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Bruce Gordon secures seat on Nine board

WIN chief executive Andrew Lancaster will join the board following regional affiliation deal with Nine.

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Veteran media mogul Bruce Gordon has finally secured a seat on the board of Nine Entertainment Co. following an affiliate deal with his regional television network WIN Corporation.

The Age reports WIN’s chief executive Andrew Lancaster will join the board filling the seat vacated by recently resigned director Patrick Allaway. They also follow rumblings around board tension, including headlines around Nick Falloon, but Chair Peter Costello recently brushed aside any disunity.

Today Costello said: “Andrew has a long history and considerable experience in both television and radio in Australia, particularly in regional markets where he has successfully overseen WIN’s extensive operations for more than ten years and was instrumental in Nine’s recent affiliation agreement with WIN.”

Bruce Gordon has long been Nine’s largest shareholder, with a 15% stake held through his investment vehicle Birketu. The company previously owned shares in Network 10 with Paul Mallam on that board from 2010 – 2014.

Two weeks ago Nine Entertainment Co. and WIN Corporation signed a new regional television affiliation agreement, signalling the end of its 5 year deal with Southern Cross from July.

Incoming CEO Mike Sneesby will also join the Nine board, replacing outgoing Hugh Marks who departs tomorrow.

Changes to the Board take effect next month.

6 Responses

  1. Surely any NEC board business involving NBN would see the WIN representative having to excuse themselves as long as WIN retains NRN as a TEN affiliate?

    2. Only if the NBN business related to WIN in some way. “Should we let NBN buy a new helicopter” would differ from “Should we agree to sell NBN to WIN”. A conflict of interest occurs when a person is in a position to be influenced, or appears to be influenced, by their private interests – or other interests – when doing their job. But it is not always about the lining of pockets. Dr Simon Longstaff AO, executive director of the Ethics Centre, says conflicts of interest aren’t wrong in themselves. It’s how they are managed and disclosed that is the issue.

  2. The Nine/WIN tie-up raises more questions than answers:
    – What will happen in Northern NSW (where the Nine O&O NBN is already the Nine affiliate? Will WIN remain as the Ten affiliate? Will WIN offload the NNSW franchise?
    – Will the WIN brand be retained, or replaced by Nine (as is the case with SCA)?
    – What will happen with WIN News? Does the tie-up include an outsourcing arrangement similar to that which currently exists between Nine and SCA?
    – Could WIN resume local news in markets such as Orange/Dubbo from which it withdrew following the launch of Nine/SCA bulletins?
    – How will SCA meets the minimum news/information requirements given it no longer has the former CTC studios in Canberra? Would it revert to news flashes? Might these be presented from the BCV studios in Bendigo or even the TNT studios in Launceston?

    1. I think in NNSW, WIN Will retain its 10 affiliate (as they have re-signed with affiliation agreement with ViacomCBS Aus & NZ).
      WIN News is poised to head to 5:30PM bulletin. I think What it means for Hot Seat is that the show will move to 4:30PM in Regional Areas. WA and SA will remain in 3pm and 4pm timeslot respectively.

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