By Dan Barrett
With the clock ticking towards a midnight deadline tonight, Nine and WIN have agreed upon a six-month extension of their broadcast agreement. The existing agreement was set to expire tonight at midnight, with the regional network losing access to Nine’s broadcast content.
Under the current deal, Nine receives 39 per cent of WIN’s advertising revenue, but is seeking to increase the deal to 49%. Nine receives close to $80 million from WIN per year under the arrangement.
If a deal had not been secured with WIN, Nine had potentially risked its broadcasting obligations with Cricket Australia to ensure the sport was made available on TV in regional Australia. Fairfax reported earlier this month that Nine had entered into a secret agreement with SBS to broadcast the cricket into regional areas if a deal was unable to be struck with WIN.
WIN currently broadcasts Nine content into the ACT, regional New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, and South Australia.
Media Release:
Nine Entertainment Co. (ASX:NEC) and WIN Corporation (WIN) have today agreed to extend their affiliation agreement for 6 months to 30 June 2016, on terms that provide for additional payments to Nine over that period. NEC and WIN have also agreed to work together on a range of opportunities relating to their content and to the mutual growth of their respective businesses. The agreement continues the 27 year partnership between the two networks, and ensures continuing carriage of Nine Network’s programming to all Australian homes.
Hugh Marks, CEO of NEC, said “Broadcast television is evolving, but the role of the affiliate and its relationship with the local community remains important. This extended deal with WIN ensures Nine’s premium content continues to be available to all Australians for free, 24 hours a day.”