Nine expecting TV growth as Olympics save drab H1 results
TV revenue has hit bottom and will bounce back this year, according to a Nine first-half results call that showed lacklustre performance across the media company’s portfolio.
The Paris Olympics coverage saved Nine from going deep into the red, with 9Now revenue up 28% in the second half of 2024. Broadcast revenue was down 3% for the half, despite the availability of the Olympics for linear audiences.
Domain appeared to be the most solid performer in the Nine family, with revenue growth and EBIDTA up 15% to $78 million. That makes Domain the second-biggest contributor to Nine’s profits after TV, pointing to the challenges ahead if it is snapped up by US listings giant Costar.
The future looks dim with shareholders surely grabbing those $US.
Has TV really bottomed out? Ask anyone under the age of 35 what they watch on TV, now try the same thing with under 25s and under 18s. The idea of broadcast TV is completely alien to them, they don’t care about reality trash and sporting rights are transient. Kind of like paying for digital news subscriptions. Broadcast TV will keep finding new lows as time goes on.
It’s also interesting to see internal-posterchild Stan – lauded as the low cost base high subscriber volume wunderkind – numbers laid bare here, with a shockingly low ARPU and $ contribution considering the prices are jacked up so regularly – a lack of consistent quality is surely to blame.
I’m sure many expected to see improvements after the 200 redundancies that “Meta forced them to make”, but a chronic lack of leadership and strategy, and toxic culture across the business looks to have taken hold.