Paramount-owned Network 10 snaps up Southern Cross Austereo regional TV stations

Australian media giant Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has confirmed that it will sell its regional television licences to Network 10, which is owned by Paramount.

John Kelly

The agreement with Network 10 is the first outcome of a strategic review of non-core regional TV assets, and includes the sale of licences in Queensland, southern New South Wales and Victoria. SCA, led by CEO John Kelly, currently broadcasts Network 10 programmes under regional affiliation arrangements in these markets.

The deal follows more than a year of takeover offers from a variety of suitors after the ASX-listed SCA said it was in active negotiations with several parties.

Completion of the sale is subject to further external approvals including receipt of foreign investment approval, with the parties anticipating a completion by the end of February 2025.

Under the terms of the agreement, SCA will be entitled to receive a share of the profit of the licences for five years after completion.

Based on current and forecast advertising market conditions, SCA  expects the profits received to be in the vicinity of A$15m (US$9.3m) to A$20m.

SCA said the net value of this gross consideration on completion of the sale is expected to be in the range of A$10m to A$15m.

SCA will also be entitled to a share of any “digital dividend” received by Network 10 if Network 10 surrenders its spectrum in these markets to the government during the period stipulated.

While the government has yet to formally announce a spectrum sale it has warned that market that it is exploring “pathways for the future of television, shaped by the possibility  of realising a digital dividend.”

SCA states that it has ongoing interest from several other parties in regards to the sale of further television assets in Tasmania, Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill, Darwin, Remote Central and Eastern Australia which includes a satellite access network.