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Nine to acquire Mi9 shares from Microsoft

Nine Entertainment Co will buy out 50% shares of the joint venture it shares with Microsoft in Mi9.

2013-10-14_1124Nine Entertainment Co will buy out 50% shares of the joint venture it shares with Microsoft in Mi9 (ninemsn Pty Ltd), giving it 100% of the venture.

Ninemsn was established in 1997, by Microsoft and PBL Media and now includes sites such as news.ninemsn.com.au, Jump-in and yourtv.com.au. Up to 12 million Australians visit Mi9 assets each month.

CEO David Gyngell said, “From 1 November, NEC will take control of Mi9. This agreement will see Mi9 continue to provide market leading digital solutions to Australian consumers and advertisers.”

Microsoft has signed a long term strategic partnership agreement, whereby Mi9 will continue to represent Microsoft’s advertising products.

“This agreement allows NEC to retain the key elements of our almost two decade strategic partnership with Microsoft. It strengthens the platform for NEC’s growing digital video business and ultimately allows us to control 100% of our digital future,” Gyngell said.

“I’m pleased to confirm that Mark Britt will continue as CEO of Mi9. Mark is a talented leader who has overseen the transformation of Mi9’s offering to make it one of Australia’s leading digital companies with its own distinct culture. His commitment to Mi9’s people and values has also positioned the company as an employer of choice. As we move into this next phase for Mi9, I’m delighted that Mark will continue to lead the business into the future.”

Mark Britt, CEO Mi9 said, “ninemsn and Mi9 have been a critical part of NEC’s digital business for many years. With the continued convergence of TV and digital, I’m incredibly excited to be able to be able to leverage NEC’s extraordinary entertainment offering and our continued relationship with Microsoft to be the digital partner of choice for our users and clients.”

3 Responses

  1. Haven’t tried logging in at home lately but if it has forgotten where I live and what my favorites are – the two things it did really well – it will be straight to the bookmark rubbish bin……..

    It was very useful for programming PVRs – and I think this is why it will definately be killed off/gimped by its new owners in the future.

  2. Yes, their TV guide was great – you could cut the stations you never watch, and highlight your favourites – it was great. Easy to read, not like the ABC & SBS site guides which are dreadful.
    Now it’s blah.
    I wrote asking why, and received this reply:
    “Regrettably, at this stage the ability to log in to the TVFIX site has been suspended due to technical issues with the system, with a new system to be rolled out sometime before the end of the year. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by this. In the meantime, if your web browser accepts cookies features such as the site remembering your region should still work correctly each time you visit the site. For information on how to accept cookies, please view the following sites:…..”
    But every time I clear my cookies I have to go back to square one, and delete all the unwanted stations, and I’ve lost the record of my favourites…

  3. Who will Nine blame now for the site being so crappy?

    They broke the TV guide a couple of weeks ago trying to upgrade the favourites function. Then they disabled accounts completely so the favourites searching is gone — the only thing the site did well.

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