Stop the music and fill the empty chairs

Illustration: Rod Clement.

It lacks the drama of commercial television’s No 1 network Seven, but there’s a bit going on behind the scenes of our public broadcasters.

Among other summer projects, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield and his predecessor in that role, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are on the search for a new ABC chair and another two Aunty board members.

They are also after directors for rival public broadcaster SBS, where Bulent Hass Dellal remains the acting chairman more than 10 months after the shock resignation of Nihal Gupta, who was controversially appointed to the role by Tony Abbott. As well as a chair, SBS needs two more directors.

James Spigelman. Picture: Kym Smith

Former Westpac chairman Ted Evans is leading the nomination panel, whose remit was formally expanded last week as the government thanked ABC chairman James Spigelman for his service, underlining the fact that the former NSW Supreme Court justice’s reign comes to an end on March 31, 2017.

Evans has handed in a shortlist of candidates for both the ABC and SBS boards. Now they’re working on a list for the prestigious role of ABC chair.

Turnbull and Fifield will draw from the Evans list, and no doubt add a few of their own, as they look to fill the positions in the new year.

The current ABC board includes former Seven CFO Peter Le

wis, and investment banker and chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia Simon “Don” Mordant, who were both involved in the decision to appoint managing director Michelle Guthrie and would each likely be considered, along with external candidates, to replace Spigelman.

One person we have learned is on the shortlist to join the ABC board is Marina Go, the former Bauer media executive and, for her sins, chair of the Wests Tigers rugby league club.

Marina Go. Picture: James Croucher

To make it a trio of media vacancies waiting for the nod of Fifield and Turnbull, a new chair for the Australian Communications and Media Authority is still to be appointed. The broadcast regulator is also still to learn what will become of it following the review into its effectiveness in the new media world.

Mr Bean — that is, Richard Bean — remains the acting ACMA chair, almost a year after his long-serving predecessor Chris Chapman left the gig.

So, a few spots to fill.

King exits Sundance

The 72-year-old former boss of Leighton Holdings Wal King had his director duties trimmed yesterday, as he stood down from the board of struggling iron ore business Sundance Resources.

Wal King.

Until yesterday, King had been the chairman of the outfit — although not a particularly popular one.

Less than a month ago, King received a 22.41 per cent vote against his re-election at the Sundance AGM. That was mostly due to unhappiness with King from Sundance’s biggest shareholder, China’s controversial Hanlong Group.

Replacing King on the board is Perth geologist David Porter, who as it happens picked up most of his shares in Sundance through two legal actions against the company. Whatever it takes.

King remains a member of chairman David Gonski’s Coca-Cola Amatil board. Indeed, February will mark the 15th anniversary of King’s appointment. We won’t be surprised if that also comes to an end in the new year.

Petty boost for Covata

Meanwhile, former Hills boss Ted Petty was yesterday made the CEO of cyber security firm Covata. He starts on January 23.

The stock price in the tiddler shot up 23.7 per cent to 12c. Although, for perspective, Covata is worth $61.8 million.

The announcement said Petty — formerly a black skivvy wearing tech executive at Telstra — is currently a “senior adviser at a major international investment bank” but, oddly, didn’t mention the bank. To be clear, that bank is Nicholas Moore’s Macquarie. You’d almost think they were embarrassed after that omission.

It was a good end to what has otherwise been an ordinary year for listed data security business. Even with the Petty bump, the stock is down more than 60 per cent over the past year.

NAB opts for stability

And over at the turbulent corporate affairs department of Andrew Thorburn’s NAB there was a rare episode of stability to close the year.

NAB chief Andrew Thorburn. Picture: Stephen Cooper

Former Cairns Post editor Mark Alexander has been made the general manager of the bank’s corporate communications. He had been acting in the role.

The search continues for a replacement for Paula Benson, the better half of former Labor senator Stephen Conroy, whose short stint running the whole of the bank’s corporate affairs division ended in March. An appointment is expected a few months into the new year.

Hugh’s regeneration

As of last Sunday, life’s looking relatively sweet for Nine boss Hugh Marks.

Sure, his first year at the helm of the Nine Network saw plunging ratings and revenues as well as the now infamous 60 Minutes kidnapping disaster in Beirut.

But things could be worse. Just ask Seven West Media chief Tim “Whoopsy” Worner.

Still, the pressure will be back on Marks quickly if he can’t turn around Nine’s programming schedule in 2017.

To that end, we hear he is close to confirming a new addition to the Nine line-up with a resurrection of Shaun Micallef’s hugely popular quiz show Talkin’ ’Bout Your Generation.

Shaun Micallef in MTC’s ‘The Odd Couple’.

Nothing is signed yet. And we gather fans of the show might have to wait until 2018 for it to fit into the Nine schedule.

The show — which raised the stars of regular guests Josh Thomas and Charlie Pickering — ran for four seasons on Nine’s free-to-air rival Network Ten from 2009.

The new series is being shopped around by ITV Studios Australia, which is run by David Mott, the former Ten head of programming that commissioned the original. Mott is also the former managing director of Nine’s Perth station.

Sources said Micallef would likely host the new show, although he had yet to be locked in.

Genuine sick leave

In yesterday’s column we mentioned an exodus of staff on the western front of Kerry Stokes’s under-siege Seven West Media empire.

A quick update. We wrote that the boss of Channel Seven in Perth, Mario D’Orazio, is “believed to be on extended sick leave”.

To be clear, that’s not a euphemism. D’Orazio has been absent from Osborne Park while he recovers from cancer treatment.

And in good news, we’re told he’s making a great recovery and will be back at work in 2017. We wish him all the best.

Now for the beach

And that’s a wrap from us at Margin Call. Merry Christmas to the lot of you. Now it’s off to the beach for the both of us. See you in the new year.