NZME finalises Google partnership, reaffirms earnings guidance

NZME has signed a ground breaking deal with Google. Photo / Brett Phibbs

NZME has finalised a ground-breaking deal which will see Google pay for news supplied to its Google News Showcase platform.

This follows a separate commercial deal with Meta signed in April, which will see the Facebook-owner provide funding to support NZME's "subscriber growth and retention".

NZME - the owner of the NZ Herald, radio stations including Newstalk ZB, BusinessDesk and five regional daily newspapers - confirmed the partnership with Google in a statement to the NZX this morning, following the signing of a letter of intent in March.

That letter set out key terms for the proposed payment from the tech giant for the supply of news content.

The new partnership means NZME will supply content to Google News Showcase when it officially launches in New Zealand, with selected material from NZME's national, regional and community publications published via the product.

Google News Showcase is a product where publishers curate content to extend their reach to audiences locally and globally.

The twin deals with Google and Facebook are expected to increase NZME's annual earnings to be between $67 million and $72 million. That guidance remains unchanged, the company said in its statement today, and compares with the $66m reported for the 2021 financial year.

NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said the Google agreements support NZME's strong focus on digital transformation, and further demonstrates the value of NZME's high quality journalism and news content.

Michael Boggs - CEO of NZME. Photo / Michael Craig

"We are pleased to have signed these agreements with Google and to be able to now progress these digital transformation projects and initiative," Boggs said. "NZME's 300 editorial staff in our newsrooms across the country work tirelessly every day to provide high quality, trusted news content across our many platforms. Being able to further extend their reach, highlight their talent and share their content through Google News Showcase is a really positive development.

"Not only will this new partnership with Google help further bolster digital growth across our business and increase our audience reach across our platforms, it will also increase digital revenue growth and enhance our digital subscriptions business," he said.

Google New Zealand country director Caroline Rainsford said the agreements build on years of partnership between NZME and Google.

"For two decades our programmes, funding and expertise in digital have supported the local news industry, and we look forward to continuing this important work in New Zealand."