Mark Buckman to depart Foxtel after 18 months

I think you’ll find incoming CEO is Peter Tonagh not Richard! 🙂

Not many organisations can get that sort of talent in the door, let alone afford for it to leave after 18 months…

Manages to throw a coat of paint onto a smouldering mess of technology, content and pricing failures, leaves shortly after.

What a legacy.

Cue the Benny Hill music for them musical cmo chairs.

Is anyone shocked at this?
Promise the world, make a few quick changes. Disrupt a team. Leave carnage. Deliver nothing significant, least of all the promised “seamless and fantastic experience for all our customers” . Offer some press soundbites, talk on a few panels and leave teams in disarray.

The man is brilliant at getting CEOs and Boards to buy into what ever he is selling.

Is Mark the one who commissioned and signed off on their new logo? This is telling.

I guess you could say, he’s determined to be different.

Roll on “CBS All Access”.

Is this going to change Foxtel

For some bizarre reason you guys pulled my last comment, Why ?

I actually feel sorry for the guy, it’s an impossible job. Foxtel has a failing business model yet Mark will have been expected to increase profits. I know what it’s like to be in that situation when your product or competitive advantage is being eroded yet your bosses are demanding you bring in more revenue. Foxtel needs a much more radical rethink if it’s going to be here in 10years time.

Was turning it around not the job he signed up for? Which he promised to do. He just changes the logo, calls it a re-brand and shock horror. Nothing changes for the customer. The Emperor has no clothes!

In the space of 8 months the departures at the CEO direct report level have been very telling: First Moritz von Hausenchild (Products and CCO) then Andrew Lorken (Broadband, Technology and PMO) then Sharb Farjami (Content Commercialisation), then Deanne Weir (Content and Wholesale) and now Mark Buckman (Customer & Retail). Two Richard Freudenstein appointees and three directly by Peter Tonagh himself but all of them had a 2 year tenure or less at Foxtel. Thats a win for the long term-ers of Foxtel who refuse to accept the new marketplace that involves competition, fragmentation, direct choice and if required, VPN’ing directly to US-based content providers. The same old timers who know how to spend as a monopoly but no idea how to act as a nimble lower ARPU content provider offering simpler choices rather than forced bundles.

When you assess the News/Telstra results it is quite telling: subscribers have fallen, Foxtel Now is cannabilising Foxtel cable (and the much higher ARPU on cable is going), PRESTO was a disaster, Channel ten investment a disaster, cashflow is barely positive, EBITDA is declining, staff morale is abysmal, and churn is out of control. Telstra’s investment is worth less every day.

I dont blame Mark Buckman for Foxtel’s belligerence anymore than the other CEO ex-direct reports above.

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The best news in media all year has been the CBS take over of Channel Ten that has spoiled the Murdoch strategy of “offer what we have to because of anti-siphoning laws — and charge the buggery for every other sports event possible through Foxtel”. Instead of stitching up the market and over charging sports fans, they stitched themselves up into knots. I love it.

What a mess!

David – I couldn’t agree more. I’ve recently left Foxtel and I can say there was a feeling of innovation, a new strategy and regaining our mojo under the new executive team of Richard and then PT. Forsome reason it all went very badly and very quickly.

Comment edited according to Mumbrella’s comment policy

The morale within Foxtel is at an ultra low. Unlike it’s only remaining valuable asset – Sports rights – Foxtel doesn’t have its own game plan to stay on the field let alone survive at the top of the ladder. What a collapse.

I too have once worked for too many seasons at this company and I cant believe that these supposed ‘leaders’ who are stuck in their 1980s television heyday are still today ruling the roost and worried about the ratings of a show at 7.30pm on sunday instead of realising the entire world is now on demand.

Comment edited under Mumbrella’s moderation policy

The Foxtel of today is on a loose thread tied to hugely expensive sports rights (that it may not afford next round) and the waning success of 2 or 3 strong drama series a year. When Fox Sports merge next year the current supposed heroes of Television will be in the nose bleed section wondering how they lost heir VIP status….and in 10 years our kids will ask whats Foxtel, like cassettes, dvds and even ipods we will regale them with the story of a once profitable company that stood by and watched itself self combust.

Foxtel has so much content and yet relies on sports and GoT. Well, I’ve just cancelled my Foxtel now GoT is finished and refuse to pay for tonnes of rubbish content to get to the one sport I may be interested in.

Those newscorp dinosaurs that still run content and finance need to go, for Foxtel’s sake if they are to survive. Or they’ll be on their own History channel by 2020.

Long list of recent departures at the exec level – all after very short tenures – with only the ‘10 years +’ exec crew remaining. It’s very telling. One wonders who is allowing this to happen over and over again! Clearly some deep rooted cultural problems at the top table.

I only have Foxtel for the Darts. Once another Australian provider catches on to the fastest growing sport on TV, then I’ll be saying good bye. $90 a month Foxtel receive from me, and the Darts is only televised for five of those.