‘We are ARN, and we’re an entertainment company’: Michael Stephenson takes charge

The largest audience of Upfronts season gathered at Sydney’s Star Entertainment Centre last night to hear about ARN Media’s ambitious plans for 2026.

Ahead of the series of announcements (see Mumbrella’s coverage of the details via this link), new CEO Michael Stephenson and content boss Lauren Joyce talked to Tim Burrowes.

Listen here on the player below, or sign up to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or your favourite podcast app.

The wide-ranging conversation covered:

• The national rollout of Gold, spearheaded by the Christian O’Connell Show live into Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and on delay into Perth and Adelaide;
• August’s rushed announcement of the switch of The Jonesy & Amanda Show, featuring Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones, from Sydney breakfast to national drive;
• Whether this is finally the moment when the industry starts properly marketing its DAB+ stations;
• Why there’s still been no move to expand The Kyle & Jackie O Show, from Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson, beyond Sydney and Melbourne. Are ongoing enforcement actions from Australian Communications and Media Authority a factor despite “continued confidence”?;
• The inheritance left by outgoing CEO Ciaran Davis;
• An explanation for CADA’s controversial Thy AI voice experiment;
• Reaching the inflection point where the audio industry returns to growth;
• Where ARN fits into the media consolidation cycle – could it get back into the outdoor advertising business? And why we shouldn’t read too much into the Are Media tie-in;
• Opportunities for the industry to come together to rethink how it does Upfronts season;
• Domain expertise – does it matter that neither Stephenson or Joyce are radio natives? According to Joyce: “I may not have the hard programming skills of a radio programmer, but what I do know is how to motivate people and how to engage people, and I also understand audiences.”

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