Foxtel and News Corp silent on speculation CEO Richard Freudenstein is set to depart
Pay-TV operator Foxtel and its parent company News Corp Australia are both declining to deny a report that suggests its CEO Richard Freudenstein is set to depart imminently.
Is Foxtel CEO Freudenstein about to depart?
The Australian Financial Review’s Rear Window column is today reporting speculation that Freudenstein is set to depart after almost five years in the role.
The national financial broadsheet noted that News Corp CEO Robert Thomson is currently in the country while Mumbrella understands a Foxtel Board meeting was held earlier this week.
Foxtel is under subscriber pressure in the face of the rise of the video streaming services and while it reported a significant lift in subscriber numbers part of that growth is being boosted by low margin subscription service, Presto, and Foxtel’s revenue per user/subscriber is under pressure.
Freudenstein succeeded Kim Williams in the role of CEO of Foxtel in 2012 and was previously CEO of The Australian.
During his time with Foxtel Freudenstein oversaw the merger of Foxtel and Austar, the pay-TV operator’s launch of Presto, and the decision to cut entry pricing to boost its premium content.
A spokesman for Foxtel declined to comment, saying: “Sorry we don’t comment on that sort of speculation.”
The rumours come on the same day that rival Optus announced it was launching a 24 hour channel for the English Premier League, after snatching the rights from Foxtel last year.
Add to this Brian Walsh this week personally calling all those he made redundant recently to apologise and lend a sympathetic ear- from junior staff through to long term employees- damage control perhaps?
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Everything Richard and Ed touch, fails. Their time at NDM achieved nothing except a huge build up of cost, and they’ve failed to make any credible impact at Foxtel.
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Sounding a little bitter and twisted, @Chris, and not particularly accurate in your assessment. Maybe Freudy didn’t give you a promotion when you worked for him….
Under Freudenstein Foxtel has grown revenues and subscribers to record levels at a time of unprecedented competition from new players, reduced churn, overseen the acquisition of Austar, renegotiated AFL and NRL sports rights etc etc . Hardly a case of not making any impact.
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