Don Voelte says Seven West Media is turning the corner. It happened as Seven unveiled bold plans that will allow viewers to pay to watch shows before they have been broadcast. The company said the new "hybrid" TV system powered through high-speed internet connections was already in use in Europe and was due for launch in Australia next year. Buoyed shareholders rewarded the media group after it beat cost-cutting expectations and offered an upbeat outlook. Chief executive Don Voelte, a former oil industry boss who took the helm at Seven West last June, told an investor briefing yesterday that 2013 net profit would fall short of the previous year's result. He said the company would be "a few million dollars" or 2 to 4 per cent down on its 2012 net profit of $227 million. But Mr Voelte said the company was at the point of turning a corner. "Even if advertising doesn't alter its present trends, we believe that 2013 was the worst of it for our company on a net profit basis after tax," he said. Mr Voelte said more than $100 million in costs had been stripped from the business in the past 10 months. He said the move would add more than $75 million to post-tax profits in 2014, and flagged that further cuts were on the cards. Mr Voelte summed up the company's new strategy as: "More for less, content is king and maximising every dollar spent." Seven West's broadcast TV chief executive Tim Worner said the hybrid viewing system would combine the best of traditional TV and the internet. "This is the future of Australian television," Mr Worner said. The system would also let viewers pay to watch shows without commercials and buy products through their TV that had appeared on shows. The system could also respond to viewers' preferences with program recommendations or targeted commercials. BBY media analyst Mark McDonnell said cost savings and the indications of better profit performance had driven the share price boost. He said the forecast of a 2 to 4 per cent fall in profit was better than expected. "What came through very clearly was they have delivered all of the cost-out, plus more," Mr McDonnell said. Seven West Media also announced a new $10.4 million joint venture with Telstra to deliver HealthEngine, an online health directory and service allowing people to book doctors' appointments online.