Australia’s Nine Shakes Up Digital Division

SYDNEY: Australia's Nine Entertainment has installed Alex Parsons as managing director for its digital operations, following the departure of Mi9 CEO Mark Britt.

Britt is exiting his role as CEO of Mi9, which is the digital arm of Nine, pursuing other opportunities in Asia. He will, however, remain connected to the company in a strategic capacity. Parsons now becomes managing director of Nine Digital. He is re-joining the company from his current role as CEO of RateCity.

David Gyngell, the CEO of Nine Entertainment Co., said, “As the media industry evolves, it is important that Nine Entertainment Co. continues to adapt its operational approach.  Most recently, we have combined our free-to-air and digital sales teams recognizing the increasing integration of television and digital, and we continue to move towards integrating key support functions. Given the market-leading positions and our 100 percent ownership of the Nine Network and Mi9, we are now uniquely positioned to seamlessly align these businesses and we will continue to work towards further operational integration.”

“Mark is well regarded as one of the pre-eminent thought leaders in the digital space, so I am pleased that we have been able to retain his insights and guidance into the future,” Gyngell said. “I would like to thank him for his contribution and wish him well in his future endeavours.”

He continued, “I’m pleased to have Alex return to the digital business. He has been a part of our company for many years and I’m confident the transition to the new management structure will proceed smoothly.”

Britt commented: “I have had a fantastic three years leading Mi9/ninemsn. The business has come through huge change, moving from business a successful joint venture to a fully integrated part of NEC with a really bright future on the horizon. I’ve been presented with a rare opportunity to start a new business that only comes along once in a lifetime.

“I’d like to thank David for his support in allowing me to pursue this, while staying on with Nine in an advisory capacity at least until 2016. I look forward to working with Alex Parsons as Mi9 continues to evolve as a key part of the best-positioned media company in the country.”

Parsons said, “Having worked with Nine Entertainment Co. for a number of years, most recently running their RateCity joint venture, I am very excited about taking Nine’s broader digital media assets into the future.”