News

Nine and News Corp close Your Money joint venture

Your Money, the joint venture between Nine and News Corp owned Australian News Channel, has been closed.

The channel, which airs on both Foxtel and free to air, will cease broadcasting on Friday May 17 after launching on October 1, 2018.

The decision comes less than a month after the decision was made to close the Your Money digital platform, with the traffic to be redirected to News Corp platforms. Your Money was previously Sky News business arm, Sky News Business which aired on Foxtel.

According to a joint release, the decision was made due to difficulty around the revenue model and the product not delivering in a manner which could not be rectified in the short term.

The release quoted Nine CEO Hugh Marks and ANC CEO Paul Whittaker in a joint statement: “We have enjoyed a strong partnership with this joint venture but unfortunately we are unable to maintain its continuing operation.

“Market and technical circumstances have proved too challenging. Our thanks to the Your Money team – the quality of the people who brought this channel to life is extraordinary and they have given it their utmost commitment and professionalism.”

Your Money CEO Kylie Merritt said she was proud of what the channel had achieved in its short time on the air.

“I am proud of what we achieved and I thank every member of the team for the work they did, the stories they told and their incredible devotion to the project,” said Merritt.

According to the statement, the joint venture partners will attempt to redeploy staff within their respective businesses.

The announcement was made in June 2018 that Sky News Business would rebrand as Your Money, shortly after the channel moved to a newly created studio facility in the News Corp headquarters in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

The joint venture replaced Nine’s free-to-air digital shopping channel, Channel 95, as well as airing on Foxtel and was also to be available on 9Now.

At the time, Merritt told Mumbrella the channel would retain its business-focused programming during daytime hours with the evening slots taking on an aspirational lifestyle focus.

Your Money Live anchors Brooke Corte and Chris Kohler

The team for the channel grew quickly, with Domain’s Chris Kohler joining in an on air talent role, Insight executive producer Glen Caro joining as program director and ContentShed’s Simon Hopkins coming on as commercial director.

Several News Corp identities joined too, including The Australian’s economics editor, Adam Creighton.

Head of digital David Ash left the business earlier this year, shortly before the closure of the digital arm of Your Money was announced. During this time, Merritt insisted the other aspects of the brand would remain the same.

The future of Your Money has been cast into doubt since Nine’s takeover of Fairfax, which occurred a month after the Your Money joint venture was announced.

At the time of the digital closure, it was confirmed there would be job losses for those staff whose roles related specifically to the digital operations of Your Money. It isn’t yet known what will replace Your Money on the channels it currently occupies.

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