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David
Gyngell
Channel
Nine chief David Gyngell and wife and reporter
Leila McKinnon
David
Gyngell (b. 1966) is the C.E.O of Australian commercial
broadcasting network Channel Nine.
He
is currently serving his second stint as C.E.O
after resigning from the job in May 2005. After
a period of declining ratings compared to Channel
Seven, He returned to the job in October 2007.
Gyngell
is the son of Australian television pioneer Bruce
Gyngell, the Godson of Kerry Packer, the best
man of James Packer and the husband of Leila McKinnon.
(Credit:
Wikipedia).
Article
Strong
local content, by John elder and Tom Reilly -
5th October 2008
(The
Sunday Age)
Article
Gyngell
gets another Nine life, by Amanda Meade - 26th
September 2007
(Credit:
The Australian)
James
Packer's best friend and best man, David Gyngell,
will rejoin the Nine Network as chief executive
next month - two years after quitting what he
described as an "untenable" position.
Mr
Gyngell has been lured back to Nine from his job
in the US by PBL Media chief executive Ian Law,
after months of negotiations that began when the
two caught up with each other at Mr Packer's wedding
in the south of France in June.
Nine
executive director Jeff Browne will remain at
the network, but will report to Mr Gyngell and
will relocate to Melbourne, where he will take
on the role of managing director of GTV 9 as well.
The
Australian understands the PBL Media board has
promised MrGyngell a free hand to run the network
without the interference he faced under the previous
management structure at Nine.
"I
am under no illusion as to the magnitude of the
task, because our opposition at Seven are very
good at what they do," Mr Gyngell told The
Australian yesterday. "But I'm coming back
to win. You can't be in this game if you aren't
in it to win. It will take time, but my aim is
to take Nine back to its former pre-eminence."
It
will be Mr Gyngell's second term as chief executive,
having been appointed by the late Kerry Packer
in 2004. But less than a year into the job he
quit in April 2005, citing constant meddling from
PBL management. Former Nine chief Sam Chisholm
and then Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd chief
executive John Alexander were the main problem.
"I
reached the determination that I was simply not
prepared to allow my position to be rendered untenable
by what I regard as increasingly unhelpful and
multi-layered management systems developing between
Nine and PBL," he said at the time. "Without
the absolutely and unmistakably clear mandate
required by all CEOs to properly run any major
business, I believed it was in my best interests
to move on."
At
the time, Nine was wholly owned by the publicly
listed PBL, which was controlled by the Packer
family's private company, creating several layers
of management.
PBL has since sold 75 per cent of its stake in
PBL Media, the owner of Nine, to the private equity
firm CVC Asia Pacific.
Nine
has endured serious management turmoil, with Mr
Gyngell the latest in a string of recent chief
executives, including entertainer and businessman
Eddie McGuire, who stepped down in May after just
15 months. Its internal ructions have helped Seven
beat it in the ratings.
Mr
Gyngell believes he can manage Nine properly now
that it has been restructured. In January last
year, Mr Gyngell flew to Los Angeles as head of
British television giant Granada's US operations.
Mr
Gyngell was a popular boss. When he quit Nine,
personalities appeared on screen dressed in black,
including Tracy Grimshaw, Mr Gyngell's wife and
Today newsreader Leila McKinnon, weatherman Steve
Jacobs, Sunday host Ray Martin and reporters Kellie
Connolly and Christine Spiteri.
Mr
Law said in a statement that the appointment was
a critical step in the continuing process of accelerating
Nine to a position of market leadership.
In
a statement, Mr Gyngell said: "This network
has been my passion. Everyone who knows me knows
that. In the last few years, my time running Granada
Television in North America has broadened my experience
and made me a better television executive.
"It
is a great time to return home to Nine."
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