ARN Media chairman Hamish McLennan says he would be interested in buying Nine Entertainment’s network of talkback radio stations, calling for the relaxation of laws limiting dealmaking among media companies. Mr McLennan is one of the most prominent media executives in the country, chairing ARN Media, which owns the KIIS and Gold radio stations and the iHeart podcast network, as well as the News Corp Australia-controlled REA Group, Australia’s largest real estate listings platform.

In an interview, he said Nine’s radio division, which runs Sydney’s 2GB, Melbourne’s 3AW and Brisbane’s 4BC stations, would “tuck in nicely under out wing”. “We’d definitely have a look at it if we could, but we’re precluded from doing that [by the media ownership regulations],” he added.

Once some of the media’s most lucrative and influential assets, radio is facing intense competition from major international platforms like music and streaming service Spotify. Both audiences and advertisers are also migrating toward podcasts and other types of digital audio products.

In Australia, rules meant to prevent a small number of companies dominating commercial media have been in place for more than three decades. They prevent one group owning more than two radio licences in the same city, a restriction that would prevent ARN, which already has KIIS FM and Gold 101.7 in Sydney, from acquiring any others in the market.

Mr McLennan said the increasing popularity of podcasts and music streaming showed those rules were archaic.

“They were designed last century. We should look to level the playing field and make it easier for all media companies to compete,” he said.

Last year, ARN repeatedly tried to engineer the takeover of Southern Cross Austereo, the owner of the Triple M and Hit radio brands, a large network of regional stations and a number of free-to-air television signals.

Story courtesy of Financial Review