Credit: Reba Spike via Unsplash
Metropolitan television advertising spend closed 2025 with a positive bump, according to aggregated media agency data not yet released publicly.
The free-to-air bookings show metro TV up 2% in December compared to the same month the year before.
However, this positive followed an -18% negative result in November and the half year to December is down about -16%.
The total TV market, combining free-to-air and BVOD, is down around 9% across the six months to December, according to some estimates.
Analysts are still cautious on the television market and expect more cost cutting despite the strength of underlying assets across the media in Australia.
Macquarie has maintained a neutral rating on Nine Entertainment with a slightly reduced target price of $1.20 per share. They last traded at $1.105.
“To become more constructive on Nine Entertainment, we would need to be less cautious on the ad market, which we are tracking closely,” according to analysts at Macquarie.
Nine, in a trading update in November, reported a weaker than expected advertising market and outlined plans to cut costs further.
The media group is due to report its half year results in February, with net profit after tax of about $82 million, according to consensus estimates.
Brian Han, director at Morningstar, notes Nine's stock price remains in the doldrums.
“No amount of deep dives into its solid business and balance sheet fundamentals has been able to attract meaningful investor interest,” he says in a note to clients.
“Resilience of group revenue, with a six-year compound average growth rate of 2% driven by streaming and digital, is falling on deaf ears.
“Nine's potential to lift its 16% share of the $12 billion video market is being dismissed.
“Digital transformation of the publishing unit remains underappreciated.”
Southern Cross Media, after the merger with Seven West, is also cost-cutting.
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