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Shaun Brown delays retirement from SBS

SBS Managing Director Shaun Brown delays his retirement by an extra 3 months, staying on the job until July 2011.

SBS Managing Director Shaun Brown has agreed to delay his retirement plans by 3 months at Board request to oversee the initial phase of a new strategic plan, the public broadcaster announced today.

“The Board is delighted that Shaun has agreed to extend his contract into the next financial year,” the SBS Chairman, Joe Skrzynski said.

“He has made a most valuable contribution in leading the organisation through what has been a very complex and difficult strategic review process. Delaying his departure will ensure effective implementation of any changes decided upon without the organisation losing momentum, as well as seeing through the business plan for this financial year.”

Brown, who was appointed to the role in 2006 was due to retire in April 2011. He will now stay on until 8 July, 2011.

Skrzynski said the search for a new Managing Director would be held on a world-wide basis and the Board would begin discussing its recruitment plans in the near future.

6 Responses

  1. It’s time to have a calm and sensible debate about merging SBS into the infrastructure of the ABC, and that can’t happen while the architect of the current mess is at the helm. Selling advertising takes up a huge amount of management time and resources at SBS. If they could be liberated from that, and get back to the core business of broadcasting to multi-cultural Australia a lot of unnecessary duplication of overhead activities could stop. More money for programming – less money for empire building. The technology has overtaken the way this service (if we still want it) can be delivered. It’s simple really.

  2. We used to watch a lot of SBS. Now we don’t.
    Not since ads appeared within programs – even during movies!
    Ad breaks are as long as on channel 9, the home of ads with little bits of program chucked in.
    Even the World News is no longer worth watching for actual world news – now featuring the first 10-15 minutes on the coming election, with mostly opinion instead of actual news.
    Congratulations Mr Brown.
    Can’t wait for you to go.

  3. Although it may not be fair to compare SBS to a commercial network, it is clear that it has lost its way. Since Brown has been at the helm SBS has attempted to get more viewers by showing programmes that have more popular appeal and pushing non-English language shows out of prime time, all of which undermines the very reason for SBS’s existence. This strategy has been an abject failure as SBS has managed to alienate many of its traditional viewers (those of non-English speaking background and those with more intellectual and artistic interests) who now look to the ABC first for good content and at the same time been unsuccessful in gaining a large number of new viewers.

    The way things are now, it may well be best to simply merge SBS into the ABC. Although there have been concerns in the past about this may threaten SBS’s unique multicultural identity, it could actually provide a better service. An idea of how this could work:
    -End of advertisements on SBS.
    -SBS Radio remains a distinct entity within ABC and continues exactly as it does now.
    -SBS TV – two channels within ABC delivering similar content to what SBS once did – foreign news, foreign language movies and drama, documentaries, sports (football, cycling, etc.). Some English language programmes could be moved to other ABC channels.
    -SBS News – continues to produce distinct bulletin with own presenters, but integrated with ABC News. Sharing resources would allow international correspondents in more locations, providing better world news coverage for Australians. SBS News could also contribute to ABC News 24.

    By removing the need to rely on advertising revenue and sharing resources with the ABC, it is likely SBS would not be weakened, but would finally be free again to provide the service it was intended to deliver.

  4. Newtaste, I know what you’re attempting to say, & I kinda agree in parts. But SBS has always been the lowest rated network since it started in 1980. Not appealing to the masses doesn’t mean it’s “lost its way.” I lot of people say the same thing now simply because they air programs like Man Vs Wild (which is a little unfair).

    Anyway, expect the Brown-bashers to come out again with this news…

  5. SBS has seriously lost it’s way, with the combined SBS1 & SBS2 now sometimes rating below GO! and 7TWO. The place is mess. Something needs to happen, and if it takes Government intervention, so be it.

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