There have been big changes to press ownership over the summer. The Post Group of free weekly newspapers have been sold by Fairfax to Con Constantine’s family, the owners of several western Sydney publications. Meanwhile The Star has come under Fairfax ownership as part of the Rural Press sale late last year.
The transfer of ownership of the The Post has been messy with Constantine taking Fairfax (The Herald) to the ACCC after they tried to withhold the real estate and entertainment sections and transfer the section names to The Star. Constantine won that battle, but it has signalled the start of a challenge to Fairfax's dominant position in the local press, something that could be favourable for advertisers.
The post is quickly assembling a new management, sales and editorial team and have been promising better editorial content and aggressive sales initiatives. This can only be good for the market.
