ARN’s new operations boss Michael Stephenson signals overhaul, appoints former Nine’ exec Richard Hunwick as sales chief; iHeart platform, brand content integration ‘two big bets’
Nine’s former sales boss Michael Stephenson has finished his gardening leave and two weeks into his new role as Chief Operating Officer of the listed ARN, has appointed his former Nine colleague Richard Hunwick to lead the revenue charge. Home to Kyle & Jackie O on the KIIS network, Stephenson acknowledged ARN had ceded ground to rival Southern Cross Austereo’s digital platform Listnr and its marketshare gains in the growing digital audio market. But he said ARN’s iHeart digital audio platform was one of two “big bets” he was moving on rapidly to become the “undisputed leader” in “total audio”. He deflected questions about ARN’s interest in acquiring Nine’s radio assets to CEO Ciaran Davis and chairman Hamish McClennan.
What you need to know:
- Michael Stephenson, former Nine sales boss, now ARN Chief Operating Officer has appointed ex-Nine colleague Richard Hunwick as sales director to drive revenue growth as “without doubt the best sales director in the country”.
- Stephenson said ARN’s iHeart digital audio platform, was a key focus, aiming to make it “Australia’s leading digital audio” company by leveraging global capabilities and enhancing user engagement.
- Stephenson acknowledged ARN’s lag in digital audio against Southern Cross Austereo’s Listnr but argues iHeart’s global ecosystem advantage for scaling and innovation.
- ARN plans to integrate brands into its content using assets like radio, talent, and events, signaling a shift towards cross-platform advertising solutions.
- ARN’s first challenge is to increasing daily active users and building iHeart’s profile among consumers and advertisers while enhancing ad-targeting capabilities through first-party data.
Credit where credit's due - Southern Cross have done a good job investing in their own product and a local platform with Listnr
ARN’s new Chief Operating Officer flagged his priorities two weeks into the role as a supercharged focus on the iHeart digital audio platform with 3m plus signed-up users, brand content integration across ARN’s Kiss and Gold radio networks and the appointment of Richard Hunwick as sales boss and “without doubt the best sales director in the country”.
Hunwick, who left Nine last year and joined audience measurement firm Adgile, will start next week, essentially replacing former Chief Commercial Officer, Peter Whitehead, who left last month.
“Richard will lead our national sales team... across our leading live broadcast, live streaming, and podcast assets,” Stephenson told Mi-3. “His deep understanding of cross-platform advertising combined with his proven ability to build high-performance teams makes him the perfect addition. The results speak for themselves... He is without doubt the best sales director in the country."
Hunwick, who relocated to Adgile’s Brisbane HQ, will return to Sydney. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Adgile journey, they’re making terrific progress taking audience measurement into business outcomes in the TV sector but I miss Sydney, the rough and tumble and I’m really excited to get back into working with him [Stephenson].
Stephenson is wasting little time executing on his “two big bets”, shortly heading to the US to meet with iHeart to map ARN’s plan to take-on SCA’s Listnr and fast-track the firm’s digital audio strategy – one of the few media categories in growth, currently at about 30 per cent.
“There are two big bets for ARN: integrating brands into our content using our assets like radio, talent, and events, and supercharging iHeart as the centrepiece of our total audio strategy,” Stephenson said. “We’re focusing on making iHeart synonymous with digital audio in Australia by driving user engagement and leveraging its global capabilities.”
Stephenson said his iHeart’s US visit was to “understand their roadmap, what role video plays, what role shoppable content plays and how we can leverage these advancements here in Australia. I want ARN to be at the pointy end of innovation within this space. The beauty of iHeart is that it’s part of a global ecosystem with advanced features.”
Stephenson said where ARN had been “slower to market” than some rivals was in commercialising live streaming but that was “changing rapidly” and he expected ARN’s digital revenues to “take off significantly” as it built capability to insert ads into live streams, new digital products and use first party data for tighter targeting.
“Credit where credit's due - Southern Cross have done a good job investing in their own product and a local platform,” Stephenson said. “They’ve entered the technology space themselves, which has its pros and cons – you get control over the roadmap but incredible costs. ARN, on the other hand, benefits from being part of a global development roadmap with enormous scale. iHeart has over a million podcasts and some of the biggest brands in the world, which is a huge advantage for us.”
But there were challenges – ARN needed to build iHeart’s brand profile and benefits to both consumer and advertisers and media buyers. “At the same time, we must increase daily active users to make it a habit for consumer consumption. This is about embedding iHeart into people’s everyday lives as their go-to platform for streaming and podcasts,” he said. “There’s broad awareness of iHeart as a brand but what’s unclear to many is what you can actually do with it around its size, scale, and the opportunities it offers brands. That’s going to be a significant focus for us moving forward because we need to establish it as the leading digital audio platform in Australia.”
iHeart was “central” to ARN’s digital transformation strategy, he said. “It’s not just about competing with platforms like LiSTNR; it’s about setting ourselves apart by offering unmatched scale, innovative ad products, and deeper audience engagement through personalized experiences.”
Stephenson would not be drawn on detail around his second “big bet” of content and brand integration, saying further announcements would be made shortly.
