Ten boss cautious on takeover bids, admits Wake Up cancellation came after Boland exit
McLennan
Network Ten has cautioned shareholders that takeover bids might not result in a takeover, with executive chairman and CEO Hamish McLennan admitting the decision to axe struggling breakfast show Wake Up was made when executive producer Adam Boland went off on stress leave a few weeks into its run.
It was reported earlier this month Foxtel and Discovery Communications had tabled a 23 cents a share offer for Ten as it also emerged that two other bidders, including private equity firm Anchorage Capital and Haim Saban from Saban Capital, were in the race to acquire the troubled network.
“As you know, on November 6 this year we advised the market that we had appointed Citi to assist in assessing a range of potential strategic options for the company,” McLennan said.
“On December 3, we advised that Citi had received non-binding, conditional proposals from a number of parties in relation to transactions which, if implemented, could result in a change of control of Ten or a refinancing of its existing debt facilities.
“An independent committee of the board of Ten is considering those proposals in conjunction with Citi. It should be noted that the proposals are confidential, non-binding and conditional in nature, and may or may not result in a transaction which is acceptable to the company.”
Ten has been struggling to attract advertising revenue as its ratings share has declined with McLennan describing the television advertising market as “short”.
“Despite poor ratings at the start of the television survey year, the company has seen strong ratings growth since May 2014, as a result of the six-point plan developed last year,” he said.
These six points included: investing in event television; investing in premium live sport; focusing on the 25-54-year-old demographic; bringing consistency to Network Ten’s program schedules; investing in the development of new formats; and, continuing the expansion of digital platforms and revenue.
During the annual general meeting McLennan was quizzed about the station’s pursuit of the breakfast timeslot which it had focused on in previous years.
On ditching its breakfast show Wake Up in May this year, McLennan said: “The founder (Adam Boland) of the show Wake Up left the company, he was not well. We made the decision that the priority for the company was to chase prime time revenues and ratings once that person left. We are still very committed with a whole daytime schedule that is going well for us at the moment, we are number one in daytime. We have a program Studio10 that starts at 8.30am in the morning and comes up against that breakfast timeslot.
“With the evolving nature of business and our television station, we thought we would take the money out of the very early morning shift and put that towards primetime and I would say that has worked successfully for us since May this year.”
McLennan was also grilled on his ability to fulfil both roles of CEO and executive chairman following his appointment to the chairman role in March when Lachlan Murdoch stepped down.
“We have a large board, the board asked me to do both roles for clarity of executing our strategic plan. They felt it was the right thing to do,” he said.
“We’re the first people to acknowledge that it’s slightly unusual in this instance but Ten has been through a lot in the last few years and we felt that the clarity of focus that I bring as chairman and CEO was the right thing for us to do.
“I was asked to do the role and I’ve obliged. I’m 110 per cent committed to the company, I do whatever it takes that the necessary and right decisions are made for the company, it gets my full attention. I don’t think the company is disadvantaged at all,” he said.
Miranda Ward
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
Linkedin
What do the programmers actually do at Ten ? How can anybody keep their job in the last two years while the share price plummeted to almost worthless and people continue to desert Ten. The board should fire all senior staff and hire some people to make changes. Any changes will do, as nothing works. Family Fued is the only rehash that is holding some ground but will be short lived. Commission some new programs that are bold ? McLennan will last one week once a new owner is found as he had the chance to fix things up but has done nothing.
User ID not verified.
its a vicious circle: Ten aren’t getting the ratings, so they’re not getting the (advertising) money they need to buy good programming, so they’re not getting the ratings, so not getting the $ ….and so it goes round. To break the cycle, they need a big injection of $$ and/or great programming. A buyout by a huge network like Discovery, in conjunction with Foxtel, would presumably provide them with both.
User ID not verified.
What does “focus on a 25-54 demographic” even mean in 2014?
User ID not verified.
@ Ash, It means that they are not focusing on kids or old people, which is a huge mistake, since television is for everyone out there who will buy something.
A big injection of dollars may help, but it may also disappear down the same waste trap which has already accommodated millions.
Good programming and good television does not need to cost huge money.
Theatre can be performed on a deep revolving stage with a guilt proscenium arch, in a glittering neo classical building with three tiers of velvet covered seats and chandeliers, or it can be performed at the beach in a circle drawn in the sand.
User ID not verified.