Nine Entertainment has declared a loss for the year of $575m after slashing the value of assets, including its TV license, amid a move by consumers towards streaming services.
The company’s radio network, Macquarie Media, also had what Nine chief executive Hugh Marks called a “disappointing” year, with revenue falling in a year where flagship broadcaster Alan Jones was embroiled in controversy and left the company.
Marks said continued cost-cutting at the group might see the end of expensive TV productions. He referred to talent show, The Voice, as an example of a high-cost show, but Nine had made no decisions about its future TV programming.
“You’ll see some of those high-cost shows be replaced by some other initiatives that … will come in at lower cost,” he said.
Nine has already ripped $225m in costs out of the business, including by renegotiating its contract to broadcast rugby league.
“You’re going to see continued pressure on sports costs as we go forward,” Marks said.
As the advertising market cratered due to the coronavirus crisis, revenue slumped at the TV division and at the group’s metropolitan newspapers, which include the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age.
Marks said he hoped the metro division would get money from the digital platforms, Google and Facebook, as a result of a proposed new code that will force the tech giants to share revenue with media companies.
Revenue at Nine’s streaming service, Stan, rose by more than 50% and online newspaper subscription payments also rose, by about 9%.
Overall, revenue at the company rose from $1.97bn to almost $2.2bn.
This came despite a steep fall in revenue at the company’s traditional core business, free-to-air TV, which slumped from a little over $1bn to $952bn.
Nine last year said Stan, which had bled cash since it was set up as a joint venture with Fairfax in 2015, had turned towards profit.
But this year it revealed Stan’s contribution to company earnings – a modest positive result of $17.9m, compared with a loss of $11.5m in the previous year.
Stan’s revenue soared from $157m to $242m.
Meanwhile, radio revenue plunged by more than 20%, from $132m to $103m.
Revenue at real estate listings group Domain, which is 60% owned by Nine, fell 20% to $267m.
