Nick Young to lead Nine’s trading and digital product

Nine Entertainment has restructured its commercial leadership. Nick Young is now Executive Director, Advanced Trading and Digital Commercialisation, and Nathan Patrick has been handed Metro and Regional TV sales. Nine said on 19 October 2026 that the changes are meant to reduce friction for agencies and speed up its digital advertising sales.

Young will run a new department combining Sales Operations, Trading, and Digital Product. Patrick becomes Commercial Director, Metro and Regional TV, and will report to Young.

Nine has also promoted Carly Astone to Sport Commercial Director – Melbourne, a newly created role, ahead of the network’s expanded 2027 sports slate.

What the new department will handle

The department will grow programmatic sales across broadcast video on demand (BVOD), subscription video on demand (SVOD), and Publishing. It will also bring Nine’s ad-tech infrastructure under one roof. It will combine trading operations to manage inventory and run the commercial data strategy. Nine said the department will connect Sales, Product & Tech, Finance, Powered, QMS, and media agency partners.

Patrick will run Broadcast sales as one operation across Metro and Regional TV. He will work with Tina Andrew, who continues to lead Streaming sales, and with Nine’s State Sales Directors.

Nine Chief Sales Officer Matt James said the restructure reflects Nine’s commitment to providing a “friction-free, advanced trading ecosystem” for agency partners and advertisers.

“As our business continues to transform around a single, connected Australian-owned Sofa to street network proposition that we showcased at our 2027 Upfront, we are deliberately evolving the way we lead critical parts of our commercial operation to deliver one door in with a world of possibilities,” James said.

“Integrating our trading, sales operations, and digital product capabilities under Nick’s proven leadership allows us to align our product and data strategy directly with sales execution. It removes administrative friction, centralises our technology stack, and accelerates our ability to deliver advanced, outcomes-based trading across the business.”

James said combining Metro and Regional TV under Patrick “simplifies our total Broadcast proposition for clients, creating a unified strategy across every market in Australia.”

Who are Nick Young and Nathan Patrick?

Young returned to Nine in January 2023 as Commercial Director – Digital, a newly created role covering digital video and audio revenue. Before that, he was Chief Commercial Officer at Nova Entertainment. He had earlier spent three years at Nine as Director of Sales – Digital.

Patrick spent more than 15 years at WIN Television, starting as a sales executive in 2006. He was promoted to Commercial Director – Regional TV in 2022, then moved into regional TV leadership at Nine. In July 2026, he became chair of Boomtown while keeping his role at Nine.

“I am excited to take on this expanded role as we build out Australia’s most advanced, automated, and accountable media trading environment,” Young said.

“Bringing our ad-tech systems, inventory management, data strategy, and digital product together under one roof gives us an incredible opportunity to streamline how agencies trade with Nine. It allows us to innovate faster, optimise our total inventory pool, and deliver transparent, closed-loop ROI for our partners across every screen.”

Astone takes Melbourne sport

Astone will lead Nine’s Melbourne Sport commercial team. She will also lead national commercial strategy for key marquee sports properties.

Nine National Commercial Director – Sport Andrew Cann said Astone would “play a critical role in driving commercial growth for our partners locally and taking national stewardship of key sports assets.”

“Carly brings extraordinary depth of experience across our entire portfolio, paired with trusted, senior relationships across Melbourne’s agency ecosystem, making her uniquely qualified to lead our Melbourne sports team,” Cann said.

Nine said the changes strengthen its position as the only Australian-owned, fully integrated media company selling across Streaming & Broadcast, Publishing, and Out of Home through a single commercial team.