Sydney: News Corporation co-chair Lachlan Murdoch on Friday launched a bid for Australia’s third-largest television network after the government struck a deal to make controversial changes to media ownership laws.
US broadcaster CBS last month secured an agreement to buy the Ten Network, which is in voluntary administration, days after Murdoch’s investment company Illyria and media mogul Bruce Gordon got regulatory approval to make a bid.
Murdoch and Gordon’s potential bid would only be possible if Canberra changed media laws to allow ownership across multiple platforms, with the first hurdle overcome after the reforms passed the Upper House Senate on Thursday.
The laws are expected to come into force when the Lower House of Representatives, where the ruling coalition has a one-seat majority, sits again in mid-October.
A spokesman for Ten’s administrators KordaMentha confirmed they had received the bid, but would not comment further. — AFP
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