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Nine
Entertainment Company
PBL
Media
Profiles
David
Gyngell Network
Nine Australia NineMSN
ACP
Magazines Ticketek
Consolidated
Media Holdings Limited Crown
Casino
Website
PBL
Media
News
PBL
Media gets Nine makeover - 2nd December 2010
PBL
Media has been rebranded as Nine Entertainment Co
in a move that continues the transformation of the
media giant under new chief executive David Gyngell.
The
renaming comes ahead of a public float of the company,
which owns the Nine Network, ACP Magazines and several
digital businesses including half of ninemsn.
The
timing of the float has not been publically revealed.
Mr
Gyngell said the renaming was driven by public and
retail recognition of the Nine brand.
"The
logical choice, given that we also have ninemsn, is
'Nine Entertainment'," he said.
"'Entertainment'
is quite an obvious word I decided to go with because
I want to entertain as many people as I possibly can,
and it's also to stimulate the most creative people
to work in our organisation," he said.
The
renaming was also a transition from the Packer family
legacy. Frank Packer founded print publisher Consolidated
Press in the 1930s, which went on to merge with the
Nine Network as PBL under his son Kerry Packer 60
years later.
Mr
Gyngell described the Packer family as "one of
the most successful families" in Australian history,
but said it was time to move on.
"James
and Kerry Packer made this company what it is, and
they were really the brand — they are no longer
the shareholders," he said. "I think we
need to define our own brand with our own shareholders
and Nine is the most logical choice."
Mr
Gyngell took the top job at PBL Media in early November
and in the weeks since then has made several key appointments,
including Jeff Browne as managing director of the
Nine Network and Phil Scott as managing director of
ACP Magazines.
Mr
Gyngell, whose father Bruce was an on-air television
pioneer and chief executive, said the naming did not
favour one part of the business above another.
"Clearly
I'm a television beast, I love television and get
great enjoyment out of it ... but I'm also a media
executive who loves content and respects the creative
process," he said. (Credit:
NineMSN)
About
Us
PBL
Media, which is managed by PBL Media Holdings Pty
Limited - is Australia’s largest, most diversified
media and entertainment group.
It
is a communication powerhouse delivering a world of
media information and entertainment to millions of
Australians.
Its
assets include the Nine Network Australia, NBN Television,
Australian News Channel, ACP Magazines, majority interests
in carsales.com, a 50% interest in ninemsn, an interest
in Mathletics and entertainment entities, Ticketek
and the Acer Arena.
Our
free-to-air television broadcaster, the Nine Network
Australia, reaches over 11.4 million Australians every
week and 82% of the total viewing audience. When it
comes to news, sport, entertainment and major events,
viewers tune in to the Nine Network in Australia.
NBN
Television is Australia's highest rating television
network. It commenced broadcasting to the Newcastle
and Hunter Valley region in 1962. NBN's market stretches
from Central Coast in the south to the Gold Coast,
Queensland in the north and west to Moree and Narrabri.
This market has a population of 1.9 million people,
and is the fourth largest television market in Australia,
behind Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Australian News Channel owns and operates Sky News
in Australia and New Zealand. It is a leading, multi-platform
24-hour news supplier. Sky News is available in more
than 2.5 million homes and locations across Australia
and New Zealand on Pay TV. Sky News produces a variety
of programmes, including Agenda, EcoReport, Sportsline
and Sky Business Report.
ACP
Magazines is Australia’s largest magazine publisher,
reaching over 15 million Australians each year. With
leading magazine titles in almost every category,
ACP Magazines sells over three magazines every second.
Some of the major brands include The Australian Women’s
Weekly, Woman’s Day, Harper’s BAZAAR, Cosmopolitan,
Belle, Men’s Style, Ralph, Take 5, TV Week and
Australian House & Garden.
ACP
Media is a subsidiary of ACP Magazines Limited and
is New Zealand's leading magazine publisher with some
of the country's most popular magazines, including
Woman's Day, The Australian Women's Weekly, Next,
Taste and iconic titles such as Metro and North &
South.
ACP
Magazines’ Trader Group includes Auto Trader,
Deals On Wheels, Motorcycle Trader & News, Trade-A-Boat
and Buy Sell & Exchange.
Ticketek
is the leading ticketing company for the live entertainment
industries in Australia and New Zealand. With a focus
on superior service, innovative products and market-leading
technology, Ticketek sells some 12 million tickets
to more than 13,000 events each year.
Acer
Arena is the largest indoor live entertainment and
sporting arena in Australia. One of the major venues
for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games,
the $200 million complex was designed and constructed
to set new benchmarks in urban design, access for
people with disabilities, spectator comfort, operation
efficiency and Olympic serviceability.
carsales.com
is Australia’s number one automotive website,
delivering more than 500,000 vehicle searches a day.
The carsales.com network is the clear market leader
in automotive, construction and equipment, marine
and motorcycle classifieds.
ninemsn
is the number one online media company reaching over
7.9 million Australian’s every month and capturing
over 73% of Australia’s online audience.
mathletics.com.au
is an mathematical educational website that allows
students to create their own online identity to compete
against other children from Australia and around the
world. Since launching in 2005, the subscriber-driven
Mathletics site has been used by more than 400,000
students mostly in Australia and New Zealand with
more than 30,000 people accessing the site every day.
PBL
Media was formed in October 2006 as a 50:50 joint
venture between the then Publishing and Broadcasting
Limited and private equity fund managers CVC Asia
Pacific Limited.
In
September 2007, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited
split its businesses into two publicly listed companies:
a gaming company, Crown, and a media company, Consolidated
Media Holdings.
Following
the split, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited transferred
its 50% ownership of PBL Media to Consolidated Media
Holdings (CMH). Credit:
PBL Media
Channel
Nine chief David Gyngell and wife and reporter Leila
McKinnon
News
Australia
Casino Wars Examined, by Greg Tingle - November 2010
Punters,
entertainment and media news junkies, casino and media
millionaires and billionaires, and one and all. With
all the talk of the Australian media wars, we thought
we would explain a little more about what they are
today.
The
main "war" at the moment concerns the Australian
television landscape, with James Packer buying up
big in Network Ten shares. Some insiders say Packer's
but into Ten has more to do with online gaming and
gambling than one might otherwise think. Packer historically
was much closer aligned with Network Nine Australia,
of which his late father owned and run, and where
his long time mate and associate, David Gyngell works.
Media Man http://www.AustralianSportsEntertainment.com
and Gambling911
offer up the latest on Packer VS Gyngell, and much
much more on the famed 'Australian Media Wars'...incoming!
In
simply terms the Australian mainstream news media
landscape consists of the following mains groups:
Television,
print (newspapers and magazines), radio, new media,
internet / new media, and the "what will they
think of next"? / others sector.
In
this feature we will mainly focus on television (commercial
TV), to a lesser extent pay TV (Foxtel, Fox Sports
- Premier Media Group etc), and the internet, which
is part of the convergent media sector. Media Man
is more a convergent media company, having a number
of website portals (but not owning a TV station, radio
station or print publication) to help give you an
idea.
David
Gyngell, Packer Mate And Rival Running Things At Network
Nine and PBL Media
Gyngell's
rise from the Network Nine Network to running its
parent, PBL Media, tells us a few telling lessons.
He's extremely well-regarded by its owners (private
equity firm CVC especially, which is understood to
be looking to float the company on the stock market,
but that date is speculation. It confirms that he's
not going to be poached to run Network Ten once the
share raid on its share register has settled. It once
again is a wake up call for everyone what a turbulent
media world is in Australia.
Gyngell
is a long time friend of Packer. Packer used to be
his boss at Nine but now holds 18% of Network Ten,
and a half share of Consolidated Media, alongside
Kerry Stokes' Seven Media Group, which has a quarter.
ConsMedia has a small stake in PBL Media, a quarter
stake in Foxtel and half of Fox Sports, as does Packer's
other business mate, Lachlan Murdoch, in his capacity
as a director of News Corp, which also just happens
to own one of this down unders' 2 major newspaper
groups. Murdoch's private company holds 9% of Prime
television, and he is now its deputy chairman, and
half of Nova's holding company, DMG Radio. As well
as his responsibilities in running Nine, as chief
of PBL Media, Gyngell also runs NBN Television, ACP
Magazines and has a say in NineMSN, Ticketek and Sky
News...which is a joint venture between PBL, Seven
and British Sky Broadcasting, which is controlled
by ... News Corp, now making a bid for full ownership.
Are
you following?
Should
Murdoch buy half of Packer's stake in Ten, its register
will be dominated by a trio of two billionaire media
moguls...Packer and Win Television's Bruce Gordon...and
the son of one. Gyngell's elevation also shows us
how competitive commercial television might be next
year. Cricket tests - 20 / 20s, football codes and
Aussie drama are just some of what's on the Aussie
TV menu. PBL chief executive Tim Parker, who's also
a partner at its private equity owner CVC, thinks
Gyngell is the man to take the moguls on! Last night's
statement said: "We are thrilled to have the
best media executive in the country to lead the business.
The
Nine Network, including Channel Nine and the Go and
GEM multi-channels, are in the ascendancy in an enormously
competitive environment. The performance of Nine is
a credit to David and his team." Television is
about to get even more competitive if Ten's news strategy
weathers the storm of the Packer-Murdoch attack and
it wins at least some of the audience who have traditionally
switched off Ten at 5.59pm once its news is over,
to watch some more on Channels Seven and Nine. With
the departure of current PBL chief executive Ian Law,
Gyngell's elevation is also a reminder of how critical
television is to PBL's performance.
Australian
TV Industry On Fire Thanks To Packer, Murdoch Jr And
Gyngell...
In
the fast paced tech changes affecting how news and
entertainment is delivered to your television, computer
and wireless watsy, there is clearly a threat to the
old way of doing business. But generational change
is also happening now. David Gyngell, 44, now takes
the lead of one of Australia's biggest media concerns,
PBL Media, owner of the Nine Network.
No
longer in the hands of the powerful Packer family,
PBL Media was acquired from 2006 to 2008 by private
equity company CVC Asia Pacific. Its board has elevated
Gyngell to chief exec because it sees him as the best
man to help sell the company to investors in an expected
$5 billion stockmarket float next year. Gyngell's
best mate, James Packer, 43, last month spent $280
million buying an 18% cent stake in Ten and wants
to revamp the network's internet strategy to make
better use of the opportunities emerging. He has been
keen to install Paul Bassat, 42, who co-founded the
successful job search firm Seek. Bassat and his brother,
Andrew, have built a $2.4bn online employment and
education empire in the past decade.
Lachlan
Murdoch, 39, is also eyeing a co-investment in Ten.
The investments are a sure sign of confidence in traditional
media that was not thought of a year back. The changes
are rapid. Packer has said privately to friends he
has been surprised by the success of the new multichannels
Australians can access on their TVs and that have
attracted new advertising. Newspapers, such as The
Australian, are launching across new platforms such
as the iPad and new revenue streams are opening up.
The last great boom of technology in media and communication
companies was in swing a decade ago. How was that
for a bit of a history lesson.
Network
Ten Loves Internet; Visa Versa...
Packer
is thinking about Ten's news and online strategy,
but Ten exec are also considering a strategy when
it comes to the web. The network, which recently inked
a deal to use MCM Entertainment's video platform movideo
to play video on its website, typically divides full-length
programs into 6 parts, which enables it to show an
advertisement, dubbed a pre-roll, before each part.
Yahoo7 and Ninemsn show fewer ads on their full-length
catch-up TV content on their Plus7 and FixPlay services
respectively.
Ten's
chief digital media officer Nick Spooner said movideo
technology would enable the network to experiment
with new ad formats and recommend similar programs
to visitors who have watched a video on the site.
MCM group CEO Tony McGinn said movideo technology
would allow Ten to serve videos across all digital
platforms, including internet-delivered TV, or IPTV.
Ten's
video views were up 31% year on year to 60 million
views of premium content within 12 months, Mr Spooner
said. "It provides a better experience for the
audience in a range of ways," he said. "These
include supporting much closer links to social networking
engagement around our programs.
"From
a client perspective, we currently run pre-roll advertising,
and movideo allows us to trial new advertising formats."
Online
video advertising is a small but burgeoning market
in Australia, estimated at $25 million for the 2010
financial year, although that figure does not include
video-sharing website YouTube. According to eMarketer,
US online advertising revenues will grow at more than
30% a year until at least 2013, when they will be
worth $US4 billion. MCM group CEO Tony McGinn said
the online video platform market was worth about $480
million worldwide. MCM group, which also operates
a music and media syndication business and a digital
design agency, began marketing its video player to
third parties in March, and is now expanding into
Asia. Media Man is part of the wave of new media,
will you be?
Lachlan
Murdoch Prime Media Group Sells Assets...
Prime
Media Group Ltd has sold its non-core outside broadcast
assets amid reports its deputy chairman Lachlan Murdoch
is in talks to buy half of James Packer's new stake
in Ten Network Holdings Ltd. Prime said it had sold
OSB Australia to UK-based Gearhouse Broadcast Pty
Ltd for $8.5 million in cash and $3 million in instalments
between December 2012 and December 2014. OSB Australia
provides outside broadcast facilities and services
for professional sporting events.
Prime
will hold a 15 per cent interest in the merged OSB/Gearhouse
business, which has extended its agreement with Fox
Sports for rugby union coverage through to 2015. "The
sale of OSB Australia continues our program of divesting
non-core assets to re-focus on maximising earnings
from television and radio," Prime chief executive
Ian Audsley said in a statement. Prime in July sold
its New Zealand outside broadcast operator, OSB New
Zealand, to Sky Television Ltd and also announced
the sale of Moonlight Cinema to Amalgamated Holdings
Ltd. Prime will incur a $1 million impairment on the
sale of OSB, but will avoid $13 million of capital
expenditure that is required for OSB Australia.
The
proceeds of the sale will be used by Prime to pay
down debt, which stood at $96 million at the end of
June when the company recorded a $54.5 million full-year
net loss, a widening of its $45.5 million net loss
for the previous financial year. Separately on Thursday,
Fairfax reported Mr Murdoch's company Illyria Pty
Ltd was likely to buy 50 per cent of Mr Packer's 17.88
per cent stake in Ten acquired last week. Mr Packer's
surprise $280 million purchase marked his return to
free-to-air television after years of focusing on
the gambling sector.
The
Fairfax reports, citing "a well-placed Murdoch
source familiar with the discussions", said Mr
Murdoch saw the possible deal as a "turnaround"
story. A price had not been agreed upon, the report
said. Ten declined to comment, while Prime was being
sought for comment.
Comment
was also being sought from Consolidated Media Holdings
Ltd, where Mr Packer is deputy chair. Shares in Prime
closed steady at 65 cents, Ten shares dipped almost
two per cent to $1.50 - the same price Mr Packer paid
for his shares in the broadcaster - and Consolidated
Media shares were two cents softer at $3.35.
James
Packer Media News...
Ten
Network chairman Nick Falloon may be getting ready
to leave as media moguls James Packer and Lachlan
Murdoch join forces on the network and we ponder could
Falloon’s loss end up as Murdoch’s gain?
Meanwhile, BHP Billiton moves to squash talk that
its PotashCorp bid is set to crash and burn in Ottawa.
Elsewhere,
as the political offensive against the ASX-SGX merger
intensifies investors may be losing faith with the
exchange operators and AXA SA seals a heavyweight
China deal with the world’s most valuable lender
ICBC. With Ten Network Holdings reportedly set to
welcome two heavyweight media moguls as its major
shareholders the rumour-mill has gone into overdrive
with reports that James Packer’s planned overhaul
of the network may have claimed its first victim.
Unsurprisingly, the unfortunate victim is reportedly
the network’s executive chairman Nick Falloon.
According
to The Australian, Falloon has agreed to relinquish
his position after a meeting with Packer. Rumblings
that Falloon’s head was on the block took hold
pretty much as soon as Packer pulled of his share
raid last week and The Australian reports that his
departure is yet to be formalised. The news comes
as media scion Lachlan Murdoch looks set to take a
board seat at the network with confirmation that his
Illyria Private Limited was in talks with Packer’s
Prime Capital to buy 50 per cent of its 17.88% stake
in Ten for around $155 million. The deal between the
two moguls is expected to be finalised in a month
or so and interestingly there is talk that Murdoch
will not only push for a board seat but could possibly
be a candidate to become Ten’s chairman.
Packer
has reportedly set his sights on culling Ten’s
planned foray into news and current affairs and return
the focus on the low-cost 16 to 39 demographic. While
the plans seem to have been broadly welcomed by Ten’s
major shareholders there are detractors out there
especially analysts who point out that a return to
youth-friendly programming could actually end up costing
the network more money and with the inception of multi-channel
offerings from Seven and Nine cutting into the market
the new approach may not be as successful as first
thought.
Either
way its great reading for the the Gambling911 and
Media Man loyal following. All we can say is don't
bet against Packer.
Wrap
Up...
Readers...
er, punters, how did you like our special Australian
Media Wars Explained feature? Tell us in the forum.
If
you have a bet, please bet with your head, not over
it, and for God's sake, have fun.
*Greg
Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media
Man http://www.AustralianSportsEntertainment.com
is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal
development company. They cover a dozen industry sectors
including gaming and offer political commentary and
analysis.
Australian
Casino Wars: The Art Of War, by Greg Tingle -
5th November 2010
Network
Ten Nick Falloon No Fool; Likely To Dodge Board Of
Directors Execution...
Network
Ten executive chairman Nick 'No Fool' Falloon will
avoid standing up for re-election at December's AGM.
That
move is tipped to be a talking point for his new major
shareholder James Packer, and friend and associate,
Lachlan Murdoch.
Falloon
should ordinarily be required to resign his possy
and offer up his head for re-election following the
expiry this year of his 3-year term as executive chairman,
but his appointment late last year as MD means he
will not need to stand. Are you still with us?
Under
the ASX listing rules, the MD of a listed company
such as Ten Network Holdings is exempt from rules
requiring directors to be up for re-election at the
annual meeting every 3 years.
The
appointment will essentially stop Packer and his soon-to-be
fellow Ten investor, Lachlan 'Lucky Money' Murdoch,
from seeking to have 'No Fool' Falloon voted off the
Ten board at the AGM next month.
Fellow
shareholders, namely Perpetual and WIN TV owner Bruce
'Grinning' Gordon were expected to strongly support
the push. If need be, push will become shove, but
the extra force shouldn't be required.
In
a series of meetings last week 'Our James' is understood
to have requested for Falloon's immediate resignation!
Falloon agreed to step aside, bust asked for a further
14 months in the role. Perhaps he's just after a few
more fat pay days... aren't we all.
Ten
confirmed last Monday that Falloon had agreed to transfer
to a non-executive role before Packer's cunning chess
move last month to spend $280 million to buy an 18%
stake in the hot youth orientated network.
Packer
and Murdoch are now expected to question why Falloon
can retain the title of managing director after shifting
more than 2 years back to a part-time role, a move
that cut his base salary from $2.2m to only $1.1m.
You've go to feel sorry for him (Not, as comedy creation
Borat would say).
Group
general counsel... legal eagle Stephen Partington
confirmed that, in recent correspondence with shareholder
activist Stephen 'Crikey' Mayne, Network Ten had made
(good) use of the existing listing rule exemption.
Readers,
we hope you're still with us in our describing of
the complex 'Art Of War' tactics here.
"Following
the exit of Canwest from the Ten register late last
year, Nick Falloon was appointed to the role of managing
director of Ten," Partington documented.
"Mr
Falloon was originally appointed to Ten in the roles
of executive chairman and chief executive and continues
to hold these positions. On this basis and in accordance
with the company's constitution and the ASX listing
rules, Mr Falloon is now no longer required to retire
by rotation."
A
Network Ten spokeswoman declined to comment further.
Numerous
insiders agree that the change could benefit the Ten
board in the battle with Murdoch and Packer if the
board wanted to retain Falloon.
A
Media Man spokesperson said "While these maters
of the Australian media wars are complex, especially
pertaining to the changes afoot at Network Ten, Fallon
is no fool, nor are Murdoch, Packer or Nine's Gyngell.
All smart and cashed up smart cookies indeed. The
media's love affair with covering media continues,
and we're guilty of that also, and the global readership
is just loving it and lapping up every move of the
chess board. Art of war media style at its best".
The
media movements have generated extra interest to potential
investors and Media Man and other convergent media
companies are tipped to buy into the the situation
in more ways than one ala share portfolio expansions,
adding yet more fuel to the fire that is the Australian
media wars.
Ten Network Chairman Nick Falloon To Resign!...
Ten
chairman Nick Falloon has surrendered to considerable
pressure to leave the firm, advising he will go in
order to make way for billionaires James Packer and
Lachlan Murdoch.
The
company yesterday said Falloon had agreed to resign
from Ten after the AGM next month if his departure
"would assist in the resolution of the outstanding
issues" between the company, Packer and Murdoch.
A
deep throat leaked Packer and Murdoch were still trying
to obtain a 3rd board position, but did indicate they
were "prepared to negotiate."
The
Packer - Murdoch 'dream team' have been offered 2
seats on the board but are seeking a 3rd, understood
to be for Seek chief exec Paul 'Ballsy' (MM) Bassat.
The
leak also shrugged off rife speculation that Murdoch
wanted to snatch Falloon's chairmanship.
Packer
and Murdoch have been in negotiations with the network
since the beginning of the working week.
Falloon's
offer to leave Ten came days after he said he was
prepared to shift into a non-exec role...reports stating
he would fight for his life to remain at the company
he had helped successfully run since 2002.
Ten
confirmed on Monday that it had offered the dynamic
duo 2 board positions following speculation Packer
was preparing to offer his friend, and sometime business
partner, Murdoch half his 18% stake in the company.
Crown
Casino 'King Of The Castle' Packer made a cunning
grab on Network Ten last month when he bought 18%
of Ten's stock to become the largest shareholder at
an investment of a cool $280 million, pocket change
to Packer.
He
has yet to speak publicly to reveal his strategy for
buying into the company, but various media commentators
including Media Man say it's part of his master plan
to make a huge splash into online gaming and gambling,
adding to his Betfair business. A convergent media
aspect is understood to be on the whiteboard for gaming
linking Packer media businesses to Packer and affiliate
- partners online gambling products, and Packer and
co are understood to have been watching the tactics
of PartyGaming, bwin, Virgin Games, Aspers, William
Hill, Paddy Power, Centrebet and others.
Ten
advised discussions were continuing but no final agreement
had been reached.
"In
discussions to date, Ten Holdings has offered Messrs
Packer and Murdoch the opportunity to take up two
directorships on the basis that the company's board
would be expanded to 10 directors," Ten said.
"The
offer of two directorships to Messrs Packer and Murdoch
is contingent upon their agreement that the company
put in place appropriate board protocols."
Network
Ten shares closed at $1.46.
They
traded as high as $1.59 last month followings Packer's
share-buying raid which generated massive world wide
headlines and sent the industry into a spin.
Insiders
agree that thus far the latest venture between Packer
and Murdoch looks to be a 'dream team' pairing, unlike
their previous business deal with a telco start-up
that proved to be disastrous for the duo. Both have
appeared to have learnt their lessons well, and are
on top of the media world at the moment.
Wrap
Up...
Readers...
er, punters, how did you like our latest on the Australian
Media Wars? Is it all part of Packer's online gambling
master plan? Tell us in the forum.
If
you have a bet, please bet with your head, not over
it, and for God's sake, have fun.
Profile
David
Gyngell (b. 1966) is the C.E.O of Australian commercial
broadcasting network Channel Nine.
He
is currently serving his second stint as C.E.O after
resigning from the job in May 2005. After a period
of declining ratings compared to Channel Seven, He
returned to the job in October 2007.
Gyngell
is the son of Australian television pioneer Bruce
Gyngell, the Godson of Kerry Packer, the best man
of James Packer and the husband of Leila McKinnon.
(Credit:
Wikipedia).
Article
Strong
local content, by John elder and Tom Reilly - 5th
October 2008
(The
Sunday Age)
Article
Gyngell
gets another Nine life, by Amanda Meade - 26th September
2007
(Credit:
The Australian)
James
Packer's best friend and best man, David Gyngell,
will rejoin the Nine Network as chief executive next
month - two years after quitting what he described
as an "untenable" position.
Mr
Gyngell has been lured back to Nine from his job in
the US by PBL Media chief executive Ian Law, after
months of negotiations that began when the two caught
up with each other at Mr Packer's wedding in the south
of France in June.
Nine
executive director Jeff Browne will remain at the
network, but will report to Mr Gyngell and will relocate
to Melbourne, where he will take on the role of managing
director of GTV 9 as well.
The
Australian understands the PBL Media board has promised
MrGyngell a free hand to run the network without the
interference he faced under the previous management
structure at Nine.
"I
am under no illusion as to the magnitude of the task,
because our opposition at Seven are very good at what
they do," Mr Gyngell told The Australian yesterday.
"But I'm coming back to win. You can't be in
this game if you aren't in it to win. It will take
time, but my aim is to take Nine back to its former
pre-eminence."
It
will be Mr Gyngell's second term as chief executive,
having been appointed by the late Kerry Packer in
2004. But less than a year into the job he quit in
April 2005, citing constant meddling from PBL management.
Former Nine chief Sam Chisholm and then Publishing
and Broadcasting Ltd chief executive John Alexander
were the main problem.
"I
reached the determination that I was simply not prepared
to allow my position to be rendered untenable by what
I regard as increasingly unhelpful and multi-layered
management systems developing between Nine and PBL,"
he said at the time. "Without the absolutely
and unmistakably clear mandate required by all CEOs
to properly run any major business, I believed it
was in my best interests to move on."
At
the time, Nine was wholly owned by the publicly listed
PBL, which was controlled by the Packer family's private
company, creating several layers of management.
PBL has since sold 75 per cent of its stake in PBL
Media, the owner of Nine, to the private equity firm
CVC Asia Pacific.
Nine
has endured serious management turmoil, with Mr Gyngell
the latest in a string of recent chief executives,
including entertainer and businessman Eddie McGuire,
who stepped down in May after just 15 months. Its
internal ructions have helped Seven beat it in the
ratings.
Mr
Gyngell believes he can manage Nine properly now that
it has been restructured. In January last year, Mr
Gyngell flew to Los Angeles as head of British television
giant Granada's US operations.
Mr
Gyngell was a popular boss. When he quit Nine, personalities
appeared on screen dressed in black, including Tracy
Grimshaw, Mr Gyngell's wife and Today newsreader Leila
McKinnon, weatherman Steve Jacobs, Sunday host Ray
Martin and reporters Kellie Connolly and Christine
Spiteri.
Mr
Law said in a statement that the appointment was a
critical step in the continuing process of accelerating
Nine to a position of market leadership.
In
a statement, Mr Gyngell said: "This network has
been my passion. Everyone who knows me knows that.
In the last few years, my time running Granada Television
in North America has broadened my experience and made
me a better television executive.
"It
is a great time to return home to Nine."
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