Sky News boss gleeful at ‘death of Fairfax’
The recently installed CEO of Australian News Channel, Paul Whittaker, has said he was “gleeful” when it was announced Fairfax would be absorbed into Nine.
Whittaker also projected the Your Money joint venture between News Corp and Nine would be “smoother” than the impending joining of Nine and Fairfax.
Whittaker has recently taken over from ANC – the parent company of Sky News – CEO Angelos Frangopoulos, and was at the helm of News Corp’s The Australian when the Nine Fairfax deal was announced.
The headline of 27 July’s The Australian read ‘The day Fairfax died’.
Whittaker was ‘gleeful’ when writing the headline
“[The Your Money] deal obviously happened in the lead up to the proposed Nine Fairfax takeover, which gave me the opportunity while I was editing The Australian to write – gleefully – the headline ‘The day Fairfax died’,” Whittaker said at the launch party of Your Money last night.
“And to Hugh’s [Marks, CEO of Nine] credit, Nine have stuck with it as our partners and I hazard that this will be a smoother coupling than the one they are still yet to finalise.”
Whittaker was also optimistic about the benefits of the Nine Fairfax deal for Your Money.
“Obviously mathematics will come into it, which will be a good talking point for some of the experts on the Your Money channel to evaluate whether it’s a good deal or not.”
Whittaker: Not sad to see Fairfax go
Your Money started broadcasting on the former Sky News Business and what was Nine’s free-to-air shopping channel, Channel 95, on 1 October.
It is a 24-hour business, personal finance and luxury lifestyle broadcaster, which runs out of News Corp’s Holt Street offices in Sydney.
Whittaker took over the helm of Sky News just last week.
He would say that, wouldn’t he? There’s no downside to having a masthead absorbed into a megaplex with a TV station, because destroying the four pillars is what news is all about. If nine can do this with fairfax, then no sacred cows are safe.
But back in adland, reducing the numbers of buyers and outlets down to a few agencies who can deal with the big players is probably good for sky, because with less channels they can argue the eyeballs are more valuable.
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The mutterings of another Murchoch sycophant.
He was noticeably silent when News fumbled the Ten deal.
Physician heal thyself.
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A guy whose career peaked in turning a perennial loser of money into a dribbling, rabid megaphone for the least constructive elements of society now flaunts his talents in a loss making paytv channel whose evening schedule is even more extreme than his newspaper.
And he has the gall to bag fairfax. Chutzpah.
Even the carved up skeleton of fairfax headed by the Hywood, Chessell and Aston goon squad still manages more reliable journalism than anything this misfit ever handled.
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Is he that delusional that he believes this will somehow help increase Sky News viewership or The Australian’s readership? Pretty sure Fairfax readers have already worked out what news looks like.
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Well Hold the Front Page! “News Corp Exec dances on the grave of the Fairfax name.” Who woulda thunk it??!!
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As the ‘Investor’ I hope your Fairfax shares performed well for you…
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It’s more about ongoing convulsions in the industry than the death of Fairfax. The ongoing amalgamation of media should also be of acute concern to anyone who cares about an informed populace.
Fine. It suits a pugilistic and campaigning editor to attack their competitor in public. But this is just a symptom of a wider trend which Whittaker is no doubt acutely aware of – he’s a brilliant and widely read man in addition to being an exceptional editor and a deep thinker.
The way people inform themselves is changing. His move to Sky is curious. But there is also a fragmentation in the consumption of media. Sky may have a tiny footprint, but I’d be curious to see how widely “moments” from Sky travel and their consumption and impact on ideas and behaviour.
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Whittaker, Whittaker, Whittaker
At the end of the day…. At least Fairfax doesn’t give airtime to Neo-Nazis and the gaggle of RWNJs that is your evening line up LOL
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‘he’s a brilliant and widely read man in addition to being an exceptional editor and a deep thinker.’
I wondered what he did when not at work.
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So pleased he’s proud of Your Money. Only shows how little he knows about television.
It is (so far) so boring it makes the channel’s previous incarnation look brilliant. I don’t see the results of clever input from 9,with almost shopping channel-level topics and a mysterious ability even to make quite good talent from Sky Business look faintly amateur.
And a notable absence of ads whenever I take a look, breaks filled with inhouse promos which have the house trademark amateur look to them
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Duh. I suspect my view of FXJ shares is apparent?
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