Pedestrian Group CEO Matt Rowley is exiting in a restructure of the youth entertainment media group owned by Nine Entertainment.
Nine last month announced it will be cutting 200 jobs, citing economic headwinds and loss of revenue from Meta's failure to renew news deals.
The cuts include between 70 and 90 staff in the publishing division, the first time Nine has cut headcount to editorial since 2017.
Rowley announced his departure in a company-wide note to staff this morning.
More roles within the group will be impacted. Those employees will be contacted immediately and will be given opportunities for redeployment.
The process to appoint a new CEO is underway.
Rowley noted Nine's financial headwinds resulting in corporate instability, a decline in the broader advertising market and the continued growth of global platforms such as Tik Tok and Instagram as sources of the cuts.
"Given these factors, we’ve made the tough decision to focus on our wholly owned Pedestrian brands where we control the strategy, the content, the product, the sales and the outcome – the entire business. This means that we will transition out of our current brand licences, which will reposition our business for the future," Rowley wrote.
"I have loved my time at Pedestrian Group - it has been a privilege working with you all.
"While these decisions have been hard to make, we believe this new approach – with a strategy and plan focused on the growth of our own business at Pedestrian.TV – will create a long term, sustainable business."
Director of nine.com Kerri Elstub also addressed staff this morning stating a small number of vacant roles will not be replaced.
"As you know, our advertising revenue is being impacted by economic headwinds. In this tough market, as we did in FY24, we need to continue to be focused on cost management and improving efficiencies at all times," Elstub said.
"As such, we have decided not to replace a small number of existing vacant roles in the team.
"Given that these positions are all in the video and news teams, we may need to review our structure to ensure we can continue to deliver our award winning breaking news service and our exclusive digital Olympics coverage, while meeting our commercial and audience budgets."
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.