TV network owner suing TVSN after Seven deal
Billionaire Bruce Gordon, owner of WIN and the biggest single shareholder in Nine, is suing shopping channel TVSN after it signed a deal with the Seven Network this year.
According to the AFR, Gordon filed a claim last month with the NSW Supreme Court alleging a breach of contract with WIN, who previously broadcast content from the shopping channel.
TVSN is part of Direct Group, a leading direct-to-consumer retailer with a portfolio of online, social and catalogue brands that include Innovations, Infashion, Reader’s Digest, GAIAM, Fox Collection and Entertainment Masters.
WIN signed a three-year deal with TVSN in mid-2021, which featured a clause requiring the two companies to meet last September, some nine months from the end of the contract “with a view to exploring, in good faith, opportunities to extend their co-operation”.
WIN now alleges TVSN “refused to meet”, as they were nutting out a deal with Seven, later sending a legal letter via Holding Redlich that stated that it would be “impossible for your client to provide the Australian-wide coverage required by our client” and therefore a meeting to discuss extension possibilities wasn’t necessary.
Gordon
Gordon’s lawyers argued that, by stipulating the need for Australian-wide coverage after signing a deal to explore an extension, TVSN displayed “misleading and deceptive conduct”.
When announcing the deal with Seven, in January this year, TVSN’s chief executive officer Judy Deuchar said the new partnership with Seven will “deliver an enhanced viewing experience to a wider audience across the vast dynamic network of Seven’s metro and regional audiences as well as their growing digital platforms.”
WIN is seeking damages.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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