Left Field

Headline: Freeview has clear view

Australian Financial Review, pg 41. Neil Shoebridge. 4 April 2009.

Local Freeview chief executive Robin Parkes says there are no plans to follow Freeview Britain's lead and launch Top Up TV, a business that sells subscription to TV channels. The Australian Freeview will only include free-to-air networks, unlike the British version which covers both free-to-air and pay TV. Pay TV operator BSkyB has been selling channels via Top Up TV to the British audience since 2004.

Headline: Google sees nothing but growth ahead

Australian Financial Review, pg 43. Neil Shoebridge. 27 April 2009.

Karim Temsamani, general manager of Google Australasia, has denied that growth of his firm is slowing. Media experts have claimed online search advertising growth would slow in 2009 after 30 percent rises in 2008. Media agency OMD recently trimmed its forecasts. But Mr Temsamani remains bullish and said tougher economic conditions meant firms are focusing even more on returns from their advertising investments. Google is the most used website in Australia and data from Nielsen Online shows it had 10 million visitors in March. Mr Temsamani said Google approves of the Rudd government’s national broadband network plans.

Headline: Advertising's future is in your hands

Australian Financial Review, pg 43. Neil Shoebridge. 20 April 2009.

Group managing director of Telstra’s media division Justin Milne predicts the mobile phone would drive the largest change in the media and advertising industries over the next few years and move media consumption to the mobile phone. Global chief executive of London-based Aegis Media, that includes media agency Carat, Jerry Buhlmann, said the mobile phone would deliver the biggest changes in the media and advertising business over the next few years’. Mr Buhlmann said in three to five years, 4G phones would offer faster connections than broadband internet and fast downloads of television and movies. Executive chairman of media planning and buying company Mitchell Communications Group Harold Mitchell disagrees with sceptics who say companies would be reluctant to increase mobile phone marketing and annoy people. Mr Mitchell said mobile marketing campaigns would jump in the next 12 months on the back of 3G phone availability.

Headline: Pasta helps pizza giants bulk up

Australian Financial Review, pg 42. Carrie LaFrenz. 20 April 2009.

Pasta dishes have been introduced as menu items to three pizza fast food chains including Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza and Eagle Boys. Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum! Restaurants International which also owns KFC, has experienced double digit growth since it launched its pasta options in mid-January, said managing director Albert Baladi. Domino’s Pizza introduced their pasta range three weeks after Pizza Hut and chief executive Don Meij said the close timing has brought more competition into the segment. Eagle Boys have had pasta dishes on the menu since October 2007 and marketing manager Scott Hamilton said sales have been unaffected by Pizza Hut and Domino’s Pizza’s entry into the pasta market. IBISWorld figures show Domino’s Pizza is the number one pizza brand, holding nearly half of the overall fast food market, while Yum! has a 16 percent market share.

Headline: Local investors in market for commercial bargains

Australian Financial Review, pg 46. Ben Wilmot. 14 April 2009.

Real estate company DTZ says commercial property transactions increased during the first quarter as private investors moved to take advantage of bargains on the market. DTZ noted sales such as Cromwell Group's purchase of the Energex Building in Brisbane, and CBUS Property's purchase of a stake in Dexus Property Group's Bligh Street Tower in Sydney.

Headline: Fall in advertising to continue

Australian Financial Review, pg 41. Neil Shoebridge. 14 April 2009.

The fall in the media advertising market is likely to continue, according to several media analysts and buyers. 'There's nothing coming along - like a federal election or an Olympics or a big marketing war in an industry - that will lift ad spending,' according to Universal McCann's Henry Tajer. Media agency Carat's predicts a 1.9 percent fall in media ad spending for calendar 2009, with Credit Suisse forecasting a drop of 7.2 percent. 'April looks like it will be better than March,' says Mitchell Communication Group's Harold Mitchell. Starcom MediaVest's John Sintras says the March quarter was worse than media companies had expected. 'There might be a bit of a bounce in ad spending in May,' according to Barry O'Brien from media agency PHD.

Headline: Newspapers hit real-easte brick wall

Australian Financial Review, pg 43. Neil Shoebridge. 6 April 2009.

Weakening conditions in the residential property market have triggered a 20 per cent slump in real estate agents' advertising budgets amd accelerated the shift of ad dollars fromt newspapers to the internet.

The internet’s share of property advertising is on the rise as real estate agents’ look for more affordable and measurable advertising, says chief executive of REA Group, Greg Ellis. Mr Ellis, whose company owns the most visited property website, realestate.com.au, says weakening conditions in the residential property sector have triggered a 20 per cent slump in real estate advertising budgets, facilitating the shift of ad dollars from newspapers to the internet. REA, the Domain site of Fairfax Media and myriad other property websites capture about 20 per cent of all property advertising. Brendan Hopkins, chief executive of APN News & Media and chairman of industry group The Newspaper Works, said that the shift away from newspaper advertising was a cyclical, not a structural issue. However Mr Ellis disagreed, suggesting ads are moving permanently from newspapers to the internet.

Headline: Pacific springs magazine surprise

Australian Financial Review, pg 41. Neil Shoebridge. 6 April 2009.

Seven Media Group's Pacific Magazines division is set to launch a local version of the monthly American 'healthy lifestyle' magazine Prevention in Spring. Chief executive Nick Chan did not reveal the launch date, but industry sources said it would be introduced in the second half of October. the magazine will be produced under licence from Rodale, which also owns Men's Health and Women's Health, and Runner's World, which is published here by The Dingoes Refrain. Fusion Strategy managing director Steve Allen said they had a sales target of around 70,000. Ian Law, chief executive of PBL Media, which owns Australia's biggest magazine company ACP, recently forecast the magazine ad market would decline by 10 percent in the June 2009 half.

Women's Health and Prevention editor-in-chief Sue Wheeler, said, 'Women aged over 40 told us they weren't happy with existing health and lifestyle magazines and wanted something that talked directly to them.' Nielsen Media Research estimated Women's Health had ad revenue of $4.3 million in the 12 months to February 28 this year. Mr Chan said the marketing plans for Prevention would include the use of other Seven Media Group assets, the Seven television network and Internet company Yahoo!7 (Seven Network and American private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts own Seven Media Group ).

Headline: Nine's games plan out in the cold

Australian Financial Review, pg 41. Neil Shoebridge. 30 March 2009.

When Credit Suisse media analyst Finola Burke released her latest forecasts for advertising spending in 2009 in early March, executive chairman of Mitchell Communication Group Harold Mitchell was surprised that Ms Burke’s forecasts were close to his numbers. After analysing media companies comments during the recent profit reporting season, Ms Burke raised her forecast for the fall in media ad spending during calendar 2009 from 5.3 percent to 7.2 percent, while she predicted spending would decline by 9.2 per cent if the pay TV and internet sectors were ignored. Mrs Burke wrote in a note to clients that there was little to convince us that the advertising downturn would be short and sharp’. Deutsche Bank’s Andrew Anagnostellis forecast ad spending would fall 8.5 per cent in 2009. Seven Media Group chief sales and digital officer James Warburton said the TV ad market continues to be short and tough, although not quite as tough as some {media} buyers say it is’.

Headline: One to test sickly as market

Australian Financial Review, pg 41. Neil Shoebridge . 23 March 2009.

The Seven and Nine Networks are reluctant to set firm starting dates for their new standard-definition digital channels and remain vague about the content, while Ten Network will launch its new all-sport channel One on Thursday. Nine chief executive David Gyngell said its new channel would start on June 30. Seven chief executive David Leckie said last month details of its new channel would be announced before Easter with the channel to go to air by mid-year at the latest’. Seven and Nine are expected to introduce general entertainment channels. About 48 per cent of Australian homes have a digital TV set and one executive said the new channels would attract about 100,000 viewers a night. Chief executive of pay-TV company Foxtel, Kim Williams said he was not concerned about predictions the new channels could halt the growth of pay TV. Mr Williams said One would contain left overs from the Fox Sports pay TV channels. A 12-month sponsorship of One costs about $1.5 million.