Foxtel has quit the top end of town industry group Premium Content Alliance and its subsidiary body ThinkTV.
The move is part of a major shakeup at the industry lobby group Premium Content Alliance which was formed in late 2020 when ThinkTV and News Media Works merged.
“Foxtel Media has strategically made the decision to exit ThinkTV given our single-minded focus on digital transformation into a data and streaming-led advertising business,” Mark Frain, CEO Foxtel Media, said in a statement.
“Cost was not a consideration in this decision.”
Foxtel's departure is part of significant changes at the alliance.
ThinkPremiumDigital, a part of the alliance, is being retired, leaving ThinkTV and ThinkNewsBrands as the two lobbying arms. The digital part is now embedded in each.
The move means a loss of jobs. Sources say those leaving include former industry journalist Brooke Hemphill, the head of communications, Claire Williams, head of marketing, who moved two years ago from food and beverage giant Lion, and Steve Weaver, head of research, a former OzTAM chair.
The owners, the major news producers in Australia (News Corp, Nine, Seven West Media, Paramount), saw a separate digital arm as redundant.
The media groups are all building their digital side as an integrated plan, taking in all formats of news, rather than a separate play.
Market analysts, as print advertising revenues slide, put more emphasis on how much of a media player’s revenue comes from digital.
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