Media’s top dog Seven West Media loses bark

Illustration: Rod Clement.

Oh the indignity of it all. Kerry Stokes’ Seven is No 1 no more.

Grant Blackley. Picture: Hollie Adams/The Australian

While it’s still leading the three metro commercial television businesses, Seven West Media was yesterday eclipsed by that of radio outfit and regional broadcaster Southern Cross Media, run by former Ten chief Grant Blackley. Ouch!

Disgraced Seven West Media boss Tim Worner says he regrets his affair with former personal assistant Amber Harrison and the hurt he’s caused innocent people.

Since Harrison’s revelations in mid-December Seven shares have fallen 10 per cent so that Stokes’ media empire is now worth $1.11 billion, while Southern Cross yesterday ended trade worth $1.12bn.

But the more Worner talked to analysts and the media yesterday, the more Seven West shares dropped like a stone.

By the end of the stakeholder hook-up, and despite staunch support from his 76-year-old proprietor Stokes and Worner’s afternoon sales job with Sydney investors (next stop on the “business as usual” roadshow is Melbourne), Seven shares were off almost 6 per cent.

Worner might have hit all the talking points, but the market just wasn’t buying the story that Stokes and Co were selling.

Greg Hywood’s Fairfax Media is now worth almost two Sevens at $2.05bn.

Still some way behind is Hugh Marks’ Nine, at $867 million.

But with the sex-expenses-governance scandal still raging and Seven’s My Kitchen Rules trounced in the ratings on Tuesday by Nine’s Married at First Sight, the gap is closing.

All fired up

As flagged in this column yesterday, Stokes popped up at Seven West Media’s highly anticipated half-year results conference call.

Alongside the billionaire in the “communications room” in his Pyrmont headquarters for the call to analysts and media were ­Worner, chief financial officer Warwick Lynch, chief revenue ­officer Kurt Burnette, chief digital officer Clive Dickens, head of Pacific Mags Gereurd Roberts, Seven spinner Simon Francis and hired spinner Tim Allerton, Seven legal mastermind Bruce McWilliam and, lest it be called a Seven sausage-fest, a few women helping out with the sound equipment, running papers around, and presumably, pouring the tea.

Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes. Picture: AAP.

The billionaire proprietor wasn’t in a great mood.

“How dare you!” Stokes bellowed at one point.

What it something we said? Well, as a matter of fact, yes, it was.

The trouble was a question about the departure from the Seven board of corporate governance expert Sheila McGregor.

The Gilbert + Tobin partner McGregor resigned a few weeks ago on the evening before the media company announced that Tim Worner was staying on as Seven CEO — whateverHarrison’s allegations.

There is now only one woman, OneVentures boss Michelle Deaker, on the
nine-person Seven board.

The company’s statement didn’t give any reason for the departure.

McGregor is still to comment on her reasons.

She didn’t answer calls yesterday.

Her office told us yesterday morning that while McGregor was back in Australia — after a skiing trip in Colorado, where Stokes also had been sheltering — she was “in back to back meetings ... all day”.

Stokes’ appearance was an opportunity to clear up the matter.

“The reason remains between her and I,” Stokes told us, clearing nothing up.

It only seemed natural to ask a follow up: had she had been instructed by Stokes or her fellow Seven board members to keep silent on the matter?

“That’s outrageous,” Stokes chided. “Are you seriously suggesting I or my board would tell a director what they can and can’t do? How dare you!”

Clearly it’s a sore spot.

Trophy hunting at Trump’s

Three weeks into the reign of US President Donald Trump, billionaire box maker Anthony Pratt is still coming down from attending the fellow businessman’s inauguration in Washington.

The Visy Industries executive chairman, Pratt loves nothing more than a selfie with a star.

Anthony Pratt with Caitlyn Jenner at Trump's inauguration

His latest trophy is a snap with transgender reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner, who went to the inauguration as a lifelong Republican and advocate for the LGBTI community.

A rare combo.

“Honoured to meet at the inauguration one of the greatest Olympic gold medallists of all time and one of pop culture’s leading heroines,” Pratt posted of his meeting with Jenner, who in 1976 as Bruce won an Olympic gold medal in the men’s decathlon.

The appearance was Jenner doing her bit to bridge the gap between conservatives and the LGBTI community, but it’s controversial.

Other members of Jenner’s family are staunch Democrats, with Kim Kardashian a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton.

What housing crisis?

Things are moving ahead for forgetful Labor MP David Feeney in his efforts towards developing a luxury family abode in Northcote in the heart of his electorate of Batman.

David Feeney with his wife, Liberty Sanger. Picture: David Crosling

Before Christmas, Feeney and his Maurice Blackburn lawyer wife Liberty Sanger pushed over the home (which Feeney famously forgot he owned and omitted from his register of interests) towards a brand new build.

While the development is underway, the Feeneys are renting down the road, having late last year moved into Batman from their luxury $3 million high-rise apartment in East Melbourne (a hike from Batman).

So how is Feeney — who had a close call at last year’s federal election in the wake of his forgetfulness — funding the new build, which will feature city skyline views and is believed to include a lap pool?

It seems when it comes to bricks and mortar the Labor man is a canny investor.

Just before Christmas, he and Sanger flogged another investment property they owned in Seddon, which they bought for $380,000 from the now bankrupt, disgraced and former health union boss Kathy Jackson.

Notably, and to complete the Labor circle of trust, the sale docos were witnessed by Debbie Beale, who was then married to the now opposition leader Bill Shorten.

Beale is the daughter of former Liberal MP Julian Beale, now 82. Shorten has since married Chloe Bryce, the daughter of former Governor-General Quentin Bryce.

Back to Feeney.

He’s managed to flog the ramshackle cottage on Station Road for just a whisker shy of $1m. All the better to spruik Labor’s policy to axe negative gearing.

Primary surprise

Over the weekend we noted that Primary Health Care’s results on Friday would rival Seven West Media in the unusual “business as usual” stakes.

As it happened, listed healthcare business Primary ended up rivalling them on the same day.

In an abrupt decision with almost no notice, Primary brought the result forward two days.

The company says that’s because, on Tuesday night, chairman R ob Ferguson’s board was told about a change in the company’s forecast for the second half of the year. It was disclosure laws wot did it.

Primary Health Care chief executive Peter Gregg. Picture: AAP.

Investors were unimpressed with the surprise and dumped the stock, which tumbled 11.9 per cent to close at $3.41.

The unusual bit was meant to be their delivery by Peter Gregg, who resigned from the company last month when Greg Medcraft’s corporate regulator ASIC took legal action against him over alleged falsification of company documents in 2011 when he was an executive at construction giant Leighton Holdings.

Gregg’s exit, already inglorious before yesterday’s downgrade, will be effective as soon as chairman Ferguson, his board and global recruitment firm Egon Zehnder find a replacement.

Investors will hope there are no more nasty surprises before then.