Seven West Media is buying the last of broadcaster SCA's television assets for $3.75 million.
Seven is acquiring the television licences and associated assets in Tasmania, Darwin, Spencer Gulf, Broken Hill, Mt Isa and Remote, Central and Eastern Australia.
These licences currently broadcast the Seven Network television signal in each market under the current Affiliation Agreement with SXL.
The acquisition opens new markets to Seven where the offering of digital television on 7plus complements the Seven broadcast signal.
“The acquisition of these television licenses is another positive step in SWM’s strategic transformation program,” said Seven CEO Jeff Howard.
“Seven is Australia’s largest commercial free-to-air broadcaster and we are excited by the opportunity to further leverage our leading news, sport and entertainment content in these new markets, across both Seven and 7plus to drive incremental revenue, earnings and cash flow.
“Following this acquisition, Seven will reach almost 100% of Australia’s population [ex-Riverland]. With the successful launch of our Phoenix total television platform, our valued advertising partners and media buyers will be able to seamlessly reach and target these new and attractive audiences across both broadcast and digital campaigns.”
Seven West Media reported a 6% drop to $727 million in revenue for the half year to December. A “soft” advertising market resulted in total television revenue also down 6% or $16 million. The media group has been tightly managing costs, which were down 2% to $635 million.
With the divestment of its last television assets, SCA's strategy is now SCA is “All about Audio”.
These licences are the last of its TV assets. SCA in December announced the sale to Network 10 of television licences in Queensland, southern New South Wales and Victoria.
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