Adman John Singleton is gambling on becoming Australia's next media tycoon.

In the next few months, the larger-than-life advertising man John Singleton will take the first steps towards owning a television channel and a national radio network. Supported by Sir Richard Branson and the advertising magnate Sir Martin Sorrell, Singleton says he has financing in place to raise up to $1 billion. Singleton is the most visible face of Australian advertising, a one-man brand name behind a string of deals in the communications industry, most notably the dramatic poaching of radio announcer Alan Jones to his Sydney 2GB station in a $40-million deal in 2002.