Bruce Gordon’s representative Paul Mallam quits Network Ten board
The board representative of Network Ten’s biggest shareholder has quit the position after four years, it has been revealed.
Paul Mallam has represented the interests of billionaire Bruce Gordon on the board for the last four years, but has stepped down from the position today.
During that period the share price of the company, which Gordon owns just under 15 per cent of, has plummeted on the back of ratings and advertising declines, leading potential suitors including the Discovery Network and Foxtel to express interest in acquiring the free-to-air network, with the final deadline for prospective tenderers closing tomorrow.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange today Mallam said: “I would like to pay tribute to my fellow directors, who have addressed the issues facing the company in a disciplined and cohesive manner.
“I also have nothing but praise for the focus and commitment of management and staff of Ten. Pleasingly, their efforts have repositioned the network and created a more competitive platform for 2015.”
Today the Australian Financial Review reported that Gordon had reversed his previously held opposition to the Discovery/Foxtel bid for the network amid rumours of a revised cash plus incentive offer for shareholders, which would remove a major stumbling block to the deal.
I know practically nothing about business, but I do know the business of theatre and the shape and importance of good television.
If, as the above story attests, Mr Gordon did reverse his previously held opposition to the Discovery/Foxtel bid for the network, then all is in line at Ten. They have been inventing and destroying, inviting in and booting out, turning back flips and changing their minds for years.
When all else fails sell up by all means, but all else hasn’t failed for Ten, they simply neglected the basic rules of good television, and rather than drop income they threw millions away attempting to attract numbers in demographics they could never hope to achieve.
As I said, I don’t understand business, but it seems that I am not Robinson Crusoe
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