Hamish McLennan Assumes as Ten CEO

News Corp’s Hamish McLennan is stepping in at Ten after the network has effectively let go of James Warburton, its chief executive. McLennan will be leading Ten beginning March 18, but Russel Howcroft will serve as its acting CEO until then.

Warburton was dumped by the board due to its declining ratings and failure in programming.

During the general meeting last December, Ten’s chairman, Lachlan Murdoch, was reported to have lashed out at Warburton’s leadership and “poor execution” leading to a decline in their advertising revenues.

In October, the company declared that it has lost some $12.9 million in what was supposed to be its advertising profits. It also had to deal with keeping viewers glued to the channel’s shows, while filtering out redundancies in its staff line.

In a statement released by the network’s board, Ten says that it is happy to have McLennan on board soon. Considered as a world class CEO and the current chairman of the both News Corp and REA Group, Ten is confident in this new leadership.

McLennan said in a recent press statement, “I look forward to leading Ten through a period of creative renewal and financial growth.’’ When he assumes office, he will serve as a non-executive chairman for REA Group.

Last Friday, Ten has apparently received a huge cash advance from the Commonwealth Bank, which amounted to $80 million. This fund is supposed to be for the improvement of an existing facility pegged at $350 million.

Stocks for Ten currently fall at 29.5 cents, while experiencing a 1-cent rise after last Friday’s news.