Nine to cut up to 200 jobs as ‘economic headwinds’ bite

Media group Nine Entertainment will make up to 200 jobs redundant across the business.

Up to 90 jobs are expected to be lost from the company’s publishing division, which houses The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review, and contributes 25 per cent of Nine’s earnings, despite only contributing 21 per cent of revenue, in Nine’s most recent half-year results.

Meanwhile, 38 jobs will be cut from Nine’s news and current affairs broadcast team.

In an email to staff on Friday morning, chief executive Mike Sneesby said the cuts were prompted by a weak advertising market and the likely end of a commercial deal with Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram.

Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby.

Despite being well-placed to manage the cyclical challenges facing media companies, Sneesby said Nine was not immune to the “economic headwinds impacting many businesses globally”.

“In order for us to be able to keep investing in digital growth opportunities across Nine, we must continue to responsibly manage costs through the cycle.”

“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,” Sneesby said.

Executives from Nine’s broadcast, publishing and radio divisions are expected to inform staff of the extent of the cuts on Friday morning, in a bid to find $30 million in savings across the business.

It comes after similar announcements from commercial rivals Seven West Media and News Corp, which both announced a series of cuts recently. Each company has received about $15 million from Meta across the past three years. Those deals expire on Sunday this week.

This masthead reported on Monday that Seven was set to make 150 staff redundant as it deals with one of the softest advertising markets in several decades. News Corp has made as many as 80 staff redundant across its sales division, with some senior executives and editors also having departed. The company is expected to make more cuts across its editorial division in coming weeks.

Nine’s director of publishing, Tory Maguire.

As of September 2023, Nine employed 4753 people across television, radio, and digital. It is also the owner of this masthead. A cut of up to 200 roles is the equivalent to about 4 per cent of Nine’s workforce

Nine’s publishing boss, Tory Maguire, said she would work with her team and editors on a plan to reduce staff costs in coming weeks, resulting in the first headcount reduction across the newspapers since 2017, when they were owned by Fairfax Media.

“We will be focused on finding efficiencies where we can, and making prudent decisions so we can continue to invest in growth areas that are driving subs. We are looking at reducing the publishing division headcount by between 70 and 90 staff over coming months,” Maguire said.

“The publishing division is not alone in having to make these tough calls. Over recent months there have been many people leaving Nine in other areas, and leaders of other parts of the business will be communicating with their own people about plans for wide-spread savings this year.”

Sneesby said these were “tough decisions” to make, also acknowledging it will be an uncertain period for some of his staff.

This is the first significant round of cuts to hit Nine since its blockbuster merger with Fairfax Media in 2019.

Revenue streams in the business have drastically changed since then, bringing broadcast television, newspaper publishing, radio, digital and streaming video on demand (Stan) platforms together under one roof.

Nine’s broadcast division, which includes television and radio, has declined in influence as advertisers diversify their spend and move away from free-to-air mediums. In Nine’s first financial results after the merger in 2019, broadcast was responsible for about 66 per cent of its total revenue. In its most-recent half-year results for the 2024 financial year, broadcast had fallen to 47.7 per cent of all revenue.

Stan, comparatively, made up 8.5 per cent of revenue in 2019.

Last Friday, Sneesby hinted at looming cuts while speaking at a parliamentary inquiry into social media companies in Australia. He laid blame at the feet of Meta, which has so far refused to negotiate a second commercial deal with publishers under the news media bargaining code.

Meta’s exit from the bargaining code will remove about $70 million of funding a year for publishers.

The announcement adds to a turbulent two months for Nine, which has been rocked by reports of its handling of the departure of former Nine news and current affairs director Darren Wick.

The company’s chair, Peter Costello, then stood down this month under mounting pressure after he appeared to knock over a reporter from The Australian in Canberra Airport.

Deputy chair Catherine West was appointed as his successor.

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