Nine CEO to oversee sprawling TV division after top executive’s exit

Nine chief executive Matt Stanton will oversee the company’s TV and streaming division after announcing that Amanda Laing, the managing director of streaming and broadcast, is leaving the business after less than two years in the job.

Stanton said Laing’s role running Channel Nine, free online video platform 9Now, and premium streaming service Stan would “not exist in its current form” because of a company restructure.

Nine executive Amanda Laing is leaving the broadcaster after less than two years.Dominic LorrimerLaing is leaving in just six days’ time, with Stanton – whose background at Nine was in finance and strategy – to oversee the division on an interim basis as a result of the “structural changes”.

Stanton thanked Laing for her work, and said she had brought together the streaming and broadcast divisions. He said change was necessary because the “industry is changing at pace and we are operating in an increasingly competitive market”.

As a result, he said, “Amanda will sadly be departing the business”.

Laing said her divisions had been transformed, with growing audiences and subscribers. “I leave Nine with immense pride in the team I have had the privilege to lead and everything we have achieved together,” she said in a statement. “I’ll forever be a champion of their work.”

Laing joined the company, which also owns this masthead, in April 2025. She was previously a senior executive at pay television company Foxtel and had sat on the Australian Rugby League Commission.

The move came after a day of change for Nine, which announced on Wednesday that Australian Financial Review editor-in-chief James Chessell was leaving to join independent media website Rampart. He is being replaced by the Review’s editor, Cosima Marriner.

Nine Entertainment chief executive Matt Stanton will oversee the broadcast and streaming division for the time being.Dominic LorrimerAdvertisementDuring Laing’s tenure, Nine secured a deal to retain the rights to broadcast the NRL, but also made cuts in its television division in response to declining advertising revenue.

Those cuts came as part of a strategy to overhaul Nine’s television news broadcasting dubbed “Future News”, which streamlined the number of positions it employs with new broadcasting software.

The changes prompted some staff in the traditionally non-unionised broadcast division to join the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

And while Nine held on to the NRL rights, the sport’s boss, Peter V’landys, has previously said that outcome was due in large part to direct negotiations with Nine chair Peter Tonagh.

In its most recent annual results, Nine cut the value of its Total TV business, which includes both broadcast and digital streaming, in its books by $426 million to about $360 million.

Nine recently announced a major extension to its English Premier League broadcast rights deal, paying around $800 million to keep the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City on Stan until 2034.

But there have also been controversies. Nine allowed former Today host Karl Stefanovic to launch his own independent podcast earlier this year, which quickly became a hotbed for soft interviews with right-wing populist figures.

Stefanovic was then sacked by Nine after a deferential interview with British far-right activist and criminal Tommy Robinson. Stefanovic’s co-host Sarah Abo is also departing, with the pair to be replaced with Tom Steinfort and Sylvia Jeffreys.

Nine’s share price dropped to 72¢ on Wednesday afternoon, down almost 40 per cent over the past 12 months. It dropped a further 5.5 per cent on Thursday morning.

Laing’s section of the company had already been reorganised during her short tenure.

Nine created the new position of streaming and television boss for Laing upon her arrival. It was in part an attempt to bring the company’s streaming service Stan closer to the rest of the business and one of its main growth sectors.

Stanton said the company was folding the dedicated strategy team for the streaming and broadcast division into a larger group across Nine. Two further staff will be made redundant, a spokesperson confirmed.

Laing previously worked for Nine from 2006 to 2017 before her stint at Foxtel.

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