Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer Joan Warner will be stepping down early next year. The search for a replacement CEO will commence immediately with the view of a new CEO taking up the position during the first quarter of 2022.
Warner said, “While I informed the CRA Board some time ago of my intention to step down at 31 December 2021, the Board requested, and I agreed, to remain as CEO to March 31, 2022 to allow the company to undertake a comprehensive and far-reaching search for a replacement. There are also major projects with which the Board has asked I continue to assist in the early implementation stages and to ensure a smooth and seamless handover to the incoming CEO.”
The Board expressed its thanks to Joan for her long and outstanding commitment to CRA over the past 20 years.
“We have been fortunate to have Joan leading our industry as CEO of Commercial Radio Australia, and we are very pleased that she has agreed to extend her time with CRA to allow for an orderly transition to a new CEO,” Grant Blackley, chair of CRA said.
Blackley added that the Australian metropolitan radio ratings will undergo a major revolution in response to the rapid digitisation of audio consumption in Australia, with live streaming data integrated into a new multimillion-dollar hybrid measurement system. He also pointed to extensive work underway across industry integration with smart speakers and connected cars and an improved and comprehensive all-of-industry automated trading platform to be implemented in 2022.
“For this reason,” he said, ”we are very pleased Joan has agreed to extend her contract to allow for the seamless implementation and handover of this important set of initiatives.”