Indicator 1: news outlet controllers

Our News media in Australia series reports against the Media Diversity Measurement Framework. The Framework will provide a robust long-term evidence base to help inform government decision making in support of public interest journalism and media diversity in Australia. This work forms part of the government’s News Media Assistance Program.

This snapshot highlights key insights from the Indicator 1: news outlet controllers interactive data report above. 

To explore more insights on the control of professional news outlets in Australia, visit the full interactive report. A deeper examination of news outlet controllers will appear in our News media in Australia: 2027 report.

Ownership of media brands

Public broadcasters own the most media brands  SBS owns 70 media brands, followed by the ABC with 66  These brand counts reflect the public broadcasters’ roles in informing all Australians and reflecting the nation’s cultural diversity. For example, 54 of 66 ABC brands serve specific regional or local communities, while 62 of 70 SBS brands serve specific linguistically diverse communities. The large number of ABC and SBS brands also reflects their flat ownership structures, with all brands owned by a single entity, rather than being shared across multiple owner entities.

A dozen entities own one-quarter of all media brands 1% (12) of owners own 25% (414) of all media brands While the 12 largest owners own 20 or more media brands each, most owners (683 or 81%) own just one brand. However, some owners, including owners with just one brand, belong to larger corporate structures that comprise multiple owners. For example, News Corp Australia’s corporate structure comprises 6 different owners in this data report, who own 114 total brands.

Control of news outlets subject to Australia’s media control rules

Determining who controls a news outlet is difficult in most cases  Detailed control data is only available for the 13% (352) of professional news outlets subject to Australia’s media control rules. Equivalent control data is not available for the 87% (2,379) of news outlets that are not subject to these rules, including all online news outlets.  While ownership data is available for most news outlets, ownership is only one element of control. For example, under Australia’s media control rules, a person or entity can also be in a position to exercise control if they have company interests exceeding 15%, or either directly or indirectly influence the operations of a company.

4% of controllers are in a position to exercise control of more than one-third of news outlets These 13 entities and 3 people are each in a position to exercise control of 35% (122) of all news outlets subject to Australia’s media control rules. This control arrangement began in January 2026 following the merger of Southern Cross Media Group and Seven West Media. The combined group spans radio, TV and newspaper outlets that are subject to Australia’s media control rules, as well as digital and other newspaper outlets that are not.

This report draws on data from the following sources:

• ACMA Register of Radiocommunications Licences
• ACMA Media ownership and control registers
• ACMA (News Media Bargaining Code) register of eligible news businesses
• ACMA Framework Outlet Register
• Public Interest Publishers Index
• Industry supplied data (ABC and SBS)
• Public Interest Journalism Initiative Australian News Data Project (discontinued December 2024).

In May 2026, we corrected a data quality issue relating to the ABC and SBS in this data report. As a result, the number and composition of media brands and news outlets attributed to the ABC and SBS has changed since this report was first published in 2025.

All percentages on this page have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

For more information about how to read this data report, see the chart notes, help page, diagrams and glossary provided with the data report.

You can also: 

• view a glossary of key terms used in these reports
• view other reports in this series.

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