Nine facing pressure to cut TV costs amid ad market rout
Shares in the TV, publishing and digital media company are down 27.5% this year and trading near their lowest levels since the pandemic in mid-2020.
The nation's largest domestic media company Nine Entertainment Co is facing increasing pressure to take action on costs as it wrestles with an unrelenting advertising rout and social media titan Meta's decision to pull funding from news publishers.
Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby is set to front investors this week at the Macquarie Australia Conference at a time when the company's share price is trading near its lowest levels in almost four years and as its fiercest rivals are taking steps to aggressively take action on costs in response to a challenging market.
News Corp is preparing to cut between $15 million and $50 million in costs according to recent reports in The Australian Financial Review not disputed by the company while Seven West Media is aiming to slash costs by $60 million over 2024 and 2025.
One media industry source familiar with Nine's plans but not authorised to speak publicly on the matter said any cost cuts at Nine would likely focus on its television business, even though Meta's decision to pull funding from news could cost its publishing arm as much as $20 million annually. Nine declined to comment ahead of the Macquarie briefing.
