Nine has not said publicly where it intends to invest the money received from the two platforms,but former chief executive Hugh Marks said it would be used to support journalism. The media company ownsThe Sydney Morning HeraldandThe Age,as well as a television network,radio stations 2GB and 3AW,streaming service Stan and a majority stake in real-estate listings company Domain. News Corp said it was hiring 100 journalists after signing the deals.
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“The deal with Facebook is for the supply of news video clips and access to digital news articles on Facebook news products,” the statement said. “The 5-year agreement with Google includes the supply of news content (excluding video) for Google’s News Showcase and other products. Google will also expand its marketing initiatives across Nine’s platforms.”
In a note to staff,Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby said the deals would contribute to helping journalism thrive.
“There has been discussion about how the revenue from these deals will impact our business and while the precise dollar value of the deals are commercial-in-confidence,they will play a role in evolving Nine to a world where the majority of our revenue is digitally led,” Mr Sneesby said. “These deals will contribute to supporting the world-class journalism on which our business thrives and to give us the opportunity to pursue growth that will continue to underpin the long-term strength of our business.”
Nine is the third major media company to strike a deal with the tech giants. The negotiations took place because of media bargaining laws introduced by the federal government at the end of February, which set out a framework that forces Google and Facebook to broker commercial deals with media companies for the value they gain from having news content on their platforms.