Google executive confirmed as the national broadcaster’s first female managing director, taking over from Scott in May

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The incoming managing director of the ABC, Michelle Guthrie, has declined to rule out advertising on the public broadcaster, saying she would look at all options to raise money.

On Monday the ABC confirmed the former Google executive as its new managing director, to replace Mark Scott in May.

“It is important on an overall basis in budget-constrained times to really look at all options around monetisation,” Guthrie said in her first interview, with Joe O’Brien on ABC News 24.

But she said it was too early to make any firm judgments.

“Even internationally the Australia Plus channel does carry advertising, so internationally we already have that example – but as I said it is too early to be making any definitive pronouncements,” she said.

Guthrie had the ideal credentials to lead the national broadcaster in the digital era, the chairman of the ABC, Jim Spigelman, said when announcing her appointment.



Google executive Michelle Guthrie to be named as ABC managing director Read more

Australian-born Guthrie will be the public broadcaster’s first female managing director in its 83-year history and will continue Scott’s transition of the organisation to a digital-first operation.

On Monday the board confirmed she had beaten dozens of local and international candidates to the biggest job in Australian media. The appointment had been widely anticipated in the media in the past week.

The remuneration tribunal has increased the salary package for the chief executive of the public broadcaster to $900,000. Scott’s package was $823,613 in 2013-14.

Guthrie has had a diverse career, beginning in law in Sydney and working across Europe and Asia for Rupert Murdoch’s broadcasting empire, including Foxtel, BSkyB and the Asia-based Star TV network.

She has been at Google since 2011, most recently as managing director of agencies for the Asia Pacific, based in Singapore

Her interview with O’Brien reflected how long she has been outside Australia. All the characters and programs she mentioned when asked about her memories of the ABC are long gone.

Guthrie: “Whether it was Benita on Playschool, that dates me right? Or the Inventors – I used to love the Inventors. My husband ‘is’ Harry Butler. My daughters talk about their dad being Harry Butler. It was part of the fabric of my growing up. It’s incredibly important to me that it is in the fabric of my daughters’ lives and my daughters’ daughters’ lives.”

Benita Collings hosted Play School for 30 years, from 1969 to 1999 and recorded her last program 16 years ago. The Inventors aired in the 1970s and Butler, known for his 1970s and 80s TV series In the Wild with Harry Butler, died last week.

Spigelman confirmed the new managing director would retain the role of editor-in-chief – with ultimate responsibility for all of the ABC’s editorial content in news and entertainment – as specified in the ABC Act.

Malcolm Turnbull, when he was communications minister, had suggested the job be split in two: a chief executive and an editor-in-chief.

“The ABC board made this appointment following a thorough local and international search that produced an outstanding field of candidates,” Spigleman said.

“Michelle is an exceptional media professional with strong content, operational and board experience within internationally respected media companies.

“Michelle brings a unique local and global view to the role, having grown up in Sydney and worked at senior levels here and around the world. She brings to the ABC her business acumen, record in content-making across an array of platforms, a deep understanding of audience needs and corporate responsibility for promoting issues like diversity.

“We have no doubt she is the right person to succeed Mark Scott next year and to lead the corporation in its broadcasting and digital work as both are defined by the ABC charter.”

Scott, a former Fairfax Media executive and journalist, has been managing director of the public broadcaster for 10 years, taking it from a traditional linear broadcaster of radio and television to a multiplatform media operation which has led the way with podcasting, iView and 24-hour news.

In Guthrie’s first public statement since news leaked ahead of her appointment, the former media lawyer said it was an honour to be chosen.

“Having grown up with the ABC and having been a professional observer of it over the last three decades, I have profound respect for the important role the national broadcaster plays throughout Australia and internationally,” she said.

“I would also like to acknowledge the leadership provided by Mark Scott during his tenure as managing director. It is fortunate that I will be able to work closely with him during the handover next year.”