Nine continues push for fading news bargaining incentive
Nine’s acting CEO Matt Stanton has used the company’s first-half results call to call for “critical” digital platform levy legislation despite US tariff threats.
The call came amid reports that News Corp is continuing to push the proposed News Bargaining Incentive, which backs up law that requires news platforms like Google and Meta to pay news publishers.
Stanton claimed that “Australian regulated media companies play a vital role in supporting a well-functioning democracy by providing accurate and trusted news, fostering public debate and holding power to account” and therefore need to be protected by reforms, such as the news media incentive, and a digital competition regime, “to ensure that the correct regulatory settings are in place for Australia’s future”.
The planned news bargaining incentive, which aims to force digital platforms to strike commercial deals with Australian news publishers or pay a levy, has reportedly been put on the backburner, after President Donald Trump ushered in “reciprocal tariffs” for taxes placed on US goods, which includes its media platforms.
Matt Stanton, Nine’s acting CEO
On Tuesday, Capital Brief reported that News Corp executive vice-president Todd Thorpe had been in Canberra attempting to convince the federal government that Trump’s tariff threats were not aimed at digital platform levies.
The proposed news incentive is aimed at all digital platforms operating “significant social media or search services, irrespective of whether or not they carry news”, meaning platforms operating in our country cannot simply opt out of carrying news.
“The introduction of the news media incentive is critical to ensure that commercial deals with the digital platforms are entered into or continue to be entered into in respect of our valuable Australian news content,” Stanton said.
“Equally, the digital competition regime is an essential framework, which must be put in place to address the global platform’s anti-competitive behaviour and the power imbalances correctly and consistently identified by the ACCC and its digital platform reports over the past seven years.”
Among these power imbalances are local content quotas — which the free-to-air networks are subject to, while no such quotas are imposed on the international streaming giants operating in the Australian marketplace — and the creeping interest from these platform in acquiring Australian sporting rights.
“We urge the government to … close the gap in the anti-siphoning scheme to ensure that large global platforms cannot snap up streaming rights to iconic Australian sport events before broadcasters have the opportunity to acquire those rights for our free BVOD platforms, such as Nine Now,” he said.
The anti-siphoning laws currently only protect sporting rights on linear TV, opening up a loophole that allows subscription services to bid for the streaming rights for a sporting competition – in essence, side stepping the laws.
“With an ever-increasing number of Australians choosing to stream live sporting events on Nine Now, it shouldn’t matter whether you have an aerial on your roof as to whether you can access free live Australian sport or not,” Stanton argued.
Elsewhere, Stanton welcomed the government’s recent suspension of the commercial broadcast tax, which he said will save Nine “around $14 million” during the twelve-month suspension period.
“We encourage the government to permanently revoke the tax and ensure that the correct regulatory balance is in place to enable us to continue to create and showcase the content that Australians enjoy, trust and rely on.”
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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