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Can Nine’s CEO survive? · The Front

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  Speaker 1: You can listen to the Front on your smart speaker
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  Speaker 1: the news from the Australian. From the Australian, here's what's
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  Speaker 1: on the Front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Thursday, August twenty nine.
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  Speaker 1: Core inflation is stuck at three point eight percent, although
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  Speaker 1: there's been a fall in the headline figure to three
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  Speaker 1: point five percent, indicating we're stuck with high mortgage rates
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  Speaker 1: for at least another six months. A University of Sydney
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  Speaker 1: professor has been found to have breached the UNI's code
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  Speaker 1: of conduct by telling first year students Hamas terrorists' use
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  Speaker 1: of rape and sexual violence was fake news and a hoax.
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  Speaker 1: The university says will be disciplinary action, but she won't
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  Speaker 1: lose her job. You can read that story in detail
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  Speaker 1: right now at The Australian dot com dot AU. A
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  Speaker 1: year of disasters, from a pushy chairman to an Olympic
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  Speaker 1: torch disaster culminate in a twenty two percent profit slump
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  Speaker 1: at nine Entertainment. So can the CEO keep his job?
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  Speaker 1: That's today's story. It's been quite the year at Channel nine.
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  Speaker 2: This is a network that is in absolute crisis.
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  Speaker 3: The phone has not stopped.
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  Speaker 1: Ringing allegations of misbehavior when who's got blowing the cover off?
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  Speaker 1: Multiple claims of sexual harassment and bullying the loss of
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  Speaker 1: a chairman after Peter Costello pushed The Australian's reporter Lea
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  Speaker 1: Mendez to the ground.
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  Speaker 3: Great, thank you.
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  Speaker 1: If you've just assaulted me, you've just pushed me. It's
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  Speaker 1: all on camera, mister Castillo.
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  Speaker 4: Mister Costello, did you assault a journalist at Cambra Airport.
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  Speaker 5: There's already speculation that this could put your chairmanship at risk.
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  Speaker 1: What is your responsor that rubbish? The journalist said you
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  Speaker 1: assaulted me and you loved and walked away good evening.
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  Speaker 3: Former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has resigned as chair of
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  Speaker 3: Nine Entertainment days after appearing to shove a journalists to
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  Speaker 3: the ground at Canberra Airport.
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  Speaker 1: An unfortunate incident with the Olympic torch and CEO Mike
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  Speaker 1: Sneezeby's cringe worthy running with Channel seven's journal Ray Cooker.
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  Speaker 5: Really, you're trying to have a chat pretty straightforward though.
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  Speaker 5: Should you have carried the torch yesterday? Is it inappropriate
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  Speaker 5: this day in a bout hotel when you've just sacked
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  Speaker 5: staff some stage guys, what about today because your staff
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  Speaker 5: are going on strike today, why don't you to stop
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  Speaker 5: and have a chat to us now?
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  Speaker 1: So I'm meeting my family and you're.
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  Speaker 5: A BOSSI of a media business here for work or
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  Speaker 5: are you here on a holiday with your family?
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  Speaker 1: A strike that threatened to blow up coverage of the
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  Speaker 1: Paris Games.
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  Speaker 4: Nine newspaper journalists have walked off the job on the
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  Speaker 4: eve of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, I mean ongoing
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  Speaker 4: disputes over pay rises among them twenty reporters who have
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  Speaker 4: been flowing to Paris to cover the Olympics.
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  Speaker 1: And now a twenty two percent profit slump well as
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  Speaker 1: a highlight.
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  Speaker 6: It's been a very tough environment across media in the
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  Speaker 6: advertising market. As a CEO and as a leadership team,
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  Speaker 6: we take complete accountability for the outcomes of the business.
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  Speaker 3: It's been a tumultuous year to say the least.
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  Speaker 1: So Fillsworth is a media reporter at The Australian. She
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  Speaker 1: spoke to CEO Mike Sneezebe after he released nine's annual results,
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  Speaker 1: a twenty two percent fall in annual profit after tax
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  Speaker 1: to two hundred and sixteen point four million dollars and
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  Speaker 1: revenue down in the company, and he's broadcasting arm by
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  Speaker 1: ten percent. The company's print division held up better, with
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  Speaker 1: a revenue drop of three percent from mastheads including The
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  Speaker 1: Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.
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  Speaker 1: Nine's share price is also down around a dollar thirty
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  Speaker 1: five by the end of Wednesday, compared with three dollars
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  Speaker 1: two years ago.
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  Speaker 2: It's very clear Mike Sneezebee is not going anywhere now
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  Speaker 2: if that decision is up to him, he's staying put.
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  Speaker 2: And yes he's got a lot of work to do.
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  Speaker 2: They still don't have the results from the external review
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  Speaker 2: into allegations of misconduct they've just made recently two hundred
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  Speaker 2: people redundant across the business. The whole way people consume
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  Speaker 2: TV has been totally flipped on its head. Appointment viewing TV,
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  Speaker 2: where you sit down at seven point thirty on a
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  Speaker 2: Tuesday evening to watch your particular show is long gone.
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  Speaker 2: People are streaming content, they're watching it when it suits them,
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  Speaker 2: They're doing catch up television. So this has really presented
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  Speaker 2: many challenges for freeedoware networks who rely on that advertising dollar.
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  Speaker 2: They have had to branch out and try and make
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  Speaker 2: this work in the streaming world because there's so many
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  Speaker 2: competitors out there, choice out there, big streamers, global streamers
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  Speaker 2: such as Netflix, who are stealing the eyeballs away from
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  Speaker 2: freeedoware TV.
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  Speaker 1: Mike's needs be told Sophie he was feeling optimistic.
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  Speaker 6: If I summarize the result today, obviously the market, the
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  Speaker 6: advertising market in particular pre toware market has been tough
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  Speaker 6: in AFI twenty four.
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  Speaker 7: Over the long term, we think.
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  Speaker 6: Our publishing business, with the strength of selves growth that
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  Speaker 6: we've had in our frood growth across that base, we'd
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  Speaker 6: expect to see the opportunity for publishing to be a
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  Speaker 6: positive earnings growth business. I feel very strongly that this business,
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  Speaker 6: the leadership team and everywhere across nine is performing exceptionally well,
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  Speaker 6: and of course I take accountability for the entire performance
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  Speaker 6: of this company.
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  Speaker 1: Bart He's had to take a cut to his bonus
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  Speaker 1: and will only take home a total package of two
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  Speaker 1: point one million dollars, down from nearly two point seven
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  Speaker 1: million the previous year.
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  Speaker 2: Well, obviously the executives has not reached the targets that
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  Speaker 2: they needed to reach.
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  Speaker 3: To get their full bonuses.
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  Speaker 2: It would have been a bad look if they did
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  Speaker 2: get their full bonuses. But I think Mike Sneezbey has
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  Speaker 2: made a few decisions that has left many people within
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  Speaker 2: nine very annoyed. When he made hundreds of staff redundant.
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  Speaker 2: He announced this short time after that he was on
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  Speaker 2: a plane to Greece for a family wedding that did
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  Speaker 2: not go down well. It then emerged that he was
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  Speaker 2: running with the Olympic torch in the run up to
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  Speaker 2: the Paris Olympics, where nine had the broadcasting rights.
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  Speaker 3: People were saying within.
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  Speaker 2: Nine and definitely out of nine, this is.
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  Speaker 3: A bad look.
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  Speaker 2: This is a man who is running a media company
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  Speaker 2: with a long list of problems and he's not reading
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  Speaker 2: the room. It was a tone deaf decision for him
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  Speaker 2: to continue running with that torch where he was basking
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  Speaker 2: in glory. Meanwhile back home, hundreds of staff are being
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  Speaker 2: made redundant.
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  Speaker 1: Here's a little of Sophie's interview.
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  Speaker 3: Going back to the Olympics.
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  Speaker 2: Do you regret running with the Olympic torch given all
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  Speaker 2: the concerns that were raised, particularly when the staff walkouts occurred,
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  Speaker 2: about you taking part in the torch relay.
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  Speaker 6: As I'm sure you'll understand.
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  Speaker 8: Our engagements with the IOIC began some two and a
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  Speaker 8: half years before doing the Games opened in Paris, a
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  Speaker 8: long road of engaging with the IOIC, in negotiating to
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  Speaker 8: commercial outcomes, a year and a half of thousands of
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  Speaker 8: scarf across nine working to get ready for the Olympic Games,
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  Speaker 8: and my commitment to run with the torch at the
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  Speaker 8: invitation of the IOC was made.
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  Speaker 7: A long long time before the torch relay occurred. It's
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  Speaker 7: absolutely appropriate for the CEO of a major broadcast partner
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  Speaker 7: who's embarking on a ten year journey with a partner
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  Speaker 7: like the IOC to participate in a way that I participated.
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  Speaker 7: I certainly wasn't going to at short notice cancel my
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  Speaker 7: commitment with the IOC. Again, my being at the Olympic
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  Speaker 7: Games was a short trip, postly carrying of the torch
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  Speaker 7: and the opening ceremony. I stayed a couple of days
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  Speaker 7: additionally and returned back to Australia and sure that I
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  Speaker 7: was focused on running the business and working with the
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  Speaker 7: team who.
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  Speaker 8: Are based back here.
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  Speaker 1: He was pretty defiant. He kind of indicated that the
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  Speaker 1: IOC would have been very disappointed. If he'd not run
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  Speaker 1: with the torch. But doesn't really hold water, does it.
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  Speaker 3: You know?
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  Speaker 2: Following this weeks later, there was staff who had t
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  Speaker 2: shirts printed with him running with the torch, mocking him
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  Speaker 2: as a result of him making that decision when they're
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  Speaker 2: fighting for pay rises. He's on multimillion dollar contract and
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  Speaker 2: he's decided to run with the torch over in Paris.
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  Speaker 2: It seemed to many that he was completely out of
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  Speaker 2: touch with reality back.
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  Speaker 1: Home, coming up, why some of nine's biggest stars have
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  Speaker 1: been bumped from the pointy end of the plane. Don't forget.
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  Speaker 1: Subscribers to The Australian get access to expert analysis around
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  Speaker 1: the clock. Join us at the Australian dot com dot au.
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  Speaker 1: It's a lot cheaper than a business class flight. We'll
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  Speaker 1: be back after this break. Around the world, commercial TV
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  Speaker 1: networks are struggling big time. Here's our media editor James
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  Speaker 1: Madden talking about seven West Media's results released earlier this month.
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  Speaker 9: Net profit before taxes is down sixty nine percent. Group
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  Speaker 9: revenue overall has slipped five percent. There's not much silver
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  Speaker 9: in any of the linings at seven New CEO Jeff Howard,
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  Speaker 9: who's been in the job since April, so just over
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  Speaker 9: four months. Was definitely sought to put a positive spin
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  Speaker 9: on these numbers, which by any measure are shocking.
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  Speaker 1: In New Zealand, the only commercial TV news provider, TV three,
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  Speaker 1: shot its suite of news and current affairs shows earlier
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  Speaker 1: this year and replaced them with a six pm news
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  Speaker 1: bulletin outsourced to a different newsroom.
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  Speaker 3: It's a sad day for democracy and journalism in New Zealand.
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  Speaker 5: That's just some of the reaction to today's announcement that
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  Speaker 5: news Hub, one of the biggest newsrooms in the country,
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  Speaker 5: is set to shut down.
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  Speaker 1: It's prompting questions that would have been unthinkable a decade ago,
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  Speaker 1: like can commercial TV news survive. One of the other
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  Speaker 1: big changes that's being made at Channel seven now is
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  Speaker 1: a dramatic reduction in wages through the redundancies being given
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  Speaker 1: to senior and long serving staff. I've noticed in your
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  Speaker 1: media diary that you write with James Madden in The
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  Speaker 1: Australian Sophie that there are obvious signs that nine superstars
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  Speaker 1: are having their belts tightened. You know, not so many
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  Speaker 1: first class flights anymore. Do you think we're going to
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  Speaker 1: see a clean out of their highest earning talent.
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  Speaker 3: Well, both networks.
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  Speaker 2: There seems to be some talent there that is still
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  Speaker 2: on very high incomes. Those days of these stars receiving
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  Speaker 2: big salaries each year are coming to an end. The
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  Speaker 2: TV stations can simply not justify it and are looking
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  Speaker 2: at ways to cut costs everywhere they can. They still
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  Speaker 2: have some big names on their books contracts still to.
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  Speaker 3: Be seen out.
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  Speaker 2: So what seene to be happening is when a lot
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  Speaker 2: of these contracts with big stars, including newsreaders, are coming
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  Speaker 2: to an end, they simply chop up the contract, offer
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  Speaker 2: them something far less, or send them on their way
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  Speaker 2: and get someone younger and cheaper. And this is a
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  Speaker 2: trend that's happening across commercial freeedom are TV because there's
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  Speaker 2: few jobs, a lot of people who want those jobs,
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  Speaker 2: and they can offer less now than those decades ago
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  Speaker 2: when the big stars were getting eyewatering salaries.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Sophie Elsworth is a media writer with The Australian. The
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: newly minted Northern Territory government is facing its first big challenge.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: It's been revealed police were too late to save a
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: woman allegedly killed in a domestic violence incident. You can
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  Speaker 1: read that exclusive story, as well as all our journalism
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  Speaker 1: right now at the Australian dot com dot au