New co-host for Today ‘within a week or two’

Nine will announce a new co-host for Today within a week or two, with the role “very likely” to come from within the network, according to CEO Hugh Marks.

Speaking after yesterday’s Nine AGM, he said, “We got to the point where for the level of work she did for the rights that we were able to access for Lisa, we weren’t able to come to a commercial agreement.

“It’s a really important issue, gender pay equality. The fact that it became something that is not the issue at hand I think was unfortunate. It undermines the good work we’ve done, undermines the debate and the discussion.”

Meanwhile he told investors that the ad market for the first half of 2017/18 has been at the upper end of previous earnings guidance, while good ratings had lifted Nine’s share of the metropolitan TV ad market above 39 per cent compared to expectations of 37.5 cents.

“All in all, we were pretty happy with where we ended up for the year and, more importantly, the positive momentum we have created for our future,” he said.

The success of Australian Ninja Warrior and The Block had helped deliver a strong year.

“(The Block) delivered an average audience growth of more than 20% across all demographics and remains one of our most profitable franchises,” he said.

9Now has become a “stand-alone business”, with almost 4.4m registered viewers.

“As audiences have registered and begin to experience 9Now, our ability to monetise those viewers will continue to be enhanced,” he added.

“From a standing start, Stan has built an active subscriber base of more than 800,000 and is clearly the leading local player in a growing market space.”

Source: Business News, Mumbrella, News Corp