Nine Entertainment used yesterday’s AGM to declare it will no longer battle with government over regional broadcasting rules and has since knocked back suggestions that divestments are looming.
Nine boss David Gyngell suggested yesterday that the company is no longer lobbying for legislation changes to the 75% reach rule which prevents metropolitan broadcasters saturating the regional markets.
In a speech at the company’s AGM, Nine’s CEO stated: “We believe that it’s important that Ausralian media can operate without artificial barriers in a world where media consumption has become barrier-free. It seems ironic that, whilst we are currently only allowed to broadcast Nine News content to 75% of the population, our newly relaunched 9news.com.au website is available to all.”
He reiterated, however, that the company looks forward to expanding its portfolio in a “deregulated environment”. Gyngell’s speech and the Netflix announcement arrived simultaneously.
The lack of emphasis on reaching the regions via a terrestrial network also corresponds with the recent unveiling of Stan – its streaming, video-on-demand platform established via a joint venture with Fairfax.
Nine reported a series of Pro-Forma results which assume that the recent acquisitions of Adelaide and Perth stations, as well as the 50% buyout of Mi9 from Microsoft, have been in place throughout the entire fiscal year.
As such, Nine’s TV business reports Pro-Forma EBITDA of $242m, $20m above last year’s figures. The seemingly strong results, however, are let down by the admission that the free-to-air advertising market has become “more challenging” during the year, where the last six months have seen a decline. Regional markets, it claims, were flat: perhaps shedding light on why Gyngell feels less inclined to ruffle legislators’ feathers. Overall Nine declares a 4.3% year-on-year increase in revenues.
Furthermore, Nine has this morning denied claims it is looking to divest certain parts of its business – including the rights to manage Sydney’s AllPhones Arena and the Ticketek ticketing business.
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