CEO of Seven West Media WA, Chris Wharton Featured in February Edition of The CEO Magazine

Chris Wharton spoke with The CEO Magazine on re-energising media across the state in an ever-changing industry contributing to the success of Seven West Media

by Paris Brooks

(WireNews+Co) - Sydney, Australia - 11 March 2013

With responsibility for West Australian Newspapers and Channel Seven Perth, Chris Wharton has revitalised the media industry in Western Australia. As the previous CEO of West Australian Newspapers and former managing director of Channel Seven Perth, Chris is the perfect man to lead this diverse media group into the future. Chris has a long history with his beloved Western Australia.

“I moved from Sydney to Perth in 1995 as CEO of the Community Newspaper Group, which was half owned by West Australian Newspapers and half owned by Kerry Stokes. I worked there until 2000, and was later offered a job by Mr Stokes as managing director of Channel Seven Perth and was there for nine years.

“It had always been a really successful station, but we were able to add to its success and increase both revenue and ratings. At the time I left, it had been the top metropolitan commercial television station in Australia for the previous three years.

“I moved from Seven to West Australian Newspapers Holdings in December 2008. In 2010, we mounted an acquisition of the Seven Media Group, which was completed in April 2011. West Australian Newspapers Holdings was a publicly listed company, so we became Seven West Media with our Seven Media purchase. My duties were realigned, but I retained control of The West Australian newspaper assets and was also given the added responsibility of Channel Seven Perth.”

While this may have seemed like an impossible burden to other executives, Chris met the challenge head on, using his three decades of experience in the media industry. “I started at the very bottom in newspapers. I began my career as a copyboy with John Fairfax & Sons out of school and completed a journalism cadetship.

“I was very lucky at News Limited. I was with the Cumberland Newspaper Group, and the managing director at the time, Malcolm Colless, who ended up on the board of News Limited Australia, devised a management course that allowed me to gain on-the-job training and work in every department, everything from the classifieds to finance. I had rounded career training in newspapers, and that’s what put me on the path to where I am now.”

Along the way, Chris transformed the profitability and sustainability of not only Channel Seven Perth, but also West Australian Newspapers. “When I first came to West Australian Newspapers, its reputation and credibility were suffering,” admits Chris. “Kerry Stokes had described it as ‘being at war with everybody’. Even though it’s always been a great company—it’s 180 years old and an iconic business in Western Australia—at that time it had lost its way a bit.

The full editorial feature can be found here (http://www.theceomagazine.com.au/profiles/SevenWestMediaWA/ChrisWharton.pdf).

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