0/5

Seven boss tips cost cuts

Long running Seven shows may be cancelled and costs for News and Current Affairs are in the spotlight, following the release of annual figures.

Long running Seven shows may be cancelled and costs for News and Current Affairs are in the spotlight, following the release of annual figures today.

Seven West Media has reported a surge in annual profit, in its first full-year result since Seven’s takeover by West Australian Newspapers. Profit jumped more than 97% to $226.9 million in the 2012 financial year.

Seven Network achieved a two per cent increase in revenue, on a pro-forma basis, to $1.1 billion, but those earnings were down 15% on last year while costs rose 9.3 per cent.

Costs are under now review across Seven West’s four divisions of television, newspapers, magazines and digital.

Seven Network CEO Tim Worner said, “I would suggest that our newsrooms will be operating differently in 2013.”

The company has faced challenges in recent months, losing half the value from its shares and a challenge to its ratings dominance by a resurgent Nine Network.

Seven West Media chief executive, Don Voelte, says the firm has performed well in a difficult time for media companies but acknowledged it will need to cut costs further.

“Our revenue markets remain challenged. We will be relentless in looking for additional synergies and will initially be focusing on four areas: the group’s back of house, our television news and public affairs unit, our magazine business and our newspaper business,” he said.

“But I guarantee you one other thing, don’t expect to read about it or see it.”

Seven West Media also announced the appointment of three new directors, including Ryan Stokes, the son of chairman Kerry Stokes, plus Michelle Deaker and David Evans.

Source: News Ltd, ABC, B&T

9 Responses

  1. Oooh yes, dump Today Tonight, appalling program. I don’t watch 7 News (I’m a Project person), so I don’t see all these live crosses, but I do on other channels from time to time. I always have to laugh, because if the reporter is female she’s obliged by her bosses to look fantastic, hair glued in place, full make-up, great outfit – for what? 20-seconds max!

    I agree re dumping all these talent shows, all indistinguishable from each other. Hopefully we’ll run out of talent soon.

  2. Please ditch Today Tonight. It will mean Ch 9 will follow suit with ACA a few days later… 😉

    I feel for Matt White sometimes… He’s surely stuck there bcos of the V8s…

    Agree with a few posters here, the ‘live’ crosses don’t add much value. Sometimes on a cold night, you can sense the angst on the face of the reporter stuck in a place they’d rather not be in the cold for the sake of a few seconds…

  3. I still find it interesting this merger went ahead

    when only a few weeks ago NewsCorp announced it’s split of the company’s print business and entertainment division, How long before SevenWest does the same?

  4. Thanks David. That article was a quite interesting read.
    ” if we’re doing Live crosses it’s because something is happening.”
    My point is, almost all of the time nothing is happening. Whatever happened happened many hours ago – or last night.
    “Some of the Lives probably didn’t warrant a Live and that’s something we’re constantly evolving. If we’re doing a Live cross it’s got to be there to give information to the viewer,” –
    But the information can better be given from the studio, without the distraction of car horns, background noise and stuff. The overlay vision was usually shot hours earlier, or last night.
    Sending a crew to have someone stand in front of the Reserve Bank building to do a piece “live” to air on, usually, interest rates, with no interviews etc., can be done equally well, if not better, in the studio, with green screen, graphs, charts, etc. Crazy – and and unnecessary expense.
    In Sydney, the “lives” just parrot what the newsreader has already said.
    One night this week I counted four “lives” in one bulletin, not one of them adding anything to previously shot video and what the newsreader had already said.

  5. @jezza the first original one – Absolutely. What’s the cost of sending those ENG crews and a reporter way out into the far ‘burbs to stand in front of a brick wall, or in an empty street, spruiking what the newsreader had already said?
    The absurdity today was Nine sending someone in the US to Las Vegas because some royal kid had apparently had some pics on websites. What was the point?
    No interview, no pictures, other than what everyone had already seen on websites earlier. Just to stand in front of a casino and spruik what we had already been told.

  6. If The X Factor: Australia continues to dominate the ratings, I expect Seven to dump Australia’s Got Talent but keep Dancing with the Stars.

    Better Homes and Gardens and Sydney Weekender is in its 18th series. BHG is one of their biggest shows.

    I expect some redundancies and more on-selling of their programs.

    David, I know this is a fortune teller question, but what shows do you predict will face the axe?

  7. Newsrooms….get rid of all the dumb, pointless “live” crosses. They are crap and add nothing, it will save you a lot of money

Leave a Reply