Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media set to launch news website with east coast focus

Kerry Stokes-led Seven West Media is establishing a national news platform with an east coast focus in an attempt to take on other dominant players across the country.

Seven West managing director and CEO James Warburton, left, with Seven West chairman Kerry Stokes. Picture: Nikki Short.

Kerry Stokes-led Seven West Media is establishing a national news platform with an east coast focus in an attempt to take on other dominant players across the country.

Executives at Seven West have been working on the project for months.

The website will be overseen by the West Australian newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Anthony De ­Ceglie, and the paper’s business editor, Sarah-Jane Tasker, will edit.

The Australian was told by sources who did not wish to be named that the project has the full backing of Mr Stokes, Seven West’s chairman, and James Warburton, the company’s managing director and chief executive officer.

The company is in the process of recruiting talent to produce content for the website, a process that has included holding numerous discussions with senior journalists from around the country.

It is also understood Seven West is looking to maximise its existing resources including recruiting journalists already employed by the company to write for the website.

While the name remains under wraps, the site is expected to launch in early 2024.

It will also feature news from international sources including The New York Times so it has a global content offering.

West Australian Newspapers’ editor-in-chief Anthony De Ceglie. Picture: Colin Murty

Sources have also told The Australian the new website will be vastly different to sevennews.com.au, a free news website featuring categories including local news, video, sport, lifestyle, entertainment and politics.

It is understood Seven West executives hope the site will be competitive with some of the nation’s top news websites, which boast large contingents of journalists based on the east coast, including those owned by News Corporation (publisher of The Australian and mastheads including The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser) and Nine Entertainment (which owns The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review).

The site will remain completely separate from The West Australian print and digital publications. De Ceglie oversees The West Australian, The Sunday Times, 19 regional and 12 suburban papers and perthnow.com.au.

On October 18 at Seven’s Upfronts in Sydney, De Ceglie revealed the national rollout of the network’s new community sport live-streaming program, Streamer, which he manages.

The Streamer platform, designed as a hub for community sports that allows clubs to share their content and information, will go national next year after Seven West partneredwith mining company BHP.

Sarah-Jane Tasker.

While numerous announcements about Seven West’s new content were made at the Upfronts, there was no mention of the coming news website.

The company’s 2023 annual report, published in August, showed net profit took a big hit in the last financial year, falling by 30.9 per cent to $145.7m.

While print arm West Australian Newspapers’ total revenue was $170.8m (up 0.9 per cent), the cost of commercial printing and other services rendered rose 19.7 per cent, or $1.8m. The annual results also showed newsprint increased by 35.6 per cent to $4.8m. The pain of such hikes is being felt across the industry.

The West’s advertising revenue also declined by 2.3 per cent in the 2022-23 financial year, while circulation revenue fell 1.1 per cent. Seven Network earlier this month claimed the TV ratings crown for 2023, making it the most-watched station this year. It has held this distinction for 15 of the past 17 years.

The report also said operating costs continued to be an ongoing focus of the company.

Seven West was questioned about the new website but declined to comment.