Mediaweek can confirm Super Radio Network has parted ways with two senior executives, Gavin Flanagan and Mike Byrne, just months after they stepped into their roles.

The departures come amid continued leadership churn at the business, following the earlier exit of former CEO Rhys Holleran, who left after six months in the top job.

Both Flanagan and Byrne had been appointed under Holleran as part of efforts to stabilise and reposition the network.

Byrne confirmed his departure when approached by Mediaweek, saying, “It was an ‘interesting’ three months with SRN, and I wish the board the best in their future endeavours.”

Flanagan, who had previously spent more than a decade with the organisation, announced his exit via LinkedIn.

“Having spent 12 years with the organisation across a 27-year career, I was given the opportunity to return last year and jumped at it. I genuinely believed I could make a difference and help realise the potential I’ve always known was there.”

“While it hasn’t worked out as I would have liked, I’m proud of the way I approached the role, focusing on building strong teams, improving performance and driving positive change.”

Questions remain over broader exits

Sources have also provided Mediaweek with the name of a third executive believed to have exited the business at the same time, though this departure has not been confirmed.

The latest changes follow comments earlier this month by new CEO Graham Mott, who pushed back against speculation about the company’s future ownership.

“SRN is not for sale,” Mott told Mediaweek.

The back-to-back leadership changes underscore ongoing instability at the network, with multiple senior hires now exiting within months of appointment.

Mediaweek has reached out to SRN for comment.

Main image: Mike Byrne and Gavin Flanagan.

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Grace Tame has announced she is closing her child safety advocacy foundation, just weeks after claiming a “media smear campaign” had cost her engagements for the remainder of 2026.

The former Australian of the Year started the foundation in 2021.

The board said in a statement posted to the Grace Tame Foundation website on Thursday:

“The Foundation has reached a crossroads.

“Like many small advocacy organisations, sustaining long-term funding for this work has become increasingly challenging.

“After careful consideration, the Board has made the decision to close the Foundation, with the process to be finalised in the coming weeks.”

The statement also says, “While the foundation itself will close, the mission it has championed will continue through the many survivors, advocates, and organisations working to protect children and drive reform.

“We are deeply grateful to every survivor, advocate, supporter, and partner who stood with us. Because of you, the conversation around safeguarding children in Australia has changed. That work does not end here.

“Every member of the team is determined to continue advocating for survivors and working towards reform, each in their own way.”

Grace Tame closes foundation

In March, Tame revealed that her speaking appointments have almost vanished in the wake of her shouting “globalise the intifada” at a pro-Palestine rally the previous month.

Tame shared the information during a speech at the No to Violence conference in Hobart, saying that she had no further speaking engagements for the entire year.

“This is my last presentation of the year and it’s only March,” she said.

Tame began her speech by saying she does not support violence or antisemitism, adding that she does not support Islamophobia or hatred of any kind – despite what she feels has been presented by the media recently.

She added that she was “up against a well-oiled political machine.”

The professional speaker, who is paid for some of her appearances, attributes an “ongoing media smear campaign” to the cancellation of three of her engagements last week.

In a post on Instagram about it, Tame said she had “lost three speaking engagements on the theme of child safety due to an ongoing media smear campaign”.

Grace Tame 2026 controversies

Tame courted controversy earlier this year at an anti-Israel rally against president Isaac Herzog after she led chants for “globalise the intifada”. She has insisted “intifada” means a “shaking off”.

She was criticised by a Jewish group who wrote a letter to the organisers of an International Women’s Day event in Bendigo and urged them to cancel her appearance as she caused “profound distress”.

She also drew criticism from multiple politicians including NSW Premier Chris Minns who described the scene at the rally as “distressing”.

Israel’s embassy in Australia also slammed Tame for what it characterised as her “dismissal of sexual abuse” perpetrated by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.

The Grace Tame Foundation statement includes resources

If you are a survivor and need counselling or support, the services listed below may be able to assist. If you are in immediate danger, please dial 000.

SUPPORT LINES:

National: 1800 RESPECT, 1800 737 732

NSW: NSW Rape Crisis Centre 1800 424 017

QLD: Sexual Assault Helpline 1800 010 120

VIC: Sexual Assault Crisis Line 1800 806 292

SA: Yarrow Place (08) 8226 8787 or 1800 817 421 (outside Adelaide)

ACT: Canberra Rape Crisis Centre 02 6247 2525

WA: Sexual Assault Resource Centre 1800 199 888

NT: Ruby Gaea 08 8945 0155

Grace Tame. Image: Instagram

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Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) has announced a leadership transition, with CEO Bronwyn Heys stepping down and Kathryn Illy appointed Acting CEO.

Heys will leave the organisation to take on a new chief marketing officer role.

End of a growth phase

During her four-year tenure, Heys oversaw sustained growth for AMI, expanding its membership base and evolving its brand and operating model.

Her leadership spanned business strategy, member value, revenue growth, communications and the rollout of the organisation’s marketing competency framework and digital assessment tools.

“The opportunity to drive the AMI member value proposition… have been some of the things that have made the last four years as CEO remarkable,” Heys said.

Board recognises impact

AMI Chair Kristie Atkins credited Heys with reshaping the organisation into a more commercially focused and future-ready body.

“Bronwyn has been pivotal in making AMI more commercially disciplined and future focused… delivering our enhanced digital ecosystem,” she said.

Acting CEO steps in

Illy, a former CMO and commercial executive, will step into the Acting CEO role, taking a leave of absence from AMI’s national board.

She brings experience from senior roles at Destination NSW, PwC, Macquarie Group and Commonwealth Bank.

Illy said her immediate focus will be on maintaining momentum across AMI’s key programs and member offerings.

“I will be focused on ensuring the big value items for our members are on track to deliver… and continuing the strong forward momentum,” she said.

AMI said Illy’s appointment ensures continuity, with the in-house team continuing to operate under her leadership alongside the national board.

Main image: Bronwyn Heys

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When Kia Australia set out to promote its new Tasman model, it had one goal: relevance.

So, with that in mind, instead of leaning harder into traditional social platforms, the brand turned to Reddit, betting that its community-driven structure and high-intent audiences could do something broader channels could not: shift consideration.

For Kia’s digital marketing manager and longtime Reddit user, Tim Manning, the rationale and potential were clear from the outset.

“I’m a massive fan, and I use it a lot, and I know how much of a powerful tool it is,” he told Mediaweek.

“It’s such a powerful platform to leverage that tone of voice within such a hyper-focused community. As a brand, we saw a really strong opportunity there.”

Why Kia moved beyond traditional social

The decision to lean into Reddit marked a shift in thinking, away from interruption-led advertising towards participation.

“We wanted to make sure the ad didn’t feel like an ad; there had to be a value exchange, and that was true even from my personal use of the platform. So that’s what we really went into with our activity,” Manning said.

That meant rethinking not just the media buy, but the creative itself. Kia opted for long-form, Reddit-native executions designed to read like real threads, aligning with the way users already engage on the platform.

“Obviously, we utilised the long-form ads for this particular activation. I think it was really just about leaning into the tone of voice and who we are, and trying to show the value of this new vehicle and how Reddit can really leverage that through subreddits.”

The campaign also tapped into moments like the Australian Open, but the real focus was on meeting niche communities, particularly outdoor and automotive audiences, in a way that felt authentic.

Walking the line between brand and community

But, as with every new venture, that push and focus on authenticity came with risk.

“One of the things we had to work through at the start was the perception that Reddit is so community-focused, and if you don’t do it right, you can see negative brand feedback,” Manning said.

To navigate that, Kia worked closely with Reddit and its agency partners, balancing brand safety with a willingness to adopt the platform’s tone.

“The thing that worked really well for us was working really closely with the Reddit team, obviously still ensuring that we have the process in place and that we’re comfortable putting our brand tone of voice in place.”

It also required internal alignment, particularly around what success would look like.

“Again, getting buy-in from the business and having clear markers of what success was were massive as well.”

Where Reddit delivered: the mid-funnel sweet spot

While mass reach still sat with broader channels, Reddit carved out a distinct role in Kia’s mix.

“You still need the broad, overarching channels that give you mass reach, but Reddit really excelled for us in the mid-funnel,” Manning said.

“So, take those high-intent, highly relevant audiences. We learned that we’re hitting them in a place where word of mouth, especially in the light commercial vehicle segment, is such a massive factor.”

That dynamic translated into performance.

The Tasman campaign delivered a 480% increase in time spent compared to the benchmark, alongside an eight-point lift in ad awareness. Auction-based activity drove a six-point increase in aided awareness, while takeover formats delivered a further 5.6-point lift in overall ad awareness.

“The uplifts were among the strongest we saw across all our channels,” Manning said.

“I think the one that I like to focus on the most is the 480% higher time spent on the ad than the benchmark. Even just looking at that, it was over a minute on an ad with very few to no video elements. It kind of blew our minds.”

From test channel to strategic lever

Kia had previously experimented with Reddit through category buys, but the Tasman campaign marked a turning point in how the platform was used.

“We’d advertised on it before, but I guess, having confidence in the results we already had, if we can lean in and offer these people a bit more value in how we structure our ads, it’ll be a benefit for us and for the consumer as well,” Manning said.

The campaign’s success has helped shift internal perceptions of Reddit from a niche or experimental channel to a more strategic part of the mix, particularly for consideration-driven campaigns.

“Whenever there are new platforms and stuff like that, especially in a community-based platform like Reddit, there will be people who are a bit apprehensive,” Manning said.

“So it’s about going on a journey and working very closely with the Reddit team and our agency to put in place whatever brand guidelines and brand safety measures are needed. And I think they’re starting to really understand it.”

A platform built on authenticity

Kia’s results come as Reddit continues to strengthen its position as an advertising platform, with rapid revenue growth, rising global audiences and improving monetisation pointing to increasing advertiser confidence.

But for Manning, the platform’s core appeal is simpler.

“Reddit just feels very native. It’s not cluttered like a lot of other environments are,” he said.

“I guess it’s encouraging brands that there is still value in that community-sort-of element, and platforms like Reddit obviously champion that.”

“Remaining authentic within this space has seen great results for us.”

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IBM has awarded Omnicom its global media account following a review, handing one of the market’s more closely watched technology remits to a new holding group as the company continues to reassess its broader agency structure.

The decision was first reported by Ad Age on 9 April, which said IBM’s creative review is still ongoing. That means the media appointment has now been settled, but the company’s wider agency reset is not yet complete.

IBM put its global media business under review in December 2025. At the time, WPP Media, the incumbent on the account, chose not to defend the business, ending its run on media planning and buying for the technology company.

The scale of the account

The size of the remit helps explain why the pitch drew industry attention. COMvergence estimates IBM’s global media spend was about US$330 million in 2024, making it one of the larger media reviews in the technology sector.

That media decision lands at a time when IBM is leaning harder into enterprise AI, software and infrastructure growth. In its full-year 2025 results, IBM reported revenue of $67.5 billion, up 8 per cent, while chairman, president and chief executive officer Arvind Krishna said the company’s generative AI book of business had grown to more than $12.5 billion.

Creative review still in play

The unresolved piece is creative. In March, Campaign reported that WPP’s Ogilvy was no longer IBM’s creative agency of record, ending a 32-year relationship that dated back to 1994.

According to that report, Ogilvy chose not to participate in IBM’s creative RFP. The split marked the end of one of the longer-running client-agency relationships in global advertising, with the partnership spanning major IBM platforms including Smarter Planet, Watson, Think, and Let’s Create.

Taken together, the two reviews point to a significant reshaping of IBM’s global marketing set-up. Omnicom has now secured the media side of the business, while the outcome of the creative review remains to be seen.

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Media industry hiring fell 3.8 per cent year-on-year in the March 2026 quarter, with sales and client service roles driving the decline, according to new data from Mercury Talent.

From January to March 2026, there were 1,045 media job ads posted. That was up 22 per cent on the seasonal dip in October to December 2025, but down from the recent peak of 1,163 roles recorded in July to September 2025.

Sales roles led the decline

Sales and client service recruitment fell 14.9 per cent year-on-year to 370 roles, making it the biggest factor behind the overall drop. The sharpest decline came in TV and streaming, where sales hiring fell 51.6 per cent.

Programmatic also recorded a 31 per cent fall in sales hiring. By contrast, out-of-home and retail media was flat, while large-scale events more than doubled sales activity from a small base.

Justin Randles, of Mercury Talent, said the latest result pointed to a market that may be stabilising, even as job movement slows.

“We’re yet to see the impacts of recent large acquisitions, but my feeling is that the media industry has stopped getting smaller and that the latest decline in hiring activity is more a reflection of reduced movement in the job market overall,” Randles said.

“People are less willing to take the risk of changing jobs.”

Operations and product roles keep growing

While commercial hiring softened, product and operations was the strongest-performing category. Roles in that area rose 6.3 per cent year-on-year to 336 and now account for 32 per cent of all media hiring, up from 24 per cent two years ago.

The shift showed up across several sectors at once, including programmatic, TV and streaming, out-of-home and retail media, and radio and podcasting. Marcomms hiring was broadly stable at 107 roles.

Content roles also continued to trend down, falling 10.2 per cent to 202. Mercury Talent said content’s share of total industry hiring has dropped from almost 29 per cent in early 2024 to 19 per cent in early 2026.

Publishing remains the largest hiring sector

Publishing was the largest hiring sector in the quarter with 422 roles, followed by TV and streaming with 181, radio and podcast with 116, and B2B media and events with 111.

Radio and podcast stood out, up 19 per cent on six months ago, led by hiring from ABC, ARN and SCA. TV and streaming also rebounded from a softer December 2025 quarter, with Nine, ABC and SBS lifting recruitment, although sales hiring in the sector remained under pressure.

Company hiring patterns shift

At a company level, Domain nearly tripled hiring compared with the same quarter a year earlier. The growth spanned sales, product, operations, and executive roles.

Google more than doubled its product and operations hiring year-on-year. Uber Advertising and QMS also recorded increases from smaller bases, while TikTok’s hiring eased from 39 roles in Q1 2025 to 25 this quarter.

More senior roles in the mix

The data also suggests employers are hiring more selectively. Executive-level roles held steady, while manager-level roles fell 11.8 per cent, lifting the share of director and senior management positions modestly higher.

Mercury Talent said several businesses, including Domain, Seven Network, Cartology and Nova, showed a clearer tilt towards senior hires during the quarter.

Questions over AI and content hiring

The continued decline in content roles, alongside growth in product and operations, also points to a broader structural shift in how media companies are building teams.

Mercury Talent said the trend raises questions about the impact of artificial intelligence on media employment. With content hiring falling consistently since mid-2024 and the seniority mix within those roles staying largely stable, the data suggests the change may reflect more than short-term cost-cutting.

Whether that is driven by AI-assisted production, editorial consolidation, or both, the latest figures indicate the media jobs market is changing shape rather than simply shrinking.

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The film Michael, about singer Michael Jackson, will be released later this month; but not without controversy.

Various outlets, citing a 2025 Puck story, report that the biopic reportedly spent $21 million on “rewrites and reshoots” after revoked consent to reference the child sexual abuse allegations against him came to light.

Mediaweek reached out to Universal for comment but has not yet received a response.

In 2025, Puck said: “The late pop star’s estate overlooked a key contract with a child accuser that has now rendered the already shot third act of the film unusable.

“Producers are scrambling to rewrite, reshoot, and somehow salvage MJ’s big-budget musical biopic.”

This week, Pitchfork further explained, “The film, Michael, originally concluded with the singer’s 1993 scandal, when a family accused Jackson of sexually abusing their 13-year-old son.

“That ending was cut when lawyers for the Jackson Estate found a clause in a settlement with the accuser, which prohibits the dramatization of him in a movie.

“As a result, the filmmakers were forced to overhaul the entire third act of the movie.

“According to a new Variety report, in June 2025, the cast spent 22 days shooting a new storyline, which cost the production somewhere between $10 to $15 million.

“The estate covered the costs since the additional shooting was caused by their oversight, and the film’s release was later moved from its initial date of April 18, 2025 to April 24, 2026.”

Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic

It’s reported that the movie will now conclude at the height of Jackson’s career, capturing the singer as he readies himself for the stage during his Bad tour.

The 1987 tour was Jackson’s first departure from the Jackson 5, and became one of the highest-grossing and most popular tours ever.

The film’s main ‘drama’ will now be Jackson’s contentious relationship with his father, Joe Jackson.

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Mitchell Sariovski will step away from the camera at the end of April, marking the end of his tenure as a reporter with Seven Network in Adelaide.

“Thank you to all South Australians who trusted me, after all it’s because of you that I was employed.”

The 28-year-old announced the move on LinkedIn, revealing he will shift focus to hospitality through his involvement with The Original Pancake Kitchen, an American-style diner.

Work history

Sariovski has spent nearly five years reporting for Seven, returning to the network in 2021 after earlier roles across regional newsrooms.

His career began at NBN Television in Lismore in 2017, before moving through roles with Seven in Lismore and Albury, including as a police reporter.

He also had a brief stint with Nine Network before returning to Seven.

‘Time to leave the dream’

Sariovski reflected on his journey from aspiring journalist to newsroom reporter.

“It’s hard to leave the dream behind… but it’s time,” he said.

He cited family as a key reason for the decision, adding that he plans to prioritise life with his fiancée and two children.

“Now, it’s about my family – my fiancé Lauren, and our boys, Jett and Arlo.”

From newsroom to restaurant

Sariovski has been with The Original Pancake Kitchen franchise since December 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile. The Adelaide-based brand has operated since 1965 and runs multiple locations across the city.

“After that… the only deadlines will be pancakes on plates, not news on screens,” he hinted.

Sariovski will remain on air until the end of April, then officially sign off from the newsroom.

Main image: Mitchell Sariovski

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Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds have teamed up in a new campaign ahead of this weekend’s SailGP event in Rio, bringing their signature humour to the high-speed sailing league.

The pair, co-owners of the BONDS Flying Roos, feature in a new spot created in partnership with monday.com.

The campaign blends the duo’s well-known banter with the realities of running a professional SailGP team, playfully referencing sailing superstitions and the pressure of elite competition.

Rio milestone

The spot lands ahead of the SailGP Rio Grand Prix (April 12–13), marking the league’s first-ever event in South America.

Led by Tom Slingsby, the BONDS Flying Roos head into the event sitting second in the 2026 season standings and aiming to take the top spot.

Main image: Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds

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Mediaweek has teamed up with the IMAA to give its indie leaders a platform to discuss their work, their take on the industry, and what keeps them ticking outside the office.

For James McDonald, managing director at Audience Group, that work sits firmly in the world of data-led advertising. His independent agency blends media, technology and analytics to help clients make more informed investment decisions and track what’s actually delivering results. It’s a pragmatic approach, grounded in performance rather than promises.

That said, McDonald is the first to admit the industry still has its mysteries. “I know advertising works. I just keep trying to understand exactly how and why.”

Here, he talks about running an independent shop, how data is reshaping decision-making, and why curiosity still sits at the centre of it all.

What sparked your interest in launching your own indie agency?

A mixture of frustration and ambition. We could see that too much of the industry had become detached from the actual commercial job of advertising.

There was a lot of process, a lot of theatre, and not enough clear thinking about how to turn media investment into business growth. We wanted to build an agency that was closer to the client, closer to the work, and far more accountable for outcomes.

Starting an indie agency gave us the freedom to do that properly.

What sets your agency apart from others?

We think our job is to change the conditions of choice in our clients’ favour.

That means understanding what makes people choose, what gets remembered, what gets noticed, what’s easy to buy, and what actually drives product sales.

Too much of this industry is still focused on placements, platforms and process. We are more interested in the architecture behind growth.

We are not just media buyers. We design the system that median operates within so it has a better chance of creating a commercial result. That includes the strategy, the signals, the measurement, the budget allocation, and how channels work together. We are trying to build something more intelligent than a media plan. We are trying to build an advantage.

Indie agencies are increasingly seeing success with major pitches. What differentiates your pitch approach from that of larger agencies?

We are not trying to win on scale. We are trying to win on relevance, intelligence and conviction.

Bigger agencies often pitch their infrastructure. We pitch our thinking.

We spend more time understanding the actual business problem, where growth will come from, and what needs to change to unlock it.

We are also more honest. We are comfortable saying what we do not believe in, what will not work, and where a client may be wasting money. That tends to cut through. And senior people stay in the room, stay on the business, and stay accountable day to day.

Who are your latest agency account wins?

Our latest wins include Vacatio and Credit 24 (and another we can’t yet
talk about publicly). They are ambitious brands with strong commercial intent, and exactly the kind of clients we love working with.

What’s a piece of work you’re most proud of?

Our work for Credit 24 stands out. We built investment models for the C-suite in Europe to demonstrate how media investment would drive sales. We then worked closely with DDB to align creative and media.

Six months in, we’re seeing strong movement across both brand metrics and sales. Starting with return on capital and working our way down to a media plan was hard, but enjoyable.

As a leader, how do you switch off from work and unwind after a busy week?

I’d love to say it is ice baths at 4am and some sort of monk-like commitment to optimisation, but it is much less impressive than that. Beer, food, probably too much of both, and planning my next holiday. That is usually how I reset.

What does success look like for you over the next 12 months?

Success for me is not just growth for growth’s sake.

It is building an agency that becomes more influential, more distinctive and more valuable. Over the next 12 months, that means winning the right clients,
doing work that has a measurable commercial effect, and strengthening the team so the business is not overly reliant on a handful of people.

I started my career in full-service agencies, and I think the industry is
swinging back toward something it lost for a while: message and media
being planned together, not in silos.

A big part of our success is pushing further into that space. Breaking the silos, reconnecting strategy, creative, data, technology and media. That is what Tom (fellow founder) and I wrote on a napkin 13 years ago, and it is still our focus today.

See here for past editions of IMAA Spotlight.

Main image: James McDonald

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Nine Network has expanded its streaming platform 9Now with the launch of the BBC News channel.

The addition strengthens 9Now’s live content offering, giving Australian audiences 24-hour access to international news coverage through Nine’s ongoing partnership with BBC Studios.

Expanding live news offering

The BBC News channel will be positioned prominently within the 9Now interface, offering viewers continuous access to global news and analysis.

It joins an existing suite of BBC FAST channels on the platform, including BBC Comedy, BBC Food, BBC Home & Garden, Top Gear and Antiques Roadshow.

Focus on trusted journalism

Nine’s Director of 9Now and Programming, Hamish Turner, said the move reinforces the platform’s commitment to credible news.

“The addition of BBC News complements our 9News lineup, delivering a deeper global perspective,” he said.

“At a time when misinformation is prevalent, we are proud to provide Australians with a 24-hour window into the world’s most important stories.”

Growing FAST channel strategy

Robi Stanton, President of APAC Media & Streaming at BBC Studios, said the launch builds on the existing partnership with Nine.

“We’re pleased to grow our FAST channel offering with Nine… the launch of BBC News marks an exciting step forward in delivering additional BBC content and trusted journalism,” she said.

“Alongside the existing suite of BBC entertainment and factual channels already on 9Now, the launch of BBC News marks an exciting step forward in delivering additional BBC content, and trusted journalism, to even more Australians.”
Main image: Nine

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