Any trading announcement post a company AGM will look to the positives ahead as well as show why any losses, decreases or failures are just blips on the radar. Reading through Nine Entertainment‘s they were clear about how ‘challenging’ the television advertising market is, which appears to be the same for all organisations are who are invested in that media arm, while also expressing pleasure at better than anticipated results from Stan post Olympics and digital publisher subscription rates.
That part was surprisingly candid, with interim CEO Matthew Stanton addressing also the the recent review of its workplace practices and culture and the departure of CEO and board director Mike Sneesby at the end of September, saying:
“It has been a tough few weeks for many people at Nine since the report was released, and in retrospect, for a small number, it has been a tough few years.
I want to make it clear that there is no place at Nine for the abuse of power, bullying, sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct outlined in the report, and no place for people who behave that way. I have delivered that message directly to our people.
It is still early days, but there will be change at Nine and individuals will be held to account for behaviour of this nature. The Board and management are absolutely united on the need to accelerate change and to support workplace reform.
Disappointingly, these issues appear to be prevalent across the media industry broadly, where history, coupled with structural power imbalances, have enabled inappropriate behaviours. At Nine, we intend to tackle our issues transparently, and are determined to lead the sector on broad cultural reform.
This should not, however, detract from the wonderful work our people are doing, day in and day out. The amazing stories we continue to tell and share with our audiences; our thought-provoking journalism; our exceptional Sports teams – as well as all those who help bring our content to Australia. Our people are the heart and soul of Nine and we are committed to ensuring it is a great place to work.”
There was relatively little reference to radio, which is a small part really of the overall bigger Nine picture. It was interesting to note that Ray Hadley, who would be one of the genuine stars of the Nine Entertainment stable across radio, television, digital and particularly Nine’s recent Olympics involvement, chose to announce his retirement on the same day as the AGM.
Nine Radio itself is in a good place. Q1 revenue was up 6% on pcp, and digital by 40%. They invested a lot into almost exclusive coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics which did see, in the September quarter, Nine’s total TV revenue growing by 15%.
The results in terms of radio listening during that period were not so flash. GfK Survey 6 saw audience share for 2GB in Sydney drop by more than 3% with the Ray Hadley Morning show (Ray was at the Olympics so not hosting Mornings for some of it) very nearly losing the top spot it has held for 160 consecutive surveys. Survey 7 is out this Thursday, November 14. If the station makes up that 3% there will be discussion next Olympics as to its value on air.
Overall revenue was down 12% with growth in digital and subscriptions somewhat offsetting a generally weaker advertising market. It was a heated meeting with nearly 40% of members voting against the executive remuneration report.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo