Nine’s newly appointed boss of streaming and broadcast, Amanda Laing, has warned staff that further job losses remain on the table, even after the company moved to merge teams and cut 50 roles across the business.
The message lands as Nine accelerates a major reshaping of its linear and streaming operations in response to a soft advertising market and rising competition for video audiences.
In an interview with The Australian Financial Review, Laing, who now oversees a portfolio spanning the Nine Network, 9Now, Stan and the company’s major metro mastheads and radio assets, said that the change program is far from over.
While she emphasised growth as the overarching objective, she was explicit about the tension between expansion and cost control.
“It’s not just a matter of, ‘Can we get more juice out of the fruit’? It’s actually about growth. It’s about true growth, growing the subscribers, growing the revenue, growing the EBITDA contribution from these businesses,” she told the publication.
That ambition, she added, sits alongside a clear need to keep tightening Nine’s cost base.
“That is a delicate dance. If you cut too deeply on the cost, you will injure the things that are required to drive the revenue.”
Her comments make clear that further restructuring is possible as Nine tries to lift efficiency while chasing a bigger slice of the increasingly global video market.
More change is coming
The remarks follow an internal email sent to staff last week, in which Laing confirmed Nine has been reviewing the division’s operating model to “reduce duplication, drive greater collaboration and deliver commercial growth for the Nine Group.”
“While only some teams and individuals are impacted by this, I ask you to be cognisant and mindful of your colleagues as we navigate this change,” she wrote.
Up to 50 jobs within the streaming and broadcast division were earmarked.
In a statement to Mediaweek at the time, a Nine spokesperson said the restructure is designed to align Stan, Channel 9 and 9Now more closely.
“The new operating model brings together teams across Stan, Channel 9 and 9Now. It is designed to reduce duplication, drive greater collaboration and deliver commercial growth for Nine, while working to offset the challenging external advertising market.”
The spokesperson added that Nine’s “primary focus during the consultation is supporting these team members through access to our employee wellbeing provider, as well as exploring redeployment opportunities within the broader Nine Group.”