokes said.

The Seven, Ten and Nine networks will be allowed to merge with regional affiliates WIN Corp, Southern Cross Austereo and Prime Media Group under sweeping reforms cleared by cabinet on Monday night.

A draft bill also proposes axing the three-way control regulation or so-called ‘2 out of 3’ rule in a move that would enable a person to control commercial television and broadcasting licences and newspapers in a single market.

But the government has left the controversial antisiphoning reg­ime intact, a long list of sporting events ringfenced for the free-to-air networks. The regulation prevents pay-TV firm Foxtel bidding for rights, but has not been ­extended to telcos and internet-based TV services. “We are disappointed that, ­despite the broad recognition that Australia’s media laws are outdated, the government is proposing that only the reach and 2-out-of-3 rules be changed,” Mr Miller said. “The fact that broader media reform issues such as the anti­siphoning regime are not part of the proposal makes it difficult to accept this as genuine media ­reform.”

Mr Stokes, whose company owns 39 per cent of commercial network Seven, said he was against piecemeal reform amid the biggest upheaval in the local media sector for a generation as audiences fragment and the internet disrupted traditional business models. “We’re eager to see ­reform, but for us reform has to ­involve looking at how the industry competes into the future.”

A spokeswoman for Senator Fifield confirmed the government had begun the process. “The government has long made clear its desire to modernise media law in the face of digital disruption and increased global media compe­tition,” the spokeswoman said.

A raft of media companies ­welcomed the plan as a shot in the arm for regional broadcasters. A new set of safeguards set local content requirements for networks in regional areas, meeting a concern among Nationals and rural Liberals about the closure of local newsrooms.

Chief executive of Southern Cross Austereo Grant Blackley said the move was a “very positive development” in a “challenged ­regional TV market … We are keen for reform to progress through the parliament as soon as possible,” Mr Blackley, whose reg­ional TV services ­include a nightly news bulletin in Tasmania, said.

Southern Cross’s Tasmania service, which reaches 500,000, has been serving the community from its Launceston headquarters since 1963. It has 16 full-time staff ­including journalists and camera operators producing stories of local importance such as this ­summer’s bushfires. Mr Blackley said Southern Cross would be in a stronger position to maintain this service.

WIN Corp chief Andrew Lancaster said the current rules had been in place for decades. “These rules were from a pre-internet era and the sooner they are removed the better,” Mr Lancaster said.

Another media boss calling for media reform is Prime Media Group chief Ian Audsley. “This will hopefully see an end to analog media laws in a rapidly changing digital world where ­regional broadcasters are under pressure,” Mr Audsley said.

Network Ten chief Paul Ander­son was broadly supportive, but pressed the case for cuts to TV licence fees. “The abolition of the highest television licence fees in the world are now urgent,” Mr ­Anderson said.

APN News & Media boss ­Ciaran Davis, whose radio business runs the KIIS and Pure Gold networks, said he would like to see “equal treatment between radio and TV”. “Radio did not benefit from the previous reduction in fees in 2012 and as an industry we remain in discussions with the minister on this issue,” he said.

Additional reporting: Jake Mitchell