Has anyone noticed what has happened in the past few days in the wake of the changes to media ownership laws in Australia. Well unless you have been under a rock, here is a quick summary.
The big end of town (PBL, News Ltd, Rural Press, Seven) are either planning to get bigger or are buying into other stocks so that no-one else can compete against them.
The government’s laws will need to be tightened and any calls for the regulation of Internet TV need to be thrown out the door.
Almost all of the press in the past year since the government announced changes to the laws have focussed on what the big end of town think about the changes, some are now happy and some are now upset at the new laws. Does this ring alarm bells for anyone else?
I personally have nothing against big companies getting bigger, but when there are laws in place to protect these companies I cannot help but be angry.
A free market economy should allow anyone to compete against anyone, yes you must protect consumers to ensure diversity, but we have 2 major city/metropolitan players in newspapers, 3 major players in free to air television and only one player in Pay TV.
So something has to give…..this is simply not diversity.
The ACCC has said it will not allow any consolidation in the newspapers/television/radio space, but when these companies can buy large chunks of shares in rivals – simply to control who can buy what, is bordering on the ridiculous……
Everything, including the PBL split, is about………you guessed it, control + money……………and who pays………..again, very good – the consumer!
So tell me, your views on the Media Ownership Laws!