Amanda Laing, Euan Smith to guide Fox Sports, Foxtel merger

Former Nine Entertainment managing director Amanda Laing and Sky executive Euan Smith have signed on with Foxtel.

Amanda Laing negotiated Nine’s NRL broadcast rights deal. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Former Nine Entertainment managing director Amanda Laing and Sky executive Euan Smith have signed on with Foxtel to help the subscription TV operator through the merger with Fox Sports.

Laing and Smith are consulting with the company as it combines Australia’s biggest pay-TV broadcaster with the country’s top sports programmer.

Laing is a highly regarded executive who left Nine last year after negotiating deals for the broadcaster including its NRL broadcast rights agreement. At Foxtel, she has been working with chief executive Patrick Delany since last month.

She shifted into the role after working with Telstra for five months as a consultant on the Foxtel merger. Foxtel is 65 per cent owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian. Telstra holds the balance.

Laing is said to be providing legal and operational expertise to Foxtel, which holds contracts with Hollywood studios, production houses and sports rights holders. Foxtel recently secured Cricket Australia’s broadcast rights as part of a $1.182 billion deal in partnership with Seven West Media.

Smith joins Foxtel after playing a key role in cable and satellite broadcaster Sky Deutschland’s turnaround. After becoming a subscription-TV leader in Germany, Sky Deutschland was acquired by British broadcaster Sky as part of a wider deal involving Sky Italia.

Smith is working on the product and operations side of Foxtel as Delany pursues plans to launch streaming services later this year.

The merger of Foxtel and Fox Sports has created a company with combined estimated annual revenues of $3.4bn and earnings of about $917m on the back of 2.8 million subscribers.

The Foxtel merger comes amid a round of industry consolidation as big media companies eye attractive assets to gain greater scale in content and distribution. Recent deals include Disney’s takeover of parts of 21st Century Fox in a $US52.4bn deal. Fox controls Sky and movie studio 20th Century Fox.

Completion of the Foxtel deal triggered a series of appointments including News Corp head of broadcast Siobhan McKenna as chairwoman of Foxtel and Fox Sports. News Corp corporate affairs, policy and ­government relations teams are now under the single leadership of Campbell Reid, ­director of corporate affairs and editorial management.