Alan Kohler is one of Australia’s most experienced commentators and journalists. Alan is the founder of Eureka Report, Australia’s most successful investment newsletter, and Business Spectator, a 24-hour free business news and commentary website. He also hosts Inside Business, a half-hour Sunday programme on the ABC, is the finance presenter on the ABC News - and producer of the nightly graph (or two).
Private equity investors are looking to coal mines for their next big win. If they can turnaround chronic mismanagement they'll set an example for other industries.
The bond market is understandably jumpy about what Ben Bernanke says tonight but the Fed is unlikely to abandon its control of the 'biggest bond bubble' in history.
Kevin Rudd's camp has employed crude methods to promote the worthy cause of a post-union party – inadvertently adding an ironic twist to Labor's misogyny concerns.
Labor is due for a comeuppance at the election but Julia Gillard's political failings are just one of the party's crimes to come out of this wayward parliament.
Google's pilot program to offer internet access through a network of balloons isn't as crazy as it sounds. In fact it's another example of how combining out-of-the-box thinking with a big budget can lead to interesting innovation.
Each year the regulator for small-scale renewable energy certificates has used forecasters to estimate the likely solar uptake. After years of undershooting, this year they've been pretty close to the mark.
CEOs outline changing views on corporate spending and profits, their economic expectations and political dissatisfaction, including advice for Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott.
UK-based Zeebox wants to be the intermediary for all social media-television interactions. It will not only have to lure viewers, but the networks themselves.
Reports that Tennis Australia will roll over Seven’s coverage of the Australian Open leaves Ten with little in the way of marquee events to attract new much needed viewers.
Apple's new iRadio has the potential to 'destroy' rivals like Pandora, especially if it can throw its weight around to reduce content acquisition costs.
Fairfax will offer everything from free browsing to an ‘all you can eat’ package. But with just 1.4 per cent of readers paying for the world’s most famous masthead, Fairfax must realise its battle is only beginning.
Ten will probably enter a bidding rally with Seven for the 2015 tennis rights, and after watching the cricket rights war Tennis Australia should be licking its lips.
CNN and YouTube are the first giants to attach themselves to quirky content provider Buzzfeed, a website many say has uncovered a digital age goldmine.
Pandora is eating away at traditional broadcast radio's market share, but its inability to turn a profit despite massive revenue growth is down to one simple factor.
In the ultra-fluid technology sector, many an acquisition shock has paid off – and vice versa. Yahoo's big cheque for Tumblr isn’t the only deal that may be judged differently in hindsight.
So far Google Glass has been underwhelmingly modeled by unfashionable white men. But Google continues to outshine its tech-giant peers in the media with its boldness to innovate.
Publishers and advertisers alike are looking for an alternative to banner ads. 'Native advertising', or embedding ads more seamlessly inside content, might be the answer.
In a week where rating's giant Seven's parent company announced its three-pillared path to growth Ten bet big on The Bachelor. It speaks volumes of their relative statuses.
AOL has done almost everything right in putting together an attractive online portfolio, making its advertising losses a grim bellwether for its peers.
The New York Times 45 per cent jump in first-quarter subscription revenue shows it is back on track with a strategy it should never have abandoned 2007.
News Ltd’s decision to reverse engineer a print version of its Taste website is an experiment in how much control publishers have left over the magazine industry.
Google has produced another stunning set of results, growing faster than the internet advertising market with huge upside beyond the anglosphere. Not that the market cared.
Staff cuts helped drive Yahoo's earnings but the first-quarter results showed revenue flat once again. The internet icon is still struggling to monetise its millions of users.
Aereo is linking customers’ personal devices with TV programs of their choice through a fingertip-sized antennae that has America's big networks legally stymied and foaming at the mouth.
Ten Network's results have gone from 'unacceptable' two years ago to even worse now. And new boss Hamish McLennan's statements have an eerie familiarity to them.
A revenue generating model for online publishing remains elusive, and as the advertising approach loses traction paywalls may be best for both consumers and producers.
An online ad exchange headed by News Ltd, Fairfax and other local publishers has the potential to take the fight to Google. But it must first demystify automated bidding and then persuade international publishers to join in.
