ACCC warns publishers over online charging talks Oliver Milman
The chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has called on Fairfax and News Ltd to consult with it before the two media giants enter into talks regarding the introduction of paid-for online content models.
As reported yesterday in B&T Today, Brian McCarthy, CEO of Fairfax, said that the publisher was open to talks with rival News Ltd over plans to charge readers to access news online.
However, industry experts have claimed any such move could lead to accusations of anti-competitive or collusive behaviour.
McCarthy acknowledged that any link-up with News Ltd could be blocked by the ACCC.
The consumer watchdog’s chairman told B&T Today that competition issues would need to be resolved before a deal could take place.
“I would think it would be best for them (Fairfax and News Ltd) to talk to their lawyers and to the ACCC before they talk to each other,” Graeme Samuel said.
Samuel said there had been no contact between the competition body and the publishers as yet. He would not comment on the process or whether any collaboration between Fairfax and News Ltd would automatically be ruled out on competition grounds.
Fairfax, owner of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, and News Ltd, publisher of The Australian and the Daily Telegraph, together dominate print and online news publishing in Australia.
News Ltd has already flagged its intention to charge readers to access its content online, with its titles across the world set to put up pay walls over the course of the current financial year.
In the US, News executives have reportedly met with rivals publishers, including Hearst Corporation, the New York Times Company and the Tribune Company, to discuss a shared online payment model.
Following the unveiling of a $380m annual loss yesterday, Fairfax’s McCarthy said the company was “looking at all options” in terms of monetising its online assets.
Publishers have come under pressure to move to an online payment model due to the general slump in the advertising market and the disparity between revenue generated through print ads compared with digital.
