Nine is to have another crack at selling the former Fairfax events business, with its former chief digital officer Alex Parsons back to manage the sale, and Martin Jolly leaving Nine, potentially to bid for it.

Fairfax had been looking to sell the business since the middle of last year, and had already unloaded its involvement in this month's giant Tamworth Country Music Festival to the local council in 2017. Fairfax had owned the national Starmaker talent quest, related events and the monthly Country Music Capital News magazine to the local authority after former managing editor of its Tamworth daily Northern Daily Leader John Sommerlad had left to run the music festival, which one of the world's ten largest.

Parsons is tasked with managing the sale of the events business - which also runs Sydney's City2Surf and Night Noodle Markets - but may stay afterwards to take on other responsibilities. His boss is former Fairfax metro publishing managing director Chris Janz, who now occupies a similar role at Nine and thanked Jolly for his time with the business.