Arnaud Lagardère Returns To CEO Duties; Nine Network Axes 200 Roles; ‘Big Brother Canada’ Evicted — Global Briefs
Arnaud Lagardère Christophe Morin/IP3/Getty Images
Arnaud Lagardère Returns To CEO Duties After Ban Is Lifted
Arnaud Lagardère has returned as CEO and Chairman of Lagardère after the partial lifting of a management ban imposed in April. He had been indicted on embezzlement charges and provisionally banned from holding executive-level roles, but has now been unanimously reappointed to his previous roles. “I would like to extend warm thanks to Jean-Christophe Thiery, who has done a remarkable job as chief executive following my forced withdrawal from management duties,” said Lagardère. I am obviously delighted to be resuming my position as Chief Executive Officer of the Group that bears my name and to be reunited with the talented teams that I now have the honour of leading to future success.” Lagardère Group is part of Canal+ owner Vivendi, which took full control in November 2023 following approval from European Commission. Lagardère was founded by Lagardère’s father Jean-Luc Lagardère in 1992. It is home to publishing giant Lagardère Publishing and Lagardère Travel Retail and has assets including Paris Match and Le Journal du Dimanche and top radio stations Europe 1.
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Nine Network Axes 200 Roles
The parent company of Australia’s Nine Network is letting go of 200 staff across its TV, digital and print divisions. Nine Entertainment will axe around 5% of its total staff, with CEO Mike Sneesby pointing to “economic headwinds” and loss of revenue from Meta after the collapse of a deal with the social media platform, while saying the company must continue to “invest in the digital opportunities that are driving growth across” the business. Sneesby also warned more cuts may follow, with a review ongoing. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) union said the cuts posted a threat to Australian journalism, after similar rounds of redundancies at Seven and News Corp. The union blamed Meta’s recent decision not to renew deals under the News Media Bargaining Code for forcing media companies to act, but urged Nine, Seven and News Corp to seek saving elsewhere. “Any cuts to editorial will mean reduced coverage of a range of matters and result in a less informed Australian public,” said MEAA Media Acting Director Michelle Rae. “They bring into question how committed Nine, Seven and News Corp are to quality, public interest journalism.” She said that if Meta, which has taken an increasingly dim view of carrying news on its feeds, continued to stay away from the negotiating table, “it must be designated by the federal government.” Meta’s local Australian policy chief today threatened to block all news links in Australia, as it did in Canada.
Canada Drops ‘Big Brother Canada’ After 12 Seasons
Corus Entertainment has chosen to evict Big Brother Canada from its schedules after 12 seasons. The series, which has aired on Corus networks since 2013, ended its twelfth run in May. “Today as we say goodbye to the beloved series, we celebrate the great success and impact Big Brother Canada has had in our country and in the Canadian media landscape for over a decade,” said Corus co-CEO Troy Reeb. “Global will always be proud to have been home to Big Brother Canada for 12 seasons, and we are grateful to our partners at Banijay Rights for their support and guidance, and Insight Productions for their passion, dedication, and creativity. We would like to thank Executive Producer Erin Brock and Host and Executive Producer Arisa Cox for always leading thought-provoking conversations, telling uniquely Canadian stories, and reflecting the diverse culture of Canada in one of television’s biggest social experiments.” The news comes soon after Reeb and John Gossling were installed as Corus’ new bosses to replace Doug Murphy, who retired soon after the Canadian broadcast giant lost key output deals with Warner Bros Discovery.