Nine dumps Stan boss in leadership shake-up

Nine Entertainment will squeeze its TV and streaming operations into one unit, relegating the once-powerful broadcast arm of the media giant.

Nine Entertainment acting chief executive officer Matt Stanton at the company's 2024 annual general meeting.

Nine Entertainment has dumped Stan boss Martin Kugeler, in a leadership shake-up at the media giant in which senior figures from its streaming and broadcast division are relegated amid continued pain from parts of the group.

In an email to all staff Nine acting chief executive Matt Stanton, tipped to take on the top job in the coming weeks, revealed the new face of the broadcaster and publishing business.

Under the shake-up Nine will be split into three divisions, with Mr Kugeler to leave alongside a handful of other senior figures.

With the loss of the 10-year veteran, responsibility for the streaming business is handed to Dan Taylor, Stan’s chief financial and strategy officer.

Former Foxtel executive Amanda Laing will take the reins of Nine’s combined Streaming & Broadcasting division, overseeing the group’s combined radio, television, and 9Now and Stan streaming operations. Ms Laing left Foxtel, part-owned by News Corp (publisher of The Australian), in October 2024.

Departing Stan chief executive Martin Kugeler. Picture: David Swift

Mr Stanton told staff that Ms Laing would be charged with “leveraging the world-class content the team creates and maximising its value across Streaming & Broadcast” in a move which also eliminates the Stan CEO position, once held by former Nine boss Mike Sneesby.

Mr Sneesby left Nine in September 2024 amid scandal at the media giant over the handling of harassment and bullying allegations in its broadcast business.

The former Nine CEO had lavished attention on Stan, earning him the favour of Nine’s board before the sudden departure of Hugh Marks in 2021.

Mr Marks, who is now set to take on the running of public broadcaster ABC, quit after revealing a relationship with another senior executive at Nine.

Mr Sneesby was elevated to CEO soon after.

The move to reshape Nine, unveiled by Mr Stanton on Wednesday, came with a warning the group “will be working through any additional structural changes as we transition to this new model”.

It also comes as the soft advertising market weighs on Nine’s print and broadcasting divisions.

Nine’s once-powerful TV business was the crown jewel of the combined media business after picking up Fairfax’s newspaper and publishing operation in 2018. However, broadcasting has been challenged by a weak advertising market, with Nine reporting a 32 per cent slump in earnings from the division at its results in August.

Former Nine Entertainment chief executive officer Mike Sneesby. Picture: Nine

Nine Publishing, covering newspapers The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, as well as online titles WA Today and the Brisbane Times, will continue under the leadership of former journalist Tory Maguire. Ms Maguire took charge in January 2024, with responsibility for Nine’s website now also placed with her, further stripping the former TV arm of Nine of power.

Mr Stanton said the move reflected “our publishing business being the most progressed in terms of digital transition and diversification of revenue beyond advertising”.

Nine will also set up a Marketplaces business, aimed at squeezing better results out of the group’s stakes in Domain and Drive, “ensuring we capitalise on value-creation opportunities across the group”.

Domain has faced years in the doldrums since its listing in 2017, with shares in the real estate media group down 28.3 per cent on its initial public offering price.

It last traded at $2.62.

Shares in competitor REA, owned by News Corp, are up more than 203 per cent over the same period. It last traded at $233.14.

Nine’s chief digital officer Alex Parsons will oversee the Marketplaces business, with Mr Stanton noting Domain, 60 per cent owned by Nine, would remain a “a separate ASX-listed business with its own CEO and board”, amid rumours a take-private had been mooted.

Nine’s chief marketing officer Liana Dubois will also exit Nine under the shake-up, with the function to be divided between divisions.

Nine has been dogged by scandal after The Australian revealed the broadcaster had tolerated a toxic culture in its TV business, with former news boss Darren Wick leaving in March 2024 amid allegations of poor behaviour.

Nine has also picked up former Foxtel boss and ABC deputy chair Peter Tonagh as an independent director for its board.

Shares in Nine, which is due to report its results in February, closed up 5c to $1.30.

But the media business has been dumped by investors with shares down 35 per cent over the past 12 months.

Originally published as Nine dumps Stan boss in leadership shake-up