‘Foxtel could try to buy Ten’

Tim Burrowes

January 30, 2012 10:08

Foxtel could bid for Ten if the subscription TV platform’s merger with Austar is turned down, a media analyst has predicted.

Writing in today’s Australian Financial Review, Ben Holgate suggests that there might be fewer regulatory hurdles than for the Austar bid – and it would be cheaper too, particularly if Ten’s outdoor operation Eye is sold separately.

Holgate is a former media analyst at Morgan Staley and Merrill Lynch.

The ACCC has not yet issued a final ruling on Foxtel’s bid for regional pay platform Austar, but it has signalled it has concerns that competition would be reduced in the market.

According to Holgate: “If Foxtel were to merge with a free-to-air network, it would have a competitive advantage in being able to bid for sports rights across multiple media platforms.” He adds: “Other benefits flowing from such a merger include increased buying power of general TV programming, multi platform advertising packages, promotion of pay TV channels on free-to-air to drive subscriptions, and cost savings.”

Holgate also lists the debt-laden Nine Network as another potential target.

Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.