Nine boss Hugh Marks signals new approach to sports rights
Hugh Marks, CEO of Nine Entertainment Co, has signalled that the company will prioritise owning sports rights across multiple formats rather than just for free to air in any future deals.
Following today’s financial results announcement – which saw total revenues decline 3.5% to $1.238bn, an EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) profit of $205.6m (up 1.9%), and a $203.4m net loss after tax – Marks told Mumbrella future negotiations would focus on Nine’s transformation beyond being a linear broadcaster.
Oh come on mate, Just call it “pay per view” like you mean. All this ‘encore’ and ‘format shifting’ is just bullshit shilling. You said up front free to air it to exy, you said you couldn’t afford it. So what you’re telling us is, that if we want niche sports, we’re going to pay for it, especially if you put money up front to get rights to it.
You know, I thought the rush of money into womens sport was a godsend, but now I see how the money is going down, I think I can go back to “same old piss in a square shaped bottle” -your venal side is showing again: if sport can’t pay its way, you don’t actually want to back it. Unlike SBS and ABC, who do it out of some sense of public engagement and actually built audience numbers by making it like .. ENTERTAINING..