Analysis

Freaky Friday

Nine’s purchase of QMS and sale of its radio and regional TV assets comes with more complexities – and context – than meets the eye. Financial engineering and the human factor are involved too

Tim Burrowes

February 1, 2026 1:24

Stanton has done a tax efficient pragmatic deal

Now January is done, things have cranked up.

On Friday came the not-entirely-unexpected news (I predicted it last April) that Nine is buying QMS. At the same time, it announced the sale of Nine Radio, and an exit from regional television.

In dramatic structure, a story takes off with the inciting event. In the case of Nine, that event came in February last year when US real estate giant Costar bought into Domain.

That was a month before Matt Stanton was confirmed as Nine’s CEO, following the departure of predecessor Mike Sneesby, after three years of inertia.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.