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200 jobs to go from Nine

"From our nationwide team of almost 5000 people, around 200 jobs are expected to be affected across Nine," says CEO Mike Sneesby.

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Staff at Nine have been advised of up to 200 jobs to be made redundant from Nine.

First redundancies in Publishing will be announced as soon as today, with other divisions expected to follow.

CEO Mike Sneesby has issued an all-staff notice.

Hi everyone, 

I would like to update you on measures we are taking to ensure Nine is well-placed to manage through the current cyclical challenges facing media companies while continuing to invest in the digital opportunities that are driving growth across our business.

In recent years we have made great progress in transforming our business to meet the needs of our audiences as technology continues to change the way people consume media. As a result, Nine generates a higher proportion of revenue from digital and subscription sources than any other Australian media company and we have a balance sheet that reflects that success. I want to thank you all for your creativity and hard work which has made this happen.  

However, Nine is not immune to the economic headwinds which are 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. Last financial year we were able to improve the efficiency of our operations but in light of recent market events we are reviewing key parts of our business to dentify further potential savings.

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. Unfortunately, this will result in some of our colleagues leaving us in the coming months. It is not something we want to do but it is something we need to do to continue to build on a successful platform of high-quality journalism and digital journalism and digital subscription growth. 

We are also in the process of identifying further savings including in our Digital and Broadcast businesses. An operational review of these businesses is underway and we will update you with further details about what this means for you and your teams in the coming weeks. 

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. Where possible, we will look for opportunities to redeploy our team members who are impacted and we will support them throughout the process. These are tough decisions and I acknowledge it will be an uncertain period for some of you. 

It’s important to reiterate that Nine remains in a strong position. All of our business units are either completely digital or have rapidly growing digital revenues – and each one maintains a leading position in their respective markets. 

All of Australia will turn to our platforms (TV, Stan, Publishing, Digital and Radio) in July for the Paris Olympics. The games will be a showcase of what a truly integrated media company can deliver to every Australian and our advertising partners. 

In order to continue our transformation and Nine’s leadership for decades to come we need to keep investing in our strategic priorities starting with the content, products and technology necessary to serve our audiences.

MEAA:

Media Acting Director Michelle Rae said the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance acknowledged the cuts were in part a result of Meta’s decision not to renew deals under the News Media Bargaining Code, but urged Nine, Seven and News Corp to look elsewhere for savings.

“Any cuts to editorial will mean reduced coverage of a range of matters and result in a less informed Australian public,” she said.

“They bring into question how committed Nine, Seven and News Corp are to quality, public interest journalism.

“We will do all we can to support our members during this difficult time and advocate for media organisations to protect journalism by looking for other options to make savings.

“That these cuts are partly the result of Meta walking away from funding deals under the News Media Bargaining Code makes them even harder to swallow.

“Meta rakes in billions of dollars off the back of news content produced by Australian journalism. The funding deals under the News Media Bargaining Code allowed Nine, Seven and News Corp to invest in journalism and increase coverage after years of decline.

“If Meta continues to refuse to negotiate new deals, then it must be designated by the federal government.”

This post updates.

7 Responses

  1. I think there is a lot of dead wood in the rugby league commentary team that will be given the pink slip. Very bloated front of camera team, many of who don’t really contribute too much to the call of the game or analysis.

    I used to read the SMH and it was a great paper in its time, but I gave up my subscription a few years ago – a poor shadow of its former self.

    I have been saying for years that FTA TV is dead, but it just doesn’t know it yet and that applies to all channels.

    A slow dead by new technology.

  2. This is very sad news for the people who were affected by the cuts. Over the past decades we have seen job losses from other networks. As ad revenue declines the future looks bleak for the Nine Network.
    David I am wondering whether this will have affect news presenters and programming content as well as sports rights deals?

  3. Television executives and their bean counters have been behind the 8 ball for years

    I was working on the ‘Denise Show’ at 7 and David Lekce informed us at that very moment (via a
    phone call to the control room during a recording), that the show was axed, so we stopped recording (Denise Drysdale was totally blind sided) then the sales lady stormed straight to skid row to inform Lecke that she had sold enough advertising for the show for another 6 months with good profitability for the time slot.

    I don’t hear of many television executives being poached to go to other industries.

  5. “to offset the loss of revenue from the Meta deal”
    So, despite the bravado of government at the time, the media giants can do as they like and governments are powerless. Who would have guessed?

  6. It is indeed sad that there are going to be job losses at Nine.

    Recently, we read about 150 job losses at Seven.

    Then we read of the possibility later in the year of the selling of Network 10 by its parent company Paramount.

    We don’t know if there are huge job losses or even 100% job losses if it goes off air.

    We’ve seen job losses over the decades at all networks.

    Revenue losses on FTA indicates that there are more choices through paid and unpaid media streams.

    The ultimate test is: with job losses, will there a perceptible loss in program quality and content with these job losses.

    Thanks

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