Neighbours' future under threat as Australian network enters administration

Neighbours' future under threat as Australian network enters administration
The Ten Network's shareholders force the broadcaster into drastic action

Neighbours' future under threat as Australian network enters administration

Neighbours' Australian broadcaster Network Ten is entering voluntary administration, it was announced today.
The move comes after the company's key shareholders pulled out of guaranteeing a proposed $250 million loan, intended to replace an existing $200 million loan, due in December, which is said to have left directors with no choice but to voluntarily appoint advisory and investment firm KordaMentha as administrators of the company and its subsidiaries.
There will now be a financial and operational assessment of the business. A statement from the network said: "The directors of Ten regret very much these circumstances have come to pass... They wish Ten all success as the administrators look to the potential sale or recapitalisation of the business."
Ten, which launched in 1964 as a commercial network, has struggled in the Australian ratings in recent months against rival networks Seven and Nine, despite broadcasting high profile shows such as I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and MasterChef. The company posted a $232.2 million loss in April.
Neighbours, Australia's longest-running drama, started broadcasting on the network in 1986, having originally started on Seven in 1985. In 2011 it moved from airing on Channel 10, the company's main channel, to digital offshoot Eleven. The show has been broadcast in the UK on Channel 5 since 2008, after moving from the BBC.
RadioTimes.com has contacted FremantleMedia, who produce Neighbours, for comment on how this could impact the programme's future.
Neighbours continues weekdays on Channel 5 at 1.45pm and 5.30pm.

The most likely scenario appears to be that Network Ten will be sold off as a going concern (or re-capitalised). The uncertainty of the situation seems to be more of an issue for Australian viewers than those in the UK/overseas. Channel 5's (new 4 year) deal to air Neighbours in the UK is with Fremantle Media (who produce Neighbours) & not Network Ten, so the show is therefore unlikely to be affected by whatever happens (with Ch10). For Aust however, I suppose the question is whether any new owner of Ch10 will keep shows like Neighbours or whether it will have to shed some shows to cut costs etc, & if so, will Neighbours be one of them? If the show does leave Ch10 where would it go? I doubt either Ch7 or Ch9 would ever pick it up, which leaves pay tv - Foxtel or a streaming service such as Netflix could possibly grab it? (which would be a big bummer for those not having or can't afford pay tv). It is highly unlikely, but what if Ch10 lets it go & no-one picks it up? - could we see a situation where the show actually ends up airing in the UK and not Australia? - that scenario remains to be seen!


As for the possibility of Network Ten being sold, these are a couple of extracts from Daily Telegraph articles:

Ten Network could be taken private.

Ten Network, which has gone into voluntary administration, could be taken private.

Two key shareholders Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon have teamed up to work on a plan to save the broadcaster.

The pair, who hold 7.7 per cent and 15 per cent of Ten, respectively, through their private investment companies, told the stock exchange late Wednesday they had an "agreement".

"Birketu and Illyria have agreed to work together exclusively to facilitate the potential formulation, negotiation and implementation of a restructure proposal," Mr Gordon's company told the ASX.

...........Administrator Mark Korda of KordaMentha has pledged to keep the business running as usual as options to refinance or sell the embattled broadcaster are considered.

"The administrators are confident that the network is an attractive asset which will find a buyer or will be recapitalised," he said in a statement......

Also:

Ten could still be TV winner.

Billionaires likely to get with the programs

NETWORK Ten isn't being switched off just yet............fans need not fear they are going to be left hanging mid-season, with experts saying the future could still be positive. Cashed -up private equity firms & Australian billionaires have been ear-marked as potential buyers, meaning there is no danger of the broadcaster, which boasts audience favourites such as The Bachelorette, Gogglebox and the Big Bash Cricket, going off air completely........

Media analyst Steve Allen suspects Ten will be placed into voluntary administration and then sold off to the highest bidder. "There would be lots of venture capitalists both locally & overseas that would look at this as a cost opportunity," he told The Daily Telegraph, suggesting Hungry Jacks owner Jack Cowin and mining magnate Gina Rinehart as potential interested parties. Mr Allen said Ten's shares collectively are worth about $60 million, which is cheap for a TV licence in Australia....


Following the radiotimes.com article that Kaz posted earlier, they have now also released another one:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-...-of-neighbours

It's seems to be a bit of a non issue. Really.