The redundancy wave at Seven West Media has taken high profile executives including chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette, CMO Melissa Hopkins and head of sport Lewis Martin, sources confirmed.
Insiders say100 people are going from across the company.
Staff told AdNews of an agonizing wait to see who will get called next to be told of their redundancy.
Burnette, a popular sales chief holding strong personal relationships with advertising clients and agencies, made an emotional address to staff this morning.
The free-to-air television sector is suffering from stubbornly weak advertising spend, with monthly Standard Media Index (SMI) numbers in negative territory.
The latest official SMI numbers show the decline for TV at -10.4% for April. Early SMI numbers, not yet made public, show free-to-air down -13.6% in May.
Seven has been tightly controlling costs in response to the falling market. Competitor Nine Entertainment has also been cutting costs, with redundancies reported in the broadcast division.
Burnette has been at the network for more than three decades, starting as a sales assistant in 1990.
Martin, also managing director at the Melbourne office, manages the high profile sports content, including the AFL.
Hopkins joined Seven West Media as in March 2023 after six and a half years in senior marketing positions at Optus.
The executives leave a large client relationship hole at Seven.
"It's no secret that television is facing headwinds, both cyclical and structural, and Seven is responding to those market conditions sensibly by seeking to reduce cost," said Stephen Wright, global media business director of TrinityP3.
"With Meta withdrawing from the news media bargaining code and an increasingly competitive streaming landscape radical medicine is needed to treat the patient."
"The challenge for Seven will be that Kurt, Mel and Lewis are all well regarded veterans of the industry who each held key relationships for Seven and trust throughout the market. Marketers will be seeking reassurance about the audience strategy and Seven's ability to deliver for brands in the wake of these senior departures.”
Seven reported a steep drop in net profit after tax, down 52% to $54.46 million for the half year to December, reflecting "weakness" in advertising.Revenue was down almost 5% to $775.78 million and the group is continuing a cost cutting program, with savings of $20 million to 25 million in the six months to June.
The company then said it was prepared to squeeze costs “as hard as we possibly can” if necessary.
Full year results are due to eb released in August.
Seven West shares last traded at $0.175, more than half the 12 month high.
Jeff Howard, the former CFO, started as chief executive in April 19, replacing James Warburton.
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