SCA bumps Seb Rennie to chief commercial officer as Brian Gallagher exits
Seb Rennie is set to becomes Southern Cross Austereo’s chief commercial officer and join the network’s senior leadership team, as chief sales officer Brian Gallagher is set to depart the business.
Rennie joined SCA’s LiSTNR as executive head of commercial in February, after eight years as media agency Group M, where he was most recently chief investment officer.
Gallagher exits his role after eight years with the business, with the announcement following last week’s news that Southern Cross Media Group (SCA) managing director and chief executive officer, Grant Blackley, had stood down from his role after eight years. Chief operating officer, John Kelly, was announced as Blackley’s replacement.
SCA has also welcomed the appointment of Nova’s group commercial director, Luke Minto, who will join SCA later this year in a senior leadership role, reporting to Rennie and working alongside SCA head of audio sales, Andrea Salmon.
Of Rennie’s appointment, Blackley, said: “After Brian gave notice of his resignation earlier this year, we took the opportunity to undertake an extensive executive search process to identify the most suitable successor for this important position. It is my great pleasure to advise that Seb Rennie was successful in that process. Seb is an exceptionally well-regarded commercial leader, and this makes him the perfect person to lead SCA’s sales division as we continue our strong growth trajectory.
“Brian has been an integral member of the Senior Leadership Team and is a highly trusted advisor, mentor, and friend to many in the company. I would like to extend my gratitude to Brian for the contribution and impact that he has made on our business. Since joining SCA in 2015, Brian has been instrumental in driving several strategic initiatives across the business, including advocating for increased regional media investment via the Boomtown initiative, delivering significant growth in our digital commercial division since the inception of LiSTNR, and leading a team of highly committed and high performing sales executives across the country.
Kelly, who will step into the CEO role on 1 July 2023, said: “Like Grant, I am grateful for Brian’s friendship and contributions to SCA over the past eight years and for his assistance in the transition to Seb. I am confident that the powerful combination of Seb, Andrea and Luke will provide the best national sales leadership team in the country and will support SCA in continuing to deliver exceptional results for our clients.”
Gallagher added: “It gives me great confidence, as I depart, to have someone of Seb’s calibre and experience stepping into the role and I am confident that he will be a strong leader for the commercial team.”
Rennie commented: “Being part of SCA and LiSTNR’s growth trajectory has been incredibly exciting, and I am proud to step into this new role and to join the Leadership team. I have truly valued Brian’s leadership and experience since I joined SCA, and I would like to pass on my sincere thanks for his ongoing guidance and the fantastic team he has built.
“We have a compelling commercial proposition; SCA’s iconic radio brands have reported their highest national audience cume ever at more than 6 million weekly radio listeners*, while the LiSTNR podcast network’s audience also broke records at more than 8 million listeners^, delivering advertisers engaged audiences at scale.”
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