News Corp Exits ARN Media as Australian Ad Market Consolidates
Read the full article: News Corp Exits ARN Media as Australian Ad Market Consolidates
Australian media companies posted coordinated losses and ownership exits in 2025, with ARN Media warning of a 25% to 27% drop in full-year earnings and News Corp selling its entire 13% stake for $18 million. The synchronized downturn highlights structural pressures facing out-of-home (OOH) advertising markets across Asia-Pacific, even as the sector outperforms other traditional media channels.
Revenue Decline Forces Ownership Restructuring
ARN Media's October 2025 advertising revenue fell 10% year-on-year, prompting News Corp to exit its stake and value the company at approximately $139 million. The radio broadcaster now operates without major shareholder backing during a period when Australia's total advertising market declined 2% for the full year.
Mission Media
Southern Cross Austereo completed its regional television exit through license sales to Network 10 and Seven West Media for $3.75 million in July, then pursued a $420 million merger with Seven West Media combining radio and broadcast properties. Nine Entertainment simultaneously divested metro radio stations including 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR following strategic reviews.
These portfolio rationalizations reflect broader advertising revenue volatility, with Australia's Q4 2025 bookings down 6.6% to 2019 levels. Government advertising cuts of 30% in Q4 and 31.7% in the first half of 2025 contributed to late-year softness, alongside category pullbacks in retail and food sectors.
OOH Demonstrates Resilience Despite Market Headwinds
Despite broader market decline, Australia's OOH sector achieved 11.6% first-half growth and 5.3% full-year uplift in 2025 according to Guideline SMI, making it the strongest major advertising medium. WPP data showed 8.2% annual OOH growth with 6.2% forecast for 2026, though momentum faded with December ad spend down 9.2% overall.
The sector's long-term trajectory remains positive, with 13.6% compound annual growth rate projections to reach $1.93 billion by 2030. Yet near-term consolidation pressures demonstrate how structural challenges force media companies to seek scale and operational efficiencies during revenue volatility.
Asia-Pacific Digital OOH Expands Amid Budget Reallocation
Across Asia-Pacific, the OOH sector faces different dynamics than Australia's consolidation pressures. Regional advertising spending grows 6.5% year-on-year to $325.39 billion in 2026, led by China's 7.6% growth and India's expansion. Digital OOH specifically expands from $21.64 billion in 2025 to $23.94 billion in 2026, representing 11.42% compound annual growth.
China holds 51.38% market share in Asia-Pacific digital OOH, with 42% of advertisers allocating dedicated programmatic DOOH budgets in 2025, up from 33% two years prior. Among these advertisers, 58% shifted funds from other digital channels and 59% from traditional channels, indicating budget reallocation toward digital OOH formats rather than sector-wide cuts.
Regional Growth Moderates Amid Global Uncertainty
However, Asia-Pacific advertising growth moderates from 6.9% in 2025 to 6.5% in 2026, driven by US tariff uncertainty, regulatory hurdles in India, and maturing connected television markets in Australia and Japan. This moderation erodes APAC's global advertising share to 27.5% by 2029.
Fifty-three percent of APAC marketers planned overall ad spend cuts in 2025 due to global uncertainty, mirroring broader advertising caution. Yet programmatic DOOH adoption in China stands at 24% among advertisers and 36% for agencies, demonstrating how digital transformation drives budget shifts within advertising categories rather than wholesale sector abandonment.
The coordinated Australian media consolidation signals structural pressures that contrast with Asia's digital OOH expansion, highlighting divergent regional trajectories as companies navigate advertising market volatility.
Want to stay up-to-date on the stories shaping Asia's media, marketing, and comms industry? Subscribe to Mission Media for exclusive insights, campaign deep-dives, and actionable intel.
