have often wondered the same thing…buy 5AA and launch an online paper similar to WAtoday and brisbane times. A lot of the content overlaps, especially AFL, but with a SA flavour
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Nine Entertainment CEO Mike Sneesby has been ranked the most influential Australian media executive, in the second annual Mediaweek 100 list.
Here is the top 10:
- Mike Sneesby
- Lachlan Murdoch (Fox Corporation executive chairman and CEO, News Corp co-chairman)
- Ryan Stokes (Seven Group managing director and CEO)
- Michael Miller (News Corp Australia executive chairman)
- James Warburton (Seven West Media managing director and CEO)
- Beverley McGarvey (Paramount ANZ executive vice president and chief content officer)
- Grant Blackley (Southern Cross Austereo CEO)
- Patrick Delany (Foxtel CEO)
- Ciaran Davis (HT&E CEO)
- Melanie Silva (Google Australia and NZ managing director)
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9honey turns six: announces new home vertical and new contributors
Australia’s leading women’s lifestyle network, 9honey, is celebrating its sixth birthday with the launch of a new site, new columnists and an expanded editorial team.
The new vertical, 9honey living, will offer expert advice, tips and hacks to make your house a home. From must-have homewares, to DIY/design ideas, to the cleaning and decluttering hacks that have everyone talking, 9honey living will be your daily go-to destination.
Editor of 9honey, Shauna Anderson, says: “Our newest site cements 9honey as the most extensive lifestyle site in Australia, catering for all Aussie women with content that is relatable, factual and entertaining.”
The women’s network is also announcing three new columnists.
The Block contestant, Rachel Carr, of team Rachel and Ryan, joins the 9honey living team with years of DIY tips and tricks under her belt to share.
Rachel says: “I’m so excited to be part of the 9honey team, especially the new living site. It’s such a great fit. I can’t wait to share all of my tips and tricks for the home, including styling, renovating and so much more.”
Chef, Minoli de Silva, joins the 9honey team where she will share her passion for food and issues close to her heart.
Minoli says: ”I’m thrilled to be joining 9honey to share my love of food, flavours and cooking. It’s a dream come true to share the recipes I learnt as a child and the tips I have found to bring restaurant quality food into the homes of the 9honey readers, and also show them just how easy cooking can be.”
Also joining 9honey is Stephanie Trethewey, 2022 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award winner and Founder and CEO of Motherland, who will raise her voice for women and families on the land.
Stephanie says: “Rural communities are the backbone of Australia and it’s my mission to put rural motherhood on the mainstream map. I’m so excited to join the 9honey team to bring readers a real and raw look into the realities of life on the land.”
Furthermore, 9honey will expand its editorial team, with Maddison Leach returning to the Nine family as Senior Features Writer, Lucia Hawley promoted to 9honey Style Writer, April Glover appointed to Senior Producer, and Bronte Gossling taking over as Weekend Producer. 9honey is also hiring new Associate Producers to join the expanding team.
Nine.com.au Director, Kerri Elstub, says: “9honey has grown from a small site run by a handful of journos, to a true juggernaut of women’s lifestyle offerings.”
“Adding 9honey living to our catalogue presents a perfect opportunity for content and commercial to align. As a long time fan of Minoli, a Block addict and devotee of Rachel’s style, and a former colleague of Stephanie’s, I’m thrilled to have these strong women on our team”.
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top class journalism as always
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Nine’s Product team expands with two new leadership roles
Nine has today announced the creation of two new leadership roles within its Product division, which will further grow and differentiate the digital experiences and products across its diverse range of media assets, spanning TV, Radio, Publishing, Data and Commercial.
Head of Product for 9Now, Lewis Evans, has been promoted to the new role of Director of Product, Streaming; responsible for the product strategy for Total TV and Total Radio across Nine, which includes product execution across platforms and audience, identity, UX and design. Stuart Fagg will join Nine from News Corp in the new role of Director of Product, Publishing; responsible for the digital product strategy, execution and management for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Australian Financial Review, and nine.com.au, including product ownership, design, authoring, and subscriptions.
Nine’s Chief Product Officer, Bec Haagsma said: “Every customer touchpoint is crucial to the delivery of Nine’s strategic plan and I’m so excited to welcome Lewis and Stu into these newly created roles within the Product team. Under their leadership, and with their deep product and audience experience, we’ll be in an even stronger position to roll out the next set of products, features and capabilities to support our business and delight our customers in 2023. Our digital distribution is a key part of the success of Nine’s strategy and product and technology is at the core of everything we do.”
Prior to his role as Director of Product, Streaming, Lewis Evans spent more than eight years leading high performing product teams and executing world class streaming experiences for audiences at some of Australia’s largest media companies including Telstra, Freeview (where he is a member of the Board of Directors) and SBS where, as Head of Product and UX, he was instrumental in the transformation of SBS On Demand’s consumer experience. In recent years he’s championed a step-change in Nine’s Total TV product strategy and, with recent enhancements across Live Streaming, laid the foundation for Nine’s ‘streaming first’ future
Lewis Evans said: “It’s an incredibly exciting time to be at the coal face of media innovation in Australia. I find it a real privilege to continue to lead the 9Now team through their phase of radical growth, while working closer with Nine’s radio and podcasting businesses to develop new and engaging digital experiences as the audio industry undergoes its own ‘streaming first’ transformation.”
Nine’s new Director of Product, Publishing, Stuart Fagg brings 23 years’ experience in the media industry. He started out as a journalist and editor in London and Sydney, and for the past 16 years, has worked in digital product strategy and development across some of Australia’s best-known media brands.
Stuart was most recently General Manager, Product at News Corp Australia, leading product strategy and development across The Australian, news.com.au, Vogue, GQ, Kidspot and Body & Soul, and the mobile apps portfolio. Prior to this, he spent five years as General Manager, Digital at The Australian, where he was instrumental in the transformation of product in the newsroom and helped to drive both sustainable profitability and annual double digit percentage growth in digital subscribers.
Stuart Fagg said: “I’m delighted to be joining Nine’s product team. Nine’s publishing brands are iconic, and the opportunity to drive the next phase of digital growth and delight customers is one I am genuinely excited by. Nine has a compelling strategy and vision and I’m looking forward to working with Bec and the team to bring it to life.”
Lewis Evans has already commenced in the role of Director of Product, Streaming, and Stuart Fagg will start as Director of Product, Publishing in February 2023. Both roles report to Chief Product Officer, Bec Haagsma.
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Pedestrian Group announces appointment of Sarah Michael as Publisher
Pedestrian Group, ANZ’s largest youth-focused publishing group, has today announced the appointment of Sarah Michael as Publisher.
Sarah has been in the online media business for more than 12 years, most recently as the Director of Audience Strategy and Growth across Yahoo Australia and Southeast Asia. Sarah has worked across news, lifestyle/entertainment, sport and finance editorial teams to help them grow their audience both on and off-network and covered everything from major news events to reality TV, and also assisted with branded content and affiliate commerce strategies.
Prior to that she was on the Yahoo News team, and has held a variety of news editor and reporter roles at other Aussie news sites such as news.com.au and the Daily Mail.
Sarah said, “Young Australians have a diverse range of issues they care about, and the brands under Pedestrian Group cover these with intelligence, humour and passion.
“Personally, Pedestrian has been part of my media diet since it first launched and I have watched the Group build up a strong and successful portfolio of brands. I am honoured to be joining next month and can’t wait to get started.”
Matt Rowley, CEO, Pedestrian Group said, “Sarah has a standout set of skills, experience and qualities that are perfect for the opportunities and challenges our brands have ahead of them. I’m thrilled to see how she will lead our talented group of editorial leaders into the next phase of Pedestrian Group.”
Sarah will commence her role as Publisher at Pedestrian Group in early February 2023.
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Nine appoints Memo Hayek Chief Information and Technology Officer
Nine has today announced the appointment of Memo Hayek to the role of Chief Information and Technology Officer (CITO).
In this expanded role, Hayek will be responsible for the vision, strategy, planning and delivery of technology across Nine. She will work closely with Chief Product Officer, Bec Haagsma, to deliver a competitive advantage for Nine through its consumer experiences and commercial products, all while delivering the very best value to Nine’s consumers, clients and employees.
Hayek is a highly experienced technology leader, with more than 30 years’ industry experience. She has thrived in some of the most complex technology environments, both domestically and globally, most recently serving as General Manager, Group Cyber Transformation and Delivery at Commonwealth Bank.
Trained as a systems programmer at Macquarie Bank, Hayek’s first 10 years were deeply technical in a complex trading environment. Her subsequent roles in technology across organisations such as CBA, NAB, Westpac and Credit Suisse, saw her lead all parts of technology, including cyber, infrastructure, data centres, and divisional CIO, providing an exceptionally well rounded experience set for her role as Nine’s CITO.
Of Hayek’s appointment, Chief Digital Officer, Alex Parsons said: “Memo is an exceptional technology leader with a proven track record in driving digital transformation and innovation in large organisations. Her passion, enthusiasm and expertise will provide a significant step forward for Nine, as technology continues to play an expanding role in our organisation’s future growth and success. Importantly, she is a real change agent who turns over every stone, and will be invaluable to Nine as we continue to deliver solutions which will help us stay ahead of the curve in the competitive media landscape.”
Memo Hayek said: “I am delighted to be joining Nine; an iconic Australian brand with a rich history, whilst being an innovative and progressive force that is passionate about providing exceptional customer experiences.
It is a privilege to join the company at such an exciting time. I am looking forward to working with Alex and the whole leadership team on achieving the group’s strategy and vision through leading edge technology.”
Memo Hayek will report to the Chief Digital Officer and will be a member of the Executive Leadership Team and Digital Leadership Team. Her role commences on 27 March.
Nine Entertainment Co has reported a decline in profit for the first half of the fiscal year, with rising costs in its broadcast, streaming and real estate divisions outweighing advertising and subscriber revenue growth.
The company reported a 5 per cent increase in revenue for the first half to $1.4 billion, but earnings [before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] fell 9 per cent to $370.5 million. Net profit after tax was $183 million, down 14 per cent. Group EBITDA was in line with guidance provided to the market in December.
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Will be interesting to see if particularly News Corp and Seven go after their spending on securing those renewed/new major national-appealing sport contracts, totalling $750m+ over the next decade with Tennis Australia and the IOC
Will be interesting… as Nine has stretched itself out to obtain the NRL, Tennis and Olympic rights.
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They also wanted the AFL and were even prepared to drop NRL, but lost out to the Seven-News Corp-Telstra consortium once again, so could’ve been even more expensive!
Nine apparently told the NRL that they only bidded for the AFL to push the price up for Seven.
In some ways not a smart move to effectively give the rival code to the one you broadcast more money.
Or they just said that not to piss off the NRL
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If Nine had ended up with Olympics, Aus Open and AFL… Wide World of Sports would’ve essentially become the new Seven Sport, taken all the major ones they used to long-hold. Insane!
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