Investors in media giant Nine have put its board under pressure as the company deals with fallout from bullying and harassment allegations.
Directors received a strike against their executive pay packets with 37 per cent of investors voting against the company’s remuneration report at its annual general meeting held in Sydney on Thursday.
New chair Catherine West, who was re-elected to the board after eight years as a director, fielded questions about a damning report into the company’s culture released in October.
The Intersection report revealed Nine’s systemic issues with abuse of power, bullying, discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment.
The company owns some of Australia’s biggest media platforms including Channel Nine, streaming service Stan, talkback radio stations 2GB and 3AW, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Australian Financial Review.
Ms West said directors had not previously understood how severe power imbalances affected people’s ability to report problems, telling investors the board was horrified by the findings.
“I wish I had known, and we really did look for it,” she told the meeting.
Acting chief executive Matt Stanton also promised that individuals responsible for poor behaviour would be held to account.
It’s been a turbulent year for the company, with former news director Darren Wick leaving in March after allegations regarding his treatment of women.
Long-time chair Peter Costello departed in June following an altercation with a journalist at Canberra airport, and chief executive Mike Sneesby left in September.
In a trading update released to the share market, Nine also revealed its total television revenues grew by about 15 per cent during the September quarter, accounting for the Olympics and Paralympics broadcasts.
However, the underlying total television advertising market has declined by about 10 per cent compared to the same period in 2023, with no tangible signs of improvement.
At the meeting, Mr Stanton flagged another $50 million in cuts expected in the 2025 financial year, making for cost reductions of about $100 million over two years.
Nine has already cut costs by $65 million during 2023/24 and in June said it would eliminate 200 jobs or about four per cent of its almost 5000 staff.
The company’s full-year results released in August showed statutory net profits had dropped almost a third to $134.9 million for the 2023/24 full year, with revenue at $2.6 billion, down three per cent.
The chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello, also fired questions at the board about gambling advertising on Nine’s platforms.
Outside the meeting, reformed gambling addict Mark Kempster said Nine should stop showing gambling ads.
Mr Kempster lost about $100,000 to sports betting over a decade, and said despite being a footy fan he can no longer watch sport on commercial channels including Nine.
“I don’t want to risk my mental health, seeing something that can quite easily make me relapse,” he told AAP.
“Every ad they show on TV is having an immense effect on people when they see it, they can cause an addiction.”
Nine did not fill all its available slots for gambling advertising, Ms West said, promising the company operates within the limits of advertising rules.
Nine’s share price has headed steadily south in 2024, trading around the $2 mark in January, and around $1.10 on Thursday.
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