Daily Mail buys Sydney FM radio licence for £43 million

DMG Radio Australia has successfully bid for the Sydney FM radio licence auctioned today by the Australian Government.

The purchase price was A$106 million (£43 million), of which 10% has been paid in cash today and the balance will be payable in 45 days.

The new station is likely to be launched later this year, using the infrastructure of DMG’s existing Sydney station, Nova 969. This was launched in
April 2001 and has, for the last two surveys, been Sydney’s No.1 radio station.

We expect the new station to make a small loss in its first year of operation, to move into profit in its second year, and to generate a healthy return on our investment.

A further auction of an FM licence in Brisbane is to be held next Thursday 22 April, and an auction of a Melbourne FM licence in August this year.

In the words of Professor David Flint, Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, ‘this is the last lap of the analogue planning process for
metropolitan radio in Australia’.