Clive Dickens leaving Southern Cross for Seven West

Southern Cross Austereo has announced the departure of its digital director Clive Dickens.

Dickens has been poached by Seven West Media to take on the role of chief digital officer; he’ll take the lead on the company’s new content delivery platforms like Hybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV).

Dickens is set to depart SCA in 2015 with a date still to be determined. Dickens will report to Seven chief executive Tim Worner, who has been seeking a candidate for the role since February.

“We are focused on the delivery of our market-leading content anywhere, anytime to the biggest audiences possible,” said Worner in a statement. “Our drive into new forms of delivery represents an important cornerstone in our strategy and Clive will lead that push with passion.”

Dickens said in a statement, “I am thrilled to be joining Seven West Media and really look forward to working with some  of the world’s most compelling brands and channels. Seven creates more premium content than any other Australian media company and I can’t wait to further extend its consumption via more connected devices  to even larger audiences.”

Dickens joined SCA in March last year as director of digital and innovation. Prior to SCA Dickens co-founded online live and on-demand radio platform Radioplayer in the UK, as well as UK independent station Absolute Radio. He’s also a non-exec director at Digital Radio Broadcasting and an HbbTV Steering Committee member for Freeview Australia.

Rhys Holleran, Southern Cross Austereo CEO said, “We would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks to Clive for his remarkable impact on the SCA business broadly, and for his leadership of SCA’s digital success since he joined the company in early 2013.

“The search for SCA’s new Director of Digital and Innovation is already underway and we will make an announcement about a successor in the coming months.”