Murdoch heavy-hitters grab INL reins in strategic coup

Friday 26th January 2001

TOM MOCKRIDGE: Beat Rick Neville to CEO

By Nick Stride

In a move seen as significant for the future of Sky Network Television, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has seized the reins at Independent Newspapers Ltd.

Two News Corp heavy hitters have been appointed to the INL chairmanship and the chief executive's role.

Ken Cowley, a News Corp and INL director, has succeeded Sir Colin Maiden as chairman.

In a surprise move Tom Mockridge, a senior News Corp executive but relatively unknown in New Zealand, has been appointed chief executive to replace Mike Robson, who died on December 13.

Long-serving INL chief operating officer Rick Neville, who had been filling in as acting managing director, takes up the new position of managing director, publishing.

The moves signal a new direction for INL, of which News Corp owns 49.3%.

Mr Neville was widely understood to have been groomed to succeed Mr Robson and industry observers were surprised at his new role.

Mr Mockridge, (45), a New Zealander and a former Taranaki Daily News journalist, has worked overseas since 1980.

He joined News Corp in 1991 and has top-level pay television experience.

He was involved in setting up Foxtel, News Corp's pay TV joint venture with Telstra, and was its chief executive from 1997 to 2000.

Last year he took a senior executive role at News Corp's Asian subsidiary Star TV.

He knows the New Zealand market well, having been a director of Sky TV, owned 49.6% by INL, since 1998 and of INL since early last year.

News Corp has owned its INL stake for many years but until now it has not appointed its own executives to senior INL positions, allowing the New Zealand operation to find home-grown talent.

"As a director of Sky and INL he would have been very influential on INL's strategy," one industry observer said.

"It's a very strategic appointment."

His former experience with Telstra will be useful. For the first time Sky faces serious competition in its pay-TV market from a joint venture between Television New Zealand and Telstra Saturn.

Sky is seen being increasingly a natural commercial ally for Telecom, which last year took a 9.9% stake in INL.

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