ARN makes all regional general manager roles redundant
ARN has made its entire layer of regional general managers redundant, as it looks to further integrate its operations following the acquisition of Grant Broadcasters earlier this year, it has confirmed to Mumbrella.
Grant Broadcasters, one of Australia’s oldest regional radio providers was purchased by ARN’s parent company HT&E at the start of the year in a deal worth $307.5 million on a cash and debt free basis, with 22.5% in HT&E shares, equating to 11% holding in HT&E.
The deal to purchase Grant Broadcasters was first announced last November
As part of the deal, both broadcasting companies came together under the ARN brand, with Grant CEO Alison Cameron joining the HT&E Board, and COO Rick Lenarcic joining ARN’s executive leadership team as regional COO, however he resigned later than month in January.
ARN provided Mumbrella with the following statement after the recent redundancies, which Mumbrella understands happened on Friday.
“Since ARN’s acquisition of Grant Broadcasters earlier this year we have been working through a comprehensive integration programme to develop a simple, effective, and agile organisational design that takes advantage of the broader resources of the ARN business. With central support now provided by enabling teams, and better systems and processes in place, the responsibilities previously sitting with the regional general manager (RGM) have shifted. As a result, we have made the difficult decision to make the entire management layer of RGM roles redundant.”
“Our focus in the Regional business area has always been on local markets and connections within the community, and these latest changes are designed to deliver ARN’s ‘leaders in local’ strategy by empowering the local general managers and their teams. We would like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude for the enormous contribution made by the four staff who have been impacted by this restructure.”
Last month, ARN also brought together all of its agency sales teams, with metro, regional and digital audio teams all forming a new “All Audio” sales structure, creating a single point of contact for agencies and clients.
The deal saw ARN acquire 46 stations through its purchase of Grant Broadcasters, taking its total station count from 13 to 58 across 33 markets, plus 46 DAB+ stations. It was required to sell AKQ, as it reached a threshold of broadcast licenses in the Brisbane region. It was later sold to Sports Entertainment Group.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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