Henry Tajer.
Seven West Media's chief commercial officer Henry Tajer has stepped down.
He will become a consultant from the end of June.
He started at Seven full-time in January. He is one of Australia's most senior advertising and marketing executives, with a 25-year career that includes roles here and in the US, including with IPG Mediabrands, Amazon Media Group and Dentsu Aegis Network.
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 Tajer’s replacement.
“Transitioning back to consulting work will enable me to focus on the many exciting opportunities still ahead for Seven," Tajer said.
"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.”
Seven CEO Jeff Howard said Tajer 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," Howard said.
"I look forward to continuing to work with Henry on opportunities to drive growth for SWM.”
Howard said Katie Finney and Jordan King led led the team prior to Tajer’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," Howard said.
Seven, like other television networks, is facing a challenging advertising market. Seven West Media reported a 6% drop to $727 million in revenue for the half year to December. A “soft” advertising market resulted in total television revenue also down 6% or $16 million.
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