The Publisher Advertising Transaction System (PATS) will streamline transactions and invoicing between publishers and agencies, for all news brand platforms (digital and paper) providing information in real-time for both sides.

A number of media agencies are involved, GroupM has been part of the initial steering committee, while Publicis (VivaKi, Zenith and Starcom) and Omnicom (PHD and OMD) will also be consulted in the development and will validate the integration of PATS into agency buying platforms.

The system will be funded by five Newsworks stakeholders working together on behalf of the whole industry – News UK, Mail Newspapers, Telegraph Media Group, Guardian Media Group and ESI Media. It will be compatible with all agency platforms including Adazzle, Mediaocean Prisma and proprietary agency software. PATS is described as a ‘technology bridge’ between the agency platform and publisher platform.

Rufus Olins, CEO of the marketing body for national news brands, Newsworks, said: “You could say this platform is overdue but arriving as it does now, it will offer access to total audiences, across all platforms, and make life much simpler. It is good to see the newspaper industry collaborating on this important issue.”

Tom George, chairman of the IPA Media Futures Group and WPP’s MEC, said: “An electronic transaction system between agencies and publishers makes eminent sense. In the modern media landscape, time is at a premium and the PATS system has the potential to streamline important but labour intensive processes.”

PATS will be rolled out across the national news-brands early in 2015 and will also be extended to include magazine publishers and regional newspapers. Newsworks is currently talking to the PPA about magazine brands joining the initiative.