Xenophon won't back Hanson's media law deal

Key crossbencher Nick Xenophon won't be backing a media law deal struck by Pauline Hanson which includes more scrutiny of the ABC and SBS.

The Turnbull government may have won the support of One Nation for its media ownership reforms but it faces a struggle to convince other crucial Senate crossbenchers.

The salaries of big-name ABC and SBS stars would be revealed to the public under a deal struck between the coalition and Pauline Hanson on Tuesday.

The national public broadcasters would also face an inquiry into how they compete with commercial rivals, while the ABC charter would include the words "fair and balanced".

Without the support of Labor and the Greens, the government also requires the votes of the three Nick Xenophon Team senators.

Senator Xenophon says he won't be supporting the One Nation deal.

"This piece of legislation is not about the ABC or SBS, it is about the existential crisis that commercial media has found itself in largely as a result of the rise of Google and Facebook," he told ABC radio on Wednesday.

"I cannot see the need for the so-called fair and balanced test."

Senator Xenophon said forcing the ABC to publish the salaries of top presenters would be unprecedented and put the public broadcaster at a disadvantage to commercial broadcasters.

Instead he wants tax breaks for publishers and smaller newspapers to replenish journalists jobs lost since the global financial crisis.

Senator Hanson insists there must be transparency in the pay of senior staff and on-air talent earning more than $200,000 at the ABC and SBS.

An inquiry into "competitive neutrality" would also investigate whether the public broadcasters are harming commercial networks, including outbidding them for sports broadcasts and other popular programs.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young fears the "stupid" review is a backdoor attempt to axe ABC iView and SBS On Demand.

The ABC charter already includes the words "accurate and impartial" but the government will look to introduce legislation by the end of this year to tack on "fair and balanced".

One Nation insists slashing ABC funding did not feature in its negotiations.

"I'd whack off quite a bit of money off it - hundreds of millions if I possibly could - but I'm going to wait next year til the budget and I'll talk to the treasurer about that," Senator Hanson told Sky News.

The government will also try to update the ABC charter to explicitly require a regional focus and force its board to have two regional members.

A register of foreign ownership of Australian media companies would also be created.