Nine Entertainment Co, Australia’s biggest media company, defied the pandemic induced advertising slump to post a net profit of $182 million for the December half, an increase of 69 per cent.

The bumper financial result came on the same day the Senate passed the government’s Mandatory Media Code of Conduct, which ensures tech giants Google and Facebook will pay Australian publishers for news content.

Nine CEO Hugh Marks says any in-principal deal with Facebook remains subject to confidentiality obligations.

“We’re making good progress with both Google and Facebook,” Marks told Money News host Brooke Corte.

Seven West Media was the first local proprietor to strike a content licensing deal with Google, worth about $30 million a year.

Asked whether the deal Nine has reportedly struck with Google is also worth the rumoured $30 million a year, Hugh Marks indicated it’s likely to be higher than that.

“The $30 [million] isn’t right, that wasn’t the number that we set out in the market,

“We would certainly expect, given the size of our assets versus Seven, to do better than them,

“When we get to the point of reaching an agreement, at that point we’ll be announcing the numbers,”

Click play to hear the full interview: