SCA CEO, Grant Blackley, today announced that respected media agency executive, Seb Rennie will join the business in the newly created role of Executive Head – LiSTNR Commercial.
Rennie comes to SCA from Group M, where he has spent the past eight years, most recently as Chief Investment Officer for Australia and New Zealand.
At SCA, Rennie will be responsible for leading LiSTNR’s commercial strategy and driving the digital audio commercial division within the business, as LiSTNR continues its strong growth trajectory.
Rennie has 20 plus years’ experience in the media industry and has worked in and with some of the largest and most influential media agencies, media owners, advertisers and tech vendors in Australia and Canada. During his career, he has worked with Mediacom in the UK and Australia, OMD as Group Trading Manager and MEC as Chief Investment Officer prior to moving to Group M in 2015.
In just under two years since its launch, LiSTNR has become Australia’s number one podcast network with more than 5.38 million monthly listeners[1][1]. SCA is the number one sales representation business of podcasting in Australia, representing its extensive premium, original podcast slate and a range of international and local podcast partners including Stitcher, Wondery, the AFL, NRL, Schwartz Media, DM Podcasts, and the Royal Institution of Australia.
LiSTNR houses more than 500 podcast titles, 154 Hit and Triple M radio and DAB+ stations, 29 music stations, and news and information. The LiSTNR app has been installed 2 million times since launch, and it frequently appears in the top 10 most popular entertainment apps[1][2]. The number of plays per month on LiSTNR increased by almost 300% in 2022[3].
“Seb is a proven leader with unrivalled media negotiation and investment strategy skills, a strong managerial background, and a proven track record in the creation and implementation of plans to deliver on business needs. We are thrilled to have an executive of his calibre and experience join us and I look forward to seeing LiSTNR’s commercial strategy continue to gain further momentum – delivering a leading digital audio service and accompanying growth rate,” Grant Blackley said.
Commenting on his new role, Rennie said: “The opportunity to lead LiSTNR’s commercial strategy was too good to pass up. I have watched LiSTNR’s growth, innovation, and commercial success with keen interest; it’s a unique offering in the Australian market with enormous untapped potential for advertisers. The digital audio sector is primed for strong growth this year and beyond, and LiSTNR’s addressable audience of more than one million people is a sustainable and highly saleable commercial proposition. It’s a very exciting time to be joining SCA and I look forward to working with the team to deliver compelling commercial outcomes for both advertisers and LiSTNR.”
Rennie will commence the new role on 20 March.
[1][1] Triton Podcast Ranker December 2022
[1][2] Apple and Android App Store consoles from Jan 1 - Dec 17 2022
[1][3] Stream start events on the LiSTNR app and web player, Nov 2022 vs Jan 2022.
ENDS
About SCA (Southern Cross Austereo)
Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) is one of Australia’s leading media companies reaching more than 95% of the Australian population through its radio, television, and digital assets. Under the Triple M and Hit network brands, SCA owns 154 stations across FM, AM, and DAB+ radio. SCA also provides national sales representation for 56 regional radio stations. SCA broadcasts 96 free to air TV signals across regional Australia, reaching 3.6 million people a week, with Network 10 programming and advertising representation across Australia’s East Coast, Seven Network programming in Tasmania and Darwin, and Seven, Nine and Ten programming in Spencer Gulf. SCA also features Sky News Regional in 17 markets across regional Queensland, southern NSW, and Victoria. SCA has an exclusive national sales representation agreement with WIN in northern NSW (including the Gold Coast) and TDT (Tasmanian Digital Television). SCA operates LiSTNR, Australia’s free, personalised digital audio destination for consumers featuring radio, podcasts, music, news, and sport. SCA provides Australian sales representation for global open audio platform SoundCloud and Sonos Radio. SCA's premium brands are supported by social media, live events and digital platforms that deliver national and local entertainment, news, and sport content.