Another redundancy at Foxtel, as Jamie Campbell exits after 13 years
Foxtel has made longstanding staff member Jamie Campbell’s role as group director of publicity and talent relations redundant.
Campbell, who has been with the subscription TV company for 13 and a half year, will leave the business at the end of the week as part of “a number of very difficult changes at Foxtel in recent months involving valued team members”, according to an email to staff from chief communications officer Paul Edwards.
Those changes include the recent departure of Foxtel Media’s chief sales officer Dave Roddick and Sydney sales director Jo Clasby, in addition to almost 300 additional redundancies and a further 140 stand downs.
Despite the number of job cuts, Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany said last week that the company is “feeling fabulous”, and reported sports streaming service Kayo had recovered from COVID-19’s hit to its subscription base, rebounding to 600,000 subscribers.
Edwards said Campbell’s exit is part of improving efficiency, but acknowledged the difficulty of the redundancy tally.
“The changes are driven by bringing together like-functions across the Group to support our Foxtel, Kayo and Binge brands and becoming a more efficient, lower-cost business. These changes are hard, and we will miss Jamie,” Edwards wrote.
The remaining publicity team includes publicists Brooke Cashell, Helen Johnson, Vanessa Hollins, Victoria Richards and Dee Stewart; events manager Aisha Jefcoate; Foxtel magazine’s Liz Hunter; and Fox Sports’ Ryley McKay and Stef Rezzara.
Edwards noted that Asha Burns, who is leading publicity at streaming services Kayo and Binge, will be joining the team as part of the overall group.
“Jamie’s enthusiasm for shows and the talent associated with them will long be remembered,” Edwards added.
“His achievements include breakout hits such as Gogglebox, Selling Houses Australia, and The Real Housewives Of Melbourne; signature drama series such as Wentworth, A Place To Call Home, Secret City, Upright and Mr Inbetween together with major sports campaigns and landmark company events. He leaves behind an outstanding team along with many friends at Foxtel who admire his professionalism and warmth.”
In May, Foxtel signed an exclusive, multi-year deal with HBO, and last year struck a deal with Netflix, allowing users to access the streaming giant’s content through Foxtel’s interface. In the same month the HBO transaction went through, Foxtel launched its own streaming platform, Binge.
Early this year, Delany defended the company’s subscriber churn, claiming it’s coming from low-value customers the company “shouldn’t have chased” because they were paying just $26 for a basic subscription that “is not a great experience” anyway.
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