For many years Australian and New Zealand radio programmers have moved overseas at times to ply their trade, most commonly to 
the UK, but also to Europe and North America.
The list of antipodeans who have lived and worked overseas – previously or currently - is impressive:
Guy Dobson, Duncan Campbell, Peter Don, Scott Muller, Dirk Anthony, Jason Staveley, Dave Wilson, Andrew Jeffries, Andrew Dower, Arden Hanley, Keith Fowler, Seth Clancy, Vicki Marr, Corey Layton, Gomez Adams, Ronnie Stanton, Justin Wilcombes, Steve Hart – there are many more.
It has been less common for overseas executives to be imported to Australia. However it does happen, with varying degrees of success.
Of the big groups, ARN have ‘imported’ the most frequently. Presently they have an Irish CEO, Ciaran Davis (below), who succeeded an American Bob Longwell. ARN have also imported numerous program directors over the years: recently the UK’s Owen Ryan to Mix Melbourne, and European Sam Zniber to Mix Sydney. A few years earlier, they virtually made an art form of importing US small market programmers to Australia who consistently failed, until Jeremy Millar turned the tide.
Whilst DMG historically have imported executives infrequently, it is becoming more common:
Tracy Austin, from Texas, programmed Nova Brisbane for two years, and since the appointment of their UK Group Programmer, DMG have imported program directors for Nova Perth (now departed) and Nova Melbourne, along with a group imaging director.
Meanwhile, Southern Cross Austereo and Fairfax have generally shown a preference for Australian talent.
So is importing overseas executive talent good or bad for our industry?
If you accept the principle of ‘kaizen’, broadly interpreted as meaning continual improvement, then it has merit. New ideas, different approaches and fresh execution are positives for the industry, and we should embrace these and be prepared to learn from them.
The flaw, however, has been not in the theory but in the execution.
Often overseas executives interpret the comparatively small number of frequencies in Australia as evidence of it being an unsophisticated market. Some of the ARN programming imports many years ago famously underestimated this market at enormous damage to that company at the time.
The reality is that the Australian radio markets are some of the toughest and most competitive in the world, and having a smaller number of stations only makes it more challenging.
Usually the result of this preconception about the Australian market is that the imported talent arrive full of bravado, promising the world, only to fail to deliver. Of course, there are exceptions, with two or three people who have now left our shores having had successful stints in Australia.
Of the present group of imports, Ciaran Davis at ARN is proving to be an effective change-agent, showing himself as a decisive leader who is strengthening ARN.
Further, UK import Mike Cass (right) at Nova Melbourne appears to show potential as a programmer who may transition successfully to this market.
However, when you look beyond Davis and Cass, the track-record and calibre of the imported executives is underwhelming at best.
Looking internationally for executive talent has its merits and it would be close-minded to assume that overseas talent have nothing to offer Australian radio.
In saying that, there is an important caveat: it is only positive when we import genuinely talented, inspiring and creative people who have the capacity to understand this market and compete, rather than second-rate executives who talk the talk, but consistently fail to walk the walk.
Dan Bradley is director and founder of radio and talent consulting firm Kaizen Media
Published on Friday, 20 April 2012 06:00
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