Pippa Leary to step down, MCN chief sales director Nick Young returns to Nine
Nick Young, MCN’s chief sales director, has joined Nine as director of digital sales, replacing Pippa Leary who is stepping down from her role to focus on her board roles.
The move is a return to Nine for Young, who was NineMSN’s group sales manager for two years before becoming MCN’s digital sales director in 2011.
Leary leaves Nine after three years with the network
His departure comes after MCN restructured its sales teams following Ten pulling out of the Foxtel joint venture last year.
Young will will lead Nine’s sales team in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth; Nine’s programmatic sales team, as well as Nine’s advertising product and data teams.
Leary took the role in December 2018 with Nine’s restructure of its sales teams following the acquisition of Fairfax. She joined Nine as commercial director in 2017 after three years as CEO of Nine’s programmatic exchange, APEX. She previously held senior roles at Fairfax.
Michael Stephenson, Nine’s chief sales officer, said: “In many ways this is Pippa handing the 9Now baton to Nick. Both are industry leaders with a strong digital heritage, and Nick will be tasked with building on the strong foundation set up by Pippa within our BVOD business.
“When we asked Pip to give up her career as a board director it was with a clear mission: to drive 9Now’s commercial success. Over the past two years she has achieved more than we could have asked for, making 9Now the clear commercial leader in Australia with a product grounded in the strength of its data proposition and more than seven million sign-ups.
“She has ensured we have led the way on helping to drive marketing awareness of the opportunities available through addressability.”
Young will start at Nine in the coming months and Leary will remain with the business until she completes the work required to combine the group’s unique digital data assets.
Stephenson added: “Nick Young is one of Australia’s most experienced digital sales leaders and I’m rapt that he is now a part of the Nine team,” said Michael Stephenson, Nine’s Chief Sales Officer.
“He is incredibly well respected, has experience in both digital and television, and alongside Richard Hunwick will be able to work with marketers to unlock the power that comes through using television and BVOD together.”
MCN is yet to announce Young’s replacement with CEO Mark Frain, indicating he will take a greater sales role.
“During his eight years at MCN, Nick has shown tremendous commitment to the business, having at first led our digital business, and then our whole suite of Television and Digital assets as MCN’s Chief Sales Officer,” Frain said in a statement.
“His role at Nine allows him to get back to his digital roots and I wish him all the best in the new position. Nick came to us from Nine ready to take on opportunity, and he now leaves as a solid executive who has achieved great successes, which have been celebrated and recognised by our industry.
“MCN has strength and depth in our leadership team to continue to service our partners, and in the coming weeks I’ll personally lean back into the sales function.“
Congrats Nick! great appointment Nine
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