At the end of February Australian Digital Holdings was announced to be the  purchaser of the TV assets of Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), with the completion of the sale due to occur on March 1st.

Only it didn’t.

In three ASX releases today, May 6, SCA has said that the sale fell through due to the final conditions not being satisfied and instead Seven West Media will purchase them, this time saying the sale ‘is expected to completed’ on June 30, 2025. SCA should receive $3.75 million up front in proceeds which they then will apply to reducing net debt.

On the following day, the start of FY26, the organisation will introduce an Executive Incentive Scheme (EIS), only for senior executives of SCA, with the aim of aligning the objectives of investors more closely with the incentives for the executive team.

The third release, timely with ARN’s AGM this Thursday May 8, was a trading and dividend update. Audio revenues were up around 9% on the same period last year. Growth in both broadcast and digital audio revenue saw a 7% increase from the ten months to April 2025. FY25 nonrevenue related costs are now hoped to be $5m or 2% below the FY24 comparative cost base of $270m.

SCA CEO  John Kelly said:

“Our focus on further improving the positive operating momentum within SCA to drive improved results and returns for all SCA stakeholders has continued into the first four months of calendar year 2025 with audio revenues up approximately 9%. This ongoing momentum, which was first evident in the second half of FY24, is ahead of previous guidance and reflects our focus on building sustainable revenue growth across both broadcast and digital audio segments.

The post-Federal election advertising market is short with limited visibility, which makes it difficult to forecast revenues in the lead up to 30 June and beyond.”