THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MEDIA DEBATES

Media Ownership
Tim Sonnreich, February 2006

This is just a quick guide to who owns what, to give you a sense of how small and overlapping the media ownership structures are in Australia. I've purposely focused on Melbourne and Sydney.

Television

James Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) owns Channel 9 - Australia's richest and generally highest rating TV channel (James is seen here with his 2nd wife Erika)

Kerry Stokes owns Channel 7.

Conrad Black's (Canada) CanWest Group owns Channel 10 (but uses a complicated corporate structure to avoid breaching foreign media ownership laws)

Pay TV

Foxtel - 50% Telstra, 25% PBL, 25% News Ltd.

Fox Sports - Owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited.

Sky News - Owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited.

C7 - used to be owned by Stokes, until it was crushed by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited

Radio

Southern Cross owns 3AW (Vic's best rating AM talk back station) and 2UE (major AM talk-back station in NSW) as well as Magic 693 (listened to by almost no one)

Austereo Network owns Triple M's (around the country), plus Fox FM (Melb), 2Day FM (Syd) and others around the country (Austereo is owned by Village Roadshow)

DMG are the new kids on the block. They own Nova and the newly launched Vega - which no one, NO ONE listens to...

ARN own 3 stations in different parts of Sydney, and 2 in Melbourne - Mix FM & Gold FM

Newspapers

Murdoch's News Limited owns: Herald Sun (Vic), Daily Telegraph (NSW), The Australian (national) and the Leader Group of local papers in Victoria.

Fairfax owns The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.

The West Australian (independent - the largest shareholder 7% is Westpac)

Canberra Times (independent)

Magazines

Bulletin - owned by Packer's PBL (this picture is of James's first wife, Jodhi. She used to be a bikini model, but now she only designs bikinis and other ridiculously attractive women model them. "How does a guy who looks like a brick wall with a chin get all the HOOOOOOT women?" I hear you ask. Because he's so rich he could buy Latin America you fool!).

Test Time!!

If you've now read the Glossary and this article, you should have no trouble following the ins and outs of this rather convoluted article about some of the media-mergers that will result from the Howard government's impending deregulation of the cross media laws.

For more information check this out or watch the documentary "Out Foxed" - its great!