Nine has sacked an undisclosed number of staff across its technology and sales teams following its $4 Billion buyout of Fairfax Media back in December.
In a statement to media, Nine said that it had “confirmed there had been a limited number of redundancies within the business in both technology and sales as it aligns its operations to high-growth products and markets post-merger”.
B&T contacted Nine for numbers, however, a spokesperson declined to comment. It’s believed all the redundancies will come from support roles and not from editorial.
In further news, Nine has confirmed the appointment of Tim Rose (main photo) in the newly created role of director of sales – Nine+.
Rose be will charged with leading a new team focused on providing marketing solutions to Australia’s 2.1 million small-to-medium business owners using Nine’s television, digital and publishing assets.
At the 2019 Upfronts, Nine unveiled plans to launch 9Voyager, the first self-serve platform for television and BVOD, aimed at giving small-to-medium businesses access to the most powerful media combination to grow their business.
“Our Nine+ team across the country will provide a single point of contact for Australia’s small and medium businesses to access Nine’s TV, digital and publishing assets,” said Michael Stephenson, Nine’s chief sales officer.
“9Voyager is one of our major strategic initiatives in 2019. We have built world-class technology, we have simplified the TV buying process, we will launch with a brand-new proposition for SMEs, and we are ready to open our business to a whole new market.
“We are resourcing our business around high-growth products and new demand sources. Tim understands the needs of small-to-medium business owners and will launch 9Voyager when he joins.”
Rose has held several senior sales roles, including a decade at APN Outdoor where he was national sales director – direct and NSW Sales Director.
“Nine is clearly focused on growth and I can’t wait to be a part of opening up the business to new markets,” Rose said. “The Nine+ team will represent all of Nine’s assets to Australian SMEs and 9Voyager’s self-serve technology will give them a brand-safe alternative to Facebook and Google.”
Rose will join Richard Hunwick, director of sales – television, Nick Young, director of sales – digital, Matt Rowley, director of sales – publishing, Liana Dubois, director of powered, Merryn Vincent, director of operations – publishing and Warwick Sharp, director of operations – television in the sales leadership team.
