And there is a major difference. The Australian broadcasters, with the support of the perhaps-misnamed Liberal party (that we would think acts more like conservatives) that controls Parliament with a coalition of two other parties, are trying to get passed some "reform" measures that would basically allow the media companies to own more property. Right now, there is a "two-out-of-three rule" that says that a company can only own in a market two out of either a TV station, radio station or newspaper. If that rule was repealed, Murdoch's News Corp. (NOT 21st-Century Fox) would take over Network Ten so fast your head would spin. But the Labor has been solidly against the reform measures and in a Parliament where they only own seven less seats than the Liberal coalition, that has been enough.
Also, the commercial networks were not that interested in investing into cable. In fact, they didn't even start developing multi-channels until it was obvious that analog transmission would soon be shut off and they set up their own version of the UK's Freeview. As far as I know, the only Australian broadcaster with a presence on cable/satellite is the pubcaster SBS. which has on Foxtel a World Cinema channel showing foreign films around the clock. Nine and the left-leaning newspaper chain Fairfax (it's the truth, most newspapers Down Under are either owned by Murdoch or Fairfax) own the streaming service Stan, which is providing competition to Netflix and Amazon. Mark Jeffries Saints Spotlight Editor [email protected] On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 11:37 AM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 1:49 AM, Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> >> And let it be noted that Australia has never really taken to cable or >> satellite--but has taken to streamers (9 million Netflix subscribers, 2.4 >> million subscribers to the Fox-owned cable/satellite service Foxtel, which >> enjoys a near-monopoly on the cord). Which means that only a fool can be >> sure that Ten will be able to climb out of its quagmire intact and >> successful. And could it happen in the U.S.? It could... >> > > Of course it could happen here. There is nothing that makes a TV network > immortal and we are going through a long term digital disruption of the > business. We know everybody isn't rolling in money because of the > brinkmanship that occurs every time a retransmission contract comes up for > renewal with a cable company. But I don't think it would happen the same > way. > > Each network is owned by a media conglomerate along with a number of cable > channels. And the megaphone the network provides is added value to the > media company. So a network is consistently losing money - okay, cut the > budget. Either the situation corrects itself or a spiral ensues as the > cut-rate shows bring in less revenue. If it's a spiral, affiliates get away > ASAP and the media company can't keep it under wraps. Now they have to > decide: spin off the TV network as a stand alone business or spin off the > whole TV operation, cable channels and all. At that point a media company > like Verizon or Amazon can pick it up for cheap and put some money into > building it up again. Or a private equity firm can buy it and probably > wring all the value out of it. Then we would see bankruptcy proceedings. It > just would not have anything to do with the programs that are on the air or > the other networks. > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
