You can listen to the Front on your smart speaker every morning to hear the latest episode. Just say play the news from the Australian. From the Australian, here's what's on the Front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Thursday, August twenty nine. Core inflation is stuck at three point eight percent, although there's been a fall in the headline figure to three point five percent, indicating we're stuck with high mortgage rates
for at least another six months. A University of Sydney professor has been found to have breached the UNI's code of conduct by telling first year students Hamas terrorists' use of rape and sexual violence was fake news and a hoax. The university says will be disciplinary action, but she won't lose her job. You can read that story in detail
right now at The Australian dot com dot AU. A year of disasters, from a pushy chairman to an Olympic torch disaster culminate in a twenty two percent profit slump at nine Entertainment. So can the CEO keep his job? That's today's story. It's been quite the year at Channel nine.
This is a network that is in absolute crisis.
The phone has not stopped.
Ringing allegations of misbehavior when who's got blowing the cover off? Multiple claims of sexual harassment and bullying the loss of a chairman after Peter Costello pushed The Australian's reporter Lea Mendez to the ground.
Great, thank you.
If you've just assaulted me, you've just pushed me. It's all on camera, mister Castillo.
Mister Costello, did you assault a journalist at Cambra Airport.
There's already speculation that this could put your chairmanship at risk.
What is your responsor that rubbish? The journalist said you assaulted me and you loved and walked away good evening.
Former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has resigned as chair of Nine Entertainment days after appearing to shove a journalists to the ground at Canberra Airport.
An unfortunate incident with the Olympic torch and CEO Mike Sneezeby's cringe worthy running with Channel seven's journal Ray Cooker.
Really, you're trying to have a chat pretty straightforward though. Should you have carried the torch yesterday? Is it inappropriate this day in a bout hotel when you've just sacked staff some stage guys, what about today because your staff are going on strike today, why don't you to stop and have a chat to us now?
So I'm meeting my family and you're.
A BOSSI of a media business here for work or are you here on a holiday with your family?
A strike that threatened to blow up coverage of the Paris Games.
Nine newspaper journalists have walked off the job on the eve of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, I mean ongoing disputes over pay rises among them twenty reporters who have been flowing to Paris to cover the Olympics.
And now a twenty two percent profit slump well as a.
Highlight, it's been a very tough environment across media in the advertising market. As a CEO and as a leadership team, we take complete accountability for the outcomes of the business.
It's been a tumultuous year to say the least.
So Fillsworth is a media reporter at The Australian. She spoke to CEO Mike Sneezebe after he released nine's annual results, a twenty two percent fall in annual profit after tax to two hundred and sixteen point four million dollars and revenue down in the company, and he's broadcasting arm by ten percent. The company's print division held up better, with a revenue drop of three percent from mastheads including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.
Nine's share price is also down around a dollar thirty five by the end of Wednesday, compared with three dollars two years ago.
It's very clear Mike Sneezebee is not going anywhere now if that decision is up to him, he's staying put. And yes he's got a lot of work to do. They still don't have the results from the external review into allegations of misconduct they've just made recently two hundred people redundant across the business. The whole way people consume
TV has been totally flipped on its head. Appointment viewing TV, where you sit down at seven point thirty on a Tuesday evening to watch your particular show is long gone. People are streaming content, they're watching it when it suits them, They're doing catch up television. So this has really presented many challenges for freeedoware networks who rely on that advertising dollar.
They have had to branch out and try and make this work in the streaming world because there's so many competitors out there, choice out there, big streamers, global streamers such as Netflix, who are stealing the eyeballs away from freeedoware TV.
Mike's needs be told Sophie he was feeling optimistic.
If I summarize the result today, obviously the market, the advertising market in particular pre toware market has been tough in AFY twenty four. Over the long term, we think our publishing business, with the strength of selves growth that we've had in our Toroo growth across that base, we'd expect to see the opportunity for publishing to be a
positive earnings growth business. I feel very strongly that this business, the leadership team and everywhere across nine is performing exceptionally well, and of course I take accountability for the entire performance of this company.
Bart He's had to take a cut to his bonus and will only take home a total package of two point one million dollars, down from nearly two point seven million the previous year.
Well, obviously the executives has not reached the targets that they needed to reach.
To get their full bonuses.
It would have been a bad look if they did get their full bonuses. But I think Mike Sneezbey has made a few decisions that has left many people within nine very annoyed. When he made hundreds of staff redundant. He announced this short time after that he was on a plane to Greece for a family wedding that did not go down well. It then emerged that he was running with the Olympic torch in the run up to the Paris Olympics, where nine had the broadcasting rights.
People were saying within.
Nine and definitely out of nine, this is.
A bad look.
This is a man who is running a media company with a long list of problems and he's not reading the room. It was a tone deaf decision for him to continue running with that torch where he was basking in glory. Meanwhile back home, hundreds of staff are being made redundant.
Here's a little of Sophie's interview.
Going back to the Olympics.
Do you regret running with the Olympic torch given all the concerns that were raised, particularly when the staff walkouts occurred, about you taking part in the torch relay.
As I'm sure you'll understand. Our engagements with the IOIC began some two and a half years before doing the Games opened in Paris, a long road of engaging with the IOIC in negotiating to commercial outcomes, a year and a half of thousands of staff across nine working to get ready for the Olympic Games, and my commitment to run with the torch at the invitation of the IOC was made a long long time before the torch relay occurred.
It's absolutely appropriate for the CEO of a major broadcast partner who's embarking on a ten year journey with a partner like the IOC to participate in a way that I participated. I certainly wasn't going to at short notice cancel my commitment with the IOC. Again, my being at the Olympic Games was a short trip, postly carrying of
the torch and the opening ceremony. I stayed a couple of days additionally and returned back to Australia and sure that I was focused on running the business and working with the team who are based back here.
He was pretty defiant. He kind of indicated that the IOC would have been very disappointed if he'd not run with the torch, but doesn't really hold water, does it.
You know?
Following this weeks later, there was staff who had t shirts printed with him running with the torch, mocking him as a result of him making that decision when they're fighting for pay rises. He's on multimillion dollar contract and he's decided to run with the torch over in Paris. It seemed to many that he was completely out of touch with reality back.
Home, coming up, why some of nine's biggest stars have been bumped from the pointy end of the plane. Don't forget. Subscribers to The Australian get access to expert analysis around the clock. Join us at the Australian dot com dot au. It's a lot cheaper than a business class flight. We'll be back after this break. Around the world, commercial TV networks are struggling big time. Here's our media editor James Madden talking about seven West Media's results released earlier this month.
Net profit before taxes is down sixty nine percent. Group revenue overall has slipped five percent. There's not much silver in any of the linings at seven New CEO Jeff Howard, who's been in the job since April, so just over four months. Was definitely sought to put a positive spin on these numbers, which by any measure are shocking.
In New Zealand, the only commercial TV news provider, TV three, shot its suite of news and current affairs shows earlier this year and replaced them with a six pm news bulletin outsourced to a different newsroom.
It's a sad day for democracy and journalism in New Zealand.
That's just some of the reaction to today's announcement that news Hub, one of the biggest newsrooms in the country, is set to shut down.
It's prompting questions that would have been unthinkable a decade ago, like can commercial TV news survive. One of the other big changes that's being made at Channel seven now is a dramatic reduction in wages through the redundancies being given to senior and long serving staff. I've noticed in your media diary that you write with James Madden in The Australian Sophie that there are obvious signs that nine superstars are having their belts tightened. You know, not so many
first class flights anymore. Do you think we're going to see a clean out of their highest earning talent.
Well, both networks.
There seems to be some talent there that is still on very high incomes. Those days of these stars receiving big salaries each year are coming to an end. The TV stations can simply not justify it and are looking at ways to cut costs everywhere they can. They still have some big names on their books contracts still to.
Be seen out.
So what seene to be happening is when a lot of these contracts with big stars, including newsreaders, are coming to an end, they simply chop up the contract, offer them something far less, or send them on their way and get someone younger and cheaper. And this is a trend that's happening across commercial freeedom are TV because there's few jobs, a lot of people who want those jobs, and they can offer less now than those decades ago when the big stars were getting eyewatering salaries.
Sophie Elsworth is a media writer with The Australian. The newly minted Northern Territory government is facing its first big challenge. It's been revealed police were too late to save a woman allegedly killed in a domestic violence incident. You can read that exclusive story, as well as all our journalism right now at the Australian dot com dot au