Amanda Unwin, Christine Lester, Michael Graham, and Noel Quick will lead Nine Audio’s commercial operations across the four metro markets, as the business completes a national leadership restructure aimed at capturing growing demand for both broadcast and digital audio.
The appointments, announced this week, are part of Nine Audio’s new sales model, designed to streamline operations and strengthen its go-to-market strategy nationally.
Christine Lester joins as Melbourne Sales Director in mid-August, bringing experience from Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), where she has led Independent and Direct sales since 2018. She also held senior roles at ACP and is well-known among Melbourne advertisers.
Michael Graham takes up the Brisbane Sales Director role, also in mid-August. Graham moves from Car Expert and previously held senior commercial roles at SCA, ARN, and Nova. He brings deep knowledge of the Queensland market.
In Perth, Noel Quick officially stepped into the Sales Director role for Nine Audio on July 1, while continuing in his role as Group Business Director for Nine Perth until the end of September. Quick is a seasoned Perth media executive, having led SCA locally for several years.
They join Amanda Unwin, whose appointment as Sydney Sales Director was confirmed earlier this year.
National roles add digital, operations, and creative capability
Beyond the metro sales leads, Nine Audio has also bolstered its national commercial leadership team. Jonathon Mandel will take on the role of National Head of Digital Sales from 29 September. Mandel joins from independent digital agency Bolster, and previously led digital operations for LiSTNR. His remit will be to accelerate digital audio revenue growth.
Rick Lenarcic, who currently serves as National Head of Direct Sales, will transition to Head of Sales Operations. With a media career spanning three decades, including senior roles at SCA and ARN Regional, Lenarcic will oversee Traffic, Commerce, Research, Engineering/Technology and Syndication teams across radio.
Chris Gregson will lead the Powered Audio team, responsible for creative services and integrated audio campaigns, leveraging the existing creative assets within Nine Radio.
Strategic shift amid audio audience growth
Brian Gallagher, Nine Audio Commercial Director, said the new appointments were critical to executing Nine Audio’s growth strategy: “It is an absolute privilege to have attracted executives of this calibre to lead the commercial teams at Nine Radio.”
“As the team progressively onboards over the next couple of months, we will see a new level of competitiveness emerging from our commercial teams across the country,” Gallagher added. “With radio listening continuing to deliver great reach and digital audio audiences growing strongly, our integrated sales approach, led by the industry’s best, positions us to capture great growth in the year ahead.”
Top image: Amanda Unwin, Christine Lester, Michael Graham, Noel Quick