Would make sense, probably the next most senior? (Stan CEO) and seems like a good operator
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Sneesby seems like the logical choice to navigate Nine further into the new digital media landscape. He would be keenly aware of how trends in media consumption have changed in recent years. He would’ve been a key part of Nine’s recent negotiations with Rugby Australia and has extensive experience in programming acquisition. I’d love to see a major Australian media company headed by someone who started his working life in a relevant tech field at a time when the internet boom had started.
Bruce Gordon might be doing a few cartwheels at the prospect of negotiating an affiliation agreement with a south coast boy who was educated at the University of Wollongong and installed TV antennas around WIN’s original broadcast area in the early 1990s.
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I see that Scott Lorson’s (from Fetch) name has been thrown up a couple of times too
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Hugh Marks told the SMH he decided a year ago that he would leave Nine after the move from Willoughby to North Sydney. He also indicated that while the Nine board thought he had “done a great job here”, that his relationship with the board was “fractious at times”.
I read a rumour that supposedly some of the Nine board were not happy that Marks was prepared to dump the NRL. So I wonder if that had anything to do with the “fractious” relationship.
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Interesting, I wonder if anyone else at all was aware? Healy? Costello? Buchan?
Surely this wasn’t just Marks though, even if he was the one to push it? I’d imagine in the end it was a company and indeed media wide agreement about the value of sports rights. It makes sense considering the environment, insane price and low (broadly) ratings - their non-disclosed ad revenue from it and any declines as well as the margin vs Seven’s AFL would also be interesting.
Maybe NRL chiefs got increasingly frustrated as Seven and AFL have extended and NRL and Foxtel have extended, but Nine have so far been reluctant to do so? And with 10 seemingly walking away from sport, would mean if Nine did walk away, NRL would potentially be left without a crucial FTA broadcaster. ABC? SBS?
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The Australian is questioning why Nine shareholders were asked to approve a long-term incentive plan for Hugh Marks at the annual general meeting on Thursday just two days before he announced his resignation. Also, The Australian states that Nine has the right to clawback previous bonuses if it is found that Marks breached any obligations under the terms of his contract.
I would add, if Marks knew if was going to quit shortly after the move to North Sydney, then why did he negotiate a new long-term incentive plan.
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Is this News.ltd just having a whinge because Nine where starting to take away sport from Fox sports?
The pattern for Murdoch is there, look what they did to Channel 10 and OneHD.
Marks was moving Nine is a strong direction, annoying to see him go.
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It’s a fair question that I suspect some of the shareholder groups will start to ask too
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In a separate interview with The Australian, Marks revealed he had made the choice to depart Nine on his own terms after the board phone hook-up on Saturday, which was held without him. He added:
The gossip about me was getting so out of control – 99.5 per cent of which was untrue – and I thought to myself: ‘What’s the right thing to do for Nine and its people?’
UPDATE: Nine revealed to the ASX this morning that Marks would leave the company by the end of June 2021.
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Marks obviously had a very different idea how this would play out
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The Australian has heard that Amanda Laing, currently at Foxtel and who previously worked for Nine and PBL, could be a candidate to replace Hugh Marks. It seems that board infighting might stymie the chances of Mike Sneezby and Chris Janz, according to Nick Tabakoff. He claims that Laing was offered the job as co-ceo of ViacomCBS Australia, but she declined.
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UPDATE 30/11: The Daily Telegraph has removed the article but the prospect of legal action remains.
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Nine announces first strategic hires for Powered Enterprise
Left to right: Liana Dubois Director of Powered, Nicki Kenyon Director of Powered Enterprise – Melbourne, Michele O’Neill Director of Powered Enterprise – Sydney
Nine has announced the appointment of Nicki Kenyon and Michele O’Neill as the first leadership hires for its newly launched Powered Enterprise division.
Kenyon has held executive leadership roles in global corporations and start-ups in Australia and Asia Pacific, most recently as General Manager of Marketing for leading industry travel body Visit Victoria and prior to that was APAC regional Vice President, Digital and Marketing Transformation for Visa, based out of Singapore. O’Neill has spent the past three years with Edelman as Global Strategy Partner out of London, previously holding executive strategy roles with WPP and IPG agencies in Europe, and Joy and VCCP in Sydney.
The move home is also a return to Nine for O’Neill who began her career as the first camerawoman for Australian commercial television in 1980.
Both have been appointed as Director of Powered Enterprise, reporting to Liana Dubois, Director of Powered, and will be charged with leading Powered Enterprise, the newly launched unit which is tailored to the needs of key C-suite clientele looking for partners who can understand and meet their changing needs for business growth.
Nine announced the launch of Powered Enterprise at its 2021 Upfront presentation, promising to make senior hires at the C-suite level to ensure its new offering would be equipped for conversations with business leaders around how Nine’s content, data and technology capability can be used more strategically to enable growth within their business.
“I honestly couldn’t be more excited to announce the appointment of Nicki and Michele to lead Powered Enterprise,” said Liana Dubois. “They bring with them a cognitive diversity, from both global and local experiences, with their insight and expertise key in defining how Powered Enterprise will be a true partner for businesses looking to tap new opportunities for growth and expansion.”
Nine said at the time of the announcement of the Enterprise division of Powered that it was not about a single ad campaign or product launch, focused instead on having conversations aimed at understanding an organisation’s horizon planning and co-creating strategies and ideas that deliver in a way that no other Australia media company can.
Kenyon said: “As a client-side marketer, I’ve always been motivated by driving business growth and delivering impact through progressive, strategic and accountable marketing. I’m thrilled to be tasked with taking the offering by Powered Enterprise – where content, data and technology truly come together in a meaningful, connected and actionable way – to our clients to help maximise marketing effectiveness and deliver business results.”
O’Neill said: “Finding compelling and distinctive ways to engage and move people is at the heart of how brand helps business grow. What influences people to make choices about the brand and therefore business they buy from is shifting. The potential for alchemy in Powered Enterprise is exciting, accessing the scale and exceptional content, data and technology of Nine and shaping it into big business ideas that move us more.”
I’ve read that press release five times and I still don’t understand what any of it means.
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Branded content, everything is buzzwords and bullshit
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Herald Sun now claims Michelle Stamper was unceremoniously shown the door, in a call from her boss Lizzie Young in Sydney.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/page-13/whos-next-in-nine-axing-after-publicity-queen-shown-the-door/news-story/7b0a69cf9b725f61c7e87e225b853b90
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Nine chairman Peter Costello officially opened the company’s new North Sydney HQ last Friday evening (December 4).
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