Annette Sharp: Leading candidates vying for the top job at Nine
Three “outsiders” are said to be the leading choices for the top job at media company Nine. Annette Sharp reveals the executives competing for the CEO post following Hugh Marks’ resignation.
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Departing CEO of Endemol Shine Australia, Carl Fennessy, and former SBS boss Michael Ebeid have, say industry stalwarts, emerged as leading candidates for the top job at media company Nine.
The two executives are considered the pick of a tight field which is said to also include Foxtel’s chief commercial and content officer Amanda Laing who from 2015 to 2017 was managing director of Nine and close to then CEO David Gyngell.
The emergence of these three outsiders could displace internal contenders Mike Sneesby, CEO of Stan, and Chris Janz, Nine’s chief digital and publishing officer. Both men are understood to have declared their interest in the CEO post following the resignation of Marks in November after it emerged he was in a relationship with direct report Alexi Baker who left the company the month prior.
Last week media sources said Sneesby and Janz are a chance of quitting if they are overlooked for the CEO job.
According to one source: “Sneesby and Janz have said they’ll resign if they are overlooked. Both believe they are the leading candidate.”
If either executive did leave, it would further dilute Nine’s executive ranks following the back-to-back departures of Baker, Nine’s director of commercial, and her partner Marks. Fennessy would bring a strong production pedigree to the role.
Prior to running Endemol Shine Australia with brother Mark for a decade, Fennessy was CEO of Shine America.
Endemol Shine produce a slate of top-rating television programs including MasterChef, Australian Survivor, Married At First Sight, Big Brother, Lego Masters and Gogglebox — half of which are broadcast on Nine.
Prior to running that company, Fennessy was chief operating officer at FremantleMedia Australia (2005-2009).
Before that he was managing director of independent television production company Crackerjack (1993-2004), a business acquired by Fremantle in 2003.
It is Ebeid, however, who is seen as having the greatest management experience, although not in commercial media.
Ebeid, who stepped down as Telstra group executive at the end of 2020 after two years in the position, was for seven years the CEO and managing director of public broadcaster SBS, a role which saw him preside over both television and radio assets.
Ebeid is currently also rumoured to be in talks to replace departed Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate, however, and may get a better offer.
Laing, who was instrumental in helping Nine negotiate the NRL broadcast rights in 2015 — one of Nine’s oldest and most valuable sporting affiliations, though tested during the pandemic, was at one time tipped to succeed former Nine CEO David Gyngell.
That position went to Marks instead in 2015 and 18 months later, in May 2017, Laing’s resignation from Nine — without a job to go to — sent shockwaves through the industry.
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Originally published as Annette Sharp: Leading candidates vying for the top job at Nine
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