THE
Seven Network’s main regional affiliate, Prime Television, has outlined
ambitious plans to take on Macquarie Media Group’s dominance of
regional radio.
Prime
is planning a series of radio takeovers, particularly in NSW and
Victoria, with the aim of increasing cross-promotion between the two
media.
In an exclusive interview on the subject with The Australian, Prime
general manager Warwick Syphers indicated an interest in a number of
regional radio operators, including Bill Caralis’s 2SM Supernetwork
(with more than 20 stations in NSW and Queensland), Janet Cameron’s
Grant Broadcasters (which has a national collection) and the
Victorian-based ACE Radio. (Editor’s note: Newcastle stations NEWFM and 2HD are part of the Supernetwork).
"It’s possible," Mr Syphers said. "I’m not going to say we’ll take
all their licences, because there might be some markets that don’t pass
the test. But there are others that would."
Prime has quietly built its network in Queensland in recent months
to 10 stations from Maroochydore to Cairns. But the relaxation of
cross-media rules earlier this year allows Prime to own both TV and
radio stations in individual markets – clearing the path for further
acquisitions.
Asked after the company’s annual general meeting yesterday about its
agenda to diversify as a media player – in the wake of a vote by
shareholders to rename the company Prime Media Group – Mr Syphers made
it clear the company’s radio play had only just begun.
"The big one is obviously Macquarie (Media) – it has now gone into
television," he said. "Is there something as big as Macquarie out
there? No. Are there other (radio) networks? Yes. They just haven’t
come on to the market."
Mr Syphers said he had met Mr Caralis "around industry functions and
things like that", but added that "nothing extensive" had so far been
discussed about a possible takeover by Prime.
He said that expanding in radio would be about more than simply
achieving back-office synergies between its Seven affiliate television
stations and any new regional radio operations. "It’s more about
overall ratings share, I think," he said. "As much as anything, it’s
the cross-promotion factor."
He described cross-platform advertising sales involving radio and TV as "powerful".
"Clearly, I think that proposition is premised soundly. It’s how you execute."
Mr Syphers’ comments came as Prime chairman Paul Ramsay told the AGM
that the company’s name change was about repositioning to take
advantage of new media openings. "We intend to leverage the strength of
our television business to grow into a more diversified and strong
media group over time."
One possible area of diversification could be broadband, with Mr
Syphers alluding to ongoing talks between Seven and Austar to
co-operate on the regional pay-TV operator’s regional Wi-MAX spectrum
as a positive development, given Prime’s association with Seven. "If
(the talks) led to the formation of some sort of alliance whereby that
sort of spectrum was available to that consortium, Seven was a major
participant in how it was operated, and the relationship with us was
parlayed into that, that would be a positive scenario to me."
A rollout of the spectrum that involved Seven would be "a more
benign outcome" for Prime than if Austar embarked on the rollout alone,
Mr Syphers said.
Meanwhile, Mr Syphers said Prime was proceeding with plans to sell
the Dendy cinema chain, in the wake of its failure to win a bidding
process for Hoyts earlier this year. Among the candidates for the
35-screen Dendy business in Australia and New Zealand are Pacific
Equity Partners, the successful bidder for Hoyts, which is interested
in further cinema acquisitions.
Mr Syphers said advertising sales for the first half of 2007-08 were
travelling robustly, on the back of the Seven Network’s ratings
dominance and growing share of the advertising pie.
He predicted that total advertising revenue growth for the period would be "high single digits", buoyed by election advertising.
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