Daily Mail Australia (DMA) has advised that Peter Holder will be departing as managing director, the commercial and management role he has held since February 2015.
Daily Mail Australia is one of the biggest news publishers in Australia, commanding the fourth biggest audience of any commercial news publisher.
In a note to staff today, Holder said: “After much consideration, I have decided to step down as managing director of Daily Mail Australia and embark on the next phase of my career.
“I’ve had the remarkable opportunity of being a member of the team that has helped this amazing news brand become a force of nature across the country.”
One of Holder’s key tasks initially was helping transition the business from its JV with Nine to being part of the dmg global publishing business.
Of his time at DMA, Holder said: “The adventures have been many – including building a market-leading commercial team here in Australia, working with the US sales team for an interim period in New York, navigating the business through Covid-19, overseeing our move from George Street to Kent Street Sydney and working on our global content deal with Google after representing us in the ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry.”
Holder only recently advised the DMA owners dmg media of his wish to stand down after eight years in the top job.
Speaking to Mediaweek between meetings and phone calls today, Holder said: “I knew that my chances of going further up on Mediaweek’s Power 100, without booking two tables of 10, was unlikely.”
Holder was ranked #40 in the 2022 Mediaweek Power 100 and was poised for a similar place on the chart this year. However, depending on his next role, he might have to settle for a lower ranking if he stays in media.
Sean Walsh, global chief brand officer, dmg media said: “We’d like to thank Peter for his significant contribution to both Daily Mail Australia and dmg media over the past eight years.
“During his tenure he has built and overseen a strong and competitive commercial team while offering unique and innovative advertising solutions for Australian brands wanting to reach Daily Mail’s highly engaged local audience.
“Peter will be with us while we undertake a recruitment process for his replacement and transition his responsibilities.”
In the latest Ipsos/IAB audience data released for the month of April 2023, Daily Mail Australia had an audience of 8.3m readers for the month. In terms of commercial news audiences, it was ranked fourth behind news.com.au, nine.com.au and 7news.com.au.
Holder is one of the too few people who manages to back up a lengthy LinkedIn list of attributes with experience. He is an experienced publisher, editor, manager, columnist, author, social media and general media strategist.
Mediaweek spoke briefly to Holder this morning in between headhunter calls who were clogging the lines as they scouted a promising media executive candidate for a future role.
Peter Holder has a long background in magazines, newspapers, digital news and also book publishing and television.
To read more about Holder don’t miss the Mediaweek Power 100 rankings.