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Report: TEN billionaires refuse to back new loan facility

Lachlan Murdoch, James Packer & Bruce Gordon will not back a $250m loan for TEN.

Lachlan Murdoch, James Packer and Bruce Gordon will not guarantee a new $250m loan for TEN, according to media reports.

TEN is facing a December deadline with the Commonwealth Bank on its existing loan.

Without a new $250 million credit guarantee, banks are unlikely to lend to the troubled broadcaster and it could go into receivership.

James Packer has been looking to sell his7.7 per cent stake in the company, but with few interested buyers. The Australian Financial Review now reports Murdoch and Bruce Gordon told TEN late on Friday evening they would not guarantee the new loan.

But newly appointed advisors, Moelis & Co, lead by head of corporate finance Chris Wyke, remain confident of securing the refinancing and have been talking with a number of parties.

It’s believed TEN has made progress its onerous output deals with US studios 21st Century Fox and CBS, worth more than $150 million per year, but a deal remains some time off. The network is also awaiting the passage of media reforms which will address current licensing fees. Major cost cuts are also expected.

A TEN spokesman declined to comment.

13 Responses

  1. I guess we will have to wait and see, Channel 10 is a network that has over 600 million in revenue every year and owns a series of successful reality TV concepts. If 10 folds it could be the sign of things to come if FTA doesn’t keep up with consumer technology demands. It will be interesting to see what 9 and 7 do, they may see some short term commercial advantage but the door is now open to the world of streaming entertainment with Amazon Prime also investing billions to compete with Netflix, so obviously a wider international audience is the future.

    1. Yeah they have a 13.9% stake, the ACCC said they could buy to 15% but they didn’t, so it could get tricky if those media reforms don’t happen. Have to Remember that Lachlan Murdoch has a 7.7% stake in TEN (through Illyria), is Co-Chair of News Corp which owns 50% of Foxtel and is Executive Chairman of 21st Century Fox which course TEN has and is negotiating a program deal with.

      Of course if the 15% owner in Gordon walks away as does Packer, then once in administrators hands it will go at even more a bargain basement price, putting Foxtel at the forefront or Fox Entertainment Group a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, we could end up with the Fox Broadcasting Company Australia yet.

  2. They only have themselves to blame. Attempting to muscle in on the already well-serviced 25-49 demo while cannibalising their very successful core demo with Eleven, a sequence of poor decisions by the Board coupled with terrible programming, and a half-hearted attempt to be different by starting their shows on time before giving their dwindling audience the finger and reverting to type.

    Ten used to be the network I watched the most and, when they started, One and Eleven were my most watched multi-channels. I honestly can’t remember the last time I watched anything on any of their channels but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t this year.

    Packer should just put his Ten shares in a pile and burn them. At least that’d keep him warm for a while.

    1. I was in the same boat. I watched Channel TEN almost exclusively with the occasional show on SBS and ABC (I almost never watch Seven, and Nine even less so). Since TEN decided to oh-so smartly abandon their niche for the already serviced 25-54 demographic, I switched off.

      I only rarely watch Eleven now, and with their haphazard scheduling decisions and appalling A/V quality, I have almost no reason to tune in anymore. It’s quite sad, really, as I wanted to pitch some shows to TEN someday, but they’re beyond help now.

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