In September, 2017 the Australian Government voted in favour of a comprehensive package of media reforms.

Key highlights from the historic reforms include increased requirements to show Australian produced content, a public ownership register of media assets, and additional funding for regional and small publishers. (Full details in Venture Insights’ Media Reform Update report in October, 2017)

As we reported, while media reform opens the door for consolidation, we do not believe it will or should result in the M&A frenzy many observers predicted. After all, simply putting two challenged businesses together will not provide sustained respite from strengthening industry headwinds or growth in the absence of robust strategic planning that looks beyond the immediate horizon.