Southern Cross head-hunting Peter Bush
Southern Cross Media Group, which is owner of Southern Cross Austereo and is Ten Network Holding's regional affiliate, is in advanced talks to appoint corporate turnaround specialist Peter Bush as chairman, according to the Australian Financial Review.
With current chairman Max Moore-Wilton preparing to leave, the paper is reporting that Southern Cross is hoping to announce Bush as its new chairman at its half-year results announcement next week.
Bush is currently chairman of two other ASX-listed companies, Pacific Brands and Mantra Group. If the appointment goes ahead Bush is believed to be taking a non-executive role rather than an executive role, with Rhys Holleran remaining CEO.
Competitors to boost pay TV market: Thodey
Telstra's CEO David Thodey has said the arrival of new pay TV competitors will help boost market penetration and believes the market could reach 70% of Australians, according to the AFR.
Currently, only three in 10 Australians pay for television or video services.
“We’re all about trying to build this margin and continue to be bigger,” Thodey said. “We've got to get to 50, 60, 70% [market penetration]. I remain incredibly optimistic about the market opportunity.”
Thodey also said he expects Netflix to advertise between videos on its platform much like a traditional subscription television provider.
Sunny skies could see Ten sale scrapped
Ten Network is considering scrapping its sale plan as its rating and advertising revenue start to strengthen, according to The Australian.
It is believed that Ten's independent directs have held discussions over recent weeks about continuing to operate the network without any change in control.
REA questions Fairfax's Domain model
Also in The Australian, REA Group has questioned Fairfax Media's Domain model, suggesting it will boost executive incomes at the expense of Australian home-owners.
REA chairman Hamish McLennan raised concerns about a conflict of interest in the creation of an industry-owned vehicle, half owned by Domain and by real estate agents. “Maybe I’m missing at trick here, but I’m not sure how vendors would react if they really understood the concept,” McLennan said.
The model sees agents advise vendors to buy ad space that it owns, awarding agents more equity in the vehicle if they allocate a greater proportion of ad spend to it.
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