Nine’s acting CEO, Matt Stanton, has used the company’s first-half results call to reinforce the network’s leadership position while urging the Federal Government to enact key media reforms. Speaking to investors, Stanton outlined the company’s strong performance across television, streaming, publishing, and radio while making a compelling case for regulatory changes to better support Australian media businesses.
Regulatory priorities: Anti-siphoning, broadcast tax, and digital competition
Stanton was unequivocal in his call for reforms to Australia’s media landscape, particularly in relation to the anti-siphoning scheme, the commercial broadcast tax, and digital platform regulation.
Nine has long championed the need for an updated anti-siphoning framework, ensuring iconic Australian sports remain accessible on free-to-air and BVOD platforms like 9Now. Stanton pressed the Government to prevent global streaming giants from securing exclusive rights to marquee sporting events before local broadcasters have the opportunity to bid.
“With an ever-increasing number of Australians choosing to stream live sporting events on 9Now, it shouldn’t matter whether you have an aerial on your roof as to whether you can access free live Australian sport or not,” he said.
He also welcomed the Federal Government’s recent decision to suspend the commercial broadcast tax, a move that will save Nine approximately $14 million during the suspension period. However, Stanton urged for a permanent revocation of the tax to ensure local broadcasters can continue to invest in Australian content.
On the issue of digital competition, Stanton endorsed the Government’s proposed digital competition regime, which aims to curb the dominance of global tech platforms. He argued that this framework is critical for addressing anti-competitive behaviour and power imbalances, as outlined in multiple ACCC digital platform reports over the past seven years.
“The introduction of the news media incentive is critical to ensure that commercial deals with the digital platforms are entered into or continue to be entered into in respect of our valuable Australian news content,” he said.
Strong performance across Total TV, Streaming, and Publishing
Nine continues to see strong audience engagement across its platforms, with Stanton highlighting robust growth in total TV, streaming, and publishing.
• Total TV audiences have remained strong into 2025, driven by the Australian Open (+5% YoY) and Married at First Sight (+23% total TV audience, including +14% live and +33% catch-up on Nine).
• 9Now continues to see ad revenue growth in the low-to-mid teen percentage range for the March quarter.
• Stan’s Summer Originals (Bump, Black Snow) have contributed to subscriber engagement, with second-half EBITDA growth expected to exceed the 16% growth reported in H1.
• Publishing saw continued digital subscription revenue growth in the low-to-mid teen percentage range in Q3, underpinned by Nine’s mastheads, despite a weaker programmatic ad market.
Nine’s radio business saw a slight dip in Q3 broadcast advertising revenue but continued strong digital revenue growth. Meanwhile, Nine expects further cost efficiencies of over $100 million through FY27, with $10–20 million expected to be realised in FY25.
The CoStar-Domain proposal: “Very early days”
Stanton also addressed the recent takeover proposal by US real estate giant CoStar for Domain, Nine’s property listing business. While confirming that the proposal is under assessment, he stressed that it is too early to comment further.
“For Nine, as we outlined earlier, Domain is of strategic importance to our business. We are, of course, taking the situation seriously and will give the proposal due and proper consideration, taking into account the best interests of shareholders,” he said.