BotD: Google does the dirty on publishers; New marketing boss at Westpac; More trouble for K&J Show; Ten's Spotify plan

Jun 23, 2025

Welcome to Best of the Day on the day Network Ten got into bed with Spotify and YouTube.

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The Day Today: Google U-turns on small publishers; Ten turns to Spotify; Australia’s decent Lions haul

Google reneges

Google called a halt on some of its payments to small publishers sooner than they were expecting. The giant platform claims that the deals with members of the Public Interest Publishers Alliance were only annual while the publishers say they had been let to expect renewals until at least 2027

Ten finds new platforms

Ten signed “world first” deals for its new Ten News+ bulletin to be streamed live on YouTube and then on Spotify via video podcast.

K+J cook up more trouble

The Kyle & Jackie O Show has been referred to the Office of Public Prosecutions over comments made about the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial while the court case was still under way. Trial judge Justice Christopher Beale suggested comments on the show may have breached the strict rules about what can be said while court cases are in progress.

Five more years for Thomson

News Corp extended the contract of global CEO Robert Thomson for another five years.

Lions roar

Australian contenders looked back on a strong finish to the Cannes Lions with Telstra’s agency Bear Meets Eagle On Fire named independent agency of the year in the film craft category, and production house Revolver becoming the first Australian company to win the prestigious Palme d’Or.

Michelle Klein to be Westpac’s top marketer

Michelle Klein will lead marketing at Westpac, joining from IAG, it was revealed by AdNews this afternoon. The former Sydney Morning Herald travel writer joined IAG as chief customer and marketing officer in May 2023 after a career mostly spent overseas including nine years with Meta.

Unmade Index drifts down on Trump fears

The Unmade Index followed the ASX All Ordinaries into negative territory on Monday as Donald Trump’s Iran bombing raids spiked oil prices, cranking up new inflation fears.

Gumtree Australia - owner of HotCopper, Carsguide and Gumtree, had the worst day, losing 8.2% to land on its worst capitalisation so far this year of $28m.

Enero lost 4.3% despite announcing a new loan facility.

Among the broadcast stocks, Southern Cross Austero lost 2.3%, ARN Media lost 2%, Seven West Media lost 2.1% and Nine lost 0.3%.

The Unmade Index drifted down to 553.8 points.