The advertising market recovery was one of the major contributors to Nine’s growth, but that other revenue streams - such as subscription and licensing deals with Google and Facebook - also contributed. Nine is the owner of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. It also owns the Nine Network, streaming platform Stan, the Australian Financial Review and radio assets.

Nine’s broadcast division grew its earnings by 17 per cent, while publishing EBITDA grew 39 per cent to $27 million, driven by subscriptions and licensing. The publishing division’s earnings includes money received by Nine from Google and Facebook under the landmark news media bargaining laws. Nine said it expects growth of more than $55 million in publishing EBITDA for the financial year 2022.

Patrick Potts, investment analyst at Martin Currie, said the result was strong across the board.

“Every division is growing, so it was really pleasing from that point of view,” Mr Potts said. “You’ve got a triple whammy of upbeat first half numbers, an upgrade to full-year numbers and an increase in dividend. It all points to things being very buoyant for Nine.”

Subscription streaming service Stan grew earnings by 40 per cent to $21.9 million in the first half. Stan now has more than 2.5 million active subscribers. It is forecasting EBITDA of between $25 million-$40 million for the full year. Mr Sneesby said he was unfazed by the prospect of more international entrants in the market.

“[Stan] has really exciting opportunities ahead. We will continue to look at content partnerships and strategic opportunities, but the business is operating on a significant scale,” he said.

Stan competes against Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel and online service Binge, Disney+ and Paramount+ in this market. But there is a chance that when its major licensing deal with NBC Universal expires later this year, the US entertainment giant may launch its service, Peacock, locally.

Mr Sneesby said that idea the market had peaked was a “dated”.

“We’ll be a player in a number of different areas of internet delivered television. The concept of ‘how big can the market get’ is almost becoming dated,” he said. “The reality is the fundamentals of being able to grow a business that can be scaled and profitable in any market are, do you have differentiated content that is unique and resonates with your audience? Because if you do, you can build an audience...and if you’ve got an audience you can monetise that through advertising or subscriptions.”