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Macquarie Radio to cut 10% of staff with Fairfax execs Parker, Frangi and Forbes going

MRNFour of the most senior executives from Fairfax’s radio stations have become the latest casualties of the merger with Macquarie Radio Network with Clark Forbes, Chris Parker and Anthony Frangi all departing.

The move comes as the new merged entity moves to a new management structure and looks to cut duplicated roles across the organisation, with about 10 per cent of the workforce being made redundant.

In an email to staff this afternoon obtained by Mumbrella it was revealed Fairfax national content director Clark Forbes, national news director and Melbourne acting general manager Rob Curtain, Sydney general manager Chris Parker and Brisbane general manager Anthony Frangi have left the business.

The latest round of redundancies follow on from the sacking of  production staff and on-air presenters at Magic 1278 in the middle of last month and the closure of the 2UE newsroom which was merged with the 2GB newsroom to save costs, as well as sacking several presenters. Some staff have described the merger as a “hostile takeover”.

The new company structure: Adam Lang's reports

The new company structure: Adam Lang’s reports

The Macquarie Radio Network (MRN) will be led by Russell Tate, who will continue in the role of executive chairman of Macquarie, with Fairfax managing director Adam Lang taking the role of chief operating officer.

In the email to staff Lang said the company has worked “as quickly as possible to remove any uncertainty for our staff”, describing the redundancies as “an unfortunate reality of the integration”, thanking Forbes, Curtain, Parker and Frangi for their efforts.

“Since the merger we have worked as quickly as possible to remove any uncertainty for our staff and to set up our newly combined company for immediate success. An unfortunate reality of the integration is a reduction of approximately 10 per cent of roles across our combined business.

“We are grateful for the dedication, passion, professionalism and great character of Clark, Rob, Chris and Anthony. We thank them for all that they have given to our company.  They have each played a valuable role in building a national network and setting our business up for this next stage of its growth and evolution.”

Parker had worked as the general manager of 2UE for three-and-a-half years while Frangi had worked for Fairfax in Brisbane as general manager for two years.

Forbes had worked for FRN for two-and-a-half years having previously been the program director at 3AW. Curtain has been the acting general manager at 3AW-Magic 1278 since November last year having previously been Fairfax’s national news director for two-and-a-half-years.

New Macquarie Radio structure: Russel tat's reports

New Macquarie Radio structure: Russell Tate’s reports

The email contained a number of staff announcements including Lisa Young to remain as chief financial officer with the support of Deanne Hasset, formerly finance director of Fairfax Radio, who assumes the same role in Macquarie.

In sales, Nick Randall, previously Fairfax national sales director, will lead the combined national agency sales team, while Macquarie group sales director Mark Noakes will head the national direct sales team.

Macquarie agency sales director Paul Bowd has been appointed operations director Sydney, while Fairfax Melbourne’s chief engineer Stephen Beers has been made operations director Sydney.

In Brisbane Fairfax sales director Liz Illidge takes the operations director role while in Perth, Martin Boylen, William Barrington  and Johnathan Champion continue in their respective roles of general manager Perth, general manager of syndication and general manager of SMA.

Miranda Ward

The email:

Dear All,

Following the completion of the merger of the operations of Fairfax Radio Network and Macquarie Radio Network on March 31 into the publicly listed Macquarie Radio Network Limited (“MRN”), we are pleased to announce a new national management structure for the combined businesses.

The new business brings together in one network the number one rating metro radio stations in Sydney and Melbourne, 2GB and 3AW respectively, together with other News Talk stations 2UE (Sydney), 4BC (Brisbane) and 6PR (Perth) and music stations Magic 1278 (Melbourne), Magic 882 (Brisbane) and 2CH (Sydney).

The company will be led by Russell Tate, who will continue in the role of Executive Chairman of MRN, and Adam Lang, previously Managing Director of FRN, as Chief Operating Officer.

Lisa Young remains Chief Financial Officer reporting to Russell Tate. Lisa will lead the Finance function with the support of Deanne Hassett, formerly Finance Director of FRN, who assumes the same role in MRN.

In Sales, Nick Randall, previously FRN National Sales Director, will head the combined national agency sales team, while Mark Noakes, previously MRN Group Sales Director, will head the national direct sales team. Nick and Mark will report directly to Russell.

New Operations Directors, reporting to Adam, have been appointed to drive the execution of our national objectives in each market through the teams including program and station production issues, news, sales, promotions, engineering and online. Effective from 1st May, Paul Bowd, previously MRN’s Agency Sales Director, has been appointed Operations Director Sydney. Stephen Beers, previously FRN Melbourne’s Chief Engineer, has been appointed Operations Director Melbourne. Liz Illidge, previously FRN Brisbane Sales Director, has been appointed Operations Director Brisbane. Continuing in their existing roles will be Martin Boylen as General Manager Perth, William Barrington as General Manager of Syndication and Jonathan Champion as General Manager of SMA.

Content direction and development across the network will be the responsibility of the national leadership group comprising Russell, Adam and the above Sales and Operations Directors. In program content and editorial direction will continue to be the domain of the presenters and their teams on each station.

As a consequence of implementing the new structure, National Content Director Clark Forbes, National News Director and Melbourne Acting General Manager Rob Curtain, Sydney General Manager Chris Parker and Brisbane General Manager Anthony Frangi will leave the business.

Russell Tate comments: “The merger has brought together the greatest mix of News Talk talent ever. Our new company now has more than 450 employees representing many of the best radio brands in Australia, which together now reach more than 2.3 million listeners every week.

“The merger has enabled us to adopt best practice and procedures from each of MRN and FRN and obviates the considerable duplication of roles which existed across both companies operating separately. I am confident that we now have in place the people and the structure to maximise the benefits of the merger for all stakeholders, including our listeners.”

Adam Lang comments: “We have entered an exciting new chapter for Macquarie Radio Network and these key appointments are a critical element of that success. We have created this merger of equals to be a genuine force in media with an enviable and influential audience reach from our national network of stations and digital assets.

“Since the merger we have worked as quickly as possible to remove any uncertainty for our staff and to set up our newly combined company for immediate success. An unfortunate reality of the integration is a reduction of approximately 10% of roles across our combined business.

“We are grateful for the dedication, passion, professionalism and great character of Clark, Rob, Chris and Anthony. We thank them for all that they have given to our company.  They have each played a valuable role in building a national network and setting our business up for this next stage of its growth and evolution.”

There are a number of changes present here so we are attaching an organisational chart to reflect how these changes are reflected in the management structure. If you have any queries, please first contact your immediate manager who can escalate any queries to Russell or Adam as required.

Best regards,

Russell and Adam

 

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