Seven West Media to buy Tasmania's Channel 7 and other Southern Cross assets
Media conglomerate Seven West Media has struck a deal with Southern Cross Media Group that will see it purchase the rival media company's regional television assets and licences, including in Tasmania.
Assets and licences in Darwin, Spencer Gulf, Mount Isa, Broken Hill and across central and eastern Australia will be sold to Seven West for $3.75 million.
This comes as a previous binding agreement between Southern Cross Media Group and
It is the culmination of a long-held desire by Southern Cross to divest itself of television assets — in favour of focusing on its radio business, which includes the Triple M and Hit Network brands.
In Tasmania, the acquisition will mean the state's flagship commercial news service, 7 Tasmania Nightly News, will change hands from Southern Cross to Seven West.
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Facebook: Channel 7
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The TV news service, which already carries national 7 News content but is produced locally, attracts about 70,000 viewers per night and employs about 30 people.
There had been concerns amongst staff that a sale to ADH would result in "editorial intrusions", as well as concerns that a sale to ADH would threaten live sport, particularly AFL coverage in Tasmania — but they were quickly dispelled by ADH director Jason Morrison at the time.
However, the deal — which was worth a reported $6.35 million — fell through due to "final conditions" to complete the transaction not being satisfied, according to a statement released by Southern Cross today.
Seven West Media is the parent company of the Seven Network and owns a number of newspapers.
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Facebook: Channel 7
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It's not known how, or if, Seven West plans to restructure any of its acquisitions, including the Tasmanian news service.
Both Southern Cross and Seven West have been contacted for comment.
Seven West Media is the parent company of the Seven Network and owns The West Australian Newspaper, Sunday Times and a raft of Western Australian local newspapers under its Community Newspaper Group banner.
It has swooped to purchase the last of Southern Cross's TV assets in a move it says will mean "Seven will reach almost 100 per cent of Australia's population," excluding the Riverland region in South Australia.
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