 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 1995; 30 years ago (1995) |
| Headquarters | Sydney ,Australia |
Areas served |
|
Key people | Paul Whittaker (CEO) |
| Services | News broadcasting |
| A$2.1 million (2015–16) | |
| Total assets | A$25 million (2015–16) |
Number of employees | 204 (2015–16) |
| Parent | News Corp Australia |
| Website | australiannewschannel |
Australian News Channel Pty Ltd. is an Australianprivately held subsidiary ofNews Corp Australia which owns media properties operating in Australia and New Zealand, the most prominent beingSky News Australia.
The company ownsnews broadcasting channelSky News Australia, its sister channelsSky News Extra andSky News Weather Channel, New Zealand News Channel (which operates Sky News New Zealand) as well as internationalstreaming service Australia Channel.
Australian News Channel Pty Ltd (ANC), was founded in 1995 when Sky News Australia was launched. It was owned byBritish Sky Broadcasting,Seven Media Group andPublishing and Broadcasting Limited.[1]
In 2013, ANC grantedA$20 million in funding to Sky News Australia to be used over three years.[2]
In 2014, ANC partnered with Globecast to launch an international streaming service Australia Channel, which broadcasts five channels to subscribers outside Australia.[3] It was launched after ANC bid to operate the Australian Government fundedAustralia Network contract, before the tender was controversially scrapped.[4]
Until 2015, Sky News was responsible for producing New Zealand'sPrime News – First at 5:30 from Sydney, hosted byEric Young with filming taking place in Prime'sAlbany studios. It lost the contract toMediaWorks and subsequently ceased broadcasting a local New Zealand bulletin.[5]
With the carriage deal between Australian News Channel and dominantsubscription television platformFoxtel due to expire in 2017, reported as either February[6] or December,[7] media speculation increased that News Corp Australia, which co-owns Foxtel, would attempt to acquire a majority stake in the company. On 26 February 2015 it was reported that News Corp Australia launched an A$25 million bid for full ownership of Australian News Channel.[8]
In June 2015, it was reported that ANC's stakeholders had rejected a News Corp takeover offer of A$20 million, with the owners wanting a minimum of A$50 million.[9] Following a breakdown in a News Corp buyout, further reports suggested Nine Entertainment could sell its stake to a joint arrangement between Seven West Media and News Corp.[7]
The entire company was acquired by News Corp Australia in December 2016.[1][10] In December 2017, it was reported that News Corp and Telstra were in acarriage dispute over the price Foxtel pays to carry Sky News channels after the existing deal expired at the end of the calendar year, worth over A$30 million per year. News Corp was requesting an increase to the Sky News carriage fee, which has not been raised for more than a decade, while Foxtel co-owner Telstra was opposed.[11] A new deal was agreed upon and transmission was not interrupted.[12]