EXCLUSIVE: Dramatic plans for the Austar brand to be dropped by year’s end and a structural and executive shake-up in the pay TV sector have come to a grinding halt following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) decision to stall Foxtel’s proposed takeover of regional pay TV player Austar.
The pay TV industry was awash with expectation last week about the dumping of the Austar brand and new management roles earmarked for Austar’s veteran sales and marketing boss Nikki Warburton, MCN chief executive Anthony Fitzgerald and XYZ Entertainment CEO Bruce Mann.
But the ACCC’s preliminary view, announced last Friday, that a Foxtel-Austar merger would likely result in a “substantial lessening of competition” has stalled momentum. A final decision will be made on September 8.
Last week’s ASTRA awards in Sydney were abuzz with speculation about the dumping of the Austar brand within six months and what roles key players such as Warburton and Fitzgerald would have.
Bruce Mann, the long-serving boss of XYZ, which dominated the ASTRA awards along with Australia’s Next Top Model presenter Sarah Murdoch, was said to be considering offshore options as a result of the Foxtel takeover. However, Mann, along with Fitzgerald and Warburton, scotched speculation last week.
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