Nine bosses' salaries are soaring

JAMES Packer's struggling Channel 9 may be plunging in the ratings but its 2007 annual financial report shows that more of its executives than ever from the media side of the business are receiving huge pay packets.

JAMES Packer's struggling Channel 9 may be plunging in the ratings but its 2007 annual financial report shows that more of its executives than ever from the media side of the business are receiving huge pay packets.

The report shows that no fewer than eight executives who cut their teeth in media are each making well over $1 million a year -- including CEO John Alexander, PBL Media boss Ian Law, former Nine CEO and now on-air identity Eddie McGuire, and former Nine executive director and GTV-9 head Jeff Browne -- as part of a total senior executive remuneration bill for PBL of more than $35 million.

The list of millionaire beneficiaries also includes legendary former Nine Network head Sam Chisholm, whom the accounts reveal received termination benefits of $1 million to add to almost $700,000 in salary that he received for less than four months' work between July 1, 2006, and the end of his employment by PBL in mid-October last year.

However, Mr Packer, PBL's executive chairman, followed family tradition by not paying himself any remuneration for services.

The financial report appeared to have been rushed out after the close of trading yesterday, with some PBL sources last night suggesting final approvals for sections of the report were only sought earlier this week.

It has been suggested in some quarters within PBL that the hurry to get the report out might be related to the company's planned demerger, for which Federal Court approval processes have only just started.

Mr Law, the head of PBL Media -- which owns the Nine Network and ACP Magazines -- has been the most significant mover in the PBL payment stakes, reaping a total of $3.9 million for the year.

When he first joined PBL as head of ACP Magazines in May last year, he was paid just $1.35 million a year.

But his elevation to the PBL Media top job in November last year had his base annual salary soar to $2 million -- seeing him reap a total of $1.65 million in salary for the 2007 financial year.

Mr Law also received the highest "STI", or short-term incentive payment, of any executive in the entire PBL group -- $2 million -- because of what the report describes as "the achievement of his KPIs (key performance indicators)."

He also received a total of $224,000 in share-based payments from the group. Mr Law was involved in the multi-billion-dollar transformation of PBL Media from being wholly owned by PBL to controlled by private equity firm CVC.

PBL Media chief financial officer Pat O'Sullivan also received substantial rewards for seeing through the PBL Media transaction, collecting a total of $2.92 million in remuneration for the year, including a $1.5 million STI.

Other key PBL executives achieved more modest rises in remuneration or falls. Mr Alexander and gaming boss Rowen Craigie both recorded falls in total remuneration: Mr Alexander from $7.7 million to $6.7 million, and Mr Craigie from $3.8 million to $3.5 million.

PBL's executive deputy chairman, Chris Anderson, recorded a $200,000 rise in total remuneration to more than $1.4 million, while new media head Martin Dalgleish's total pay packet remained unchanged at $1.1 million.