Seven West Media

Last updated

Seven West Media Ltd.
Company type Public
ASX:  SWM
Industry Media
PredecessorWest Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited
Seven Media Group
Founded1992;32 years ago (1992)
Headquarters50 Hasler Road,
Osborne Park, Western Australia
,
Australia
Key people
 Kerry Stokes
(Chairman)
Jeff Howard
(Managing Director & CEO)
Products Television
Radio
Newspapers
Magazines
Websites
Owner Seven Group Holdings (40.2%)
Number of employees
5,000+
Website sevenwestmedia.com.au
Footnotes /references
[1]
First Seven West logo (2011-2012) Sevenwestmedia logo.png
First Seven West logo (2011–2012)
Former Seven West logo (2012-2020) Seven West Media.svg
Former Seven West logo (2012–2020)

Seven West Media Limited is an Australian ASX-listed media company [2] and it is Australia's largest diversified media business, with an extensive presence in broadcast television, radio, print and online publishing. It is Home to the Seven Network Station, TVW.

Contents

Seven West Media owns the Seven Network, Australia's second largest commercial television network (by audience and advertising market share). It also owns The West Australian , The Sunday Times and the Community Newspaper Group.

Seven Group Holdings Ltd (SGH), a company controlled by Australian Capital Equity, is Seven West Media's largest shareholder, with over $1 billion in Seven West Media shares and $250 million of Seven West Media convertible preference shares (CPS). [3]

History

The West Australian

The newspaper was owned by the publicly listed company West Australian Newspapers Ltd (WAN) from the 1920s. In 1969, the Melbourne-based The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd (HWT) bought WAN and published the paper until 1987, when Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation acquired HWT. News sold WAN to Robert Holmes à Court's Bell Group in 1987 [4] The following year Alan Bond, through Bond Corporation, gained control of Bell Group and hence the paper. This ownership structure survived only for a few years until the collapse of Bond Corporation. A newly formed company, West Australian Newspapers Holdings, then purchased the paper from the receivers before being floated in an oversubscribed $185 million public offering. [5]

In September 2007, WAN sold a 50% interest in the Hoyts Cinemas Group. [6]

Kerry Stokes acquired 14.9% through Seven Network and he became chairman of West Australian Newspapers in 2009. Kerry Stokes appointed Chris Wharton as CEO of West Australian Newspapers and Brett McCarthy as Editor. [7] [8] [9]

Seven Media Group

Seven Network (commonly known as Channel 7 or simply Seven) dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney. The Seven Network is one of five main free-to-air networks in Australia.

Origin

The Seven Network began as a group of independent stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. [10] HSV-7 Melbourne, licensed to The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd (owners of two local papers at the time, The Herald and The Sun ), was the first station in the country to use the VHF7 frequency. [10] [ failed verification ] It launched on 4 November 1956, soon joined on 2 December by Amalgamated Television Services ATN-7 in Sydney. [11]

TVW-7 Perth began broadcasting almost two years later, on 16 October 1959, as the city's first commercial station. It was licensed to TVW7, a subsidiary of West Australian Newspapers, publisher of The West Australian. [10] BTQ-7 followed on 1 November, signing on as Brisbane's second commercial television station. [10] [11] In 1969 the Melbourne based Herald and Weekly times group purchased WA Newspapers . The HWT group already owned HSV 7 and ADS 7 and under the media laws of the time was required to sell TVW 7. A new company was formed and floated on the Perth Stock Exchange, TVW Enterprises Pty Ltd.

ADS-7 in Adelaide launched on 24 Oct 1959 as the final capital city VHF7 station. TVW Enterprises purchased Adelaide's SAS 10 in 1971. In 1987 ADS 7 station swapped frequencies with SAS-10, with the latter becoming SAS-7. [10]

1980s ownership changes

Perth-based businessman Robert Holmes à Court, through his business the Bell Group, completed a takeover on TVW Enterprises in 1982. [11] The Herald and Weekly Times, owner of HSV-7 and ADS-7, was sold to Rupert Murdoch in December 1986. [11] Murdoch's company, News Limited, sold off HSV to Fairfax soon afterwards, for $320 million, while ADS 7 was sold to Frank Lowys Northern Star (owners of the 10 Network stations in Sydney and Melbourne). [11] Fairfax went on to axe a number of locally produced shows in favour of networked content from its Sydney counterpart, ATN-7 (also owned by Fairfax at the time). [12]

In 1987, Fairfax sold off its stations to Qintex Ltd., owned by businessman Christopher Skase. [12] Qintex had previously bought, and subsequently sold off, stations in Brisbane and regional Queensland before taking control of the network. [11] The next year, another new logo was introduced along with evening soap opera Home and Away and a relaunched Seven National News, now known as Seven News. The network expanded in 1988 when Skase bought out Bell Groups two stations for $130 million creating the first owned and operated national network of the five mainland city Channel 7 stations. [12]

A failed $1.5 billion bid for MGM Studios in the same year sent Qintex into receivership. [11] Christopher Skase fled Australia in 1990 in order to escape extradition. [12] The business' assets were bundled together by receivers and made into a new company, the Seven Network Limited, in 1991. [11]

Advent of Kerry Stokes

The network was re-listed as a public company on the stock exchange in 1993 with News Limited holding 14.9% and Telstra holding 10%.[ citation needed ] In 1995, Stokes acquired 19.9% of the public company and was elected chairman. He asked Alan Jackson to be its CEO for a number of years in the late 1990s. [13] Shortly after it acquired Sunshine Television, a Seven Network affiliate in regional Queensland, Sunshine Television's regional stations effectively became a part of the Seven Network, identical in appearance and programming to the rest of the business' stations. Seven Queensland won the annual audience ratings for the first time in 1998. [14]

The year 2000 saw Seven as the host broadcaster for the Sydney Olympics. The Network adopted a new logo. In 2003, Stokes appointed David Leckie as CEO of Seven and Peter Meakin as Head of News and Current Affairs. In January 2006, the Seven Network, Pacific Magazine and online portal Yahoo! Australia and New Zealand combined in a joint venture to form Yahoo!7, representing all three companies' online assets. [15] This venture is now Australia's most popular internet portal [ citation needed ] and the joint venture is driving a range of online and IPTV businesses. Seven is building and acquiring a range of broadband businesses, including wireless broadband group Unwired, VOIP operator Engin and has become the Australian licensee for TiVo, [16] due to be launched in 2008. The group has also established a strategic 20 per cent shareholding in West Australian Newspapers Ltd.

Since 2007, the Seven Network has been the highest rating television network in Australia, ahead of the Nine Network, Network Ten, ABC and SBS. [17] In 2011, the Seven Network won all 40 out of 40 weeks of the ratings season for total viewers. [18] Seven is the first to do this since the introduction of the OZtam ratings system in 2001. [19] As of 2014 it was the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach. [20]

68% owned by Kerry Stokes (as of 2014), Seven Network is a network of commercial free-to-air television stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, as well as regional Queensland and Perth. [21] The platform, as well as a 33 per cent stake in Sky News Australia, now reaches 98 per cent of Australians. Seven has also established a major magazine publishing business, Pacific Magazines which, as of 2014, accounted for more than 20 per cent of magazines sold in Australia.

In 2006, Seven Network and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) [22] created a new joint venture, Seven Media Group, a multi-faceted media company combining a presence in broadcast television, magazine and online applications.

7HD was officially announced on 15 September 2007, with the Seven Media Group announcing its intention to start a high definition multichannel. [23] By the end of 2007, the Seven Network had become the most watched network in the country, dominating morning and prime time slots. [24]

Seven West Media

On 21 February 2011, Seven Media Group announced its intention to merge with West Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited (WAN). WAN purchased Seven Media Group from Seven Group Holdings and partner U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and announced the new company would be known as "Seven West Media". [25] On 11 April 2011, the acquisition was approved by WAN shareholders. [26] On 21 May 2013, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts sold its remaining 12% stake in Seven West Media.

In May 2020, Seven West Media sold Pacific Magazines to Bauer Media Group, including leading lifestyle brands Marie Claire , Women's Health, Who, New Idea and Home Beautiful. [27] [28]

In February 2021, both Google and Facebook in Australia made deals with Seven West Media for the latter to provide news coverage. These agreements came after the government planned to implement a law "that would force tech companies to pay news outlets for content" [29] to ensure that digital platforms would provide a "contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry". [30]

On August 18, 2022, Seven West Media announced it will take equity in View Media Group via its Seven West Ventures subsidiary. [31]

In June 2024, Seven West Media announced it would cut up to 150 jobs and restructure into three divisions: Television, Digital and Western Australia. [32]

Key people

The Chairman of Seven West Media is Kerry Stokes AC, who is also chairman of Seven Group Holdings.

On 26 June 2012, Seven West Media announced former Nine Network executive David Leckie's transition from chief executive officer of Seven West Media to a new role as executive director, media for Seven Group Holdings. [33]

Don Voelte, the former managing director and CEO of Woodside and a director of Seven West Media, was appointed CEO and managing director of Seven West Media. He subsequently stepped down to become managing director and chief executive officer of Seven Group Holdings and was replaced by Tim Worner who became the CEO. [34]

Assets

Television

News and other

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nine Network</span> Australian television network

The Nine Network is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Network 10</span> Australian television network

Network 10 is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division. As one of five national free-to-air networks, 10's owned-and-operated stations can be found in the state capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth and the three aggregated regional markets of Regional QLD, Southern NSW & ACT & Regional VIC, while affiliates extend the network to other regional and remote areas of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Network</span> Australian broadcast television network

The Seven Network is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of the five main free-to-air television networks in Australia. The network's headquarters are located in Sydney.

Kerry Matthew Stokes is an Australian businessman. He holds business interests in industries including electronic and print media, property, mining and construction equipment. He is most widely known as the chairman of the Seven Network, one of the largest broadcasting corporations in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TVW</span> Television station in Perth, Western Australia

TVW is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, wholly owned by Seven West Media. It was the first television station in Western Australia, commencing broadcasting on 16 October 1959. It broadcasts a modulated 64-QAM signal of five DVB channels. The primary channel was available as a PAL-B modulated simulcast on VHF channel 7 at 182.25 MHz before being discontinued in the first half of 2013; it had been the station's primary signal since its inception. The TVW callsign stands for TV (Television) Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Television in Australia</span>

Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934.

GWN7 was an Australian television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as BTW-3 in Bunbury. It was an affiliate of the Seven Network and served one of the largest geographic television markets in the world—almost one-third of the continent. The network's name, GWN, is an acronym of Golden West Network, the network's name from 1979 to when the current name was adopted in 2011.

NEW-10 is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, and is a member of Network 10.

ADS is an Australian television station based in Adelaide, South Australia. It is owned and operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia through their Australian holdings Network 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SAS (TV station)</span> Television station in Adelaide, South Australia

SAS, formerly SAS-7 and before that SAS-10, is a television station in Adelaide, South Australia. It is part of the Seven Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HSV (TV station)</span> Television station in Victoria, Australia

HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, its first and oldest station. It launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne. HSV-7 is the home of AFL coverage.

Network Ten Pty Limited, trading as Paramount Australia & New Zealand, is a major media company in Australia. Headquartered in Sydney, its major asset is Network 10, a free-to-air television network. Formerly a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, since December 2019, it has been a subsidiary of Paramount Networks UK & Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qintex</span> Australian financial services company

Qintex Limited was an Australian financial services company founded on April 1, 1975, as Takeovers, Equities & Management Securities (TEAM). It was renamed Qintex Limited and came to prominence in 1986, collapsing five years later in 1991. Its main shareholder and managing director was Christopher Skase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Publishing and Broadcasting Limited</span> Australian media and gaming company

Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) was one of Australia's largest corporations. With interests primarily in media and gambling, for the entirety of its existence it was largely controlled by the Packer family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nine Entertainment</span> Australian media and entertainment company

Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Ltd is an Australian publicly listed company with holdings in mass media radio and television broadcasting, publishing and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate branding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfax Media</span> Australian media company

Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased The Sydney Morning Herald in 1841. The Fairfax family retained control of the business until late in the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prime Media Group</span> Australian-based media corporation

Prime Media Group Limited was an Australian-based media corporation that formerly owned regional television network Prime7 in eastern Australia and GWN7 in regional Western Australia. It also owned ishop TV, a datacasting channel, co-owned by Brand Developers and two joint ventures with the WIN Corporation, Mildura Digital Television, and West Digital Television, and also owned a network of radio stations in Queensland from 2005 until 2013, when they were sold to Grant Broadcasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Australian television</span>

This timeline of Australian television lists important station launches, programs, major television events, and technological advancements that have significantly changed the forms of broadcasting available to viewers of television in Australia. The history of television in Australia can be traced back to an announcement from the Menzies' government concerning plans for television services in Sydney and Melbourne.

High-definition television in Australia is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in 2001 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 27 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Foxtel.

References

  1. ↑ "Seven West Media – Contact Us". sevenwestmedia.com.au.
  2. ↑ "Share Price & Information – ASX". asx.com.au.
  3. ↑ WAN Proposal to Acquire Seven Media Group, 8 March 2011, p.4
  4. ↑ Bond, Bell and Holmes a Court:Bell at Ketupa.net media industry reference
  5. ↑ "175 years of The West Australian - Australian-Media.com.au News". australian-media.com.au.
  6. ↑ "B&T - Australia's leading title for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries". B&T.
  7. ↑ Nick Perpitch Brett McCarthy goes from Sunday to weekdays at The West Australian The Australian 16 March 2009
  8. ↑ How The West Australian was won by Kerry Stokes The Australian, 4 December 2008
  9. ↑ Chris Wharton – Chief Executive Officer Corporate information on official website
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Timeline 1950-1959 at television.au.com
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Arnold, Bruce. "Seven: landmarks". Ketupa.net. Caslon Analytics. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Seven Network 1980s". AusTVHistory. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.
  13. ↑ Clive Mathieson. "Stokes vs Packer: A media mogul death math". The Punch. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  14. ↑ Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Sunshine Television History". AusTVHistory. Archived from the original on 15 August 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.
  15. ↑ "Yahoo!7 Redefines Australian Media Landscape" (PDF). Seven Media Group. 30 January 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  16. ↑ Joint Seven and TiVo announcement – 30 May 2007
  17. ↑ Enker, Debi (13 December 2007). "The stars of 2007". The Age Online. Melbourne.
  18. ↑ "Seven Dominates in 2011" (PDF). Seven West Media. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  19. ↑ "Seven dominates 2011 ratings". TV Tonight.
  20. ↑ "Broadcasting Services Act 1992 Section 30 Schedule" (PDF). Australian Communications and Media Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2007.
  21. ↑ James Thomson. "Independent expert says Kerry Stokes' Seven Network and WesTrac merger is fair, but small shareholders might need convincing". Smart Company. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  22. ↑ Damon, Kitney; Clegg, rett (20 November 2006). "Stokes, KKR in $3.5bn Seven deal". Australian Financial Review. pp. 1, 14. (Subscription required to view full story)
  23. ↑ "Seven, Ten to offer HD-TV". The Australian. 15 September 2007. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  24. ↑ Kerry Stokes at the Top 50 2012 Businesses, The Australian. Requires subscription for online access.
  25. ↑ Smith, Sean WAN to buy Seven's media assets for 4.1 billion at The West Australian , 21 February 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2014
  26. ↑ West Australian Newspapers to buy Seven Media at MarketWatch, 20 February 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2014
  27. ↑ Mason, Max. Seven completes $40m sale of PacMags to Bauer. Australian Financial Review , 1 May 2020
  28. ↑ Seven completes mag sale to Bauer Media TV Tonight, 1 May 2020
  29. ↑ "Seven West Media announces news agreement with Facebook". ABC News. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021. proposed news media bargaining code that would force tech companies to pay news outlets for content.
  30. ↑ "Facebook will restore news in Australia after talks with the government". CNN. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021. Google, meanwhile, had already been trying to get ahead of the new legislation by announcing partnerships with some of the country's largest media organizations, including Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NWS) and Seven West Media. Facebook revealed its own deal with Seven on Tuesday.
  31. ↑ Mason, Max; Di Stefano, Mark (18 August 2022). "Seven and Catalano join forces on real estate venture" . Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  32. ↑ Griffiths, Neil (26 June 2024). "Seven West Media confirms major leadership changes under 'new operating model'". Mumbrella. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  33. ↑ David Leckie announces new role as Executive Director, Seven Group Holdings and Don Voelte appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Seven West Media at Mumbrella, 26 June 2012.
  34. ↑ "Seven West Media - About Us - Board of Directors". sevenwestmedia.com.au.
  35. ↑ "bloo Business Search - WA". bloo.com.au.
  36. ↑ Caporn, Dylan (26 February 2024). "The Nightly: Seven West Media launches Australia's groundbreaking new digital newspaper" . The West Australian . Perth: Seven West Media. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  37. ↑ Seven West Media. "Find the Best Jobs. Identify the Best Candidates - JobFinder.com.au". JobFinder.com.au.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.