Great Southern Television’s Phil Smith on his hit shows The Casketeers, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and more, and the future of our screen industry. Video / NZ Herald
NZME is losing one of its long-established executives as he switches to the top table at Sky Television.
NZME chief financial officer David Mackrell has resigned and will join Sky as its new chief financial officer in January, the two publicly listed companies have revealed in separate announcements to theNZX this morning.
Mackrell replaces Ciara McGuigan who resigned from Sky, with immediate effect in February and just 16 days before Sky announced its half-year results.
Both Sky and NZME have been in the media spotlight this year over their financial and operational performances.
Mackrell’s resignation comes as a new NZME board beds itself into place - including a new chair, Steven Joyce, and new board members Jim Grenon and Bowen Pan, alongside Guy Horrocks, Sussan Turner and Carol Campbell. Campbell herself is about to soon step down from the board.
Mackrell, who was named Brightstar ‘CFO of the Year’ in 2024, is an experienced financial executive - before starting at NZME in March 2019, he was chief financial officer for Heartland Bank Ltd and spent more than a quarter of a century in finance leadership roles at Air New Zealand.
NZME chief financial officer David Mackrell. Photo / supplied
Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney said in a statement to the NZX: “David is a highly-regarded professional with deep experience working for leading customer brands and in a listed environment.
“We are delighted to welcome David to the Sky leadership team, and look forward to his contribution as we continue to strive to be Aotearoa New Zealand’s most engaging and essential media company. We have exciting times ahead and it will be great to have David on the team with us.”
Sky did not give a specific reason for McGuigan’s sudden departure; there has been speculation of some discord at executive level, with questions over the working relationship between McGuigan and Moloney.
In a statement to the NZX today, NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said: “On behalf of everyone at NZME I’d like to express my thanks to David for his significant contribution in his time with NZME.
“He has been a strong advisor and trusted confidante to the NZME board, our executive team, myself, and many others across our business. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”
NZME would recruit for a new chief financial officer shortly, Boggs said.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
