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even West Media CEO, James Warburton, has revealed the company’s half-year financial results for 2020/21, which include a statutory net profit of $116.4 million on group revenue of $644.2 million.

These figures include a 26.5% increase of underlying net profit after tax on the previous year, Warburton revealed, while discussing how the business dropped debt and costs, and the broadcasters’ plans for 2021, including a letter of understanding with Google to be paid under its News Showcase program.

Talking about how Seven plans to be further in the SVOD space with sports rights, Warburton said Nine with Stan Sport and Foxtel with Kayo, remind him of the battle between Qantas and Virgin in 2013.

“Stan Sport and Kayo remind me of the airline broadcast wars,” Warburton said.

“You’ve got people with a billion dollars of sports rights offering them to Telstra customers for $5.

“You’ve got both who have been talking about inflationary sports rights, making bodies like the rugby union and the netball extremely happy in terms of forcing prices up.

“And they’re both selling packages, which no doubt will be in loss.

“How long and how sustainable will it be in their cases?

“Something that I find will be fascinating to watch,” he said.

Revealing the financial figures, Warburton said: “This has been a very big year for Seven, with several major milestones achieved as we continue to re-position the business.”

“Our new content strategy is firing, with a significantly improved ratings share and a more attractive demographic profile.

“We secured the leading share of audiences in broadcast and BVOD in the half.

“Our new tent poles are delivering on average 75% more audience than the old content strategy.

“This will translate to higher revenue share in the coming 12 months.

“The market is showing positive signs of recovery with strong growth in the second quarter and forward bookings are looking positive for the third quarter.

“These strong operating performances have been delivered after a radical transformation of the cost base.

“The $170 million gross cost out remains on track and we have identified another $30 million of cash savings.

“At WAN, the team has undertaken a significant transformation, accelerating digital growth, cutting operating costs, and executing a strategy to stabilise earnings and generate cash.

“Improving Seven West Media’s balance sheet has been one of our company’s key objectives over the past 12 months.

“We have made significant progress in addressing this, with a 42% reduction in net debt year on year, ahead of our plan at the beginning of the financial year.

“We have also retired $150 million of debt since the end of the half year.

“This significantly improved financial position has provided us greater optionality in our asset sale processes to ensure we maximise value for our shareholders,” he said.