Nine Entertainment dump WIN for SCA

News late this afternoon that Nine Entertainment and Southern Cross Austereo have done the deed.

With Television at least. Both Nine Entertainment Co and Southern Cross Austereo have announced to the market a multi-year deal for their television affiliations in regional Australia. This means SCA will flip from Ten to Nine programming.

The deal will also have SCA putting up 50% of their regional television revenue to their new partner. SCA will also rebrand their regional television sticks to the Nine Network image position from July 1. The move should mean that WIN Corp, the current Nine affiliate will change to TEN programming.

What could that mean for SCA’s radio brands?

While Nine CEO Hugh Marks was quoted today as saying: “I don’t see acquiring a regional broadcaster as high on our priority list.” If the proposed media reform legislation gets the green light by the Federal Government, and the wheels get set in motion for mergers; it makes the likelihood of a formal Nine and SCA merger more likely.

This would create a single radio and television entity across their metro and regional assets. Imagine the cost synergy that can be made with that one.