New Era For Mediaworks

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

7 November 2013

New Era For Mediaworks

MediaWorks Group Managing Director, Sussan Turner has confirmed that the sale of the business to MediaWorks Holdings Limited (MWHL) will settle tomorrow, Friday 8 November 2013. 

“It is extremely pleasing that we have emerged in such good heart.  As was promised at the outset, all our staff have been retained and it has been, on the whole, business as usual.  We are grateful for the tremendous support the business has received from our team, customers, suppliers and the public.

“A key focus of the transition to new ownership has been to right size the capital structure of the business. This has now been achieved and the business is no longer burdened by crippling debt,” she said. 

Turner praised the professionalism of staff, and the support of key partners which has seen MediaWorks continue to trade exceptionally well during the receivership period.

Chairman of MediaWorks Holdings Limited, Rod McGeoch said the Board has worked hard to create an environment where innovation will continue to prosper.

“Today heralds an exciting fresh start for this iconic, independent New Zealand media company. It’s a brave new world and we have embraced the need for more flexible commercial arrangements with studios. In our view, full output agreements for the television business are outdated and don’t make commercial sense in the New Zealand market.  Instead we want our television and online businesses to have the advantage of selecting international shows that work for us,” he said. 

As a result, MediaWorks TV has a restructured deal with NBC Universal, retained selected CBS product and established a new content deal with Sony Television. 

“While we chose not to pursue an output deal with FOX, we are working to establish a new arrangement with them.

“Quality international programmes are still important, however we can now capitalise on the financial flexibility we achieve through this targeted approach to invest in strong local content which we see as a major competitive advantage. 

“We will now move towards crystallising our plans for MediaWorks’ future, together with the management team.  Our ability to leverage assets across all media platforms – television, radio, online and social – is a compelling proposition and puts us in a unique and extremely exciting position,” Mr McGeoch said.

ENDS

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