Ten creditors, shareholders and staff will have to wait until at...

Ten creditors, shareholders and staff will have to wait until at least November to discover the network’s fate.
An application for Ten Network Holdings’ proposed takeover by American broadcaster CBS has been “tentatively” listed for a three-day hearing on October 31.
Rival bidders Bruce Gordon and Lachlan Murdoch have not yet decided on when or how to intervene in the sale of Ten to CBS, the NSW Supreme Court heard this morning.
Lawyers for Ten administrator KordaMentha have told the court the joint bid partners have indicated they are waiting for an independent expert’s report before declaring their hand on any attempt to block the final transfer to Ten shares to US broadcaster CBS.
At a directions hearing this morning, Justice Ashley Black noted that interested parties may need time to respond to an expert report due to be filed with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission by Ten’s administrator KordaMentha on October 10.

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Justice Black also made orders requiring any other interested parties to file their notices of appearance by October 13.
Mr Gordon, owner of Ten’s regional affiliate WIN Coporation, did not appear in court today. He is understood to be mulling the next step in his attempt to stop CBS taking control of Ten after its creditors voted in favour of the takeover earlier this month.
Counsel for Ten’s receivers Tiffany Wong sought the earlier possible hearing date, noting the difficulty of running a television network under administration - in particular negotiating content deals.
“If one can’t get content, one can’t get advertisers,” Ms Wong told the court, saying the company’s future hinged on the expedition of the proceedings.
Minor shareholder Daniel Du appeared in court, seeking a later hearing date in order to buy time to mount a potential challenge to the CBS takeover, but was unsuccessful.
Justice Black said the court must balance the need to give interested parties an opportunity to respond, with the urgency of the matter.
He listed the matter for further directions on October 16.