Nova Entertainment is carrying out a round of redundancies as the pandemic cuts into revenue.
The broadcaster is axing about 70 roles as part of an effort to reduce costs by about 9%. Staff were told yesterday of the cuts and will be notified about their future over the next five weeks.
Nova CEO Cathy O’Connor says the company’s revenue has declined by more than 25% this year as the industry deals with the impact of the pandemic, and she expects the downturn to continue for the next 12 to 18 months.
“As a result, we have reviewed every aspect of our business to reduce costs and increase efficiency while continuing to deliver for our clients and audiences,” O’Connor says.
“We will reduce costs by 9% with all areas of the business being impacted. As a result, some staff will, unfortunately, be made redundant.”
O’Connor says the network will try to place impacted staff elsewhere in the group where possible and departing staff will be paid above their entitlements and given further support, such as training to reskill or upskill.
Traditional media owners have been particularly hit hard by the pandemic as brands pull back on advertising.
According to Deloitte data released by industry body Commercial Radio Australia, advertising revenue for metropolitan commercial radio fell by 20.34% for the 2019/20 financial year to $643.046 million. This is compared to $807.701 million recorded in the previous year.
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