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Oonagh Reidy

Look Out, Telstra Ads To Invade Your Screen

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Telco hooks up with Multi Channel Network to rev up ad revenue


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Multi Channel Network (MCN) is to become Telstra’s ad partner, selling ads for its online assets including:  T-Box, BigPond, AFL.com.au, NRL.com.au, V8 supercars, the Racing network and music streaming service MOG.

The new deal places Telstra as part of a top 5 digital advertising network in OZ and is part of its latest push to rev up advertising revenues as its traditional Sensis business goes into decline.

MCN, a joint venture between Foxtel and Fox Sports, will offer integrated sales packages which include 42 of Telstra’s online portals and sites for mobile, tablets and IPTV from October.

The agreement, announced today, will deliver advertisers a mass audience of 8 million eyeballs a month, on average, and give clients access to cross-platform marketing opportunities across Telstra entertainment brands, said Rick Ellis Group MD, Telstra Media. 

“The combined strength of MCN and Telstra Media’s assets will make the enlarged network one of the top five players in the Australian digital advertising market. This outcome makes strategic sense by strengthening Telstra Media and MCN’s capabilities to deliver innovative advertising solutions to the market,” Mr Ellis said.

The “significant synergies” available through MCN’s existing brands and Telstra’s digital assets will allow it connect across multiple channels, platforms and devices including TV, he added.

 

MCN’s existing portfolio of brands include Foxtel, FOX SPORTS, Sky News, E!, The Discovery Networks, BBC, Turner Broadcasting, NBCU, Showtime, ESPN and Sky Racing.

Anthony Fitzgerald, Multi Channel Network CEO, said significant move for MCN’s online business and for the Australian digital advertising landscape in general.

“Telstra has developed some of Australia’s leading online media and entertainment properties and we are delighted to be able to represent and leverage the value of those assets within the Australian market.”

You’re Guilty, Google! Ads “Deceptive” Says Judge

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An Australian court has thrown the book at Internet kings, finding it guilty of misleading ads.
A three judge panel at Sydney’s Federal Court has found Google guilty of publishing “misleading or deceptive” ads on its website between March 2006 – July 2007, earlier today, reports Fairfax Media.

The case follows a long standing legal row between the competition watchdog, ACCC, and Google, which the watchdog lost following a ruling by the Federal Court last year and involved a series of cases dating back to 2007.

However, despite this, the ACCC battled on against the Internet stalwart on appeal and eventually won out following the decision handed down by Justice Peter Jacobson, whom overturned the original decision, Justice Bruce Thomas Lander and Chief Justice Patrick Anthony Keane, today.


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Google “engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead,” the court judgement readThe offending ads were related to Harvey World Travel, Honda, Just 4X4 Magazine and Alpha Dog and appeared to make it difficult for consumers to differentiate between sponsored links and search results.

The ads mislead as they brought web surfers to places they did not want to go. One example of the “deceptive” ad’s cited in court was for Harvey World Travel that redirected users to STA travel website, while others included an ad for Honda.com.au which, when clicked, brought consumers to Carsales.com.

All of this contravened the Trade Practices Act. The ruling also ordered Google to “implement a compliance program” and pay legal costs to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission.

Google said it was disappointed by today’s ruling, and argued it cannot be held responsible for content on its AdWords platform.

“We are disappointed by the Federal Court’s decision that Google should be responsible for the content of four particular ads on its platform,” a spokesman said.

 

“Google AdWords is an ads hosting platform and we believe that advertisers should be responsible for the ads they create on the AdWords platform.”

The giant did not indicate whether or not it would appeal but said it  is “reviewing our options in light of the court’s decision.”

We’re (Debt) Free! Nine Ready to “Rock N Roll”

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Nine Entertainment saved after last minute deal is announced


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The deal removed the $3.2 billion debt Nine had hanging over its head, threatening to put the media giant into the hands of receivers, if a funding agreement was not made.

Weeks of intense negotiations took place before the save-our-souls deal for Nine was made, in Sydney today.

A clearly relieved Nine boss David Gyngell confirmed the deal today, after he was forced to leave the talks yesterday as his TV presenter wife, Leila McKinnon, gave birth to their first child a week premature.

”All those doomsayers out there are going to have to eat their words. We have never had a more powerful balance sheet,” he declared.

“I’m not sure if all the players are happy, but I certainly am.”

Nine, which is majority owned by CVC Asic Pacific, owed over $3.3bn in total to lenders – $2.3 billion to US hedge fund and a further $1 bn to Goldman Sachs Mezzanine lenders.

Senior lenders led by US funds Oaktree Capital and Apollo Global Management will now take control of Nine in a debt-for-equity swap deal.

Exact details of the agreement have not yet been released.

The deal also means Nine, which includes its hugely successful free-to-air network, was ”ready to rock and roll for next year,” Gyngell added.

 

A newly debt free Nine now means its TV channel is now back in the game to kick off a fresh content war with arch rival Seven, as well as other free and pay TV competitors including Foxtel.

Aside from Channel Nine, the group also owns Ticketek, Sky News, ACP magazines (publisher of Woman Weekly, Auto Trader, Cleo) and Nine MSN news site portal – also one of the most visited sites in Oz.

‘Click Frenzy’: OZ Mega 24 Hr e-Sale

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Forget Cyber Monday, Click Frenzy Tuesday hits OZ …for mega deals on everything from iMacs to Bose headphones.


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The Aussie answer to ‘Cyber Monday’ in the US, called ‘Click Frenzy’ hits our screens Tuesday November 20.

Everything from laptops, TVs, sports gear, health, homeware and appliances will be sold on Click Frenzy on the cheap, which retailers are hoping will lure in price conscious pre-Christmas consumers.

It is even selling services like carpet cleaning. The offers are strictly for 24 hours and the ‘Click Frenzy’ kicks off 7pm on Tuesday November 20th.

“Online shoppers and retailers are going to witness an amazing single day sales event across categories,” declared retail group Power Retail who are organising the event, saying it will be “the biggest digital sales event yet,” (whether the ‘click frenzy’ could cause its servers to crash is another story).

The event was announced this week as retailers look to inject some life into the troubled retail sector, as bricks and mortar sellers are increasingly looking to the Internet to boost ailing sales.

Powerbuys has not yet confirmed the retailers who will be flogging gear on the deals site, but say “hundreds of online retailers” are involved in the one day mega sale, and said it has received “great interest” from retailers.

Consumers can register for the sale, and select their product preferences.

The bargain day mirrors the massive ‘Cyber Mondays’ event in the US, which takes place annually on Thanksgiving in November, providing a major boon for US online retailers.

Powerbuys said it is “aiming to set a record volume of online transactions for a single day, and we will have some amazing statistics to show after the frenzy ends.”

 

“To anyone who doubts online retail, this will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the power of the internet to move shoppers.”

Online shopping is enjoying around 20% annual growth, although is still low compared to bricks and mortar sales, and was worth  $11.7 bn in the 12 months to June 2012, while traditional retail sales totalled $220 bn, according to recent NAB figures.

“If the phenomenal success of Cyber Monday is any guide, Click Frenzy will be a spectacular milestone in Australia’s short but dynamic online retail history,” says its organisers.

BREAKING NEWS: Foxtel $1.9bn Grab for Austar

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After months of speculation, it is finally confirmed. Kim Williams’ Foxtel is to bid for regional Pay TV player Austar. Pay TV is about to get consolidated.


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Cable TV giant Foxtel has announced its intention to acquire 100 per cent of the regional player for $1.52 per share and merge the two.

The merger, if it gets the green light, “would bring together two of Australia’s major subscription TV service providers … with anticipated revenues of over $2.8 billion,” Foxtel said today.

And its owners Telstra, Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd and Consolidated Media Holdings must be rubbing their hands in delight at the prospect as it gives the giant an additional 760,000 subscribers in a time when getting new subscription signs ups is proving tough.

In March, Williams admitted at a Pay TV conference that growth had been “dreary” over the past 18 months in the advent of free TV services.

Austar, the largest pay television operator in regional Australia and Foxtel’s biggest pay rival also has a mobile and broadband division.

Foxtel also reckons the merger will help its customers by “giving regional Australia access to the same digital services as their metropolitan counter parts” as well as faster service rollout and better deals.

“This is a logical transaction with significant consumer and industrial upside for all stakeholders. The two companies are a complementary fit,” said Kim Williams today.

Austar CEO, John Porter has previously gone on record as voicing his support for the deal, declaring there was “so much compelling industrial logic” to a merger deal with Foxtel.

 

However, it’s not all done and dusted and “there can be no certainty that any transaction will eventuate” Foxtel warned today as it is subject to approval from the Board of AUSTAR and shareholders. 

The transaction would be funded by FOXTEL bank debt and shareholder capital contributions.

Foxtel is being advised by AquAsia, UBS AG and Allens.

FINALLY: The One ‘Superphone’ Hits April 23

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After a series of delays, HTC One will finally hit Australia this month.After much speculation (and frustration) about when One would go on sale, HTC made the announcement today we were all waiting for.

The stunning full HD Android phone, which HTC promises will ‘disrupt’ Apple and Samsung’s duopoloy, was showcased to media in February but we had no word about availability.

Until now.

HTC One will be available for pre-order Optus, Telstra, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone starting from tomorrow April 5, and in-store from Tuesday April 23.

Tipped as one of the best smartphones on the market, the 4.7 inch Full HD display HTC phone has HTC BlinkFeed live info feeds, a zero-gap aluminium unibody, an astonishingly good HTC Zoe camera, and BoomSound with two speakers at the front of the Android phone, which comes in 4G or 3G.

Read all about HTC One here

The HTC One plans on Optus include $60 plan plus $3 monthly handset fee over 24 months for consumer and business.

But Telstra is going one better and giving those who pre-order One free Beats Solo headphones valued at $199, which together with Beats Audio already on the phone, studio-quality beats.

Telstra customers will also be the first to get HTC One in ‘Stealth Black’.

The telco is flogging the HTC One on a $60 plan with a $10 handset fee monthly with $600 worth of included calls and MMS, unlimited SMS and1GB of data, to standard Australian numbers, and several other plans.

HTC One can also be purchased outright from Telstra for $768.

 

Virgin Mobile’s HTC One pricing is identical to Optus on its Big Plan $59 with $3 handset fee, with $700 plan credit, 3GB data , Unlimited mobile calls & text Virgin to Virgin, free voicemail.

Virgin seems to have the best value of the lot if you’re a heavy Internet user with a massive 3GB data.

Vodafone are opening online pre-orders half an hour earlier than Virgin at 9am tommorrow for the One.

Plans include $5 upfront on $60 over 24 months includes $700 calls & MMS, 1.5GB of data, Infinite calls to any Vodafone or 3 phones, Infinite TXT here & overseas  – which will appeal to those who do a lot of texting abroad.

‘Untimed’ NBN Phone Calls $29

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Internode is offering cheap NBN phone servicesYou can bundle Internode’s NBN phone with broadband services and get $10 off a month.

Internode’s new Fibre Phone service offers “untimed” landline calls Australia-wide  for 18 c.

The new phone service over the National Broadband Network is a traditional phone service but with “VoIP-style pricing” the telco says, starting at $29.95 a month (plus a $49 initial setup fee).

Calls to other Internode Fibre Phone or NodePhone users are free and 29 c per minute to standard Australian mobiles.

Other features include both caller ID and a voicemail system – with the option of voicemail appearing as an email.

In most areas you can retain your existing phone number for a fee or choose a new number.

The Fibre Phone (UNI-V) port on the NBN Network Termination Unit is essentially a built-in analog telephone adapter, which allows the delivery of traditional PSTN-type phone services after the copper telephone network is switched off in 18 months time.

The SA based telco is one of the first to complete the NBN Co accreditation process and says it has undertaken extensive trials of the new phone service.

“It’s exactly the same as a regular landline. They just plug in their existing phone handset and start to make calls,” says Internode Product Manager Jim Kellett.

The $49 setup charge is waived if the customer signs a 24-month contract.

Google, Do I Suffer From Memory Loss?

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Do you suffer from long term memory loss? Can’t remember? Well Google probably has the answer.

The famous line from the song by pop group Chumbawamba, called Amnesia, has some resonance in reality, new research claims. 

A study by psychologists from Colombian University in the US, now says search engines like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing fosters memory loss, known as the Google effect. 

The study, “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips” looks at how the Internet is changing the way people store information and has found alarming reliance on search engines as a personal memory bank, rather than brain power. 

“What surprised the researchers most was not people’s reliance on online information but their ability to find it,” says the study’s findings published in July edition of In Science magazine. 

Sharp memorys are no longer necessary as the internet generation can Google just about everything (and if we can’t think of a person’s name we can just look it up on Facebook), which is generally regarded as”an external memory source that we can access at any time,” says Betsy Sparrow one of the principal researchers. 

Rather than the remembering specific information stored, PC’s users are more likely to remember the computer folder or location where the content is stored, the research also found. 

“The experience of losing our Internet connection becomes more and more like losing a friend. We must remain plugged in to know what Google knows.”

 
So, its official. A PC is now like a friend with a great memory. 

90% DJs Shareholders Back Foreign Takeover

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David Jones shareholders have given the thumbs up to Woolworths $2.2bn takeoverThe takeover proposal, first announced in April, got an overwhelming 89.6% of DJ’s shareholders backing at a meeting that took place in Sydney today. 10.3% were against the takeover. 

 75% of shareholder votes in favour was required to get the deal over the line. 
South African-owned retailer Woolworths proposed a takeover David Jones for a “significant premium” of $4 per share cash payment, Chairman Gordon Cairns told investors today.  
The deal could be worth up to $2.2 billion and had the backing of the company’s board.
Cairns said the southern hemisphere retailer would bring meaningful scale, enhanced sourcing capability, financial strength and enhanced product range to the Australian department store.  
If the takeover deal did not go ahead Cairns warned of “specific risk associated with David Jones business and other general risks.” 

The shareholder vote was postponed by two weeks after it emerged Premier Investment boss Solomon Lew had amassed a 10% stake in DJ’s. 

Lew, in turn, had gripes with Woolworths as owners of a majority stake in Country Road who eventually capitulated to his desire to buy his minority stake in the clothing retailer, which is likely have helped get Lew’s backing for today’s vote. 

David Jones share were halted today prior to the 10am shareholder meeting, standing at $3.93.

However, there is one more step to finalise the deal – the Federal Court must also give its nod of approval at a hearing scheduled for this Thursday.

If the deal is approved by regulators, shareholders will receive $4 a share on August 01.   

Woolworths shareholders have already approved the deal. 

iPhone 5 Sales “Record-Breaking”: Telstra

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It may be hum drum, but Aussie appetite for the iPhone 5 is still voracious, as Telstra sells out within hours.


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Telstra sold out of the iPhone 5 in just 18 hours after the pre-orders kicked off on Friday 5:30 pm, marking a new sales record for the telco.

“Tens of thousands pre-registered interest in the new Apple and we sold out within two working says “smashing all Telstra previous online sales records, even the iPhone 4S which also sold out within a few days.

A spokesperson told SmartHouse they are “thrilled” with huge demand for the iPhone 5, which “exceeded all expectations.”

The 4″ screen, 4G-enabled, thinner, longer iPhone 5 has features Android devices have had for some time, was announced by Apple with much fanfare last week, which many are slamming as mundane.

The telco released their pricing plans for the new i5 on Friday, and are flogging four plans (S, M, L, XL) for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5.

Telstra’s S 16GB iPhone 5 plan starts at $67 per month ($600 call, unlimited txt and 1GB data) and also comes in $80, $100 and the top end $120 deals.

Further up the scale, the 32GB iPhone 5 on Telstra’s S starts at $71 (with the same allowances as the 16GB plan) but if you want a massive data allowance you will pay $132 for XL deal which gives unlimited talk, text and 3GB data.

The 64GB iPhone 5 S plan starts at $77 per month.

With no more devices in stock, consumers are currently unable to pre-order the device online.

A Telstra spokesperson said it is currently reviewing how to feed consumers huge hunger for the new 4G smartie but was “pleased” customers are embracing its online store with such aplomb.

 

“Our online pre-order has been very popular and for the moment, we’re out of stock. We’re working on getting more in,” according to Telstra’s website.

Vodafone, too, released its plans for i5, which starts at $6 a month on the $60 Plan ($700 value, infinite calls on 3/Vodafone’s network, infinite text standard and international and 1GB of data.)

A Vodafone spokesperson also confirmed demand is “strong” and will know more precise sales figures later today.

Optus are also riding high on i5 demand and are already sold out of the 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 on pre-orders, with pricing plans starting at $30 (+$18 handset repayment), $60 (+$6) and $80, revealed Friday afternoon.