News Corp ‘visionary’ Siobhan McKenna steps down as chief of broadcasting

Media powerbroker and News Corp veteran Siobhan McKenna is stepping down from her executive roles at News Corp at the end of the year.

Siobhan McKenna

A strategic force at News Corp for decades and one of Lachlan Murdoch’s key long-term advisors, within and outside of the family business, McKenna’s surprise announcement will see her leave her leave the post of head of broadcasting at News Corp, just six months after brokering the Foxtel sale deal to DAZN.

Her exit was communicated to staff via an internal email from News Corp global CEO Robert Thomson this morning.

“Her decision, and it is her decision, is essentially epochal as Siobhan has been a transformational force during her years with News Corp. The word ‘visionary’ is often abused, but not in Siobhan’s case, as her ability to perceive the future from the haze-shrouded shapes on the horizon is nonpareil. She is irreplaceable,” Thomson said in the company memo.

McKenna has run News Corp’s broadcasting division since 2017, which included Foxtel, Fox Sports, Kayo, Binge and Sky News Australia.

It is understood that she is also stepping down from her board position at Nova Entertainment, and Lachlan Murdoch’s long held private investment company, Illyria.

Speculation is rife regarding her next move with insiders suggesting a move to the US may be imminent owing to her connections to the Murdoch camp.

McKenna has a lengthy reach among media and political circles, with positions as a commissioner at the Productivity Commission, board member of Network Ten, chair of telecommunications network NBN and currently chair of Australia Post, a tenure which expires in December.