Craig Hutchison cuts staff from SEN radio amid Super Bowl broadcast

A loyal SEN radio producer has been let go in a string of staff cuts, while some station staff were in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl.

Craig Hutchison’s sports media empire is in trouble. Picture: Getty Images

Craig Hutchison’s loyal producer has been made redundant while the embattled radio mogul was celebrity spotting at the Super Bowl.

SEN cut at least four staff, including a producer on Garry Lyon and Tim Watson’s breakfast show, as it battles to reduce costs.

A $28.7 million loan with the Commonwealth Bank is due to be refinanced in August.

Hutchison’s producer Brad Klibanksy was among those who have left SEN, despite catching up with his boss for a radio reunion just two months ago.

“After two wonderful years, my time at Sports Entertainment Network has come to an end,” Klibansky posted on LinkedIn.

“Thank you to all the incredible people, both internally and externally I had the pleasure to work with over the journey.

“Looking ahead, I would love the opportunity to catch-up and chat with anyone in my network about potential employment opportunities.”

Craig Hutchison at a Perth Wildcats game. His company owns the team. Picture: Getty Images

Hutchison travelled to the SuperBowl for the first time “in four years” where he attended a press conference for hitmaker Usher, who performed in the half time show.

The trip has been one of Hutchison’s key marketing tools, often bringing along major advertisers to the exclusive event.

The SEN team was in Las Vegas this week where it broadcast the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory.

SEN has taken its highly paid presenter Gerard Whateley to the event for seven years in a row.

Brad Klibansky with Liam Pickering and Craig Hutchison.

But producers in Melbourne were told their time was up on Wednesday.

Radio insiders were questioning SEN’s spending priorities.

“As a publicly traded company, serious questions must be asked as to where the buck stops.”

Sports and Entertainment Group, the official company name for SEN, updated the stock market on Thursday.

SEN Chairman Craig Coleman and Craig Hutchison. Picture: Arsineh Houspian

A note revealed SEG plans to raise $2.2m by selling a 3.9 per cent share of itself, receiving a first payment of $800,000 on Wednesday with the rest due on April 1.

Hutchison sold a 3.75 per cent share of its SEN Teams business, which includes the Perth Wildcats and a netball franchise, for $1.5 million earlier this month.

The company also made $1.5m by selling shares in itself in the last three months of 2023.

As of the end of December the company had drawn down all but $1.25m of the $28.7m loan from the CBA, which is due to be repaid on August 31.

SEG is “currently in negotiation regarding the extension of terms,” it told the ASX on January 31.

Hutchison’s company has breached its banking covenants, meaning the CBA could call the loan in at any time because its debt to value ratio was too high.

SEN had $5 million cash at hand at the end of December, it told the exchange.

Revenue was $42.6 million in the December quarter, with “net operating cash inflows of $2.6 million.”

Hutchison declined to comment.

Originally published as Craig Hutchison cuts staff from SEN radio amid Super Bowl broadcast