Impey quits top job in shake-up

Brent Impey was said to look "sad and flat" when he told staff yesterday he was leaving. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Brent Impey has stepped down as chief executive of MediaWorks as owner Ironbridge Capital scraps his group role overseeing both radio and television assets.

At the end of the year Impey will end nearly a decade at the top of the firm that runs TV3, C4 and half of New Zealand's commercial radio stations. He will continue as a consultant until 2011.

Impey's resignation coincides with the 20th anniversary of MediaWorks this Friday.

Renowned as a tough-talking businessman who speaks his mind, Impey was said to look "sad and flat" as he told staff yesterday he was quitting.

TV3 director of marketing and communications Roger Beaumont said yesterday Impey would speak only to his own MediaWorks journalists at RadioLive and TV3. He would not be interviewed by the Business Herald.

Impey has been an integral part of MediaWorks since he joined the firm from More FM 10 years ago.

He took over the television operation from Rick Friesen in September last year.

Under the new - and unusual - arrangement, MediaWorks Radio chief executive Sussan Turner and a new television chief executive will report directly to MediaWorks' board, chaired by Brent Harman.

Harman - who is a former chief executive of TVNZ and Prime TV Australia - played down his new status.

But with no group chief he will have a greater role in how the assets perform for its Australian private equity owners - assets that are weighed down with heavy debt.

Harman said Impey would stay on to the end of the year and as a consultant would have a day-to-day role until a television chief executive was appointed, hopefully early next year.

The new structure will add to speculation that Ironbridge would benefit from eventually selling off the radio and television arms separately.

In June the Business Herald said Ironbridge was taking a bigger role in the media firm, keeping a closer eye on its radio and television assets.

MediaWorks owns TV3, C4 and radio networks such as RadioLive, The Rock, More FM and The Breeze, and is Ironbridge's biggest single investment.

Ironbridge put its own directors on to the boards of the trading companies, where previously it had directors only on the holding companies.

When MediaWorks was sold to Ironbridge in May 2007 - for more than $560 million at the height of the private equity acquisition boom - Impey fought hard to ensure that they were sold together.

The price raised eyebrows at the time, given that private equity traditionally buys companies with surplus fat and cuts costs to make them efficient.

Its previous owner, CanWest Global Communications, had a reputation for tight cost controls, raising questions about how Ironbridge could improve the value of the company. Harman said he was not aware of any options for a sale in the current market.

Harman played down the new structure, saying it made more sense to have people talking directly to the board.

He said MediaWorks was in "pretty good heart" and it was "fundamentally sound and profitable".

MediaWorks was not planning any further changes to staffing or programming, he said.

"It's no secret we have been through a pretty challenging time for the past couple of years but the advertising market since September is improving."

Under a lucrative deal with CanWest, Impey picked up $3 million when MediaWorks was sold to Ironbridge in 2007.

MEDIAWORKS

*Owns TV3 and C4.

*Owns radio operations including The Edge, The Rock, More FM, The Breeze, RadioLive, BSport, Solid Gold, Mai FM plus several local stations and websites.