British Daily Mail & General Trust has sold half of its Australian radio subsidy DMG Radio Australia to Lachlan Murdoch for a reported 110 million Australian dollars.
DMG Radio Australia will be run as a joint-venture between Murdoch's Illyria, which is based in Australia, and Daily Mail & General Trust. Lachlan Murdoch will be chairman of the company.
DMG Radio Australia runs nine radio stations across the major metropolitan markets in Australia. CHR network Nova FM – the market leader in the under 40 age group – is active in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while AC outlet Vega FM is available in Sydney and Melbourne. DMG also runs talk station FiveAA in Adelaide and rock AC-formated Star 104.5 north of Sydney.
DMG's latest investment is two digital stations on the new digital DAB+ network: dance music outlet Nova Nation and "chill" station Koffee.
"DMG Radio Australia is a strong business with talented on and off air people. Together we will explore new growth opportunities in the exisiting business and also in relatade media" Lachlan Murdoch says in a press release.
Daily Mail & General Trust made its first entry into Australian radio in 1996. Within five years, the company had gained control of 59 regional stations. In 2000, DMG switched its strategy to concentrate on the major metropolitan markets.
Lachlan Murdoch sold half of his shares in News International earlier in November and is said to also consider a bid for Nielsen Business Media.
Nielsen Business Media is the publisher of music business magazine Billboard, as well as titles such as Hollywood Reporter, Ad Week, Media Week and Editor & Publisher. Nielsen also published Radio & Records until June, when the weekly was closed down.
According to media reports, Murdoch's bid for Nielsen Business Media is made with James Finkelstein (The Hill and Who's Who), Matthew Dull (previously at Wired) and George Green (previously at the Hearst group).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment