Radio’s revenue war: Copyright Tribunal rules; Is Nova going again for breakfast?; The Nine Radio auction
The radio networks’ long running legal battle with the music industry will see a modest increase in costs – both sides are claiming victory. And in a post that first appeared in a radio-focused edition of Best of the Week email, we explore how the battle for Nine Radio is shaping up – including a potential conflict of interest for Nine chair Peter Tonagh; ARN Media’s content director gap; and Nova’s switcheroo
The full post is for members of Mumbrella Media
CRA bosses Lizzie Young and Peter Charlton must wait until the new Year for the final result
It was a big end-of-season closer for the radio industry.
Since 2023, industry body Commercial Radio and Audio has been embroiled in expensive legal proceedings against music rights collection body the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia. The radio stations must pay 0.4% of their revenues to the PPCA for the right to play music.
Based on roughly $1bn in annual radio revenue, that amounts to about $4m per year. PPCA has argued that’s not enough. The radio networks argue that they also invest in the music industry in other ways, including through events, promotions and payments to other rights collections agencies.
The battle has stretched the CRA’s finances. The organisation has sold its office and cancelled the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (that’s one reason we launched the Australian Audio Awards).
