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Pedestrian shifts,
Focus on owned brands, CEO
Departs in the drift.
Matt Rowley to exit as Pedestrian Group drops VICE, Refinery29
Nine Entertainment's cost-saving initiatives have reached its youth publisher, with Pedestrian Group to transition out of existing brand license deals and focus on its wholly own content, citing challenging circumstances.
In a note sent to staff, CEO Matt Rowley said that publishing the VICE and Refinery29 brands was "no longer a sustainable business model" for Pedestrian.
The financial performance of the license model, Rowley said, had been impacted by a number of factors, including the financial headwinds faced by license partners, a decline in the advertising market, and the growth of platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
The transition out of the current brand licences will have impacts on roles, following the widespread cuts announced by Nine CEO Mike Sneesby last week.
Rowley will also be exiting the business as a result of the changes, following a transitionary period, with the process to appoint a new CEO already underway.
"I have loved my time at Pedestrian Group - it has been a privilege working with you all. The market forces that have created today’s changes make the work that Pedestrian.TV does - engaging young Aussies with news and content they can trust - more important thanever," said Rowley.
Rowley first joined Fairfax in 2016 as an early member of Project Blue and as Chief Revenue Officer he returned Fairfax to revenue growth across both print and digital. He was made CEO of Pedestrian Group in 2019, a year after the business was created by the merger of Pedestrian (wholly owned by Nine), and Fairfax Allure Media, whose model was based on publishing licensed global brands in Australia.
Meanwhile, cost-saving measures are also underway at nine.com.au, with Director Kerri Elstub issuing a notice to staff to advise that several vacant roles would not be replaced.
"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," said Elstub.
