Free TV chairman Harold Mitchell resigns
Free TV chairman, Harold Mitchell, has resigned from his position amid allegations of withholding information from the Tennis Australia board.
It comes after The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) launched federal court action against Mitchell and Steve Healy, alleging they withheld information from the Tennis Australia board when deciding on sports broadcasting rights in 2013.
According to documents filed with the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, it is alleged Mitchell advised the board along with Steve Wood, then CEO of Tennis Australia, that broadcasting rights should remain with Seven, despite their bid being significantly lower than Network Ten.
Harold Mitchell has been such an incredible figure in our media landscape. He has also worked on so many other areas such as helping trade in Asia and charitable work in Timor Leste. As a woman in tech and media, he has also been incredibly supportive to me personally. I have nothing but admiration for him.
Mitchell is the consummate advertising man, and a master of marketing and promotion. He is a powerbroker extrordinaire and knows well how to leverage his business and personal assets to the benefit of others and himself.
The amazing success of his media businesses in leading the country’s media agencies against all comers including the global corporates for 10 years or more is a testiment to his remarkable skills.
But this business is tough, to win so consistently you simply cannot be lily white.
His reputation and the plaudits of industry players are one thing but the facts in this matter are another and should be thoroughly investigated in depth.
Yes, it appears he has been very generous with his time in furthering the interests of broadcast TV.
… this is unsurprising ..when i first became seriously involved in client-side media buying 9 years ago, I read Harold’s autobiography….the one in which he himself openly admits to acting primarily in the interests of a certain television network rather than in the interests of the advertisers who were buying slots…coming from a non-advertising background, i was shocked about this practice and its very public confession …..hence to see such an (unproven) allegation by ASIC is not surprising to me, nor should it be to any reader of HM’s very own words….