A snippet from The Australian about ongoing issues in getting a deal over the line for SCA Tasmania:
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Seven West Media unites with UN Women Australia to celebrate IWD 2025
For the fifth year in a row, Seven West Media is honoured to join forces with UN Women Australia as the official Australian broadcast partner for International Women’s Day, continuing its commitment to amplifying women’s voices and driving meaningful change.
The theme of this year’s IWD on 8 March – “March Forward: For ALL Women and Girls” – looks to the future and reflects on the past three decades.
Thirty years ago, the world committed to a bold vision for gender equality through the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, the landmark document outlined 12 critical areas where progress was urgently needed, from economic empowerment and leadership to media representation and climate justice. It remains the most progressive and widely endorse blueprint for women’s and girls’ rights worldwide.
To mark IWD, Seven West Media is staging a special staff event – “Women Breaking Barriers” – with pop music icon and Australian Idol judge Marcia Hines, hosted by The Morning Show’s Kylie Gillies. It is also running a “Women and Super” webinar for all staff, with individual follow-up sessions.
This Friday, 7NEWS presenters are hosting IWD events around the country, including Mel McLaughlin in Sydney, Melina Sarris in Melbourne, Tina Altieri in Perth and Katrina Blowers in Brisbane.
Seven West Media Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Howard, said: “We are proud to again partner with UN Women Australia to celebrate IWD, a global day day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women – and a day that also marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality.
“Gender equality is a key focus area for Seven and one we will continue working on. We have made good progress in this area in recent years but, like most companies, we can always do better. And we will.”
Seven West Media Chief People and Culture Officer, Lucinda Gemmell, said: “The theme of this year’s IWD – ‘March Forward: For ALL Women and Girls’ – perfectly reflects the work we are doing.
“We have made significant progress in achieving gender equality in our business, but we are not finished. Across Seven West Media, we have introduced a range of initiatives and programs in this area, with more to come.
“Our partnership with UN Women Australia as the official Australian broadcast partner for IWD is something we are honoured to do; more importantly, it is something that can help effect real change that benefits everyone,” she said.
Simone Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of UN Women Australia, said: “We are grateful to Seven West Media for their support this International Women’s Day. As we mark 30 years since the Beijing Platform for Action, this partnership helps shine a spotlight on the progress made and the work still to be done. Through this collaboration, we can inspire Australians to ‘March Forward’ and take action for a future where women and girls are safe, equal, and empowered.”
Also according to an AdNews article on top media executive salaries from statutory disclosures:
Former Seven West Media CEO James Warburton’s final year pay was $1.2 million, down from the previous year’s $1.3 million.
His salary for the year to June, was made up of $1,263,352 cash. This included a “termination payment” of $265,221.
The new CEO at Seven West, former CFO Jeff Howard, gets a base pay of $1.25 million. He also gets incentives, with the short term program delivering up to 150% of his base.
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Head of publicity, Kate Amphlett, has been elevated to director of communications.
National publicity manager for news and public affairs, Brittany Stack, has been promoted to head of communications – news & public affairs, partnerships and community.
Alison Booth becomes head of communications – entertainment and 7plus.
Emma Francis is promoted to head of communications – sport.
Annie Griffiths joins Seven as Director, Commercial Strategy and Innovation
The Seven Network today announced the appointment of Annie Griffiths to the new role of Director, Commercial Strategy and Innovation.
Reporting to Chief Commercial Officer Henry Tajer, Ms Griffiths will be responsible for commercial strategy, trade marketing and the network’s brand integration, strategy and partnerships division, 7RED. She will start at Seven later this year.
Ms Griffiths joins Seven after almost five years at Foxtel Media, most recently as Executive Director, Strategy and Operations, where she spearheaded the commercial and go-to-market strategy, and the implementation of key initiatives. Her previous roles include Chief Marketing Officer at PHD USA in New York, leading business development and marketing, and senior Strategy and Business Director roles at GroupM in New York and Sydney.
Mr Tajer said: “Annie is one of the best strategists I’ve worked with, and she brings a great track record and a lot of experience to this new role at Seven.
“Hiring Annie is an important first step in re-imagining how we engage with the market and create new ways to connect with our audiences across all the Seven platforms.
“I can’t wait to see Annie’s impact on the team at Seven, our partners and our clients,” he said.
Ms Griffiths said: “It’s a transformative time in the video industry. With top-notch local content, and an accelerating digital business, I’m delighted to be part of what’s next for Seven. I’m looking forward to mucking in with the team to deliver outcomes for clients.”
Seven announces senior sport appointments
New heads of Horse Racing and Commonwealth Games coverage
The Seven Network today announced the appointments of Joel Starcevic as Head of Horse Racing and Cricket, and Anna Stone as Head of Commonwealth Games and Executive Producer of Cricket.
Joel Starcevic is currently Seven’s Head of Cricket and has previously held senior production roles on Seven’s AFL and horse racing coverage, as well as major international sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, Olympic Winter Games, Commonwealth Games and the Supercars Championship Bathurst 1000.
Anna Stone is being elevated into her new role from Executive Producer of Women’s Cricket, and has previously led Seven’s Supercars coverage as Executive Producer, Motorsport, before holding a senior production role for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Seven’s current Head of Motorsport, Angela Rampal, will take on an additional role as Executive Producer of Commonwealth Games. Seven has also added depth to the horse racing team, with the promotion of Matthew Gray to the newly created Co-ordinating Producer position. The horse racing team is also going to market for a second Co-ordinating Producer to work alongside Mr Gray.
Mr Starcevic said: “I’m honoured and proud to lead a talented team of on-air experts and production staff, who all work together to produce world-class horse racing coverage every Saturday afternoon for 52 weeks of the year, live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport.
"Our horse racing coverage is a premier product, and we are so excited to continually raise the bar and evolve with innovation and fresh ideas to remain Australia’s home of thoroughbred racing.
“This summer of cricket promises to be one of the most exciting in recent memory, with the Ashes returning to home soil, world-class women’s internationals, and the best of the Big Bash League and WBBL lighting up grounds around the country,” he said.
In April, Seven announced it had signed an exclusive agreement with Commonwealth Sport to become the official Australian broadcast media partner for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 2 August next year.
Seven will also be the official Australian media partner for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, for which the host selection process conducted by Commonwealth Sport is currently in progress.
Ms Stone said: “The Commonwealth Games is more than just a sporting event, it’s a global celebration of culture, resilience and world-class athleticism.
“Bringing the event to life for Australian viewers is an incredible honour, and we can’t wait to showcase the inspiring moments, fierce competition and powerful human stories that make the Games so special.
“Producing coverage of Australia’s most storied sporting rivalry is always a privilege, and as we gear up for an incredible summer of cricket on Seven and 7plus, we’re ecstatic to deliver every ball, every boundary and every big moment to fans around the country,” she said.
Seven’s Director of Network Sport, Chris Jones, said: “The depth of our Seven sport production team is truly remarkable. Joel, Anna, Angela and Matt have been integral to our team for many years now, and it’s great to see them taking on these new opportunities and growing their careers at Seven.”
Today’s announcement rounds out several recent senior appointments to Seven’s sport team, which is now made up of:
- Chris Jones – Director of Network Sport
- Gary O’Keeffe – Head of AFL and Sport Innovation
- Kirsty Bradmore – Head of Sport Digital
- Joel Starcevic – Head of Horse Racing and Cricket
- Anna Stone – Head of Commonwealth Games, Executive Producer Cricket
- Angela Rampal – Head of Motorsport, Executive Producer Commonwealth Games
- Greg Smith – Head of Production - Sport
- Lisa Peach – Head of Production Management – Sport
- Emma Francis – Head of Communications – Sport
- Chantelle Hugo – Head of Marketing – News, Public Affairs & Sport
- Simon Atkinson – Head of 7Sport Creative
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Are the all based in Melbourne?
Seven West Media sales changes
Seven West Media today announced that Chief Commercial Officer Henry Tajer has transitioned from his full-time role back to a consulting arrangement, effective from the end of June.
Mr Tajer initially joined Seven as a consultant in August 2024 before becoming Seven’s full-time CCO in January 2025.
SWM Managing Director and CEO, Jeff Howard, said: “Henry brought a new level of bold and innovative thinking to Seven’s sales team. He drove significant change in his short time at Seven and on behalf of the entire team, I would like to thank him for his contribution. I look forward to continuing to work with Henry on opportunities to drive growth for SWM.”
Mr Tajer said: “Transitioning back to consulting work will enable me to focus on the many exciting opportunities still ahead for Seven. Seven’s content is consumed by more and more people every day. Finding new and innovative ways to engage and commercialise that audience is just one opportunity I look forward to working with Jeff and the team on.”
The Seven sales team will be jointly led by Katie Finney, National Television Sales Director, and Jordan King, National Digital Sales Director, on an interim basis while a search is conducted for Mr Tajer’s replacement.
Mr Howard said: “Katie and Jordan led the team prior to Henry’s appointment and were achieving strong results in the challenging total television market. They are well known to our advertising and agency partners and will be fully supported by Seven’s broader leadership team through this interim period.”
Reporting:
https://www.mediaweek.com.au/henry-tajer-ousted-as-seven-chief-commercial-officer/
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Journalists who work for (Kerry) Stokes at his newspaper empire had some bad news on Thursday in the form of an email with the dreaded words “operational review” and “redundancies” at West Australian Newspapers.
The company is offering voluntary redundancies across the West Australian, Perth Now, and the regional and community papers, and is asking for expressions of interest, by Friday 20 June.
On Tuesday, staff will be informed which roles will be made redundant and those folk will leave the same week. Editor-in-chief of WA Newspapers, Christopher Dore, has been approached for comment.
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New David Leckie Seven Scholarship Program winner starts at Seven
Seven West Media is pleased to announce and welcome the fourth recipient of the annual David Leckie Seven Scholarship Program: Zoe McLaren.
Zoe is a recent graduate of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, where she completed a Bachelor of Media and Communications (Advertising).
Since starting at Seven West Media, Zoe has been gaining valuable experience in the Sydney creative team and has been working on the new 7plus series, Reality Check, creating content for Seven’s social platforms to promote new episodes.
The David Leckie Seven Scholarship Program was established in late 2021 to honour the career and legacy of former Seven West Media Chief Executive Officer, the late David Leckie.
The scholarship offers a 12-month role at Seven West Media for a graduate with a passion for the media industry and was set up in partnership with Skye Leckie and David and Skye’s sons, Harry and Ben.
Skye, Harry and Ben Leckie said: “We are so honoured that David’s legacy lives on through this incredible scholarship at Seven, helping to nurture the next generation of talent in the media industry - something he cared about so deeply.
“Zoe truly stood out as an exceptional young woman, and we are absolutely delighted to see her receive this year’s David Leckie Seven Scholarship. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for her to follow her passion for storytelling and gain hands-on experience in production - David would have loved that.
“A heartfelt thank you to Kerry, Jeff and everyone at Seven for continuing to support this special initiative and for choosing another outstanding recipient. We are so excited for Zoe and can’t wait to see where this journey takes her.”
Seven West Media Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Howard, said: “Zoe’s enthusiasm for the media industry made her the standout candidate for this year’s scholarship. She is passionate about telling powerful, creative stories that spark a conversation, and she’ll have plenty of opportunities to do just that at Seven.
“Seven is proud to support a scholarship program that serves as a lasting tribute to David’s legacy as an outstanding leader within our industry. This program also reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting the next generation of media professionals as they begin their careers.
“Along with Skye, Harry and Ben, I wish Zoe all the best for her time at Seven and welcome her to our team.”
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Channel 7’s wage blunder exposed as dozens owed thousands
An internal review has revealed misclassifications of Seven Network staff dating back years, prompting the network to compensate ex‑staff — with some set for huge payouts
The broadcaster confirmed it is notifying roughly 30 former staff impacted by the error, following routine internal audits conducted earlier this year.
Sources have told The Courier‑Mail that the payments were calculated pre‑tax and pre‑superannuation, with both current and former staff allegedly receiving lump sums of up to $20,000 — and in some cases, as much as $50,000.
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News Corp’s Annette Sharp reports:
Henry Tajer is due to wind up his role today after just six months in the chair.
According to well-placed sources Tajer has set his sights on winning the top job at ad company ooh! media.
In April that company announced that CEO Cath O’Connor was stepping down after O’Connor and the ooh! media board decided it was the right time for a leadership transition.
Sources claim Tajer had long lusted after the top job of Seven CEO Jeff Howard, something that may have contributed to his quickie departure.
From radio comes chatter that former Nine sales boss Michael Stephenson would be a good fit for Tajer’s soon-to-be vacant role.
Stephenson left Nine last year to move the radio company ARN as chief operating officer.
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Completion of Southern Cross Media Group television assets acquisition
Seven West Media (ASX: SWM) today announced that it has completed the acquisition from Southern Cross Media Group Limited (ASX: SXL) of the television licences and associated assets operating in Tasmania, Darwin, Spencer Gulf, Broken Hill, Mt Isa and Remote, Central and Eastern Australia.
Following the acquisition, SWM becomes the largest regional commercial television broadcaster in Australia, and provides continuity for these regional communities to connect with our leading news, sport and entertainment content on Seven and 7plus.
Based on the transaction consideration of $3.75 million, the acquisition will be immediately earnings accretive in FY26. SWM Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Howard, said: “SWM is pleased to have completed this small but strategically important acquisition that solidifies our position as Australia’s leading regional commercial television broadcaster.
“Our ongoing commitment is to ensure that our regional communities can access our local and national news bulletins, our compelling sport lineup including AFL, Test and BBL cricket, and our premium entertainment programming.”
SWM will release its financial results for the year ended 30 June 2025 on Tuesday 12 August 2025. Details of the results briefing will be provided in due course. This release has been authorised to be given to the ASX by the Board of SWM.
Seven: Australia’s largest regional commercial network
Acquisition of Southern Cross Media’s regional television licences completed
The Seven Network has cemented its position as Australia’s largest regional commercial television network following the completion of the acquisition of Southern Cross Media Group’s (ASX: SXL) television licences in Tasmania, Darwin, Spencer Gulf, Broken Hill, Mount Isa, and Remote, Central and Eastern Australia.
Seven currently reaches about 17.5 million people across Australia each month, including 5.7 million people living in regional areas. Seven is the most-watched free-to-air broadcaster in regional Australia, with a 44.5% commercial audience share.
Seven West Media Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Howard, said: “Seven is proud to be Australia’s largest regional commercial television network. We’re excited to expand into these new markets and further harness the strength of our news, sport and entertainment content – across both Seven and 7plus.
“Following the acquisition of Southern Cross Media’s television assets, 7NEWS has unparalleled breadth and depth across regional Australia, and we will be upscaling our investment in news across these markets to reflect the importance of these communities. Ownership of these licences will allow us to connect directly with these regions moving forward.”
In regional Australia, 7NEWS has one of the highest rated 6.00pm bulletins in the country, with an average total TV audience of almost 440,000 so far this year.
Seven’s Director of Regional News, Paul Patrick, said: “7NEWS is an intrinsic part of the communities we operate in, with the only local 6.00pm bulletins in all our major regional markets. From our journalists to our camera operators, and production teams across the country, we are passionate about telling local stories that resonate with our local audiences. We are their voice.”
Seven’s half-hour local 7NEWS bulletins are broadcast in Queensland (Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba), New South Wales (North/Mid North Coast, Tamworth, Central West, Riverina and Border), and regional Western Australia.
Seven will be continuing Tasmania’s one-hour, locally produced bulletin seven nights a week after the SXL acquisition. Seven will soon provide news updates in Spencer Gulf (Whyalla and Port Pirie, South Australia), Darwin and Broken Hill, alongside our updates in Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Mildura.
Seven’s National Sales Director, Regional Sales, Greg Gabel, said: “Seven is proud to go above and beyond to support our local communities. From sponsoring the 7Rocky River Run to supporting Volunteer Marine Rescue and junior AFL teams in every state, we thrive on being an integral part of regional Australia.”
Seven is committed to regional jobs in regional communities, with regional news hubs in Maroochydore (Queensland), Bunbury (Western Australia), Launceston (Tasmania) and Canberra. In addition, Seven has journalists, camera operators and production teams creating local content in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Ballina, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, Tamworth, Orange, Dubbo, Canberra, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Launceston, Hobart, Geraldton, Bunbury and Albany.
Mr Howard said: “Despite our best endeavors, we have been unable to reach a mutually acceptable commercial agreement with the WIN Network to provide access to Seven via aerial transmission in Riverland, Griffith, and Mount Gambier.
“Seven has not turned off our signal. We continue to provide our content to WIN for broadcast into these markets and WIN has made the decision to switch off the Seven signal to these communities.
“While we are disappointed WIN has made this decision, these communities are important to us and they can access Seven’s news, sport and entertainment content live, free and on demand on 7plus,” he said.
“In the meantime, Seven is seeking the assistance of the Federal Government and the Australian Communications and Media Authority to help resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”
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Reading that, sounds like the former SCA stations will fall under the responsibility of what was 7Prime.
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I interpreted that part of the announcement as “these are the regions we provide noodle updates for”.
I think it’s safe to predict no change to the current setup with Maroochydore (7 QLD), Watson (ex-Prime/GWN) and Launceston (ex-SCA) continuing as separate units. Particularly with the recent relocation of Launceston operations.
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Sounds a bit like what WIN did in regional WA when they were in dispute with 9 years ago - WIN/7 may still return.
If WIN/7 doesn’t, there is no reason why ACMA could not ask for the 7 licences back from WIN and re-issue them as an Apparatus Licence pending a review of the licence area. Most of the sites in those areas are owned by BAI but WIN would own the transmission equipment except perhaps for the Restack equipment which was supplied by the Commonwealth.
If I was in those markets I would be pissed off about the AFL coverage disappearing. WIN/7/10 are committing Hari-kari by shutting down FTA services - they will be loss making/uneconomical right up until a new operator comes in, then the story will quickly change.
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This appears to be the case given unlike when MDV closed down, they’ve put a slide up instead of going black, so they may still be trying to make some sort of deal
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In saying that, I reckon WIN won’t switch the Seven signal back on. At some point WIN will hand the licenses for Seven in the now switched off regions back to the ACMA.
The only option now is for Seven to seek the Government and ACMA to make VAST available to everyone in the affected regions, much like what happened with Mildura when their 10 JV signal was switched off by WIN and its license was returned to the ACMA.
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