Australia’s Nine Publishing sees AI licensing as a way to get its journalism, mastheads and authority in front of audiences at the moment they are seeking trusted information.

In an INMA ‘satisfying audiences’ blog, audience development director Aimie Rigas and business subscriptions and AI monetisation director Agos Garola say there is a need to “think differently” about how and where its journalism reaches new audiences.

Nine is the publisher of The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, WAtoday and Australian Financial Review.

“For decades, news publishers have relied on search and social platforms to help audiences discover our journalism, but in a world of rapidly changing algorithms, declining referrals, and increasingly zero-click behaviour, the next top-of-funnel visit is no longer guaranteed.”

Rigas and Garola say Nine increasingly sees strategic licensing, not simply as a new revenue stream, but as a mechanism for building awareness, creating direct audience relationships, and supporting the subscription funnel over the long term.

“Generative AI is draining visitation to journalism websites, which makes AI licensing a particularly compelling business decision.

“The rapid evolution of generative AI has made this a major focus for our business. We recently appointed a head of strategic licensing to stay close to the changing landscape and lead our approach.

“The opportunity is too important, and moving too quickly, to manage on the sidelines.”

While the market remains relatively young, Nine is already striking agreements, including a deal with Microsoft Copilot, and developing a view of what responsible licensing looks like for its journalism, audiences and subscription business.

Nine actively blocks large-language models from scraping its content: “We firmly believe you shouldn’t be able to access our journalism for free elsewhere because public-interest journalism costs money to produce,” they say.

“We want our mastheads to exist well into the future because of the important role they play in informing the public and holding power to account. Any licensing strategy must support that goal.

“A starting point is that licensing must protect our intellectual property, the long-term value of our journalism, and the trust audiences place in our mastheads.”

Clear non-negotiables are that content must always be attributed to the original publication, and its editorial meaning cannot be altered or misrepresented. “We remain responsible for what we publish, and we expect AI platforms to work with us to ensure our journalism is represented accurately.

“Another important consideration for us is the scope of use. Content should support accurate, high-quality answers in the moment, while the full depth, context, and authority of our journalism remain reserved for the subscribers who fund it.”

Where licensing ends, the subscriber experience begins: Licensing partners play a role in making Nine’s journalism more accessible, by using its reporting to deliver fast, accurate answers. Meanwhile, subscribers enjoy the complete experience: the deeper analysis, nuance, context, and direct access to the journalists behind the stories.

“Essentially, we’re preserving the high-value features audiences can’t get for free anywhere else. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. It’s the same principle that guides our paywall strategy when we decide what sits in front of the paywall and what belongs behind it.

“Done correctly, licensing complements the subscriber proposition rather than becoming a substitute for it.”

Historically, business-to-consumer subscriptions and business-to-business licensing have often been treated as separate businesses – and sometimes as competing revenue streams. “We believe the greater opportunity comes from considering them as parts of one connected audience funnel,” they say.

“Sure, we’re different teams with separate profit and loss statements, but the mission is the same: to protect the future of our mastheads.

“A campus or institutional agreement, for example, creates immediate licensing revenue. More strategically, it introduces our journalism to a large and relevant audience, establishes reading habits and builds a future subscriber pipeline through a trusted institution. That gives publishers another path to discovery rather than leaving the top of the funnel entirely dependent on a third-party algorithm.

“For decades, we’ve built organic awareness by optimising our content for platforms including Google and Meta.

“But the strength of our brands also opens doors with universities, businesses and other institutions. They understand the value of our journalism and the benefits access can provide to their organisations and communities.”

Crucially, a direct institutional relationship cannot disappear overnight because a platform changes its algorithm.

This matters as referral traffic from traditional search and social platforms declines and zero-click behaviour becomes more established. “Licensing may not always deliver an immediate click. But it can put our journalism, mastheads, and authority in front of audiences at the moment they are seeking trusted information.

“In that environment, awareness, attribution and repeated exposure become meaningful audience outcomes, even when they don’t generate an instant site visit.

“The next phase of strategic licensing should therefore be measured not only by the revenue a deal generates today but by how effectively it protects our journalism, expands its reach, and strengthens the audience business of tomorrow.”

Pictured above: Aimie Rigas (left) and Agos Garola