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Would a regional affiliate be Gyngell’s “last corporate deal?”

More speculation on David Gyngell's future and whether a regional broadcaster is still on the To Do list.

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More speculation on David Gyngell’s future in media articles today, amid suggestions he may give notice to Nine in November.

Fairfax speculates further that he may step away from day to day management, but potentially retain a seat on the Board.

It discusses some of his achievements and gives him a tick for the company balance sheet:

At Nine, Gyngell has been the force behind the view that big important sport programming matters and is worth the investment. Not all Nine shareholders will share his views – the media-analyst community was divided on whether it overpaid.

He is also a staunch believer that Nine needs to differentiate itself by committing big dollars to news and current affairs – an area where Network Ten has cuts costs in recent years.

If Gyngell’s reign at Nine is coming to an end, there are questions over its future direction with which investors will need to grapple.

If Gyngell does leave next year, another question investors may ponder is whether his last major corporate deal will be to acquire a regional television affiliate like Southern Cross Broadcasting. This would be contingent on whether the 75 per cent television audience reach rule is ditched by new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull before the next election.

And even if Turnbull ploughs ahead there is a real chance that Gyngell – who last year was desperate to get its hands on a regional player – seems more lukewarm about the idea. These days he suggests that the discounted price he would be prepared to pay would probably not be acceptable to the seller.

4 Responses

  1. He was at the helm for quite a few years when it was bleeding money and was lucky enough that some overseas entities wanted to buys its debt….in return for ownership of the company..

  2. wasn’t he in charge of nine when it nearly went toes up and had to be sold and bailed out by some overseas hedge fund company or something like that

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