Nine chief publishing and digital officer Chris Janz said at a Senate Hearing the deals on the table were not material. Google has since been able to put enough money on the table for an agreement.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Nine is the owner ofThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age.
The sources said the five-year deal is for use of news articles on a variety of different products such as Google News Showcase and Subscribe with Google,a product that helps news outlets engage with subscribers,but a revenue sharing deal for use of content on YouTube is not part of Nine’s arrangement.
The agreement is significant because it covers content from Nine’s major newspapers,television,radio and digital assets,and will provide enough funding to support the newsrooms for the company. It will also mean Google will not be forced into a risky arbitration process with Nine under the government’s new media bargaining code,which will be debated in Parliament today. Google had previously threatened to turn off its search engine in Australia if the government did not revise aspects of the code.
Nine is the largest domestic media company to date to sign a letter of intent with the $1.8 trillion search engine giant. Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media announced at its financial results it has signed a letter of understanding with the tech giant for use of its content,a deal which Seven sources say is valued at more than $30 million. The terms of the arrangement were not disclosed,but industry sources have indicated a proportion of the money is in advertising credits and a revenue sharing agreement for use of content on YouTube.
The deals that Google will strike with companies such as Nine and Seven are not for use of content in search. However,organisations have been willing to accept them in principle because the amount of money on the table is worth the same,or a similar amount,to what a company would have received for appearance of content in Google search.
Industry sources said on Monday that letters of intent betweenGuardian Australia,Nine and the ABC were imminent.Guardian Australia and the ABC could both sign deals for their content as early as today. Talks with other outlets such asDaily Mail Australia and News Corp Australia are ongoing. News Corp,which owns a string of papers in Australia as well asThe Wall Street JournalandThe Times of London,is expected to sign a global deal for its content.