oOh!media Limited has announced the appointment of Nova CEO Cathy O’Connor as managing director and chief executive officer, from early 2021.
It also follows on from today’s news that Peter Charlton has been named as the new CEO of Nova.
O’Connor brings extensive sales experience from her 35 years working for Australian media organisations, including the last 12 years as CEO of Nova Entertainment Group and five years prior to that as managing director of DMG Radio. O’Connor is recognised as one of the most influential leaders in Australian media today.
Her appointment follows a global search for a replacement for founder and CEO, Brendon Cook, who earlier this year announced his intention to stand down from the role after more than 30 years.
O’Connor will join the company’s experienced executive team in early 2021. Cook will continue to consult to the company until at least the end of 2021 to provide O‘Connor and the wider business access to his deep industry knowledge, insights and relationships.
Chair of the oOh! Board, Tony Faure said the company was delighted to have secured a new CEO of O’Connor’s quality to drive oOh!’s growth and continued success.
“The Board was pleased to be able to attract a high-quality field of candidates, and after significant consideration we felt Cathy was the ideal person to lead oOh! in its next stage of growth. We would also like to place on record our thanks to Brendon for his continued commitment and professionalism in navigating through the pandemic, and for agreeing to stay on until the end of this year,” Faure said.
“Cathy, who is highly regarded by the industry, brings extensive experience as a leader of successful media organisations, and in her most recent role at NOVA, has created significant value.
“She brings a range of qualities which we felt were suited to taking the business through its next stage of growth, in particular her proven success in steering a media sales organisation, leading the technology strategy and driving organic growth initiatives, even in the most challenging of environments.
“Cathy has a balanced and engaging leadership style and brings a number of other qualities that we felt were important for the business, including a demonstrated ability to drive efficiencies, develop great teams and build strong networks in both the corporate and agency environments.
O’Connor said she looked forward to taking on the role as CEO at oOh!media as the Company was the leader in one of the most exciting sectors of the Australian media industry.
“Despite the challenges of 2020, the Out of Home sector is an exciting place to be in, with strong growth prospects and increasing prominence in a digital future,” O’Connor said.
“oOh! is a great business with an extensive national reach backed by both leading data smarts and a fantastic team of professionals that are the best in their field.
“I am looking forward to joining the team and building on oOh!’s success and guiding the Company’s next phase of growth.”
This announcement has been authorised for release to the ASX by the Board of Directors.
