APN ARM: Barriers to entry close Dec 8 (updated)

Nov 22, 2016 at 08:48 pm by Staff


If you ever thought anyone - Morry Schwartz, perhaps - might challenge the influence of News and the Courier-Mail in Queensland, forget it.

Time was when the publisher of the Quarterly Essay, The Monthly and the The Saturday Paper - and others besides - might have been up for something more than periodical publishing, but the window of opportunity has closed.

In its 'statement of issues' into the proposed purchase of APN News & Media's Australian Regional Newspapers business, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission admits, "News is unlikely to be constrained by the threat of entry by new regional paid daily newspapers".

Or metropolitan ones, presumably, notwithstanding the fact that Fairfax Media owns the prerequisite plant - and upscale content creation resources - in Brisbane. And forget anything niche and innovative, based on emerging digital newspaper printing technology, which production and distribution managing director Bob Lockley tells me is still hampered by the cost of ink.

In the words of the ACCC - which is currently due to announce its decision next Thursday* (see below) - "barriers to entry for a potential new publisher of paid daily newspapers are likely to be significantly higher than for community newspapers".

So far, the ACC has noted that the acquisition may "substantially lessen" local news services to readers in five areas where the two currently overlap (Caboolture/Bribie Island, south west Brisbane, Brisbane northern bayside, Logan, and Tweed Heads/southern Gold Coast).

It assumes that the News and ARM papers "are likely to be close competitors", but suggests that some consumers will regard local radio stations and TV as acceptable alternative sources of news. That "there have been instances of new community newspapers commencing in some local areas of Queensland in recent years", and that "the threat of entry" by new newspapers in the local overlap areas "may constrain News from increasing prices or reducing quality post-acquisition".

Which may not be the point.

News Corp simply doesn't do competition, witness the occasions when it pitted its huge resources against Fairfax with mx and a short-lived daily title on the NSW Central Coast, and woe betide anyone who cares to challenge those assets it hopes to win on December 1.

The ACCC will make its decision and, like voters with that of the US electoral colleges on Trump, the rest of us will live with it. And the only "voices" likely to be able to make themselves heard over that of Rupert Murdoch, will be those of Zuckerberg, Page and Brin.

Peter Coleman

• The ACCC has now delayed its former proposed decision date of December 1 to December 8, to allow it time to consider the parties' responses to ACCC information requests.

Sections: Newsmedia industry

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