Nine and News Corp’s Australian News Channel’s new 24-hour business, personal finance and luxury lifestyle channel Your Money points to the power of traditional media rivals partnering to compete in a new media landscape, Nine CEO Hugh Marks has said.

Speaking at the launch event in Sydney last Wednesday, Marks commended the Your Money team on what they’ve achieved so far.

“It’s very early days but to do what they’ve done in 15 weeks in television land, I can’t tell you just how myself and my team are impressed,” he said.

Your Money, which was announced on June 25, is broadcast on free to air on Channel 95 as part of Nine’s digital spectrum and on Nine’s streaming platform 9Now and is also available on Foxtel Channel 601 as well as streaming platform Foxtel Now.

The joint-venture Marks said is about trying to “change the model a bit”.

“To have agree-to-air channel, a broadcast channel, that is able to provide highly targeted content so you know as an advertiser on the channel you’re going to get an efficient delivery of audiences that are interested in that type of content, if we can continue to do that and innovate the business model, than this notion that old media is dead is completely wrong,” he said.

“In fact, old media – or media as I like to call it – is just in the process of transition. This joint-venture is part of that, old enemies working together for a common good as our world has changed, our competitive landscape has changed, this is just the first of many of these things you’re going to see into the future.

“We all have great optimism that if we do the right thing by providing high quality content in a way advertisers can reach, then this business has a bright future. What we always want to be doing, what’s keeping me awake at night is ‘how do I ensure I invest more in content tomorrow than I did yesterday’ and that’s part of initiatives like this.”

Michael Miller, the executive chairman of News Corp Australia, said Your Money taps into News Corps passion of “making complicated information meaningful so Australians can lead better lives”.

“It’s great to have a partner that shares that belief, passion and ambition,” he said.

“Both companies do have a proud history of providing Australia’s best business and finance journalism. We employ the best business and finance journalists and now together we have the best finance channel in Australia.”

Miller said the concept of Your Money came from former CEO and managing director of Australian News Channel Angelos Frangopoulos who has since departed Australia to take on the management role of Sky News Arabia.

“Despite a range of suitors, Angelos has done very well as a matchmaker, it’s a credit to his tenacity and also passion,” Miller said.

“Kylie Merritt [Your Money CEO] has worked tirelessly to turn Angelous’ idea into a reality.”

Merritt said Your Money’s first call was “to create a primetime program with broad audience appeal”.

“We wanted to show that while money is a serious matter, it doesn’t have to be boring, and that’s how Your Money Live came to be,” she said.

“Three weeks since launch, the digital audience numbers are extremely encouraging and we believe yourmoney.com.au is well on its way to carving out an important niche and providing partnership opportunities which have never really been offered before in the market.”

Merritt said having the expertise of Nine, Sky News and the broader News Corp family “just a phone call away” is a “truly privileged position for a little start-up to be in”.

“To everyone in the Your Money business – thank you. We may be backed by two of Australia’s biggest media companies but at heart, we’re still a start-up and you’ve all risen to the challenges that brings,” she said.

Tuesday, October 30, 2018