Nine Entertainment says its focus is on big competitors rather than "old combats" with troubled rival Ten Network.
Nine chief executive Hugh Marks welcomed the competition watchdog's decision to clear a joint bid for Ten by Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon, saying a healthy network rival is good for the free-to-air sector and important for the revenue share of the industry.
"Uncertainty is never a good thing, everybody talks about it and it undermines advertiser confidence," Mr Marks told AAP.
He said a quick resolution for Ten, which has been in administration since June, is important given the changing industry environment.
Mr Marks said Nine is focused on future investments in "premium content" such as Australian Ninja Warrior to attract advertisers and withstand competition from the likes of Facebook, YouTube and Google.
"These are the things that we are focused on achieving, rather than the old combats of whether we are better or worse than Seven or Ten," Mr Marks told investors at the company's full-year results briefing on Thursday.
"There are bigger competitors over the horizon ... and I think we are working pretty well as an industry now to face the competitive threat."
Nine made a $203.4 million full-year loss due to writedowns of assets including its free-to-air TV network, previously announced in February.
The broadcaster recorded $327.1 million in impairments, up from $311.9 million in the first half, but left the non-cash impairment on goodwill of its TV network unchanged at $260 million.
Nine said its ratings improved significantly at the start of 2017 thanks to its Married at First Sight series, after a low in the September quarter with the Rio Olympics on rival Seven hitting both the size of the advertising market and Nine's share of it.
Nine said total television ad revenue shrunk by 3.5 per cent in the year, with the metro market declining 3.7 per cent.
It expects TV revenues to grow around 15 per cent in the September quarter, against the Olympics-impacted previous corresponding period, while digital revenues are expected to rise around eight per cent.
Nine forecast group earnings to be towards the upper end of a $186 million to $207 million range, assuming licence and spectrum fee-related legislation currently before the Senate is passed.
Morningstar senior equities analyst Brian Han said the guidance is "more than achievable" given Nine's solid revenue share.
"The result may not look too flash at face value but what's more important is the outlook was much brighter than the market was expecting," Mr Han told AAP.
"There is some support to suggest that it may even be conservative, given how well they are doing on the ratings front."
Mr Marks said shareholders can also expect to see further cost cuts in the year ahead.
Nine shares gained six cents, or four per cent, to $1.55.
COST CUTS HELP NINE HOLD THE LINE:
* Full-year net loss of $203.4m vs $33.2m profit
* Revenue down 3pct to $1.24b
* Fully franked final dividend up 1 cent to 5 cents
