Trouble-plagued Nine Entertainment to axe 200 jobs amid tough advertising market
Nine Entertainment is axing up to 200 jobs, with the embattled media group blaming an advertising rout and the end of a lucrative deal with Meta, the Facebook parent company.
Chief executive Mike Sneesby announced the job cuts in a staff email on Friday morning, saying “we must continue to responsibly manage costs through the cycle”.
He said it was reviewing key parts of the business to identify ways to continue to cut costs.
“From our nationwide team of almost 5000 people, around 200 jobs are expected to be affected across Nine including some vacant and casual roles not being filled,” Mr Sneesby said.
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“Where possible, we will look for opportunities to redeploy our team members who are impacted and we will support them throughout the process.”
In addition to its TV business, Nine is the publisher of The Australian Financial Review, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. It also has extensive radio interests throughout Australia.
It’s been reported that Nine publishing boss Tory Maguire told staff that 70 to 90 staff would be lost from the publishing division.
The media group is currently battling ongoing allegations of sexual harassment and bullying by past and present staff, which has prompted an internal investigation.
In particular, it has acknowledged “serious” claims of “alleged inappropriate behaviour” at the network by former news director Darren Wick.
Notwithstanding those allegations, Wick left the business with a reported golden handshake of $1 million.
The job cuts come just weeks after its chairman Peter Costello quit over an ugly altercation with a journalist at Canberra airport.
Mr Sneesby added on Friday these were “tough decisions and I acknowledge it will be an uncertain period for some of you”.
“Today we will announce measures in our publishing business to offset the loss of revenue from the Meta deal and challenges in the advertising market,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this will result in some of our colleagues leaving us in the coming months.”