Channel Nine bloodbath with hundreds of jobs to be axed

Hundreds of jobs will be axed at Nine Entertainment, including roles in the high-profile TV news division.

Nine Entertainment chief executive Mike Sneesby announced the job cuts to staff on Friday morning as part of a $30 million cost-cutting plan for the business.

‘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,’ Mr Sneesby said.

‘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.’

The job cuts include 38 positions in the high-profile news and current affairs broadcast team, which encompasses 9News and 60 Minutes.

Additionally, 90 jobs will be eliminated from Nine’s publishing division, affecting roles at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Australian Financial Review.

Mr Sneesby attributed the job cuts to the likely termination of a commercial deal with Meta – the owner of Facebook and Instagram – to pay for news articles it posts, as well as a weakened advertising market. 

‘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,’ Mr Sneesby explained.

‘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.’

The announcements follow the exit of news boss Darren Wick in March after a complaint was lodged by a female employee about inappropriate conduct.

His replacement Fiona Dear told staff on Friday the jobs cuts will see a ‘loss of 38 roles around the division, 12 of these positions are already vacant.’

 ‘We are also looking to identify potential savings with casual and freelance roles and new technology,’ Ms Dear said.

Nine publishing director Tory Maguire, who heads up The Australian Financial Review, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and WAtoday, said the end of the deal with Meta had also hurt the publishing side of the business.

‘This week … the deal with Meta is over and the significant revenue incoming under that deal has ceased,’ she said.

‘While we are encouraged by our constructive conversations with the Federal Government about enforcing the code, the only thing currently certain is that we don’t have an ongoing deal with Meta.

‘The advertising market remains very challenging and while the publishing and sales teams are working together on a range of new initiatives our forecast for FY25 is reflective of the market outlook.’

Nine’s cutback announcement came in the same week about 150 staff were let go by Seven West Media in a major round of redundancies, with three senior executives all leaving the company. 

CEO Jeff Howard told staff in an email on Tuesday that costs needed to be cut, especially in the wake of Meta’s withdrawal.

‘A number of roles across the company will change and unfortunately some people will be leaving us,’ Mr Howard said.

‘We will work hard to reduce the impact on people as much as we can, and we will make sure that our people are fully supported.’

Among the changes to SWM is the departure of chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette, chief marketing and audience officer Melissa Hopkins, and Seven’s head of sport and managing director of Melbourne, Lewis Martin.

The trio combined have dedicated 65 years to SWM, with Mr Howard saying the workplace ‘will be very different without them’.

‘I wish them all the very best in the future and look forward to our paths crossing again, hopefully at a less challenging time for the industry,’ he said.

Mr Burnette had been with the company for 34 years, while Mr Lewis had worked for SWM for three decades.

Ms Hopkins joined the company in March last year, having worked at Optus.

The job cuts are part of attempts to save the business $100million.

Mr Howard told staff while SWM was doing well across print, digital and TV, ‘our high cost base of $1.2billion a year is not sustainable and needs to be reduced’.

‘As we look into FY25 we are faced with continuing upward pressure on this cost base,’ he said.

SWM, which owns The West Australian newspaper, will move forward with three divisions – digital, TV and Western Australia.

A chief operating officer will also be appointed to the company, which is controlled by billionaire Kerry Stokes.

Mr Howard took on the role as CEO in late April.

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