We continue to profile the most powerful media people in Australia who shape what we consume via TV and streaming, radio, newspapers and digital platforms.
Today the journey ends with the 20 most powerful media people influencing the Australian media sector and what it delivers to audiences.
The list includes a diverse group of executives from “old media” proprietors through to the challengers who continue to grow their businesses.
While this list is not as diverse as it should be, the face of Australian media is changing and we look forward to the list evolving over coming years.
See also:
Australian media’s most powerful people – 100-81
Australian media’s most powerful people – 80-61
Australian media’s most powerful people – 60-41
Australian media’s most powerful people – 40-21
Paul Whittaker
Chief Executive Officer, Sky News Australia
After a long career in newspapers, most recently as editor-in-chief of The Australian, some were surprised when Whittaker was given the keys to Sky News after founding chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos departed. Whittaker ramped up the brand’s strengths – making the conservative Sky News evening programming even more annoying for liberals and increasing the quality of Sky News’ daytime programming including breakfast now hosted solo by Peter Stefanovic. Covid and Alan Jones have created some challenges, the most recent of which he is currently navigating. The departure of Jones and the impending arrival of Piers Morgan should help broaden the channel’s appeal.
Jane Huxley
Chief Executive Officer, Are Media
Jane Huxley is the latest in a long list of people who have run Australia’s biggest magazine publisher over the past two decades. Huxley is light on with magazine experience, but that’s probably the point as the former Bauer Media and Pacific Magazines titles merge to operate as multimedia brands with diversified incomes fuelled by their digital and print audiences. Huxley previously worked in a global role for Spotify. She has also worked at Microsoft, Fairfax Digital Media, and Pandora Internet Radio. Private equity-owned Are Media recently purchased the former Gordon and Gotch, now branded Ovato Retail Distribution, which might help stabilise the sector which has seen print copy sales slump dramatically. Huxley said she is happiest with a big challenge, she’s got one at Are Media.
Peter Charlton
Chief Executive Officer, Nova Entertainment
The radio and outdoor sales director was promoted to CEO last year when long-time leader Cathy O’Connor moved to oOh!media. The appointment kept the leadership of Australia’s three FM networks in the hands of people schooled in the commercial side of the business. Charlton, like his predecessor, and the Nova Entertainment owner, stay well out of the media, preferring the spotlight to fall on the talent. As a privately-owned company, Nova Entertainment doesn’t need to keep investors happy, just the audiences, which #1 FM breakfast shows have been doing in Brisbane and Perth, with competitive results elsewhere. Keeping programming, and more recently marketing, chief Paul Jackson super busy so he won’t be poached has been a good move. Charlton moved from Adshel to Nova 10 years ago.
Ciaran Davis
Chief Executive Officer, HT&E
The spirited Irishman turned up in Sydney in early 2010 to take over the Australian Radio Network which was very much an old school broadcaster. Davis dragged it into the 21st century and improved ratings and revenue followed. He was subsequently promoted to the CEO role of the group in 2015, simplifying the business which is now basically a radio business shortened to ARN. Listed as HT&E, the company divested its out-of-home division and its newspapers. Securing Kyle and Jackie O for KIIS Sydney and Christian O’Connell for Gold Melbourne have been pivotal moves. Davis is a director of a number of HT&E subsidiaries and joint venture companies and The Australian Ireland Fund charity. He has just added to his workload with the acquisition of Grant Broadcasters giving ARN a massive national reach across metro and now regional markets.
Siobhan McKenna
Director of Broadcasting News Corp Australia, Chairman of Foxtel, Fox Sports and Australian News Channel, Director of Amcil, Woolworths and Nova Entertainment
Siobhan McKenna has worked internationally in strategy and policy in the public and private sectors. McKenna has led consumer-facing businesses in the media and digital sectors. She was a commissioner of the Australian Productivity Commission and a partner of McKinsey & Company. McKenna played a significant role in the recent turnaround of the Foxtel business as it launched into streaming. Somehow she even managed to find time to write a novel, Man In Armour, published by HarperCollins.
Will Easton
Managing Director and Vice President, Meta Australia
After working for Coca-Cola, Easton moved into the tech sector, working with Microsoft in the UK and then Australia. Easton joined Google and worked in different roles for nearly six years before getting the call to work for Mark Zuckerberg. His time at Facebook/Meta started as MD Australia and New Zealand in 2013. He later moved to Singapore as VP of emerging markets (APAC) before later returning to Australia and the MD role in 2017, adding the title of VP. Like the local Google boss, Easton has managed to navigate a hostile “old media” who wanted a piece of the financial action they claimed Facebook was raking in from their content. Easton helped negotiate the Australian payments and so far some seem happy.
Melanie Silva
Managing Director, Google Australia & New Zealand
Melanie Silva was appointed managing director for Google Australia and New Zealand, effective October 1 2018. She replaced Jason Pellegrino, who announced his move to Domain in July 2018 to take up the role of CEO. Silva has been with the tech giant for over a decade and has held a number of roles in this time. She joined the company from Fairfax Media in 2007 as the industry marketing manager for finance. The low-profile leader has helped navigate the shark-infested media waters and is placating the major players with revenue shares for the audiences they attract via Google search pages. Google has made a number of recent announcements about investment in Australia, including the recent appearance of PM Scott Morrison with Melanie Silva at the launch of Google’s Digital Future Initiative, a $1 billion investment over five years, in Australian infrastructure, research and partnerships.
Patrick Delany
Chief Executive Officer, Foxtel
The timing of this list is critical here. Just 18 months ago the report card might have been different to what it is now. Back then Foxtel was seen as struggling. It was (and still is) a high-priced premium offering under the pressure of growing interest in streaming services. Kayo was a young sports option that some thought might cannibalise the profitable Fox Sports business. Australians have since shown a big appetite for streaming as the company launched Binge with more single stream offerings, such as Flash, to follow. It is thought News Corp might launch an IPO for Foxtel in 2022. As of September 30, 2021, Foxtel’s total closing paid subscribers were around 3.9 million, a 17% increase compared to the prior year, primarily due to the growth in Binge (885,000) and Kayo (1.1m) subscribers.
Grant Blackley
Chief Executive Officer Southern Cross Austereo
Some thought the former Network 10 CEO might only be in for a short ride at SCA, but he’s now in his seventh year with the radio and TV group. Losing Nine as a regional TV affiliate might hurt financially (something SCA is not predicting), but radio remains the company’s core activity. So much so that speculation continues that the TV business could be for sale. Southern Cross Austereo launched its own audio app LiSTNR which could help secure and grow its share of audience, but having to register to listen to radio and podcasts is a step too far for some. Simplifying radio under two brands – Triple M and Hit Network – was also a good move. Although both streams are not without significant metro challenges in Sydney and Melbourne.
David Anderson
Managing Director, ABC
Through the broadcaster’s TV, radio and digital assets, the ABC probably reaches as big or bigger an audience as any other representative on this list. The Covid crisis made the ABC even more indispensable for some with its daily coverage of press conferences around Australia. Anderson’s understated management style has kept him out of the spotlight, letting the work of his management team speak for itself. Prior to his appointment to his current role in 2019, Anderson held the position of Director Entertainment & Specialist.
Bruce Gordon
Executive Chairman, WIN Corp
Is there anybody who has navigated more twists and turns in the media landscape in Australia? From his days in the movie and TV distribution business, Bruce Gordon moved into regional TV, building WIN Corp and investing in other media businesses along the way. The recent loss of Nine as his regional affiliate partner and then winning it back as soon as Hugh Marks had left the building was among recent successes. Gordon is also a significant shareholder in Seven West Media and Nine Entertainment via his private investment company Birketu. A recent investment is $400m for the re-development of the Wollongong CBD.
Photo: Illawarra Mercury
Beverley McGarvey & Jarrod Villani
McGarvey is Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand
Villani is Chief Operating and Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand
McGarvey is a 10 executive of longstanding, first joining under then head of programming David Mott in 2006. After Mott departed, she assumed the top programming role, reporting to former CEO Paul Anderson. After he departed, McGarvey climbed the final rung in the corporate ladder. More recently ViacomCBS appointed Villani as a co-lead for the ViacomCBS group in Australia and New Zealand. This is a change of role for Villani, coming from KordaMentha. However, he worked on the 10 business when it was a client. Integrating the business with a global media giant and diversifying revenue streams with a serious tilt at streaming with Paramount+ have been recent challenges.
James Warburton
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Seven West Media
After being taken to court by Seven to try to stop its sales chief from defecting to Network 10 just a few years ago, Warburton was given the job of steadying the ship after a tumultuous period at Seven. Many of the great franchises built by Tim Worner and his team were near the end of their life cycle and Warburton pruned and managed to deliver the best schedule in the allowed price range. A strategy that has taken Seven back to #1 with all people. Warburton has moved between media agency, automotive, Supercars, outdoor and two broadcast companies in recent years. Reducing Seven’s oppressive debt could be his biggest achievement.
Ryan Stokes
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Seven Group, Director of Seven West Media, and Chief Executive Officer of Australian Capital Equity
As the CEO of Seven Group, not much in the way of a major decision can get made without a rubber stamp from the office of Ryan Stokes. A highlight is the performance of Seven Group and the improving fortunes of its Seven West Media investment. Stokes was previously Chief Operating Officer of Seven Group Holdings from August 2012 until June 2015. Stokes joined the Boral board in September 2020 and became Chairman in July 2021.
Kerry Stokes
Executive Chairman of Seven Group, Chairman – Non-Executive Director of Seven West Media, and Chairman of Australian Capital Equity
Three people at the top of Seven West Media and its major shareholder Seven Group may seem too many near the top of this list. Kerry Stokes deserves a top 10 spot for the success he’s had long-term with one of the two biggest TV broadcasters. Seven’s TV footprint will soon be even bigger with the deal to acquire Prime Media’s regional broadcasting network. In addition to the Australian business, the Stokes-controlled ACE runs a number of media businesses in China. A recent highlight was getting paid for the Pacific publishing business at a time when some couldn’t give away print assets.
Michael Miller
Executive Chairman, News Corp Australia
Three News Corp/Fox executives in the top four might be overdoing it, and we still couldn’t find a place for the Australian-born global CEO Robert Thomson. But when considering the power, influence and revenue generated by News Corp news brands across the country and the refreshed Foxtel Group, it seems like a decent argument for those ranking positions. Michael Miller has proven to be a steady hand running the Australian business with a US-based board to report to. Tough calls on regional publishing upset some, but it at least kept a digital presence instead of clearing out completely. Miller first joined News in 1992 and has held various roles at News Corp Australia ever since, except for just over two years running APN News & Media from May 2013.
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Corporation, Co-chairman News Corp
The recent 50th birthday of the remaining Rupert Murdoch son still with the family businesses went largely unremarked. He has been spending some time in the US after much time in Australia during 2021. Lachlan Murdoch’s key focus is running Fox Corporation where he is Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, yet he retains the title of Co-chairman at News Corp. He has shaped Fox into an impressive business as some initially thought it was “just” the old Fox Corp with all the best bits sold to Disney. His better calls have outweighed the questionable ones, particularly the REA investment and the way he has managed his Nova Entertainment investment. Lachlan Murdoch gave a recent insight into his enthusiasm for what he is doing at Fox Corp via a Bank of America virtual conference appearance.
Mike Sneesby
Chief Executive Officer, Nine Entertainment Co
The newish CEO of the biggest Australian media company was understandably lower down our original list before replacing Hugh Marks early in 2021. To those who argue he should have been higher, we note he is the highest-ranked Australian. As Sneesby shaped the SVOD platform Stan over the years, watch out for him to shape the future of Nine Entertainment as he settles into the role. Stan managed to grow in a competitive market and in the shadow of Netflix has found 2.6m customers. Sneesby told Mediaweek recently: “As I came into the [new] job, Nine was really starting to wind up its strategy and budget cycle for preparations for the financial year 2022. And at the same time, wrapping up FY2021. It really was a perfect time to be thrown into spending quite a bit of time thinking about the strategy, the business, where we’re headed, which long term remains focused on driving the continued transition to be far more a digital business, both in terms of revenue and profit drivers. The biggest challenge is putting together the plans to execute and therefore quite a bit of time has been spent with the executive team. There’s been a couple of shuffles in the executive ranks and we are focusing on the actions that we need to execute in fiscal 22 as part of that long term vision for the company.”
Rupert Murdoch
Chairman of Fox Corporation and Executive Chairman of News Corporation
The founder of the News Corp empire doesn’t make many lists in Australia because he’s a US citizen who departed Australia some time ago. But he still has a big say in what happens to the company that started with the Adelaide News and the products and the people running them. Rupert Murdoch has had a massive impact on journalism in the last 50 years, although opinion is divided on whether it’s been for the better or worse. He has been a canny investor who has scored some massive paydays along the journey. Rupert Murdoch turned 90 earlier this year and last month had a delayed birthday party in New York hosted by wife Jerry Hall and attended by friends, colleagues, and family. He continues to make headlines as recently as November 2021 when he made comments at the News Corp AGM about big tech and Donald Trump.
Photo: Fox Corp