Mike Sneesby set him a series of goals for the first 100 days as CEO of Nine Entertainment.
The timing of his start date in March coincided with the last quarter of the financial year.
That meant closing out results for 12 months and preparation of strategy and planning for the next financial year starting in July.
Sneesby, who was the founding CEO of streaming platform Stan, described by some analysts as Nine's crown jewel, has just released results for the year to June.
Nine posted a 76% rise in net profit after tax to $277.5 million for the full year to June as the media company surged out of the economic trough of the pandemic.
The media group noted a "marked recovery" in ad markets, led by television. Across television combined, revenue increased by 12% to $1.15 billion with strong growth across both Nine Network and 9Now.
In Publishing, digital subscription revenues lifted 20% and passed $100 million, with growth outpacing the decline in print sales.
The results, says Sneesby, highlight the strength of Nine’s mix of advertising and subscription-based assets.
“There are always surprises and I'm happy to say that for the most part, the surprises I've got in my first 100 days have been positive," Sneesby told AdNews.
He says his start date was an ideal time to be get immersed in where Nine was up to from a trading point of view.
“Most importantly for me being able to connect the dots on how we continue to execute on a strategy that sees our revenue and EBITDA increasingly being delivered by digital," he says.
He put a lot of thought into accelerating the take up of digital revenue, such as pushing publishing to digital subscriptions, the BVOD business and total television.
“It really was the right time to be getting into the strategy and putting together those plans," says Sneesby.
"The results, not only a great finish to the year in terms of delivering numbers, but also a great outlook, both in terms of how the business is traveling, and how we're thinking about that long term strategy and executing on it.
“I've got every confidence in the team that we've got both executive and more broadly across Nine in our ability to execute on our long term plan.”
Has he got the world’s best job now?
“The process with the board, in their search to find who the new chief executive for Nine, was a really important process for me in terms of reflecting on my career," he says.
“In Australia, there's no other media business that I want to be leading. And there's no other media business that is as well positioned as Nine for the future. It really is an exceptional business.
“I spent the majority of my media career in and around Nine and what was Fairfax, either directly or indirectly through joint ventures.
“The opportunity to take on this role is something that I take very seriously and I'm really genuinely excited on where I see us as a business.
“I've got every confidence in the team that we've got both executive and more broadly across nine in our ability to execute on our long term plan."
“It really is a fantastic opportunity ... I'm very proud to be in this seat.”
Outlook
The free-to-air television ad market recovered faster and more convincingly than expected and Nine sees September quarter metro FTA ad revenue up almost 20% on the same quarter last year.
Forward bookings remain ahead of last year, with positive market momentum continuing.
Nine Radio’s ad revenues are expected to grow in the double-digits in the September quarter, with further share improvement across both agency and local ad sales.
Michael Stephenson, chief sales officer at Nine Entertainment: “The markets have recovered quickly and free to air is largely leading the charge.
“As you look forward into the first and second quarter of this financial year, things look to be continuing, there’s strength in that market.”
This is despite lockdowns.
He says most categories are in growth right now.
“And, of course, we're seeing the emergence of some new advertiser credit categories, the likes of home delivery which continue to support the free to air markets," he says.
“As well as this, there’s the movement back towards big brands, building brands, which is really great to see.”
Inventory
SMI (Standard Media Index) numbers show television in high demand. Media agencies say the market is tight in terms of getting bookings for clients.
“Demand and supply exists in this television market,” Stephenson says. “A core function of running a television business is picking the market and the trends that you see and then pricing your inventory accordingly to make sure that you can facilitate everyone's desire to be on your network.
“I think we've done that pretty well. And we'll keep seeing how that goes as we head into October-November.
“There's a lot of quality inventory and big brands are returning to brand building, which is increasing the demand for television. So getting pricing right is really important and I think we've done that.
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