Tag: Nine Entertainment

Australia – Nine has announced a major strategic realignment of its streaming and broadcast division, revealing a new leadership structure and operational framework aimed at driving growth, accelerating innovation, and strengthening its market position across free-to-air and subscription platforms.

The announcement, made by Amanda Laing, Nine’s Managing Director of Streaming and Broadcast, is part of the broader Nine2028 transformation program and follows the introduction of the company’s new Group Operating Model and the formal creation of the Streaming and Broadcast Division earlier this year.

Set to take effect from 1 July 2025, the restructure introduces a series of new senior roles overseeing key areas across Channel 9, 9Now, and Stan — marking the first time these brands will be managed under a unified leadership team.

Key appointments include:

  • Michael Healy, Executive Director – Entertainment: With four decades of experience in content creation, Healy will now oversee entertainment across both free and subscription services. His extensive understanding of Australian audiences and local storytelling will be central to programming strategies across all platforms.
  • Cailah Scobie, Executive Director – Entertainment Content Acquisitions: Scobie brings a strong background in both free-to-air and paid media, known for her negotiation skills and ability to secure high-performing content that drives both advertising and subscriber growth.
  • Fiona Dear, Executive Director – News & Current Affairs: Dear continues her leadership of Nine’s news and current affairs division, tasked with further transforming 9News and ensuring strong editorial performance across all broadcast and digital channels.
  • Brent Williams, Head of Sport Production: Sport remains a major investment pillar for Nine, and Williams will unify the production capabilities of Wide World of Sports and Stan Sport to optimise output and resources. Amanda Laing will also lead strategic initiatives across the wider sports business, focused on rights, advertising, and partnership growth.

Two additional executive roles are being created to support the division’s commercial and brand strategies:

  • Chief Strategy Officer – Streaming and Broadcast: Recruitment is underway for this new role, which will support strategic planning and execution across Nine’s suite of products.
  • Chief Marketing Officer – Streaming and Broadcast: A new marketing leader will be appointed to coordinate brand strategies across platforms and enhance audience engagement.

In a further shift, Nine’s State Managing Directors — Kylie Blucher (QLD), Clive Bingwa (WA), and Sean O’Brien (SA) — will now report directly to Amanda Laing. This realignment aims to support market-specific growth across Nine’s streaming and broadcast businesses in those regions.

Profit and loss accountability has also been redefined, with three executives overseeing the group’s core platforms:

  • Hamish Turner, Executive Director – Channel 9, 9 multi-channels and 9Now: Turner assumes financial and strategic responsibility for Nine’s free TV and streaming services.
  • Dan Taylor, Executive Director – Stan: Taylor continues to lead Stan, a key growth asset for the group, with full P&L accountability.
  • Tom Malone, Managing Director – Radio: Radio operations remain under Malone’s leadership, contributing revenue and EBITDA to the broader Nine Group.

Commenting on the changes, Laing said: “There is immense opportunity to drive growth for the Nine Group, and we are already building strong momentum. While our streaming and broadcast brands have each performed well independently, our greatest strength lies in how we bring them together under the power of the Nine Group.

“These changes are the first step in unlocking that potential. We’re fortunate to have some of the industry’s most talented leaders, and I’m excited to harness their experience as we move into this next phase.”

The new structure is designed to streamline decision-making, promote synergy across platforms, and align Nine’s strategic and operational efforts more closely with evolving audience and advertiser needs.

Australia – Nine has been appointed by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) as Max’s exclusive sales partner to commercially maximise its ad-supported Basic With Ads tier. This comes ahead of the streaming platform’s anticipated launch in Australia on March 31.

Leveraging Nine’s cutting-edge technology, Max will play a pivotal role in Nine’s digital video offering for advertisers, represented nationwide by Nine Sales.

With the addition of 9Now and Stan Sport, Nine’s partnership with WBD significantly expands its audience reach across the leading Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) and Broadcast Video On Demand (BVOD) sectors.

Built on Max’s extensive library of premium content, this inventory will be integral to Nine’s high-value revenue strategy, led by Powered (premium integrated sales and strategy). Meanwhile, Nine’s Centre of Digital Excellence (encompassing digital solutions, data, product, and programmatic) will underpin the overall sales approach.

This collaboration enables Nine to provide agencies and clients with seamless and innovative advertising solutions across SVOD and BVOD platforms, ultimately driving stronger business outcomes for advertisers.

Michael Brooks, general manager for ANZ at Warner Bros. Discovery, said, “This is the first time WBD’s premium slate of content has existed in one place in Australia. Launching Max with an ad-supported tier creates a compelling offer for viewers and advertisers alike, while partnering with Nine allows us to tap into their deep experience, strong relationships and proven capabilities.”

Meanwhile, Matt James, acting chief sales officer at Nine, commented, “The combination of Max’s amazing content and world-leading advertising products with Nine’s local expertise, sales infrastructure and scale is a unique opportunity for clients in this country. This relationship with WBD will accelerate our strategy into the digital video market and offer clients better return on investment.”

It is worth noting that WBD recently appointed Foxtel Group as its launch partner for Max in Australia, wherein Max’s expanded content offering will be available to Foxtel’s 1.4m residential subscribers at no additional cost to their Foxtel subscription. It had also recently tapped Special Group and EssenceMediacom for their creative and media mandate respectively–both related to Max’s launch in Australia.

Sydney, Australia – Major Australian commercial free-to-air television network Nine has appointed Tina Andrew as the new commercial director at 9Now, Nine’s video on demand service. In her new role, she will be responsible for growing the commercial potential of the platform as it enters a period of innovation and growth.

Reporting to Richard Hunwick, Nine’s director of sales, total television, Tina will be part of the 9Now leadership team under Hamish Turner, director for 9Now and programming.

Speaking of her appointment, she said, “I’m thrilled to help drive the future of Total Television in this new role. This is a pivotal time for Nine to continue leading the market and accelerate the move toward consumer viewing habits on 9Now, focusing on a data driven user experience and unique content offering.”

Meanwhile, Hunwick said, “Tina’s appointment is the next step in our move towards a Total Television future and a further acknowledgment of and investment in the importance of 9Now within that ecosystem. She will take a leadership role, not just in Sales, but also within CODE (Nine’s Centre of Digital Excellence) and will act as a voice of the customer within the 9Now leadership team as we accelerate our product development and user and advertising experience over the next 24 months.”

Lastly, Turner commented, “Tina is an excellent and highly regarded executive with a proven track record of delivering results, and I’m looking forward to her joining the team. As audiences migrate to a digital future, the importance of Nine’s streaming offerings through 9Now is paramount and untapping the true potential of the platform for viewers and clients alike is the new frontier. We are only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of innovation and sales opportunities in this space, and Tina will make a huge impact in her new role.”

Sydney, Australia – Australian television network Nine Network has partnered with adtech AdGreetz to launch its digital advertising technology to its TV service 9Now to allow brands to personalise targeted advertising to viewers.

Named ‘Dynamic Ads’, the video creative optimisation product will help marketers automatically provide more tailored messaging to 9Now’s 12 million addressable users, with adverts served to the viewer based on their viewer profile, underpinned by one of Australia’s largest data footprint.

Working in collaboration with marketers, Nine will help brands create more personalised advertising experiences, across a number of different industries covering retail, automotive, FMCG and travel. The technology, which will work within a privacy compliant framework, means viewers will only receive ads that are relevant to them.

Ben Campbell, director of data and digital advertising at Nine, said, “We’re delighted to partner with AdGreetz to bring Dynamic Ads to 9Now. As competition intensifies to attract consumer attention, Dynamic Ads will play an essential role in connecting brands directly to their target market, and vice versa, will ensure audiences receive an enhanced ad experience that is more relevant and therefore more impactful.”

The move is a significant expansion of 9Now’s advertising technology, enabling advertisers to automate the creation of multiple versions of their video ad and dynamically serve the right creative to the right viewer using Nine’s audience data across both live and video on-demand (VOD) content on connected televisions, desktop and mobile platforms.

Sydney, Australia – Tech giant Google in Australia–in collaboration with PHD, Essence, Nine and Pedestrian Group–have launched its newest campaign in the form of a stock photo library to better represent the diverse skin tones globally.

These new images, with the help of Google’s new Pixel 6 phone and its equitable camera technology, will improve representation of all skin tones across some of Australia’s biggest and most influential media channels, and will be included in Refinery29 Australia’s ‘We Are Many’ Image Collection, in partnership with Getty Images.

Aisling Finch, senior director of marketing, and diversity, equity and inclusion council chair for Google Australia and New Zealand, said, “Google’s mission is about ‘universal’ access to information, so our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion has been in our company DNA from the beginning. The new Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones are designed around individual nuances, and specifically to better photograph diverse skin tones.”

She added, “To bring this to life, it made sense to collaborate with Nine and Pedestrian Group to equip journalists with a new image library with greater representation of Australia’s rich diversity, beautifully photographed on Pixel.”

Meanwhile, Matt Rowley, CEO of Pedestrian Group, commented, “Pedestrian Group is proud of the importance we place on the value of inclusivity and diversity. This collaboration with Google will help provide new perspectives and visually represent what our talented teams on sites like Refinery29 Australia are passionate about every day with initiatives like We Are Many.”

The story behind the images and the partnership is brought to life through print wraps, native articles, a digital immersive experience and a suite of behind the scenes videos. 

Media, marketers and designers can access and use these new images via the We are Many online collection.

Sydney, Australia – Aimed at bringing a new age of editorial offering to parents and soon-to-be parents, 9Honey, the women lifestyle network under Nine Entertainment, has launched a new rebranded vertical, the 9Honey Parenting, where parents can be entertained, informed and seek affirmation, written by parents and parenting experts.

The rejuvenated vertical will also feature video content and expand on the editorial offering previously seen on 9Honey Mums, Essential Kids and Essential Baby; all of which are now merged into the new vertical.

Furthermore, 9Honey Parenting will feature exclusive columns by actress and mum-of-two Tammin Sursok; dad-of-two and reality TV star Matty Johnson, and motivational speaker, author and mum of two, Turia Pitt.

For Kerri Elstub, editorial director at Nine Digital, the new addition to the nine.com.au family will fill a gap in the market, specifically in the lifestyle market locally.

“9Honey Parenting will cover every age and every stage of the parenting journey. Consider us your virtual parenting group! Whether you’re trying to figure out what pram to buy, how to navigate the transition back to school after lockdown or getting your teen to do more than grunt at you,” Elstub said.

Aside from 9Honey, Nine Entertainment’s digital offerings include their news platforms The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, financial news platforms 9Finance and Australian Financial Review, as well as niche content platforms like Drive for automotive content, and Gizmodo for science and technology content.