Kyle and Jackie O’s boss Hamish McLennan will face investors next month. They aren’t happy
In this week’s issue In the BackgroundHamish McLennan’s ARN chairmanship is under threat, Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire may go hunting for gold, and Bruce Lehrmann decides to try his hand at lecturing the media on ethics.
hammer time
Hamish McLennan’s chairmanship of ARN Media is under threat ahead of next month’s annual general meeting, where he will be re-elected after two terms.
In the Background has learned that many high-profile shareholders have voiced their displeasure with ARN’s handling of not only the ongoing Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson saga, but also other key decisions regarding “The Hammer’s” watch.
“If I was pregnant I would have seen the writing on the wall,” said one shareholder In the Background By Thursday afternoon, the company’s share price had fallen to just 18 cents, down from $2 at the end of 2021 and its high of 18 cents. Another ominously said it was worth “making plans to attend the General Assembly.”
From giving Henderson and Sandilands a “too long and too much” contract, to having ARN assume almost all the risk if their show flops, to paying regional broadcaster Grant Broadcasters a staggering $307 million in 2021 (six times ARN’s current value) and dealing with the fallout from the Sandilands-Henderson contract, some investors have had enough. At the same time, ARN has been unable to find a buyer for its Hong Kong-based outdoor media business Cody, a relic of the company’s past as a billboard company, since McLennan signaled his intention to sell it.
We learned this week that McLennan and former chief executive Ciaran Davis had been briefed on Henderson’s concerns about Sandilands since August last year. The ARN is expected to file its response to Henderson’s statement of claim next week; We will find out what measures the company has implemented since then.
But surprisingly, it is McLennan himself who has managed to avoid any financial trouble despite the disaster at the ARN. After eight years as chairman, McLennan’s total shareholding in ARN has reached 73,000 shares in the company as of Feb. 3, valued at just over $13,000 as of Thursday, according to ARN’s latest annual report. In total, Sandilands and Henderson own approximately 100 times the financial stake in ARN through their shares, and they are suing the company!
McLennan did not respond to questions. But his eventful tenure at ARN (not to mention fund manager Magellan or Rugby Australia) did not stop him agreeing to become chairman of defense company DroneShield, one of Australia’s most popular stocks this week. Its shares are up 311 percent in the past year alone.
For McLennan, there is always hope.
swing for fences
Meanwhile, ARN still has radio networks to examine.
Naturally, their stations need to make one or two big swings. Among these, it looks like there’s also a new show featuring existing actors Today host Karl Stefanovic and Mr. Melbourne himself, jack of all trades Eddie McGuire, best known by his former name Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Presenter and one-time chief executive of Nine (owner of this masthead).
In the Background Following initial reports on this masthead last month, it was heard that the pair were close to signing a deal to present a new weekly program on ARN’s Gold network, a sister station to the KIIS network that Sandilands and Henderson call home.
Stefanovic’s one-year contract at Nine is for four months, below his usual three-year deals, leading to intense speculation about his eventual departure from the network.
The first show with McGuire could be part of a broader deal with ARN that would also include sales representation for its newly launched independent conservative podcast. The Karl Stefanovich Show.
ARN, McGuire, Stefanovic and Nine did not respond to a request for comment.
A show featuring two big personalities would certainly cover the bases of both Melbourne and Sydney radio, but company sources say the real strategy lies in the digital potential.
Gold Network is synonymous with non-political, harmless content. But Stefanovic devoted a lot of time to big names on the populist right under the banner of his new “Joe Bogan podcast”.
In just 32 episodes, he quickly gained a loyal following, interviewing almost every high-profile figure associated with the diverse movement in Australia: Pauline Hanson, Barnaby Joyce (separately and with his new boss), Clive Palmer, Bob Katter, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Gerard Rennick, Alex Antic, Matt Canavan and a host of other right-wing influencers.
Stefanovic also had Anthony Albanese, but judging by the live comments section, the audience wasn’t all that interested in hearing from the Prime Minister. There were also apolitical figures. Bluish creator Joe Brumm and celebrity chef Curtis Stone.
Karl and Eddie interview Bandit and Chilli about gas prices. Who wouldn’t watch this?
Is Bruce Lehrmann back to claim his hat again?
When it comes to media ethics in Australia, expert voices come to mind. Bruce Lehrmann is not one of them.
The former Liberal Party staffer, who was found under civilian standard to have raped colleague Brittany Higgins, appears among public figures to back Ben Roberts-Smith this week after the former soldier was arrested at Sydney Airport on five war crimes charges (murder charges).
Gina Rinehart, Tony Abbott and Pauline Hanson voiced their support for Roberts-Smith, as did a verified X account that appeared to belong to Lehrmann.
@brucelehr95, who has almost 100 followers, fired off a series of posts in the immediate aftermath of BRS’s arrest, calling National Anti-Corruption Commission Commissioner Paul Brereton “corrupt”, slamming Liberal politician Andrew Hastie (a former commando who testified against BRS) and even our very own Nick McKenzie.
In one post, Lehrmann’s statement attacked what he described as McKenzie’s “rather lax and unethical approach to obtaining stories, which makes the case nicely.” Really…?
In the Background I can remember someone once telling Lehrmann that he made the mistake of going back to get your hat after escaping the lion’s den.
Lehrmann, who had one of his rape trials thrown out in 2023 due to juror misconduct and is currently awaiting a new trial on separate rape charges against another woman, managed to single-handedly ban checkbook journalism from the Walkley Awards in 2023. Agenda program – all of which was revealed in a libel lawsuit filed against Network Ten.
Both Lehrmann and Roberts-Smith have always denied the allegations against them.
The show of seven reporters attracted attention
Veteran reporter (and coincidentally the man featured in this exclusive interview with Lehrmann) Liam Bartlett turned Chris Bowen’s press conference about Australia’s ongoing fuel problems into a two-man show on Wednesday.
Bartlett accused the federal energy minister of being a “hypocrite” and asked rhetorically whether closing the Strait of Hormuz proved that Bowen’s “obsession” with renewables would lead us into another energy crisis.
“That’s a very loaded comment. It shows that we need to continue to work on energy security. I reject the premise of the question,” the Labor Minister replied, adding that renewable energy, like oil, is a “safe” source of energy that cannot be interrupted by a war.
This led Bartlett, a former executive at oil giant Shell in the 2010s, to ask whether Bowen should resign. The conflict was duly covered by news.com.au. Daily Mail Australia, Sky News and several other outlets. But it all seems designed for an upcoming investigation by Bartlett. Agenda. Yes they are.
Bartlett has apparently been chasing Bowen for a sit-down interview for months as part of his investigation into Australia’s energy policies, with multiple requests going unanswered. He declined to comment when contacted by . In the Background.
Other journalists at the Sydney edition said the atmosphere in the room was “weird”, with one describing Bartlett as “really aggressive” [in his questioning] go straight out the doors.”
It must have been pure luck that Seven positioned a camera crew next to the stage to capture the entire encounter from his perspective, pointing at his senior newspaper sitting in the press pack and posting it on their social channels as a mere teaser.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect with: X or email.
