‘Nine and Fairfax hasn’t worked’: Hywood’s view from the river bank
Former Fairfax CEO and key architect of the Fairfax/Nine merger Greg Hywood says the unprecedented coming-together to create one of Australia’s biggest media companies has not been a success.
In a sit-down interview with Mumbrella after Hywood announced his departure as chair of lobby group Free TV, the media veteran said the clear indicator of failure was Nine Entertainment Company’s (NEC) share price.
“It’s barely where it was at the beginning,” he said. “I don’t think investors who look at that would consider it a success at this stage … that’s the mark of it.”
Greg Hywood (Mumbrella)
He’s objectively right. They have had several issues – first and foremost TV T(Total TV), Publishing, Domain and Stan operate as four completely separate business with no clear mandate to cooperate except where they have been able to work it out without leadership direction.
Secondly the media businesses have very strong cultures of promoting from within and ignoring external advice – publishing leadership is almost always an ex writer and they have mixed levels of charisma, drive and commercial know how.
They also tend to appoint their mates (more journalists) into key roles where they don’t have the right experience.
Add to the mix the internal politics which arose from having product and technology operate as its own business unit and you have a recipe for very slow action, a lack of clear direction and quality thinking.
As a decades long time subscriber to SMH I stopped subscribing/reading in 2020 because the Herald had been NEGd. Complete shame.
I’ve wondered why Stan and smh and this Fairfax product and that Fairfax product especially including regional papers, plus mine products, can’t be selected in a tick box setting, to make up a streaming package.
Apart from Stan, none of those are streaming services… Or did you mean a “media package” of some sort?
Stan has been brought back in house?