Film studio 20th Century Fox has retained Zenith as its media agency as part of an exhaustive global review by parent company 21st Century Fox, AdNews can confirm.
The Publicis Group agency has handled local media buying and planning for Murdoch's film arm for more than a decade.
In Australia, 20th Century Fox spends close to A$20 million on media each year, according to Nielsen, although some estimates have placed annual billings closer to the $30 million mark.
Local agencies in the running had been left in the dark over who would pick up the account until just prior to Christmas. All agencies contacted by AdNews today declined to comment.
Zenith was also appointed media agency across the Asia-Pacific region, including China, with billings estimated at about US$100 million.
An 18-month review
The 21st Century Fox global media review has been one of the longest-running in recent times, probably owing to the fragmented nature of Murdoch's film and TV business.
Murdoch's media empire is primarily split into two major holding companies – News Corporation, which includes print assets across the world and pay TV interests in Australia, and 21st Century Fox, which includes subscription TV assets across the world (including Fox, BSkyB, National Geographic and Star) as well as the film studio and distributor, 20th Century Fox.
In Australia, 21st Century Fox's assets are mostly limited to 20th Century Fox Film Distributors and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
The media agencies that handle Murdoch's businesses include MediaCom, which recently won a pitch to consolidate media duties for the print arm of News Corp; Mindshare, which handles the pay TV arm, Foxtel, and Zenith, which will continue to manage media for 20th Century Fox.
The global review, which began in May 2015, has slowly concluded region-by-region.
In the US and Canada, which wrapped up last May, Zenith retained media buying duties across 21st Century Fox film and home entertainment and FX in both countries, MDC agency Assembly won media planning and Dentsu Aegis Network's Vizeum picked up buying and planning for Fox, Fox Sports and National Geographic.
In Europe, Mindshare is widely tipped to win Fox's media in TV, cinema and home entertainment in major European markets.
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