Another top-level MediaWorks executive has quit the media company.
Chief Financial Officer Skye Daniels will leave in the “coming months” after accepting a new role as CFO at Southern Cross Health Insurance, MediaWorks’ acting CEO Wendy Palmer told staff in an internal email.
Meanwhile, one report said Palmer herself willleave in August - but Media Insider has been told this is not confirmed and a date has not been set. The role has always been a temporary appointment, while the company finds a permanent CEO.
Daniels follows three other executives out the door in recent weeks - chief executive Cam Wallace, Director of News and Talk Dallas Gurney, and Chief People Officer Paula Williams. Those departures come amid the highly publicised closure of Today FM, and fallout, with top stars and staff over the way the process and their redundancies were handled.
Palmer told staff that Daniels joined in early 2022, when the business was considering an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
“With an IPO unlikely in the near term, Skye has decided to take the next step in her career with this challenging role.”
She thanked Daniels for her “considerable contribution” and “steady hand at a time of considerable economic uncertainty for the business.”
“Skye was also instrumental in setting up and leading the Moana network at MediaWorks to celebrate the cultures, languages and tikanga (customs) of Māori and Pasifika people.”
Daniels joined MediaWorks from Air New Zealand where she was General Manager of Finance. Prior to joining the airline, she was a Director at PwC, and has also held senior finance roles at the University of Auckland and Mitre 10.
The internal MediaWorks memo, from acting CEO Wendy Palmer.
Palmer said Mike Asbridge would step into the CFO role following Daniels’ departure.
“Mike is an experienced finance professional with a proven track record in leading teams and implementing financial systems and processes. Mike has 20 years experience working in senior roles in New Zealand and internationally including at Westpac, Vodafone, ANZ in Singapore, Deutsche Bank in London and Singapore and now MediaWorks.”
Asbridge joined the business in 2019, initially as Head of Finance Business Partnering and most recently as GM Finance and Transformation.
Palmer herself will leave in August, BusinessDesk reported late this afternoon. However, Media Insider understands a date has not been confirmed. Commercial director Liz Fraser and content director Leon Wratt are among the frontrunners to take the CEO chair.
* Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
