Seven West takes over digital rights for Pacific Magazines

Seven West Media has renegotiated its joint venture agreement with Yahoo over digital rights for ­Pacific Magazines.

Yahoo7's Ed Harrison, left, and Pacific’s Peter Zavecz. Picture: Britta Campion.

Seven West Media has renegotiated its joint venture agreement with internet giant Yahoo to claw back the digital rights for its ­Pacific Magazines brands.

The deal, struck last week, sees Pacific Magazines take control of the editorial and sales functions for the digital platforms of its ­titles, which include New Idea, Marie Claire and Men’s Health.

Management of these functions had been previously performed by digital joint venture Yahoo7, which will continue to sell native advertising for Pacific products.

“We’re good at getting deep into content categories, particularly home, fashion, beauty and food, and they’re a great partner in terms of distribution,” Pacific Magazines chief executive Peter Zavecz told The Australian.

“We’ll be focused on our brand propositions — when we talk about Marie Claire or Better Homes and Gardens, we’ll be able talk to our clients about every platform. It’s as simple as that but it’s as big as that.”

The new structure will see ­Pacific roll out a number of new products and websites in coming months, including a new company name.

Pacific will manage editorial and social content, e-commerce and all advertising sales other than native advertising, which will be run by Yahoo7 through its Gemini service.

Yahoo7 CEO Ed Harrison said the restructure would benefit both joint venture shareholders.

“Once we understood our ­individual strengths then it became quite clear quite quickly how that would look,” he said.

The news comes amid speculation about the future of the ­Yahoo7 joint venture, which was founded in 2006 before social media, iPhones and online video became part of everyday life for Australian consumers.

Seven’s free-to-air TV rival Nine Entertainment bought out its former digital joint venture partner, Microsoft, in 2013.

Seven has increasingly moved to launch and operate its own digital properties, such as its 7Tennis mobile app, and owns the digital rights to other major sports events including the next three Olympic Games.

But Mr Harrison said the ­Pacific deal was not a step towards breaking up the joint venture.

“It’s a positive development for both shareholders,” he said. “While Seven has been keen to have some digital ventures sit outside of the JV, that doesn’t mean they are less supportive of the ventures within the JV.”

Seven West Media chief digital officer Clive Dickens said: “This redefinition of the long and ­successful partnership between Pacific and Yahoo7 will deliver even better user experiences for consumers and better outcomes for all commercial partners.”

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that US hedge fund Starboard was seeking to spill Yahoo’s board, while an independent board committee has already kicked off a sales process for the fallen internet giant.

It’s understood a sale of the Yahoo’s main web properties would trigger a buyout clause for Seven in relation to Yahoo7.