Media partnerships are the way of the future and essential to competing with global tech players like Facebook and Google, according to Nine CEO Hugh Marks.
Marks, who was speaking at yesterday's annual general meeting, argued "old enemies are now new frenemies", referring to the company's proposed merger with Fairfax.
He said he wasn't concerned about the developing relationship between Seven and News Corp, adding media partnerships are new norm.
"That all has to do with the underlying themes that relate to this merger which is the world has changed. It's become more global," Marks said.
"We've got global businesses competing in our market and to respond to that we need to change our focus and participate in that shift to digital in a different competitive environment than the one of the past."
Marks said the deal with Fairfax was only the start of further partnerships, for Nine, and for other companies, which are now starting to feel the sting of global content players.
Nine chairman Pete Costello agreed, adding that a "major consideration" that motivated the Nine/Fairfax merger, which was approved by the ACCC last week, was the ability to compete with the likes of Facebook and Google.
"We still compete with Seven. We compete very strongly with Seven. We compete very strongly with News, but that's not our only problem. Here are our big competitors. Netflix: global behemoth. Google: global behemoth," Costello said.
When asked if CBS fit that mould, Costello said yes, however, stated that Nine was looking to take on pureplay digital businesses.
"I'm talking about the internet and digital companies who are coming into this market who employ very few people in Australia, who therefore have enormous tax advantages against Australian companies and who are cutting the traditional media's advertising," Costello said.
"This is just such a competitive global business now. That's who we're really competing with, these new entrants, and that's why we're very focused on digital."
Costello said that it was no longer about "keeping an eye on" on local competitors, rather Nine is focusing its efforts on the battle against global businesses who fall outside of typical media jurisdiction.
He and Marks agreed that the combined Nine and Fairfax businesses would give the best of both worlds, digital and print, and allow hold a firm place in the Australian media landscape.
"That was a bit part of the thinking, that we have to get spruced out and we have to be very nimble and active and we have to compete in the new world. That's what we're going to do," Costello said.
Marks added: "We've got to either generate advertising revenue or subscription revenue. When you think about the ad revenue category, we've got to compete in those markets and compete effectively.
"The combined business will have a digital reach in terms of audience and a scale of business that will mean that we can effectively go to any agency or any advertiser."
When asked about the future of both Domain and Macquarie Media, Costello said Nine will maintain a vested interest in both businesses but acknowledged each were separately listed companies with their own agendas.
"You've got to run it like a public company. You can't run it like a subsidiary. It is a public company and it's separate," Costello said.
"We will respect the minority interest but we also are interested in Domain because we want to do what we can to drive its business and we will, subject to its independence and its separate listing and its minority shareholders."
On Macquarie Media, Marks added: "No doubt there's some cooperation we can do around driving that business and hopefully build the performance of that network with them and generate some additional revenue.
"It's again another independently publicly listed company so we need to respect that but we will be working as a very interested majority shareholder in ensuring all of those businesses are successful for both ourselves and our shareholders and for the minority interests."
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