Nine Entertainment has struck a deal to sell Australiaโs top-rating conservative talkback stations 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR to publican and pokies billionaire Arthur Laundy and his family for $56 million, marking a major transition in Australiaโs media landscape.
The company has also purchased outdoor media firm QMS for $850 million, using the proceeds of its recent sale of digital real estate firm Domain, it told the market on Friday morning.
Nineโs directors met on Thursday for their annual board meeting in Melbourne and approved the sale of the stations that have wielded unrivalled influence over politicians and the business industry, but have waned in influence and financial might, as well as the purchase of QMS. And in a further move, Nine has parted with its wholly owned Northern NSW television station NBN, which will now be an affiliate station owned by its partner WIN Network.
The talkback stations had been a major part of Nineโs strategy to offer advertisers a full suite of media channels to reach their customers, but ultimately did not align with the rest of the business, multiple sources with knowledge of the sales processes said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Chief executive Matt Stanton said: โThese transactions will create a more efficient, higher-growth, and digitally powered Nine group for our consumers, advertisers, shareholders and people. This positions Nine well for the future, enabling the group to withstand industry disruption and deliver long-term sustainable value to our shareholders.โ
Arthur Laundy, worth $1.75 billion according to the AFR Rich List, made his wealth through an extensive network of pubs in New South Wales.
Its Breakfast and Morning shows in both Melbourne and Sydney, fronted by the likes of Ben Fordham, Russel Howcroft and Ross Stevenson, Tom Elliott and Mark Levy still demand hundreds of thousands of listeners each week and can tip the daily news cycle.
In the final radio ratings survey for 2025, 2GB was toppled as Sydneyโs top station by SmoothFM, but in Melbourne, 3AW remained number one.
Laundyโs son, former Liberal MP Craig, has a weekly slot on 2GBโs Drive show with Clinton Maynard.
Numerous potential buyers were floated in the media but only a small number were seriously considered by Nine, including the well-publicised bid from the Craig Hutchison-led Sports Entertainment Group.
Nine was seeking around $50 million, with the sale price well short of the $113.9 million Nine paid for the remaining 45.5 per cent of the stations it did not already own in 2019. The takeover of what was then Macquarie Media valued the radio network that was home to Alan Jones and Ray Hadley at $275.4 million.
Having already sold Domain Group to American digital real estate listings firm CoStar in August, Nine will be a significantly smaller business in 2026 with its publishing assets (including this masthead), a free-to-air network, online broadcast platform 9Now and premium streaming service Stan. But it has been bolstered by QMS.
Nine officially launched its sale process for the radio networks in the back end of 2025, having made the radio division a standalone business earlier in the year.
While 2GB and 3AW are regularly the top-rating stations in the two biggest radio markets in Australia, advertising dollars for the conservative-leaning talkback stations have dwindled and revenue and earnings for the audio division suffered as a result.
The division made up just two per cent of Nineโs EBITDA in 2025, while revenues also declined two per cent to $101 million.
More to come.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.
