SYDNEY MEDIA: Rupert Murdoch buys "The Daily Telegraph" and "The Sunday Telegraph" (1972)

 "You will never get your grubby hands on my Telegraphs Rupert. You know that"

Sir Frank Packer in "Power Games" (2013).

Above: The Daily Telegraph becomes the news on 5 June 1972 on the front page of its own newspaper.

Whether or not the conversation happened is an unknown as per any TV Drama based on historical events, but it suggested for Rupert Murdoch, owning The Daily Telegraph would be his jewel in the crown and also control of Sydney's competitive newspaper market.

Murdoch began his newspaper empire with now defunct The News (Adelaide) in 1952. In 1960, he bought the ailing afternoon newspaper The Daily Mirror which was at the time owned by the Fairfax Family. Four years later, he founded The Australian, originally based in Canberra but moved its head office to Sydney in 1967.

By the mid 1960's The Daily Mirror had overtaken The Sun as Sydney's most circulated afternoon newspaper and was second overall in daily newspaper circulation in Sydney. The Daily Telegraph (morning newspaper) had a higher circulation but the margin had narrowed to 4000 by 1972. 

Between 1967 and 1972, The Daily Telegraph recorded a daily circulation drop of 24 000 copies daily. 

Why Sell?

The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph were part of Sir Frank Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings which included the Nine Network (TCN9, Sydney & GTV9, Melbourne) magazines such as The Australian Women's Weekly and The Bulletin, along with a number of regional newspapers and radio stations. 

Unfortuantely, the "Telegraph's" were incurring financial losses in the early 1970's. Apart from rising costs of newsprint, wages and production costs, Consolidated Press Holdings did not own a evening newspaper which could have kept production costs down. Fairfax were producing both The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun at Broadway, ensuring that the presses were constantly in use.

It meant that either Packer had to buy The Daily Mirror from Murdoch which was highly unlikely to in order to ensure The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph could survive or sell his papers to Murdoch.

On 4 June 1972, Packer sold the papers to Murdoch for $15 million. Kerry Packer led the negotiations for the sale on behalf of his father.

  

The following day, it was revealed to the world. The Daily Telegraph (top of page) and The Australian (above) published identical articles to announce the sale. 

The Sydney Morning Herald also ran a major feature on Page 1 while The Daily Mirror kept it off Page 1. Interestingly, The Sun did not make a mention of it. 

 

  What happened next?

 

From 19 June 1972, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph moved to 2 Holt Road, Surry Hills where they have remained to this day. In 1994, the printing presses were relocated to their present site at Chullora.

The Sunday Australian was absorbed into The Sunday Telegraph. While the newspaper would remain a Sydney newspaper, the paper would be available nationally each Sunday. In 2022, The Sunday Telegraph is still printed and distributed in Victoria and Queensland in addition to NSW.

MILESTONE: The Sunday Telegraph turns 75

On this day in 1939, Sir Frank Packer launched The Sunday Telegraph as the sister paper to The Daily Telegraph. In 1939, it was a broadsheet and cost threepenny (2 cents). The media baron wanted to take on the Sunday market and got his wish.

Page One of the first edition on November 19, 1939.

Three years later (1942), it was converted to a tabloid to overcome rationing of newsprint. 

Packer reigned supreme over the paper until he made a decision to sell the paper and The Daily Telegraph to Rupert Murdoch and News Limited. it has been in his hands ever since. 

I recently managed to get a scan of the cover of its 50th Anniversary Edition in 1989, which happened to be November 19, 1989. 

From its beginning, in 1939 the paper has grown to be the biggest selling newspaper in Australia. As of mid-2014, approximately 488 500 copies are printed each week with a readership of 1.3 million people. 

While it is a Sydney newspaper, the paper itself is widely available on Sundays in the ACT, Victoria and Queensland. I believe that it stemmed from the merger of the paper with The Sunday Australian in 1972.