Australian television and newspaper firm; Seven West Media Ltd has signed deals with giant tech companies Facebook and Google. Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the highly rated media company signed a deal that says it will supply content for Alphabet Inc’s unit’s News Showcase for a period of five years and another deal that says it will serve a similar Facebook product for a period of three years.
“The arrangements mean the U.S. ‘Big Tech’ platforms are now committed to paying two of Australia’s three largest traditional news outlets for content, marking an about turn just two months after they had vowed to quit the country over laws forcing them to pay for the links that drive traffic to their websites”, Reuters reported.
Referring to the law that enables government to be able to interfere if an agreement cannot be decided upon by domestic media companies and large internet provider, the CEO of Seven West Media Ltd; James Warbuton said that “these partnerships have been made possible by the introduction of the Media Bargaining Code”.
“They underpin our sustainability and enable us to continue to build our digital platform”, the CEO added. No comments have been made so far by Facebook and Google. News Corp signed deals with Google and Facebook two months ago. News Corp owns about two-thirds of Australian newspapers.
A strong rival to Seven West Media Ltd, Nine Entertainment Holdings revealed that it has also signed a deal with Google but is yet to finalize a deal with Facebook.
Reuters reported that “many small Australian media outlets, including state-owned Australian Broadcasting Corp, have signed deals with Google or said they are open to doing deals with Facebook, which blocked all third-party content in Australia for a week in February to protest the laws”.
