Nine has blamed a weak advertising market and the loss of revenue from Meta’s content deal as reasons to make the cuts. Rival Seven has revealed a slew of high-profile redundancies this week.
Nine CEO Mike Sneesby told staff that although the business was in a stronger position than its rivals, the economic downturn and lost revenue from Meta’s content deal elapsing had meant the business needed to find millions in savings.
“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,” Sneesby said.
“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 identify 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 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.”
Nine is planning to axe up to 200 roles – which amounts to 4 per cent of its workforce – in the coming weeks.
The publishing division will bear the brunt of the cuts with between 70 to 90 roles to go, including some that are already vacant, said managing director of publishing Tory Maguire.
The News and Current Affairs division will lose 38 roles, including 12 that are already vacant, according to director of news and current affairs Fiona Dear.
Sneesby added: “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.”
