Seven West Media
Encyclopedia
Seven West Media Limited is an ASX
-listed media empire and is Australia’s largest diversified media business, formed by the sale of Seven Media Group to West Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited (WAN). It has a leading presence in broadcast television, radio, newspaper publishing, magazine publishing and online.
Seven Group Holdings is Seven West Media’s largest shareholder with 29.6% of Seven West Media shares and $250m Seven West Media Convertible Preference Shares (CPS).
Seven West Media owns two of Australia’s iconic media assets: Australia’s largest commercial television network (by audience and advertising market share), Seven Network; and The West Australian, the leading metropolitan newspaper in Western Australia.
It also owns the second largest publisher of magazines in Australia, Pacific Magazines, and 21 West Australian regional newspapers, nine regional radio licences, a specialist publishing business and WAN’s digital division.
Seven West Media is also creating a significant presence in online and new communications technologies, such as through its 50% interest in Yahoo!7, one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading online platforms, with global and local content across online, mobile and IPTV.
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 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
, and announced the new company would be known as "Seven West Media".
See also the newspaper and radio interests of West Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited
bought WAN and published the paper until 1987 when it was sold to Robert Holmes à Court
's Bell Group in 1987 when the remainder of H&WT was bought by Rupert Murdoch
's News Corporation
. The following year Alan Bond
, through Bond Corporation, gained control of Bell Group and hence the paper. This ownership structure only survived 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. Chairman Trevor Eastwood
announced in the annual report that the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange
on 9 January 1992. A management fee of $217,000 and underwriting/brokers handling fee of $1,981,136 were paid to companies associated with former short-term directors John Poynton and J. H. Nickson. February 2011: After acquired Seven Media Group, West Australian Newspapers Holding Ltd. became Australia's largest diversified media business.
In September 2007, WAN sold a 50% interest in the Hoyts Cinemas Group
.
Seven Network's chairman Kerry Stokes
criticised the WAN board's "lack of leadership". A new website ("Refresh The West") was simultaneously launched, directly targeting the board of West Australian Newspaper Holdings (WAN). At a business breakfast in April, Stokes held up a copy of The Sunday Times
and said it was a superior newspaper that The West should try to emulate.
The shareholder meeting was held on 23 April 2008, preceded by reports that Stokes was seeking two seats on the WAN board. The motion on notice was defeated by proxy votes.
As a result of subsequent negotiations, a joint statement was issued on 16 September 2008 saying the WAN board had been increased from five to seven members, the two new seats being taken up by Kerry Stokes and fellow Seven director Peter Gammell. On 3 December 2008, Stokes achieved total victory when WAN's chief executive, chairman and two independent directors quit en masse. Stokes became chairman and, within a fortnight, The West Australians controversial editor Paul Armstrong was sacked. He was eventually replaced by former Sunday Times editor Brett McCarthy on 15 March 2009. Seven's managing director Chris Wharton filled the CEO position and four additional directors were appointed. The group's editor-in-chief is Bob Cronin whose authoritarian style caused resentful employees to nickname him "Cronin the Barbarian" in the 1980s.
and partner Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
In addition to the West Australian Newspaper Holdings assets, Seven Media Group bought:
Australian Securities Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
-listed media empire and is Australia’s largest diversified media business, formed by the sale of Seven Media Group to West Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited (WAN). It has a leading presence in broadcast television, radio, newspaper publishing, magazine publishing and online.
Seven Group Holdings is Seven West Media’s largest shareholder with 29.6% of Seven West Media shares and $250m Seven West Media Convertible Preference Shares (CPS).
Seven West Media owns two of Australia’s iconic media assets: Australia’s largest commercial television network (by audience and advertising market share), Seven Network; and The West Australian, the leading metropolitan newspaper in Western Australia.
It also owns the second largest publisher of magazines in Australia, Pacific Magazines, and 21 West Australian regional newspapers, nine regional radio licences, a specialist publishing business and WAN’s digital division.
Seven West Media is also creating a significant presence in online and new communications technologies, such as through its 50% interest in Yahoo!7, one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading online platforms, with global and local content across online, mobile and IPTV.
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
Seven Network Limited
The Seven Network is an Australian television network. In April, 2011, Seven Network, Pacific Magazines and Yahoo7! http://www.yahoo.com.au were acquired by West Australian Newspapers Ltd http://info.thewest.com.au/ratecard// to create Seven West Media Ltd http://www.sevenwestmedia.com.au/...
and partner Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
KKR & Co. L.P. is an American-based global private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, based in New York. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. Since its inception, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions and was a pioneer in...
, and announced the new company would be known as "Seven West Media".
History
Seven West Media was created through the acquisition of Seven Media Group by West Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited (WAN) as approved by WAN shareholders on 11 April 2011. Seven West Media is the leading, listed national multi-platform media business based in Australia. We comprise Seven Television, the leading free to air capital city television network; Pacific Magazines, the country's second largest magazine group by readership; Yahoo!7 one of the nation’s most successful internet platforms, as well as Western Australia's leading newspaper, The West Australian and associated WA regional newspapers and radio stations.Assets
- Seven NetworkSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
- The West AustralianThe West AustralianThe West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
- Pacific MagazinesPacific MagazinesPacific Magazines is a magazine publisher operating in Australia and New Zealand, owned by Seven Media Group. It has it roots in the Southdown Press, the publishers of New Idea and long owned by the Murdoch family...
- Yahoo!7Yahoo!7Yahoo!7 is a 50-50 partnership between the Seven Network and Yahoo! Inc. in Australia.As part of the Yahoo! Inc. and the Seven Media Group, Yahoo!7 brings together the online assets of Yahoo! Inc. and the television and magazine content of the Seven Network and Pacific Magazines...
(50% stake) - Community Newspaper GroupCommunity Newspaper GroupThe Community Newspaper Group is a community newspaper business in Perth, Western Australia, Western Australia.It publishes seventeen community newspapers within the metropolitan region of Perth....
- Quokka
- WA Regional Newspapers
- The West
- Wjobs
- bloo
- Sky News AustraliaSky News AustraliaSky News Australia is an Australian 24 hour cable and satellite news channel available in 2.5 million homes on Foxtel, Austar, Optus Television and Neighbourhood Cable subscription platforms....
(33% stake) - 67% of Hybrid Television Services exclusive licensee of TiVoTiVoTiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
in Australia and NZ from 2008 http://home.tivo.com.au/
See also the newspaper and radio interests of West Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited
Corporate ownership
The 'West Australian was owned by the publicly-listed company West Australian Newspapers Ltd from the 1920s. In 1969, the Melbourne based The Herald and Weekly Times LtdThe Herald and Weekly Times Ltd
The Herald and Weekly Times Limited is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited, who purchased HWT in 1987.-Newspapers:...
bought WAN and published the paper until 1987 when it was sold to Robert Holmes à Court
Robert Holmes à Court
Michael Robert Hamilton Holmes à Court was an entrepreneur who became Australia's first businessman worth over a billion dollars before dying suddenly of a heart attack in 1990.Holmes à Court was one of the world's most feared corporate raiders through the 1980s, having built his empire...
's Bell Group in 1987 when the remainder of H&WT was bought by Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
's News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
. The following year Alan Bond
Alan Bond (businessman)
Alan Bond is an Australian businessman noted for his criminal convictions and high-profile business dealings, including what was at the time the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history. Bond was born in the Hammersmith district of London, England, and emigrated to Australia with his...
, through Bond Corporation, gained control of Bell Group and hence the paper. This ownership structure only survived 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
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
in an oversubscribed $185 million public offering. Chairman Trevor Eastwood
Trevor Eastwood
Trevor Eastwood AM was the CEO of the large Australian corporation Wesfarmers Ltd from 1984 to 1992 and its chairman from 2002 to 2008. After graduating BEng at the University of Western Australia, he joined Wesfarmers in 1963 as a cadet engineer and was associated with the company for over 45 years...
announced in the annual report that the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
on 9 January 1992. A management fee of $217,000 and underwriting/brokers handling fee of $1,981,136 were paid to companies associated with former short-term directors John Poynton and J. H. Nickson. February 2011: After acquired Seven Media Group, West Australian Newspapers Holding Ltd. became Australia's largest diversified media business.
West Australian Newspapers Holdings Ltd
In addition to The West, West Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited owns a number of other media outlets.- 23 regional newspapers and magazines
- 4 business directories across the State
- the Streetsmart and Travellers Atlas street directories
- the quarterly Vita and Habitat & Lifestyle magazines
- The Quokka, a classified-advertising weekly
- Two commercial printing plants
- a regional radio network in the State's north
In September 2007, WAN sold a 50% interest in the Hoyts Cinemas Group
Hoyts
The Hoyts Group is an Australian company consisting of Hoyts Exhibition, Hoyts Distribution and Val Morgan.Hoyts Exhibition manages 450 screens across 40 Australian and 10 New Zealand cinema complexes; making it Australia's second largest cinema chain. Val Morgan, the cinema advertising arm of the...
.
Seven Network's 2008 battle for control
In March 2008, major shareholder Seven Network Limited initiated an extraordinary general meeting to consider removal of all non-executive directors.Seven Network's chairman Kerry Stokes
Kerry Stokes
Kerry Matthew Stokes AC is an Australian businessman. He holds business interests in a diverse range of 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...
criticised the WAN board's "lack of leadership". A new website ("Refresh The West") was simultaneously launched, directly targeting the board of West Australian Newspaper Holdings (WAN). At a business breakfast in April, Stokes held up a copy of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
and said it was a superior newspaper that The West should try to emulate.
The shareholder meeting was held on 23 April 2008, preceded by reports that Stokes was seeking two seats on the WAN board. The motion on notice was defeated by proxy votes.
As a result of subsequent negotiations, a joint statement was issued on 16 September 2008 saying the WAN board had been increased from five to seven members, the two new seats being taken up by Kerry Stokes and fellow Seven director Peter Gammell. On 3 December 2008, Stokes achieved total victory when WAN's chief executive, chairman and two independent directors quit en masse. Stokes became chairman and, within a fortnight, The West Australians controversial editor Paul Armstrong was sacked. He was eventually replaced by former Sunday Times editor Brett McCarthy on 15 March 2009. Seven's managing director Chris Wharton filled the CEO position and four additional directors were appointed. The group's editor-in-chief is Bob Cronin whose authoritarian style caused resentful employees to nickname him "Cronin the Barbarian" in the 1980s.
Seven West Media (Seven Media Group Merger)
On 21 February 2011, West Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited and Seven Media Group announced their intentions to merge. "Seven West Media" would be created by Western Australian Newspapers purchasing Seven Media Group from Seven Group HoldingsSeven Network Limited
The Seven Network is an Australian television network. In April, 2011, Seven Network, Pacific Magazines and Yahoo7! http://www.yahoo.com.au were acquired by West Australian Newspapers Ltd http://info.thewest.com.au/ratecard// to create Seven West Media Ltd http://www.sevenwestmedia.com.au/...
and partner Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
KKR & Co. L.P. is an American-based global private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, based in New York. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. Since its inception, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions and was a pioneer in...
In addition to the West Australian Newspaper Holdings assets, Seven Media Group bought:
- Seven NetworkSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
- Pacific MagazinesPacific MagazinesPacific Magazines is a magazine publisher operating in Australia and New Zealand, owned by Seven Media Group. It has it roots in the Southdown Press, the publishers of New Idea and long owned by the Murdoch family...
- Yahoo!7Yahoo!7Yahoo!7 is a 50-50 partnership between the Seven Network and Yahoo! Inc. in Australia.As part of the Yahoo! Inc. and the Seven Media Group, Yahoo!7 brings together the online assets of Yahoo! Inc. and the television and magazine content of the Seven Network and Pacific Magazines...
(50% stake) - Sky News AustraliaSky News AustraliaSky News Australia is an Australian 24 hour cable and satellite news channel available in 2.5 million homes on Foxtel, Austar, Optus Television and Neighbourhood Cable subscription platforms....
(33% stake) - 67% of Hybrid Television Services exclusive licensee of TiVoTiVoTiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
in Australia and NZ from 2008 http://home.tivo.com.au/