The 2Day Show

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Aug 25, 2025

Welcome to a Monday edition of Unmade.

Today: Results season hots up - having survived the overtures of ARN Media, is Southern Cross Austereo back in play as a target of Nine? And further down, SCA sentiment lifts all boats on the Unmade index

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SCA: Back in play

Tim Burrowes writes:

There are few certainties in media. However, one was that when the market opened this morning, Southern Cross Austereo’s share price would jump.

In a sunny pre-market update, the company announced a slight improvement in annual profits, an increased dividend, a lower net debt, Listnr moving into full-year profitability and what CEO John Kelly described as a “fulsome” outlook. Not bad.

But more pressingly, in either terrible or brilliant timing depending on how you look at it, The Australian reported that Nine is interested in buying SCA and there have been talks. According to The Oz, “lawyers for both companies have also been present at the secret meetings”.

If lawyers are already involved, that takes it beyond a thought bubble. The stock market seemed to accept that Nine might soon own Listnr, Triple M and the Hit Network. 2Day FM and the Today Show, finally in the same stable. SCA’s share price jumped more than 20% when the ASX opened.

First, though, to the results.

For the first time since Covid, SCA’s red profit line went in the right direction.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) rose from $66.2m to $75.2m.

Revenue (if you still include in the calculation the TV licences which SCA finally got shot of at the end of the year) was down a little from $499.4m to $491.3m. Excluding the TV business, revenue was up.

The broadcast radio side of the business saw revenue increase by $10.2m almost all of which flowed through to a $10m increase in radio profit.

The Listnr digital audio platform revenue grew by $10.1m. And Listnr increased profit by $12.9m.

Noticeably the pendulum swung back towards agency and metro spend. Metro radio advertising revenue was up by 3.9%, while regional was only up 0.3%. I wonder if it’s a coincidence that regional initiative Boomtown has been quieter for the last few months. Agency spend was up by $7m while direct spend was flat.

Kelly: Bonus for turning around SCA’s profit trend

The improved performance saw boss John Kelly receive a $380,400 bonus while sales chief Seb Rennie was given $188,000. That will rankle for those who lost jobs in recent months, but that’s capitalism.

The company also paid down a chunk of its debt. Net debt was down from $107.5m to $67.6m.

Kelly presented a picture of a business that has come through the worst of its cuts and emerged as a more digital and focused audio specialist. He told the analysts’ conference call (and sounded like he meant it): “The entire SCA team is re-energised.” He sounded so much more dynamic on the call that I wondered whether he’d had some coaching since the last set of results.

And little wonder that Nine might want some of that, now that the pain seems to be out of the way. Why own a talk radio network with a profit of $8m when you could own an FM and digital audio business contributing nearly ten times that number?

Inevitably, an SCA with any sort of a growth strategy looks like a target, particularly without the practical complication of the previously held TV licences.

ARN’s takeover attempt was too complicated because the media ownership laws limiting broadcasters to two licences per city meant that it would have had to divest chunks of its own business in order to get the best bits of SCA.

As it stands, the same goes for Nine. The Nine Radio network consists of audience leaders 2GB in Sydney and 3AW in Melbourne plus 4BC in Brisbane and 6PR in Perth. It also owns oldies music stations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane currently licensed to Ace Radio.

At least Nine has already started the process of carving off its talk radio operation. Tom Malone and Brian Gallagher are running a pirate ship in Pyrmont away from the Nine mothership in North Sydney.

Buyers for Nine Radio at a price of around $40m would be easy to find. Nine may be hoping for a bit more, but that would depend on whether it could create competitive bidding tension.

The ownership law hurdle can be navigated. In the short term there is some precedent for the Australian Communications and Media Authority granting temporary exemptions while owners sell licences.

There’s a logic for Nine in particular buying SCA. Nine’s management, due to announce their results on Wednesday, are under pressure to explain to the market how they plan to spend this week’s Domain windfall. They need to offer a more ambitions plan than simply returning all the money to shareholders.

Much of the talk has been about outdoor, either QMS or the ASX-listed Ooh Media. But buying Ooh Media, with a market capitalisation just under $900m, would be a stretch. It would likely grow rather than reduce Nine’s net debt. By contrast, SCA - currently worth less than $200m (or an enterprise value of $300m once you factor in the debt and a takeover premium) - looks like something of a bargain.

SCA’s audience strategy of targeting the advertising-friendly demographic of 25-54 precisely matches that of Nine’s TV story.

You could also make the argument that the sport-focused Triple M is a great fit with Nine’s sports properties, although 2GB and 3AW never seemed to enjoy any sort of multiplier effect of being part of the Nine’s wide world of sports.

The cross-sell opportunities are clear. For the SCA sales teams, it would be bad news though. That’s where the efficiencies (read: redundancies) of a combined team would come.

This is a deal that could get done.

Radio stocks lift the Unmade Index

Southern Cross Austereo led the charge on the Unmade Index on Monday, finishing up by 22.7% for the day.

Market sentiment around SCA extended to rival ARN Media which bounced by 12.1% ahead of its half-year results on Wednesday.

Outdoor company Ooh Media and TV-led business Seven West Media both rose, up by 0.9% and 1.4% respectively.

Meanwhile after trading slightly down for most the day, Nine finished slightly up by 0.1%.

The Unmade Index closed on 593 points, up by 1.38% for the day

Retail media grows up: New session and roundtable lineup announced for Remade

REmade curator Cat McGinn writes:

A newly announced session at Remade will tackle the sector’s coming-of-age challenges head-on.

Titled “Retail Media Needs to Grow Up: From Ad Sales to Business Strategy,” the session brings together leaders from across the ecosystem:

Paul Brooks, founder, Tenet Advisory
Melissa Polglase, head of retail media, David Jones
Simon Porter, head of retail, Hatched Media
Kate Steven, head of strategic partnerships ANZ, SEA, LiveRamp

The panellists will outline what maturity looks like for retail media: from structure and strategy, to collaboration and commercial clarity, and will issue a call to action for a more grown-up, aligned, and accountable future.

Alongside the main sessions, a series of lunchtime roundtables have also been confirmed, offering candid, high-level discussions on the industry’s most pressing (and polarising) issues, held under the Chatham House Rule.

AI in the Aisles
Will AI commerce be retail media’s rocket fuel or wrecking ball?
Owning the Future of Retail Media
How do we ensure women are not just present, but leading the sector’s next chapter?
Rising Spend, Falling Satisfaction
Advertisers are investing more than ever — but satisfaction is slipping. What needs to change?
The ROI Reckoning
Sales still rule, but are we measuring the wrong things? It’s time for a reset on value and incrementality.
Walled Gardens vs Open Access
As global platforms open up, should retail media follow — or double down on control?
Platform Proliferation
More networks, more noise. Does fragmentation fuel growth, or just create chaos?

Places for the round tables are limited. Delegates are encouraged to register in advance.

Other talks include a discussion on “the tug-of-war for budgets, KPIs, and accountability” featuring Terry White Chemmart’s Janice Hoogeveen, DigiDirect’s Adam Freedman, retail media consultant Robbie Hills, and Retail Media Works’ Jon Harding.

Representatives from Market Media and The Trade Desk are also locked in, to explore how the former successfully balances privacy safeguards and customer closeness while uplifting the local media market.

Remade will be held at the Aerial Function Centre in Ultimo on September 23, 2025.

Tickets are available here.