ARN CEO Rob Atkinson to depart as HT&E streamlines leadership
ARN CEO Rob Atkinson will step down from his role early next year after almost two years at the helm.
Atkinson was appointed CEO of the radio broadcaster – which owns Kiis FM, WS FM and Gold FM – in March last year.
Rob Atkinson was appointed CEO in March 2017
He replaced Tony Kendall who moved to chief revenue officer for APN News & Media, now known as Here, There and Everywhere, the parent company of ARN.
Prior to ARN, Atkinson led HT&E’s out-of-home business, Adshel, for five years.
His exit follows the sale of HT&E’s Adshel to Ooh Media for $570m, which saw CEO Mike Tyquin depart alongside chief revenue officer, David Roddick. Since the acquisition, HT&E CEO Ciaran Davis has led a holding group with one major entity, ARN. HT&E also owns businesses Conversant Media and Emotive.
With Atkinson to depart, the ARN leadership team will now report directly to Davis, managing director and CEO of HT&E across both HT&E and ARN.
Davis was previously CEO of ARN for five years.
ARN’s leadership team will now report directly into Davis
Hamish McLennan, chairman of HT&E, said Davis was perfectly placed to lead the whole business.
“We’re focused on streamlining the organisational structure between the Corporate and ARN divisions with one Managing Director, CEO across HT&E and ARN, allowing us to optimise the cost structure, reduce corporate costs and ultimately set the business up for ongoing operational effectiveness and further growth,” McLennan said.
Davis thanked Atkinson for his contribution to ARN and the role he played running Adshel.
In Atkinson’s time with ARN, the business overhauled its strategy. Programming boss Duncan Campbell brought in UK radio star, Christian O’Connell, who now runs breakfast on Gold FM in Melbourne, as well as Kiwi duo Jase Hawkins and Polly ‘PJ’ Harding, who host Kiis FM Melbourne breakfast.
Davis said the new structure would allow the business to look at other growth opportunities.
“I’m excited to be working even more closely with the ARN Executive team to achieve their vision to create the future of audio entertainment. HT&E is a fantastic business underpinned by ARN and a balance sheet the envy of the traditional media sector,” Davis said.
HT&E announcement also follows the exit of Conversant Media boss, Sorrel Osborne.
