Top 50 media companies: exclusive ranking | Is Google lowballing the UK?
And Paul Hood starts a new column giving publishers the information they need to succeed in a media world being rapidly transformed by generative AI technology
Good morning and welcome to your Press Gazette Future of Media newsletter on Thursday, 9 January brought to you in association with Avid Collective. Read their new white paper for actionable insights, data, case studies, and proven strategies on how branded content can future-proof your ad revenue.
Your starter for ten: What is the biggest news media organisation in the UK?
The BBC? Close, but no cigar.
News UK? It's actually only just in the top ten.
Clue: Their headquarters is our lead image today.
Full marks to you if you correctly guessed that the biggest news company in the UK is RELX (formerly known as Reed Elsevier) with annual revenue of more than £9bn.
It is a media brand that rarely makes headlines itself but provides data, analytics, technical tools and analysis which help businesses make better decisions. Broadly speaking it sources and shares information which is so good people are willing to pay for it (because it helps them to make more money). It sells news you can use.
Our latest top-50 ranking of media companies broadly involved in news and information tracks businesses with a total turnover of £36bn.
Google is probably the biggest media company in the UK in terms of revenue by some margin. But we don't include it in our ranking because we have only looked at UK businesses with publicly findable revenue data.
Today we also take a look at what Google's C$100m (£55m) bribe to Canadian news publishers means for the UK. It’s a similar level of pay-off to that secured in Australia.
David Buttle explains why he thinks a similar windfall won't be coming to the UK any time soon. Press Gazette has previously estimated that Google already pays around £30m a year to UK publishers in order for their work to get greater prominence on Google Discover via the News Showcase platform.
Google News Showcase is something most publishers would gladly appear on for free so the payments are clearly more about keeping the news industry onside and staving off long-threatened regulation.
Given the UK media market is more than double the size of Canada's, publishers here are probably being lowballed by Google which, without the imminent threat of state-enforced payments, is able to pick them off with secret sweetheart deals.
And finally, if you thought you had heard everything there is to know about AI and publishing - think again.
Paul Hood has quit his job as digital development director at The Sun to learn about all things AI at Oxford University and he is convinced that disruption and opportunities created by the new technology are going to accelerate this year.
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On Press Gazette
The UK’s biggest news media companies revealed: New top 50 ranking by revenue
Three in five of the UK’s largest media companies reported growing news and information revenue in their most recent full-year accounts, Press Gazette’s latest top 50 ranking shows.
Research, personalisation and automation: What AI can do for publishers
Former Sun digital development director Paul Hood explains what AI can do for publishers.
What Google’s C$100m payout to Canada news industry means for publishers elsewhere
David Buttle explains why legislators may serve publishers better by protecting copyright content from AI incursions
This week on Press Gazette
Piers Morgan takes ownership of Youtube show away from News UK
Donald Trump versus the press: His ‘campaign of legal intimidation’ tracked
2025 journalism job cuts tracked: Washington Post and Huffpost announce layoffs
How Swiss brand 20 Minuten put readers and editors first with new CMS (promoted)
Computer Weekly editor to national media: Pay more attention to specialist titles
50 biggest UK news websites: The Independent top commercial title by reach
DC Thomson reports falling revenue for 2023/24 but investments boost profit
How publishers can avoid affiliate marketing pitfalls and find new revenue (promoted)
Latest Press Gazette podcast
Podcast 81: AI tipping point in 2025: What publishers need to know
Former digital development director of The Sun Paul Hood has just quit his job to study generative AI full time.
He explained why AI in the media is set to reach a tipping point in 2025 and start to fundamentally change the business. He also reveals some of the practical steps publishers should take to ensure they can capitalise on the opportunities AI presents and avoid some major pitfalls.
Sitting back and doing nothing is not an option, he says.