Credit: Ahmet Yuksek via Unsplash
Rohan Lund, the television executive last week appointed CEO of Southern Cross, wants to see more hustle on revenue and a core focus on digital.
The media group, the sum of the merger between radio player SCA and television network and publisher Seven West, has had a series of sudden major changes including the overnight departure of a CEO and now the chair is going.
Insiders say staff are suffering integration fatigue, dealing with cost cutting, job losses, a merry-go-round of bosses and restructuring from the melding of two businesses.
In an internal email, seen by AdNews, Lund told staff he knows it hasn’t been an easy ride.
“So much change, so many new pressures, so much uncertainty, and for many of you, that original excitement for the business has been buried under the daily grind,” Lund said in an email.
He wants to re-ignite the spark that comes from working in media, setting agendas, informing, entertaining and inspiring.
“We need to hustle for the revenue we deserve,” he said.
“We need to reset our costs quickly so we have the capacity to do what we do best.
“We need to meet our audience on any device, at any time, with the same creative magic in short and long form.
"Digital will be at the core of our thinking.”
Lund spent his first two days on the job walking the corridors, meeting with managers and listening.
“We won’t be distracted by external noise, we will drown it out by simply being the best in the business,” he said.
“That’s the only thing that matters to our audiences, our partners and our shareholders.”
Lund plans a national roadshow next month.
“Let’s work together to build something extraordinary,” he said.
The new CEO has a few major items on his to-do list, including reviving sliding ad sales at the television side of the business, the part which came from Seven West.
Another is the question of the company’s publishing assets, inherited when Seven West media was rolled into SCA.
These are Western Australian based news titles, including The West Australian, The Sunday Times, community newspapers, state regional titles and the Nightly.
The assets are reportedly on sale for the right price.
The company in February posted its first combined post-merger results, for both television and audio, with total revenue down 1.5% to $1.008 billion in the half year to December.
Television revenue was down 2.1% to $712 million while audio was up 3.2% to $216.5 million.
No dividends were declared, with the company focused on debt reduction.
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