Chief executive Hugh Marks told Nine's annual general meeting today that TV ad revenue fell by 6.4 per cent in the first quarter, while he also signalled a second-quarter drop by at least as much again.
Nine said its radio division had also experienced soft market conditions - exacerbated for Macquarie Radio by the advertiser boycott around the Alan Jones program on 2GB.Shares in Nine were 7.05 per cent lower at $1.715 after the first 15 minutes of trade today, having earlier equalled the six-month low of $1.705 last hit in August.
"There was always going to be a shift in earnings contribution in this financial year due to timing issues, particularly the one-off costs in the TV business - however, the current advertising market conditions will mean that our first half result is now expected to be approximately 10 per cent down on pcp ," Mr Marks said.