Musical Chairs: PPL boss steps down; triple j’s Okine expands to TV; Shuffle at Dancing With The Stars; Mel Greig lands gig after two years

triple j’s Okine expands to TV

Matt Okine, triple j breakfast presenter, will co-host with broadcaster Gretel Killeen a new 15-part comedy social etiquette series How Not To Behave, produced by Screentime, a Banijay Group company, for ABC TV. It premieres Wednesday July 15 at 8pm.

Fran Nevrkla to step down as PPL Chairman

PPL Chairman Fran Nevrkla exits end of the year. He made the announcement at its AGM which revealed record high income and distribution through 2014. Nevrkla tripled PPL revenue after joining in 2000 from Warner Music where he was Director of Commercial and Business Affairs.

Irene Hulme appointed CD at hit 104.1

Irene Hulme is new Content Director at hit 104.1 2Day FM, taking from Adam Williscroft who moves elsewhere at SCA. Hulme, a long time SCA exec, was most recently Content Director at SCA Adelaide’s Triple M and hit107.

New GM For 6IX

Capital Radio Network placed Evan Broadway as General Manager of Radio in Perth. He is currently Direct Sales Manager – Melbourne at radio 3AW.

Wesley Enoch helming Sydney Festival

After five years at Queensland Theatre Company, Wesley Enoch is Sydney Festival Director 2017-2019. The Noonuccal Nuugi man from Stradbroke Island replaces Lieven Bertels who finishes in 2016, its 40th anniversary. Enoch directed six projects for the festival in the past 15 years, including The Sapphires, Nargun and The Stars, I am Eora and Black Diggers.

Mihalos heads for the snow

2CC on-air presenter George Mihalos takes over as new Music Director and announcer at Snow FM next week.

Martin Paten role extended

Following record attendance at this year’s event, the Castlemaine State Festival reappointed Martin Paten as director for 2017. It is the fifth and last time for Paten who has been director since 2008. The board also announced the end of the two-year planning cycle with a break-even budget position.

A shuffle at Dancing With The Stars

After seven seasons, host Daniel MacPherson has left Seven’s Dancing With The Stars. Comedian Shane Bourne teams with Adelaide TV presenter Edwina Bartholomew who came on board last year. One of the judges, dancer and singer Adam Garcia, is leaving. He and wife Nathalia Chubin, whom he met on UK show Got To Dance, are expecting their first child.

Golightly to head Queer Film Fest

Dillan Golightly is new Executive Director for the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, effective June 9. An arts graduate from Melbourne University who held communications and project management roles here and in Ireland then for 12 years had senior management positions within the School of Engineering. After the departure of long time ED Lisa Daniel, the board has restructured its executive. A Program Manager will be appointed shortly.

Changes at the top at MPA

The Music Publishers Association appointed Universal Publishing's VP of International Legal and Industry Affairs Jackie Alway as its new Chair and TBWAMedia Arts Lab's Business Affairs Manager Claire McAuley as GM.

Mel Greig lands a gig after two years

Former 2DAY FM presenter Mel Greig is Content Marketing Manager at Adelaide ad agency Kingdom Advertising, creating podcasts and social media content for clients. At the Mumbrella360 conference, Greig revealed she was rejected 100 times over two years for jobs (especially in radio) after the infamous December 2012 Royal Hoax phone call and expressed bitterness that others involved in the prank stayed on in radio and some got promoted.

New CMO at Disney

Walt Disney Company poached Carat agency’s highly respected Chief Strategy Officer Gavin Ashcroft as its Chief Marketing Officer, effective August 3. He will focus on integrated marketing and franchise planning, media strategy, partnerships and social media. Interestingly Carat holds Disney’s $26 million account.

PepsiCo's Frank Cooper joining BuzzFeed

Frank Cooper, award-winning Chief Marketing Officer for Global Consumer Engagement at PepsiCo joins BuzzFeed in late June as Chief Marketing and Content Officer. Cooper said, “Throughout my career, I’ve been obsessed with the convergence of four things: culture, brand marketing, data and technology. There’s only one company today that sits at the intersection of all those things, which is why this role at BuzzFeed was irresistible to me.”

During his 12 years at PepsiCo, Cooper inked talent deals with Beyonce, Usher and Janelle Monae, set up an in-house record label for sponsored events as the World Cup, got Pepsi to replace Coca-Cola as Live Nation’s official soft drink partner, oversaw the company’s massive sponsorship deal with The X Factor and support for various music/digital start-up incubators.

New CEO for Fender

After a year of searching, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation finally landed a CEO. Andrew "Andy" P. Mooney formerly held that role at Quicksilver. He was responsible for growing the global brands Disney Consumer Products and Nike, Inc. According to Fender, Mooney’s addition will help drive the FMIC brands — including Fender, Squier and Gretsch — with an approach that puts "both seasoned and first-time musicians at the forefront." Fender’s previous CEO Larry Thomas retired in May 2014.