News Corp Australia has appointed Ian Paterson to the New South Wales sales team as general manager, advertising sales, NSW.
Paterson joins News Corp from his role as executive general manager commercial and membership at Collingwood Football Club. He also spent a combined 20 years at Nine Entertainment in a variety of sales and management roles including national sales director, managing director of Nine Melbourne, and director of commercial partnerships and affiliates.
Paterson will report to managing director, national advertising sales, Lou Barrett, who said: “I have known Ian for 15 years and am thrilled he is joining us. He is an incredibly experienced leader, is well known and respected in the market and understands the opportunities and growth potential in this rapidly changing media landscape. I am absolutely confident he will drive a culture of excellence, accountability and continuous improvement within the sales team.”
Paterson will relocate to Sydney and start his new role with News in October.
Speaking of his new role, Paterson said: “Having spent 25 years in the media sector, I’m tremendously excited to be joining News Corp Australia and leading the NSW advertising sales team. The media sector continues to evolve and at the heart of News is a strategic growth ambition driven by innovation.
“Connecting with the Australian population like no other media organisation and delivering full service solutions to its partners puts News in the enviable position of being an industry leader with national reach and an unrivalled local identity.”
The appointment comes as sales staff including head of national trading and NSW consortium agencies, Alexandra Bliekast, and head of sales – NSW independent agencies and major direct, Michael Desiere, exit the business amid an ongoing restructure.
On Wednesday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported News Corp Australia will “make up to 80 roles in its sales workforce redundant” as part of the restructure.
A News Corp Australia spokesman followed up, telling Mediaweek: “Like most companies we do not provide commentary on employment matters but the story that first appeared in the Nine Entertainment tabloids, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, contained multiple errors, including the egregiously false claim 40 percent of sales staff were to lose their jobs.”