ABC Chief Content Officer Chris Oliver-Taylor announced on Thursday he will leave the broadcaster on 28 February following two years in the executive role.
The head of the content division was appointed to the position in March 2023 by now-outgoing managing director David Anderson, who will depart in March 2025.
It was a move intended to unite the audio and screen teams under a single division, but they have since split once more upon Mr Oliver-Taylor’s departure.
‘The Chief Content Officer role at the ABC, created in late 2022, was originally designed to oversee Audio, Digital, and Screen content,’ Mr Oliver-Taylor told staff.
‘Over the past year, the role and responsibilities have considerably shifted, with audio now reporting directly to the MD and some digital content moved elsewhere.
‘These changes, along with a redefined creative vision set by the Board, have prompted me to reflect on the ABC’s future needs.’
ABC Chief Content Officer Chris Oliver-Taylor (pictured) announced on Thursday he will leave the broadcaster on 28 February following two years in the executive role
Mr Oliver-Taylor, who previously held management positions at Netflix, Matchbox Pictures and Fremantle, went on to say it was ‘time’ to move on from ABC.
He explained he had numerous discussions with the Managing Director and ‘reflected’ on ‘ongoing conversations with the ABC Board and the Chair’.
‘There is sadness in this decision but also pride and excitement with the slate that will roll out across 2025 and in future years,’ he added.
The executive said he was ‘incredibly proud to have led the commissioning of programs’ such as The Assembly, Austin, The Piano, and Guy Mont’s Spelling Bee.
Other programs under his commissioning belt include I Was Actually There, The Family Next Door, Do Not Watch This Show and Portrait Artist of the Year.
‘The ABC is a vital cultural institution that will continue to deliver world-class content,’ Mr Oliver-Taylor continued.
‘I will always be a strong supporter of the ABC and public broadcasting and am deeply grateful for my time here.’
He finished by commending ‘the dedication of my ABC colleagues and the production companies that contribute to its success’.
The head of the content division was appointed to the position in March 2023 by now-outgoing managing director David Anderson, who will depart in March 2025
Head of Screen Jennifer Collins will step into the role of Director Content from today ahead of Mr Oliver-Taylor’s departure on 28 February.
In a note to staff managing director Mr Anderson said that under Mr Oliver-Taylor’s leadership, ‘ABC Content has delivered significant results for the public’.
‘This includes the ABC TV Network achieving the number one ranked television broadcaster in 2023–24, with a reach of 36.4% or 6.6 million people across the five-city metro population,’ he said.
He later added: ‘[Mr Oliver-Taylor] has made the decision to re-focus his efforts on other roles and I know he will continue to be an advocate for the ABC in whatever direction his career takes him in next.’
Mr Oliver-Taylor’s departure from the network comes amid job shakeups at the broadcaster.
The structural changes most recently saw Sarah Macdonald be unceremoniously dumped by the ABC late last year.
He exit was accompanied by that of Simon Marnie, who was also told his contract would not be renewed, while Richard Glover and Robbie Buck both left their respective programs.
Ben Latimer, ABC’s head of audio told ABC staff in a statement at the time that the changes were ‘driven by rapidly evolving audience expectations’.
It was a move intended to unite the audio and screen teams under a single division, but they have since split once more upon Mr Oliver-Taylor’s departure
‘Change is never easy and of course the impact on some of our colleagues is difficult,’ he wrote.
He added the decisions for the 2025 roster have been ‘carefully thought through and discussed’ and noted the ABC is ‘navigating a period of significant transition’.
In other changes to the Radio Sydney roster, Dom Knight will host Friday Drive and Saturday Mornings, while science and technology journalist Rae Johnston will present Sunday Mornings.
Chris Bath will also start her new role presenting Monday to Thursday Drive and Charlie Pickering will present Thank God It’s Friday!
Macdonald, 59, announced her ‘disappointment’ in departing from the ABC, telling her audience live on air that: ‘I’m not going to be on the radio with you next year.
‘The ABC has decided not to renew my contract here at Mornings… I am proud of what I’ve done.
‘The ratings are up, I’ve broken lots of stories, had the first interview with the new governor general, I got the premier of New South Wales to regularly take your calls, led the election coverage, led the move to our Parramatta studios.’
Former Media Watch host Paul Barry took to social media at the time to express his disbelief at Macdonald’s parting after decades of service.
‘She’s brilliant, one of the best things on radio. WTAF,’ Barry, 72, wrote in a post to social media.
Morning show rival Ray Hadley also praised Macdonald.
‘I don’t know Sarah Macdonald but I do know one thing about her, she’s a quality broadcaster and I would say that quality broadcasters are in short supply at the ABC,’ he told listeners.
Marnie’s emotional final show after three decades of presenting was attended by hundreds outside Government House in Sydney in early December.
Among those in attendance was Robbie Buck, Governor-General Sam Mostyn and NSW Governor Margaret Beazley.
Buck, 52, told Marnie, ‘We love you… we’re going to miss you’, before quietly announcing he would too be leaving Aunty on his show later that night.
‘I wanted to say a big thank you,’ Governor-General Mostyn told Marnie.
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