Nick Chan departs Bauer Media with Paul Dykzeul taking on CEO role
Bauer Media Group’s CEO Nick Chan has departed the company after just over 12 months in the role.
He will be replaced by Paul Dykzeul, Bauer Media’s New Zealand CEO, as CEO of Australia and NZ.
Prior to Bauer Media, Chan was the chief operating officer for Seven West Media, for just over a year and was also CEO of Pacific Magazines for nine years.
Appointed as CEO of Bauer Media in April 2016, the role was understood to be Chan’s dream job.
At the time, an industry executive told Mumbrella: “He always wanted to run ACP and this is ACP with a different name. But it’s a different business now.”
In his time as CEO, Chan spearheaded the closure of several publications, as part of his five-pillar plan to streamline the publisher.
Magazines including Dolly, Shop till you drop, and Rugby League Week Magazine were axed, while Bauer’s adventure titles were sold.
In an email addressed to staff, Andreas Schoo, executive board member, wrote: “I’m delighted to announce that Paul Dykzeul has been appointed chief executive officer for both countries.
“Paul has significant media experience and understands the opportunities and challenges facing multi-platform magazine brands in this evolving environment. During his tenure as CEO of Bauer Media New Zealand he has built a strong and innovative media business and is perfectly placed to lead Bauer across Australasia.
“Nick has left the company and I want to thank him for the work he has done and wish him well in his future endeavours.”
Dykzeul is currently CEO of Bauer Media New Zealand, and has held the role since 2008.
Previously, he was the CEO of ACP Media from 1991 before moving to ACP Magazines Australia. In 2000, he joined Murdoch as managing director of publishing and in 2006 he was appointed publishing director of Pacific Magazines with responsibility for New Zealand and international licensing.
“His knowledge of the business on his side and CEO experience make Dykzeul the leading contender if Bauer is looking to appoint from within. The New Zealand market is similar to Australia both in size and its reliance on advertising revenue,” she wrote.
In an official statement, Schoo said: “I’m delighted Paul will be leading Bauer across Australia and New Zealand. Having worked extensively across both markets he understands the challenges and opportunities which exist for multi-platform magazine brands in this evolving environment.
“For the past nine years, he has built a strong and innovative media business and is ideally placed to bring that thinking to Bauer Media Australia.”
Commenting on his appointment, Dykzeul he looked forward to returning to Australia.
“Across print, digital and events, Bauer Media has the strongest portfolio of leading magazine brands that connects audiences with our commercial partners at scale,” Dykzeul said.
“I look forward to returning to Australia and working with the dedicated team to build and expand on those strong foundations.”
He starts in the role immediately and will relocate to Sydney in due course.
The news comes one week after Bauer Media lost a defamation case brought about by Rebel Wilson.
UPDATE 2:11PM
A Bauer Media executive has refuted speculation Chan’s departure had anything to due with the Rebel Wilson defamation case, pointing out the articles in question were produced prior to Chan’s arrival at the company.
Chan himself has revealed to Mumbrella the reason for his departure: “We had differences in strategic priorities for the business.”
How long do you give this new guy? Sportsbet should start betting on this. I give him less then 12 months.
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So can this be fallout from Rebel Wilson decision?
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Bauer : We Germans aren’t all smiles and sunshine.
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It’s not exactly a dynamic appointment is it? Don’t get me wrong, Paul is a very nice man, but he’s more of a steady as she goes kind of guy.
Another payout for the Chan Man, interesting to see where he goes next? Maybe he can apply the chainsaw to Channel 10?
Also, is Miranda serious? ‘The New Zealand market is similar to Australia both in size and its reliance on advertising revenue’
Bauer is obviously not the company that ACP was at its peak, but it’s still 10x the size of NZ, you just can’t compare the 2 markets…
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The Advertising Standards Authority has Magazines in NZ at NZ$199M in ad revenue. CEASA has Magazine ad revenue at AUD$262M in Australia. Closer to similar than 10x difference.
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Deck. Titanic. Shuffle.
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Wait, Miranda is the “outgoing editor?”
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Hi Hidden headline,
1. Your comment appeared on Paul Wallbank’s ‘“Out of home on steroids”: Techfront’s plans for tonight’s State of Origin clash’ story, but I suspect you meant to post it here, as there are no references to Miranda in the State of Origin article. I have moved it here for clarity.
2. Miranda has been deputy editor since last year, but she will be departing at the end of the month to join Nine.
3. Miranda’s news was announced in a separate, non-Nick-Chan-related story:
https://mumbrella.com.au/mumbrella-hires-new-features-news-editors-hayes-takes-expanded-live-role-451994
Thanks,
Vivienne
Editor – Mumbrella
Hi Vivenne
Just letting you know that when I first clicked through to this story on Wednesday, I went to copy and paste the url to send to a friend and noticed that the URL indicated I was reading a story about rugby and steroids. Notwithstanding the fact that Bauer is in dire need of performance enhancement, I think that might be why Hidden Headline’s comment ended up in the wrong place.
Regards
The Professor
PS And all this time, the Human Headline had a brother.
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Hi The Professor,
How very, very odd. Thanks very much for flagging. I’ll look into it.
Vivienne – Mumbrella
PS Well they stayed true to their name by remaining in the shadows for so long haha!
Fair point Grant, Difference in circ and number of titles is much larger…
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