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Saul Shtein out as Head of Seven Sport

Exclusive: Saul Shtein in shock exit from Seven, under newly-installed CEO James Warburton.

EXCLUSIVE: Seven’s Head of Sport Saul Shtein will depart the network after 15 years, following the AFL Grand Final next week.

“We’re very grateful for all his service over the last 15 years with the network,” a Seven spokesperson told TV Tonight.

“An announcement in regards to his replacement will be made in due course.”

Sources suggest his shock redundancy is one of several announcements to be made by newly-installed CEO James Warburton and comes despite AFL performing well for the network in a challenging ratings year.

Shtein has an impressive CV across some 40 years the industry, enjoying 17 years with Nine before 9 years at FOX Sports.

During his term at Seven he has overseen key events including AFL, multiple Olympics, Melbourne Cup and Australian Open events plus golf, rugby world cup, motor racing, yachting and more recently with Big Bash Cricket. During that time, broadcasting of Live events has undergone major technological and audience change, whilst Sports rights have increased dramatically.

“It’s a completely new world.,” he told TV Tonight in 2016. “In Athens we had basically the one channel to air,” he said. “So if events were occurring concurrently you would have to do one Live and replay the others.

“For Rio we will be Live with all three channels concurrently, plus we are Streaming up to 36 Live feeds, there’s Catch-up, and you can watch it on any device. You can see the coverage whether you’re out and about or in the office, on your PC, laptop, phone, iPad or tablet.

“It’s a completely new ball game.”

His departure comes ahead of Seven’s Cricket season and the Tokyo Olympics next July.

3 Responses

  1. Of all the monumental f-ups relating to changes in staff restructuring, this one is the worst. At a time where sports broadcasting continues to be a safety net for audience attention, making this veteran redundant is senseless. So as of now we have Tim Worner and Saul Shtein out of the picture. I can think of many others who should have been shown the door. Unbelievable.

  2. Fascinating. Does this leave the door open for David Barham who joined the network to much fanfare last year to run cricket, before leaving within months very quietly before the cricket had started?

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