Nine Entertainment expects free-to-air television market conditions to stay buoyant, according to commentary with the media groups' half year results.
The company forecasts low-mid single digit ad revenue growth in the March quarter.
The half to to December was marked by sharply lower costs and better margins.
CEO Hugh Marks says the advertising market clearly turned in late September, earlier and more sharply than anticipated. This was led by television, both free-to-air and BVOD.
Nine’s Broadcast division includes Nine Network, 9Now as well as Nine Radio.
The results:
The metro free-to-air ad market grew by 16.6% in the December quarter, combining for growth of 0.6% across the half year.
Nine’s Metro FTA revenue share of 38.6% was broadly flat.
Costs fell by 16%, or $70 million. "There were both cyclical and structural elements to the cost decline, which was partially offset by a close to $10 million increase in revenue-related costs, given the stronger market.
The BVOD market grew by 44% for the half to $123 million
The radio market generally had a difficult six months, with advertising recovery lagging television.
The Metro radio ad market declined by 19%4 across the six months and Nine’s gross ad revenue fell by a similar amount.
Growth in agency share was offset by a softer performance in direct.
"Recent changes in sales structures, coupled with this audience growth, are expected to underpin leverage as the ad market improves," says Nine.
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