Just hours after inking one of the most lucrative sports broadcasting deals in Australian history, Kerry Stokes's Seven West Media has clocked up a $1.89 billion loss.

The owner of the Seven Network, West Australian Newspapers and Pacific Magazines has taken a scythe to the value of its businesses with a $2.07 billion write-down, the vast bulk of it relating to its free-to-air television network.

Even without the write-downs, earnings slumped 11.5 per cent to $209.1 million as the group raced to rein in costs in an effort to stabilise its bottom line.

Advertising revenue dropped across each category, a performance the company described as "solid" with the television take off 3.1 per cent, magazines down 4.9 per cent and newspapers sliding 13.3 per cent.

On Tuesday night, Kerry Stokes took to the stage with Rupert Murdoch in the most lucrative local football broadcast deal in history, when Seven, News and Telstra tipped in $2.51 billion for the rights to broadcast Australian Football League games for the next six years.

Last week, News Corp reported a $202 million loss, mostly related to write-downs on a digital education business, while Fairfax saw earnings drop 63 per cent to $83.2 million, highlighting the challenges facing traditional media groups as they confront the challenges of a digital world.

For broadcasters, sports rights are seen as a vital element for their medium term survival, although there are fears the rise of streaming services ultimately will undermine that business just as they have with entertainment.

Television remains Seven West's primary business, contributing 70 per cent of total earnings, as it maintained its number one position in terms of ratings.

Costs across the business fell 2.4 per cent, with magazines bearing the greatest impact with an 8 per cent decline and television costs down 1 per cent.

But the most encouraging aspect in the result was the continued reduction in debt, which fell a further 37 per cent during the year to $732.9 million, helping to lower gearing to 1.8 from the previous year's 2.5 times earnings.

Chief executive Tim Worner said the result marked a turning point in the business and described it as "a year of transformation".